Did you know there are more than 65,000 searches performed every second on Google? Many of those searches are for services or products your business currently offers. But how can you make sure your target audience sees your website when they type in keywords that relate to your business? The answer is search engine optimization.
Most business owners understand the importance of SEO. This popular practice involves using specific techniques to improve your search engine rank. When done correctly, SEO can bring potential customers to your site. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t know how to develop and implement an SEO campaign that gets results. For those without extensive experience optimizing their content, an SEO partnership is indispensable. Here are some reasons outsourcing SEO services can help increase your web traffic more than if you did it yourself.
SEO Is More Than Keywords
Some mistakenly think that SEO is simple. In fact, it is a complicated process that involves a lot of different strategies. Here are a few factors that influence search engine rankings and should be part of your SEO partnership strategy:
- Domain authority
- Keywords
- Website mechanics
Google and other search engines rank websites according to their authority. If other reputable sites reference your site, your authority will rise. On the flipside, if your website has poor content and a poor reputation, it will have a lower authority rank. You can build your domain authority by earning quality backlinks. These are links to your content that other sites embed in their content. When visitors to those other sites click on the backlinks, they come to your site. The more visitors you have and quality backlinks you earn, the more reputable your site will become.
Keywords help you gain SEO web traffic. In fact, the main goal of SEO marketing is to increase your web traffic with help from targeted keywords. The trick is to choose the right keywords your target audience is actually searching for, then put them in your content. Make sure the words you choose are actually relevant to what you offer. Using “black hat” methods to earn traffic is never wise. Stuffing unrelated words into your content just to earn more traffic will get you flagged by search engines. Instead of getting a better search engine rank, “black hat” methods will hurt your ranking and reputation.
The final piece of an effective search engine campaign is website mechanics. If your page takes a while to load or has sub-par content, you won’t achieve the rank you want.
Many business owners and managers find that when trying to improve a site’s rank, it is too hard to keep track of domain authority, keywords and website mechanics alone. That’s where a quality SEO partnership can help. Outsourcing this important part of your marketing strategy can relieve your stress. It can also bring you greater success and increase your web traffic.
Algorithms Change Often
Google algorithms (the tools Google uses to assign website rankings) change at a rapid pace. In fact, it’s reported that the search engine behemoth changes its algorithms up to 600 times each year! Just when you think you understand how to improve your ranking, an algorithm change can turn your world upside-down. Google and other search engine sites don’t do this to make your life harder, though. They’re simply trying to rank content fairly. They make changes to ensure “cheaters” don’t compromise the ranking system.
If you aren’t fluent in website optimization, changes to algorithms can be frustrating. Even worse, those changes can affect your digital visibility and SEO web traffic. Instead of trying to chase algorithm changes, spend your valuable time on more important things. Let a professional SEO agency worry about following algorithm changes. They’ll know when it’s time to revamp or update optimization strategies for you.
SEO Should Be Part of a Larger Strategy
It is important to include relevant keywords as part of your optimization strategy. But there is so much more to building an effective SEO strategy than sprinkling a few keywords into your content. In reality, optimizing your content is just one part of your total marketing strategy. Think of it as one of the rungs in a ladder. Other rungs may include things like
- Social media campaigns
- Web design
- Quality content marketing
Without all of these rungs, you could never reach the top of the ladder or attract more SEO web traffic. If you’re like the average business owner, though, you don’t know how to create social media campaigns on your own. You also probably know very little about web design and writing quality content.
The good news is that no one expects you to do these things on your own. There are SEO professionals who can take care of these complicated matters for you. Outsourcing your optimization needs is a wise move that can free up your time for other things. A good SEO professional can sit down and discuss your goals with you, then come up with a strategy to increase your web traffic.
Getting Penalized Is Easier Than You Think
Since SEO guidelines are constantly changing, it’s easier than you think to get penalized. A Google penalty is a punishment given to a website deemed incompliant in some way. Google may dish out penalties for failing to update content in response to an algorithm change. You can also receive a penalty for using any of these “black hat” SEO tactics:
- Low-quality short-form content
- Excessive pop-out ads in your content
- Bad link-building practices, including buying excessive backlinks and “cloaking” keywords
- Republishing content owned by other websites without permission
- Earning backlinks from shady, low-quality sites
- No legitimate security certificate (HTTPS)
- No localized site content
- High site load time or poor compatibility with mobile devices
Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to know when you’ve received a penalty. In fact, it’s estimated that only 5% of penalized websites submit requests for reconsideration to recover their rankings. An SEO professional can help you understand when your website has a penalty and what you need to do to recover your rank.
Monitoring an Optimization Campaign Takes Time
As mentioned, optimization strategies must evolve with industry and algorithm changes. The content you post tomorrow could become outdated in a few months. As a business owner, how can you expect to keep track of all changes and update your content as needed? Trying to oversee all aspects of your SEO campaign is unrealistic at best. If you want your campaign to be effective, you need to have someone monitor it consistently.
Part of monitoring an SEO campaign includes staying apprised of algorithm changes. It also involves analyzing the performance of certain keywords and content. A good SEO partnership can take care of these time-consuming matters for you. You’ll not only have less on your plate, but you’ll also have confidence that someone is monitoring your SEO campaign closely. As long as your site is attracting SEO web traffic, you’re in a good place.
Your Local Competition Doesn’t Rest
You can rest assured that your competition is working hard to outpace you. Entering into an SEO partnership may be just what you need to pull ahead. Local SEO is a powerful tool that can increase your web traffic and bring local shoppers to you. If you don’t use this tool but your competition does, you will miss out on sales.
Perfect Your Optimization Techniques
When running a business, it’s normal to want to do as much as you can on your own. Whether you want to save money or you like to multitask, tackling SEO web traffic goals on your own can quickly become overwhelming. Especially if you are not experienced in certain areas of SEO or have stretched yourself too thin and quality is slipping.
There are numerous benefits to outsourcing SEO to experienced and dedicated agencies that can help you fulfill your contractual obligations to clients, help them grow their business, and help you grow yours! If you’re brand new to this, get answers to your questions on all things white label SEO here. Boostability offers comprehensive search engine optimization services that can make your life easier. Everything is delivered under your brand name, we just operate behind the scenes. Learn more about our white label SEO partner program and get connected with a digital marketing expert for more details!
