THE TRUTH ABOUT HOW SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION SHOULD BE DONE AND WHAT IT COSTS

Are you sick of empty promises that leave your bank account drained and disillusioned with smooth talking SEO sales guys.  Then here is why being on Page One of Google is essential to your digital marketing strategy and the truth on how SEO should be done.

Firstly, a little bit about me.

My name is Dale Carter and I have been running a niche Digital Marketing company from Nedlands in Perth for 23 years with a team of dedicated staff.  We have designed, coded, changed, marketed and promoted tens of thousands of web pages over the years across thousands of web sites.

The term Search Engine Optimisation or SEO has been relevant since the beginning of search sites like Yahoo and Google and later Bing.  The only problem is that many businesses have been disappointed by not only a lack of results but the exorbitant fees charged by many for this lack of results.

So this does not happen to you again, this article explains why SEO is still relevant and a crucially important weapon as part of your digital marketing while informing you on what to ask for from agencies like ourselves to know that real and effective work is taking place on your web site.

Please read on to learn more...

But firstly we need to define what marketing is. 

And because marketing is about getting the right message to the right person at the right time, this explains why being on page one of Google through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a must have for many business categories, including yours.

Let me explain why this is so.  Based on the definition of marketing we know these things ...

1. The right person is searching for a solution you provide, and
2. The right time is now, and
3. You can be the one, getting the right message in front of the right person at the right time "IF" you are on page one.

Quick facts about people searching

• 94% of people only click first page results.
• Searchers will change search phrases if they do not see what they want on the first page.
• Over 50% of clicks go to the first three search results (Source: Search Engine Watch)
• Most business owners don't realise that there are hundreds of keyword phrase variation that can used to find you and bring in traffic

You Need a Knockout Strategy To Win More Clients 

Your competition are desperate to snatch all the best customers away from you if they can. So you need to come out fighting by...

1. Being more visible than your competition
2. Being more memorable than your competition.
3. Being more compelling than your competition: "Deliver The Right Message"

Step 1. Make Your Web Site A Useful Destination That Appeals To Your Type of Client

There is no point spending money on getting to page one of Google through SEO if the final destination does not create customers. Your website must work to generate leads and sales in order to benefit from SEO services. If it does not you do not yet have "the right message".

Questions To Ask Before Embarking on SEO

1. Does your website have a positive history of enquiries, phone calls and sales already
2. If Yes - Proceed
3. If No - You need to upgrade your site or tactically try specific landing pages by driving traffic from a temporary adwords campaign to determine what the right message needs to be to get a result for you.  This can require some trial and error.

So please do not start SEO until You KNOW you have the RIGHT MESSAGE to attract enquiries.

Step 2. Identify The Best Keywords To Target That Will Deliver Ready-To-Buy Customers.

SEO is about being found page one for the specific search phrases your customers are typing in where they are more likely to make a current or future buying decision.  These will be ....

• Around Services You Provide
• Around Products You Sell
• Around Solutions You Deliver
• Around Problems Your Customers Want Solved

Keyword Research uses common sense to start listing keyword phrases, and google adwords and keyword research tools to identify your primary keywords used by your type of customer.

Step 3. Create Specific Content - "The Right Message" - For Each Core Key Phrase 

Once you know what key phrases you want to target. The work of creating web pages containing those keyword phrases within a compelling message ("The Right Message") can begin

1. Appear on your web page somewhere and usually several times
2. Preferably appear in several prominent locations like headlines
3. Have images named or tagged using these keyphrases
4. Link out to similar topics or across to similar topics using those keyphrases

Note: Being listed does not mean you are on the first page.  There is something else that needs to work.

If Google Knows You Are Sending "The Right Message", They Will Rank You Higher.  But How Do They Know?

They know because of the the following three measures.

a) Your Web Pages Bounce Rate Will Be Lower Than Average For A Good Page

A bounce rate indicates whether users interact with your site by going to a second page within your site looking for more information. 

An average industry bounce rate is 50% meaning half of the people only visit the one page they landed on before returning back to Google's search page.

• 80% Bounce Rate - Bad - Only 20% Interact further
• 50% Bounce Rate - Average
• 30% Bounce Rate - Excellent - 70% interact further.

 Your bounce rate needs to be lower than your competition

A low bounce rate and high time on page means you are delivering "The Right Message".  It means you have a web page for a keyword that is well laid out, interesting, informative, entertaining, or useful.

b) A Web Page Where Users Spend More Time Time On Site

Google supposes your web page is good if the users spend a longer time on your web page compared to competitors.  Your page must be relevant to the searcher.  However, if the time spent on your web page is short, then it is likely that the web page is a bad fit for the search term you were listed for.  And it is likely your ranking (for that term" will drop.  

So if users are spending time on the web page, then it is delivering "The Right Message".

c) Your Web Page Will Have More Links To It Than Competitors

The popularity of your content is also indicated by whether users link to it from their own web sites and social media accounts.  If your web page popularity is deemed to be greater than a competitors then it gives you a much more likely chance of ranking well.  

The act of someone linking or promoting your web page is an indication that you are delivering "The Right Message".

In Summary - Your Web Page Content Needs to Be Delivering THE RIGHT MESSAGE Which Is Reflected in a Low Bounce Rate, High Page Times and More Links.  We Strive to Deliver Such Content.

Step 4. Build More Links to Your Web Pages Than Your Competition

When another web page or web site links to your web site, they are giving you a vote of confidence. 

They are endorsing YOUR content. 

A key ranking factor is who has the most endorsements around a particular topic.  This is a strong measure of your content being good.

A link can come from your own web site (an internal link) or another web site (an external link) or a social media site (also an external link)

Here is an example of an external link: See Perth's Best Settlement Agent when transferring your property.

The art and science of encouraging other websites to link to you is a difficult, frustrating, and time consuming task for most.  There are easy links to get through directories and hard links to get from other similar businesses and customers. 

The hard links are the valuable ones as they are from websites deemed to be more trustworthy, or authoritative in their field.  Their endorsement is worth more. 

A big part of our SEO package involves ensuring your web pages are sufficiently cross linked with a good number of other quality business web sites within your industry and geographic area.

Step 5. Find A Company That Can Do This On Steroids - Without the Smoke and Mirrors - Without Hiding What They Do.

So far we have not told you anything new that any other SEO company should not already be telling you. 

However where GTP iCommerce differs is that we have the tools, methods and resources in place to do more of the SEO work required in less time.  We call it SEO on Steroids. 

This Means

"We get results faster, for longer and for less"