There is perhaps no hotter topic in marketing right now than search engine optimization or SEO. As people increasingly turn to various online platforms, including Google, YouTube, TikTok, and more, for answers and entertainment, every query becomes an opportunity for your brand to provide solutions and engage with your audience.
Appearing on the first page of search results is vital, as it brings potential customers directly to your website, often resulting in new leads and customers who are looking for a product like yours. This is where SEO comes into play. People trust search engines to find answers, and when your brand is recommended by search engines, it gains credibility — which is crucial for building relationships with visitors who hopefully turn into loyal customers.
An SEO consultant plays a key role in this process. They specialize in boosting your website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs), ensuring your brand stands out amidst the internet chaos. Whether you choose to develop this expertise in-house or hire an SEO agency, having a skilled professional is essential for navigating the competitive landscape of online search and driving your company's growth.
Below, we’ll break down five ways SEO consulting services can (and will!) help your company thrive online. Let’s dive in!
In This Article:
1. SEO Consulting Services Help You Stay Informed of Algorithm Changes
2. SEO Consulting Services Help You Focus on Strategy
3. SEO Consulting Services Help You with On-Page & Technical SEO
4. SEO Consulting Services Help You Steer Clear of Common Pitfalls
5. SEO Consulting Services Help You Understand the Metrics that Matter
What Services Will A Top-Tier SEO Consulting Service Provide?
See if We're the Right SEO Consulting Service For You
1. SEO Consulting Services Help You Stay Informed of Algorithm Changes
On its surface, SEO may seem like a simple concept — provide the best answer to a question and get Google to put you on the first page. Sounds easy enough! But the reality of achieving that goal is not nearly as simple as it sounds.
Search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, aiming to refine and improve their engine to help people find what they’re looking for and demote the results of those who game the system. These changes can happen multiple times a day, and in 2018 there were an average of 9 changes per day!
With changes happening so frequently, it can’t be someone’s part-time job to handle all things SEO. A full-time commitment is needed to understand these changes and figure out how they apply to your website.
This is where a search engine optimization consultant can save you time and money. A growth marketing agency that offers SEO services makes its living by staying informed, which means professionals are dedicated to staying on top of SEO trends and getting in front of search engine changes that could have a negative impact on your web traffic.
2. SEO Consulting Services Help You Focus on Strategy
If we set aside the investment required to master SEO and stay on top of the latest trends, it still takes time to put all that knowledge to work. SEO is a process, not a one-time investment.
As you continue to create content and add pages to your website, there will be an ongoing need to ensure that those pages are optimized. If you change brand messaging or go through a website redesign, SEO is also needed to ensure you're not changing copy or pages that rank.
You may find that continuously thinking about how SEO applies to your content is diverting your attention from your area of expertise. If that is the case, then an SEO consulting service might be the right solution for you.
If you hire someone for SEO services, you can focus on delivering high-quality content that resonates with your target audience and the agency can focus on tuning up that content to appeal to search engines and site visitors.
3. SEO Consulting Services Help You with On-Page & Technical SEO
SEO has become increasingly complex as search engines like Google refine their algorithms. Initially, content was the primary focus, but now factors such as page load speed and technical aspects are crucial. These changes aim to mimic a human's experience with a webpage, emphasizing the importance of aspects like fast loading times and secure, encrypted websites.
However, optimizing your website for better SEO rankings can be tricky. It's a delicate balance between enhancing performance and maintaining user experience. For instance, reducing image quality to speed up page loading might backfire if it compromises the visual appeal or clarity of your offerings.
This is where SEO consulting services become invaluable. They possess the expertise to fine-tune your website, ensuring it ranks high on search engines without sacrificing the user experience. The right SEO agency will not only boost your organic visibility but also optimize the overall customer journey, effectively balancing technical SEO improvements with a seamless user experience.
4. SEO Consulting Services Help You Steer Clear of Common Pitfalls
In the SEO world, there are many different techniques you can apply to improve your rankings. Unfortunately, not all techniques are approved by search engine developers. Some are considered as gaming the system, called black hat, which means the practitioner chooses to ignore what search engines deem a violation of their guidelines where the intent is to look for shortcuts or loopholes that would rank pages higher than they deserve.
