Search Engine Optimization
SEO gets a bad reputation at times and I certainly understand that. From working with clients who have been “burned” by other “promising” SEO services, I can see why it leaves a bad taste in folk’s mouths.
That’s why my goal is to provide transparent SEO services. But what does this mean?
I work to communicate the what, why, and impact of everything I do before even doing it.
I don’t promise AMAZING results QUICKLY. SEO takes time to have an impact.
I only do “white hat” work. I don’t cut corners, put your company/website integrity on the line, and make sure that everything I do is impactful but more importantly, isn’t a shady strategy that will hurt you later on.
How I Help Improve SEO For Small Businesses
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We all know when a website is slow to load (we normally just click off after a few seconds). This can leave a pretty negative impression on a potential client or customer without you evening knowing anything happened.
Now this might be an extreme scenario that you’re aren’t currently experiencing. Although all might seem peachy, there are many factors on the backend of a website that impact, not just how it operates, but also how Google perceives it.
Given that not all of us created our website or have some skills with different website platforms, many of these errors and issues go unnoticed and unfixed.
This could be creating headaches that you weren’t aware were happening…
HOW I HELP
To start off, you need to run an SEO audit of your website. Personally, I prefer using SEMRush to complete this as it’s the best tool that gives you the most data in one place.
This audit will give you some understanding of what’s not working well on your website (broken links, no H1 headings on a page, too much text in a title tag, etc.). You also get a sense of how your website is running from a larger perspective (is it slow? are there a lot of broken pages?).
Free Tools To Use:
Ahrefs (in-depth site audit but you need to be able to verify ownership of the site beforehand)
SE Ranking (offers more than just a site audit but one of the better free trial sites for an audit)
Suggestions:
Tackle these errors and issues ASAP. Most tools give you a description/explanation on how to solve the issue(s) at hand. If it doesn’t, normally a google search will give you a step by step process.
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Many of the clients I work with normally don’t have much of an SEO strategy, sort of a “set it and forget it” plan. As much as they neglect what plan they have (or don’t have) in place, Google doesn’t care and neither do their potential customers.
It’s hard to analyze a strategy that isn’t set in motion and, even if there is one, without having at least a decent background of search engine optimization you could be doing more harm than help.
A decent strategy is better than none at all but why settle there?
HOW I HELP
The next important piece of the pie is understanding where your SEO strategy is already at. Looking at keywords you’re ranking for nationally & locally in the top 100 (more specifically the top 10), what your site authority is, quality of backlinks, and which pages are currently driving the most traffic & have the most ranking keywords.
This is where I normally start a SEO analysis by putting all of this information into a spreadsheet or notion template. It will give you a baseline of where you’re at but also a great resource to analyze the revamped strategy in step 3 after a few months to compare where you’re at to where you're started.
Free Tools To Use:
Seobility (has a free plan that also offers 10 keyword monitoring and ability to track 3 competitors)
SE Ranking (like I mentioned above, SE Ranking offers multiple services and their keyword tracking/ranking is one of the more accurate)
Suggestions:
Depending on what you offer, ranking nationally is good but prioritize what you’re ranking for locally. This is where a majority of your clients/customers will be searching you. If you offer services/products that can be completed/sold nationally, you should start locally and build up your keyword strength nationally afterwards.
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Even after analyzing the SEO strategy you have in place already (or lack there of), a lot of folks struggle to put an optimized plan in place that they feel confident in.
When you lack the confidence in the plan you put together, well you’re likely not to act on it as much as you should or at all.
The tough piece I’ve had communicated to me about SEO is it’s hard to trust someone else putting together a plan because they don’t have the background to know if they are getting what they paid for or just getting duped.
That’s where having someone who can communicate how the SEO strategy will impact their KPIs is important, something I’ve worked hard to improve on.
HOW I HELP
After fixing those errors & issues and understanding where your current (or lack there of) SEO strategy is at, next is building a roadmap for each of the pages you currently have.
This entails researching competitors to see where you can outperform them in SEO, picking out keywords you want each page to focus on, and also rewriting your meta titles/descriptions to line up with those keywords.
This is a piece of work I constantly come back to so that I can make sure each page is optimized correctly, see if I need to adjust my strategy at any time, and build new pages/blogs as I grow out a website.
Free Tools To Use:
Mangools (offers a 10 day free trial and allows you to search for keyword performance locally & nationally as well as what your competitors are ranking for)
Suggestions:
This might seem simple and easy to skip but I highly recommend spending most of your time at this stage. The other 2 steps are great and impact how your site performs but if you breeze through creating this roadmap, you likely won’t make any progress in organic search traffic (and ultimately the sales you make because of this type of traffic)
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Search Engine Optimization Resources
Starting early in 2024, I decided to start documenting my journey in SEO with a blog, “SEO Snack”. Early on, this was just for me to make sure I was learning new things but over the year, I’ve received a lot of comments about the education it’s given to others.
If you’re looking to gain more insights into SEO & Analytics, take a gander at some of my past SEO Snack writings!
I can’t promise that I’ll be able to help to the fullest extent that you’re looking for but please feel free to reach out and we can chat about what you’re looking for. Always looking to help if I can!