If you are wanting to improve your SEO rankings but aren’t sold on Google Ads, I want you to rethink that. The are a couple of reasons why, which I’ll explain in a bit. Read on to find out what those are.
I’ve already talked about how long it can take to increase SEO rankings. Depending on a few factors, it’s going to take an SEO company time and patience to do the job properly so that a website sticks highly on the first page. There will be money spent and it will take some time to see some organic traffic visit the website.
For many business and website owners, that’s a tough pill to swallow. That’s why I’ve always said SEO is a long term investment as you won’t have to keep paying for SEO services and subsequent organic traffic after the rankings stick. But this is also the reason why people aren’t sold on Google Ads and having to continuously pay for traffic.
Let me introduce you to a deadliest tag team in online marketing.
Google Ads and SEO
I would like to propose an idea, and that is to invest in both Google Ads and SEO at the same time. This will increase the monthly budget but it’s worth it. Here’s why.
While the SEO campaign is working away in the background and your search rankings are improving, driving traffic to your website will help the SEO company and it will also help the business owner.
This will give the SEO company very sound data on what keywords are generating the most amount of engagement on the website. Whether that’s simply average time spent on website or goal conversions, the data will help the SEO company make any tweaks to the keywords being targeted.
Here’s how it helps the business owner:
Offsetting Costs
The business owner will be able to generate leads from the Google Ads campaign. Then hopefully close some sales to offset the cost of both the Google Ads spend and the SEO services. This will cost more than just running an SEO company but it’s money well spent for both parties.
It’s hard for many business owners to shell out money on SEO as it’s a process that might not see much in the way of results, traffic and leads. But as I explained above, it can a great option to also invest in a Google Ads campaign.
Fill out our discovery form if you are interested in this approach or using either of our SEO or Google Ads management services.
Running an SEO audit is a standard procedure for any website, and it’s a great way to get better insight on your website as a whole, the individual pages, and your overall traffic. But you can only get these insights and performance enhancements if your audit is done properly. While there are many articles out there on how to perform the “best” local SEO audit, trying to include all of the suggestions leads to disorganized and hard-to-interpret audit results. These kind of results aren’t what you need to improve your website ranking and performance.
Your best option when running a local SEO audit is to keep is simple. Stick to the basics first, and get fancy later. It’s the basics that will give you meaningful action items and actual tangible ways to improve your website. Below I’ve listed out the 10 sections that I suggest always including in a local SEO audit (give or take a few, depending on the business):
Overall Comments
This should be about a half page of any commentary that is not an action item. Write any comments that you have, and include a section of “quick wins” (eg. a list of 5 small changes that can be made to have a relatively large impact).
Reviews
List out the top 5-10 review sites that will matter to the business (this may vary depending on location, business size, business focus, etc.). Be sure to also include suggestions on where and how to get more reviews in a prioritized order.
Google My Business
In this section, give any and all recommendations on the business’ Google My Business page(s). You should include things such as suggestions for features that you think should be used, and identify duplicate Google My Business pages. Our article on how to rank a Google My Business page is a good start as well.
Citations
This is where you should include any comments on the citation audit (this audit will most likely be separate from the main write-up). Getting business listings/citations is important for ranking in the Google My Business results. You’ll want to make sure the business information is correct in all citations.
Anti-Spam
Find and take note of specific competitors who are spamming the local map in this section. Be sure to explain what they are doing and how their spam can be monitored and reported.
Link Opportunities
It’s a good idea to do some research into specific link opportunities that you can include in your audit. These opportunities will be different for each business, so try to keep them realistic in your audit!
Website (Technical)
This is where you should write any suggestions on technical aspects of the website such as internal linking, title tags, overall structure, page speed, and other aspects. This section goes hand in hand with the next three sections below.
Homepage
The homepage is where a lot of things happen, so that’s why it should get its own section of the audit. There are usually plenty of ways to tweak a homepage, and all of those suggestions should be included here.
All Other Pages
If you have recommendations on any other existing pages besides the homepage, write them in this section. These could be pages such as “Services”, “About”, or “Contact Us”. Also take a look at items such as whether or not the website has blog posts that may work better as pages.
New Pages
There are always more pages that can be added! This section is where you should recommend any specific ideas you have for new pages.