Sadly it isn’t always easy to know right from wrong. In fact, the Google Chrome team accidentally used a black hat technique at one point. As a result, Chrome was penalized by the Google Search engine team, and Chrome’s rankings dropped as a result.
At the end of the day, the immediate reward of black hat tactics isn’t worth the long-term risk. If you’re caught using black hat tactics, the search engine can reduce your rankings or, in the worst case, completely remove your site from their index. This can be a devastating blow to a brand trying to build its online presence.
Fortunately, SEO agencies are familiar with the range of techniques available and know which ones are safe and which should be avoided. Paying for SEO services from the right company that only uses white-hat techniques can improve your rankings quickly, while ensuring that everything is done ethically.
5. SEO Consulting Services Help You Understand the Metrics that Matter
What gets measured gets improved. There’s no way to determine if your brand is successfully attracting new customers through organic search if you aren’t measuring that effectively. You need systems in place to monitor rankings, traffic, conversions, MQLs, SQLs, and new customers.
If you hire an SEO agency, they can collect data on how organic search visitors getting to your site, what they’re doing, and where they’re going. Not only can they collect that data, but they can provide reports so you can see what’s successful and what isn’t. Armed with this data, you can then adjust your game plan to help drive more visitors, more conversions, and more customers.
What Services Will A Top-Tier SEO Consulting Service Provide?
Your SEO partner should offer more than just basic SEO. Let’s break down six SEO services to look for when working with a partner.
SEO Strategy
To improve the likelihood of your website showing up in search results, you need to have a top-notch SEO strategy. Crafting an SEO strategy is where any SEO services partner will start. The strategy helps you create the right content that people are searching for. It also helps search engines index your site and rank your site pages.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is all about improving items on your website to get higher rankings. When Google crawls websites, it wants to provide the best and most relevant results for its searches. Google determines what to show based on a variety of factors. By having improved technical SEO, search engines understand your website better — helping you rank faster.
Competitor Gap Analysis
To effectively set your brand apart, it's crucial to identify your primary competitors and gain insights into their online presence. By conducting a comprehensive analysis, you can uncover specific details such as how your competitors are ranking, the keywords they are targeting, and how your content compares. This analysis not only answers these critical questions but also helps you define clear goals and address any concerns in your strategy. Performing this analysis quarterly will keep you updated on important changes in the competitive landscape, allowing you to make informed decisions to stay ahead.
Content Optimization
Content is shared in so many different ways. The more content you create in your niche, the higher the likelihood you are to pop up in search engines when that subject is searched. This means utilizing a variety of content types such as videos, podcasts, blogs, and newsletters while also making sure they are properly optimized. You name it — you should be creating it (as long as it directly correlates with your brand and audience).
Mobile SEO
You’re more than likely on your phone reading this article right now. If you want to keep mobile users engaged and convert them into customers, you need to invest in optimizing your site to rank better on mobile. This creates a positive user experience, improves your SEO, and improves your users' perception of your company.
Link Building
Link building improves search engine visibility by utilizing one-way hyperlinks to a website. The days of analyzing page content are long gone — instead, the quality of a webpage is determined by how many people are linking to that page. But just like avoiding keyword stuffing, you shouldn’t link stuff either. The quality of your link is taken into account, not just the quantity.
See if We're the Right SEO Consulting Service For You
SEO is a game that brands have to play if they want to compete in the digital age. While many are tempted to tackle this on their own, there are plenty of reasons why reaching out to a growth marketing agency and getting their help may make sense for you.
The many benefits an agency provides mean you’ll get a better ROI on your investment in SEO. With the help of professional SEO consultants, you’ll be better able to keep up with your competition and bring high-quality traffic to your site — and often you get a full team of SEO, content, and growth experts rather than just one in-house SEO specialist.
If you think an SEO consultant is right for you, see if we’re the right fit!