Including these sections in your local SEO audit will give you a solid audit with actionable items to make your website better. While there are plenty of other sections to add, I always recommend sticking with the basics in order to see results.
I’m happy to help you run your local SEO audit and get your website the views it deserves. Learn more about my local SEO consulting fees.
I’m sure you have a really pretty new website. Really, I’m sure it is. By no means am I attacking its design.
All I am saying is that a nice new website is nothing without SEO. Sure some industries and businesses that are doing social media well don’t need to invest into SEO.
But the majority of you do need improved search rankings and more website traffic.
After all, why did you invest all that money into a new website? Because you believe it’s important. Of course it is. But if it’s not optimized for search or ranking well, what’s the point of that pretty website that no one can find?
Having a pretty new website but not investing into SEO is like buying a nice car that doesn’t come with an interior. The exterior of the car is like your website, nice and pretty. And the interior is like SEO, functioning as tool to generate more leads and sales for your business.
But without an interior you wouldn’t be able to maximize the car without being to sit and drive it around right?
The same can be said without SEO. You can’t maximize your pretty website without having it optimized so people and the search engines can’t find it.
Don’t Listen to the Hype
Social Media Experts or Ninjas or whatever self proclaimed cheesy name they have will tell you it’s all about social.
Gary Vaynerchuk happens to be one of my influencers. But he tends to blur the lines between local businesses and global businesses. He helped his family wine business by using social. But he had an e-commerce website and a very entertaining Video Wine Blog.
He does provide many great examples of local businesses doing well using Social Media in the “Thank You Economy”.
But local SEO is not dead and still important for many local businesses. Especially those whose products or services aren’t all that sexy. Think of any form of contractor, dentist or any business where their clients aren’t raving on Facebook or Twitter about their latest bike rack they got for their car.
I guess this is why we’re finding many of our clients and leads are either in the auto or home improvement industries. They’re not super sexy. You have to get creative when using social media if your product or service isn’t sexy or talked about much.
Besides, it’s hard for business owners like you to find the time to post and monitor your social media accounts.
That’s why I like SEO as an option. Someone else does it and your rankings stick. Plus, people will always be searching. It’s a fact. And they’ll be searching for your business.
The question is, will they scroll past the first page and discover that pretty new website of yours?
No matter if you don’t have a website or one that isn’t ranking very well, we can help you.
We are based in Victoria but President and SEO manager Jordan Caron is born and raised on the Island. His roots are in Qualicum Beach and he played golf over Duncan BC and the Cowichan Valley growing up. After graduating high school he moved to his current home in Victoria BC.
We’ve had such great success in the Victoria market with our clients websites that we would offer a SEO Duncan and SEO Cowichan services to businesses like yourself in the Valley.
No matter if you market is local or you are trying to reach new clients searching from anywhere, we will help your website improve it’s rankings. We do local SEO well.
Learn more about our SEO process, our packages and pricing and please visit our blog for some better understanding on how SEO works. Once you have a better understanding about our service, please contact us below using the form.
We look forward to helping improve your local search rankings in Duncan and throughout the Cowichan Valley.
No matter if you don’t have a website or one that isn’t ranking very well, we can help you.
We are based in Victoria but President and SEO manager Jordan Caron is born and raised on the Island. His roots are in Qualicum Beach and he played golf over Courtenay and the Comox Valley growing up. After graduating high school he moved to his current home in Victoria BC.
We’ve had such great success in the Victoria market with our clients websites that we would offer a SEO Courtenay and SEO Comox services to businesses like yourself in the Valley.
No matter if you market is local or you are trying to reach new clients searching from anywhere, we will help your website improve it’s rankings. We do local SEO well.
Learn more about our SEO process, our packages and pricing and please visit our blog for some better understanding on how SEO works. Once you have a better understanding about our service, please give us a call at 250-217-4176 or contact us below using the form.
We look forward to helping improve your local search rankings in Courtenay and throughout the Comox Valley.
I’m sure you have a really pretty new website. Really, I’m sure it is. By no means am I attacking its design.
No matter if you don’t have a website or one that isn’t ranking very well, we can help you.
No matter if you don’t have a website or one that isn’t ranking very well, we can help you.