Search engine optimisation is a complicated subject. Most new clients have a bundle of questions about how SEO works It is a dense topic that is a part of a very difficult industry overall. You have all of these search engines from Google to Bing and others. You also have algorithm updates taking place within each nearly every day.
How SEO Works
Experts work to produce content with the intent of having articles ranked highly on the search engines. As someone looking into the search engine optimisation industry, just how do they do it? Is there a standard set of answers that experts will agree on or do arguments arise often? At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works!
The rarely mentioned fact is that the key to Search Engine optimisation is Comprehensive Onsite Optimisation.
How Much Should You Spend on SEO Services?
One of the most common questions that we see is about the cost of search engine optimisation services. What should you be spending on these services? There is no set dollar amount as it is going to depend on what your needs are. If you can do most of the work yourself, the cost for search engine optimisation services should be minimal. If you want to outsource the work though, expect to spend more. The goal should always be for a search engine optimisation campaign to return more than you put into it. At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works and what to pay for it!
How Long Does Search Engine Optimisation Take?
What is the timeframe that you can expect to start to see results from a search engine optimisation campaign? Can you open up a site and hope to have some of your articles ranked in a week or less?
Again, it will depend on the quality and frequency of the content you publish on that site. If you are only putting new material out there once per week, you should expect it to take at least a few months to a year before you start to see results. At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works and how long it will take to start seeing results!
Content is king when it comes to timing. If you are writing multiple weekly blog posts, working on link building and content promotion, you souls start to see results a lot faster. It all comes down to the length of time you put into it. The most important question you can ask is “What ROI can I expect to see from my SEO investment?“
Just remember, SEO takes time but delivers a long term value for your money, if you want fast results you need to put 25-50% of your budget to Adwords Management.
Does Search Engine Optimisation Require Coding?
Do you have to know how to write code to participate in the search engine optimisation industry? You do not need a coding background to learn and perform Search Engine Optimisation. It is going to help though if you have a bit of base technical knowledge going into it. There are some technical items that you are going to want to stay on top of as you work through your search engine optimisation strategy. The technical items will include the robot.txt file, meta descriptions, etc. Having that backend website knowledge will assist in you being able to manage these items better.
At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works, whats involved, what you can do yourself and what you should hand off to the experts.
How Do You Understand the Google Algorithm?
The Google algorithm is always changing. Google puts out regular updates that alter the way that it displays search results. How do you expect to be able to rank high when you do not know how the algorithm works? Google does not publish its algorithm either. It may put out release notes when it issues some of the algorithm updates, but it is nothing in detail. You have no choice but to rely on the search engine optimisation community in these situations.
At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works, we have even chronicled the history of Search Engine Algorithm changes and keep it updated every time there are new changes or updates.
How Do You Decide on Keywords?
How do you know you are targeting the correct keywords for your site? Search engines are far less concerned about keywords than they used to be. They rely more on semantic search by working to understand the intent of the user. There is a lot less of a focus on matching specific keywords to the request of a user and the related results. You can still pick good keywords for content topics though and stick with them. Look for common questions that users may have within the industry you operate. If you can work to create content and keywords that deliver your users value, you will be on the right track.
Years ago people used the Google Keyword planner to get their information, how ever the metrics and numbers are almost all gone so its virtually impossible to use now.
Keyword Finder is my personal favourite as it gives me powerful accurate information about which keywords are getting the right searches in Google and how many searches they are getting. Its great to have but you really need to think about the motivation behind a search term. You can also do a certain level of Keyword Research with SEM RUSH, however I much rather Keyword Finder personally. At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works, we are even open about some of the tools we use, they are not cheap but they do wonders!
How Do You Identify Keyword Stuffing?
Keyword stuffing is when you have a keyword in a piece of content far too many times. How do you know if you are doing this? Look at percentages of the keywords to the overall word count. Also, reread the content. If the keywords are forcing things to read unnaturally, you are probably stuffing. At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works and why you need to avoid keyword stuffing as much as possible.
How Do I Avoid the Google Blacklist?
No one wants to have their site blacklisted, especially by Google. When you are blacklisted you are ranked very low in the search engine results. The best way to keep onside with Google is to avoid spam, black-hat link building schemes, keyword stuffing, and other ‘illegal practices’.
The aim is to ensure the majority of your backlinks are coming from good sources, sources with a high domain authority. Sure, you can have a few questionable backlinks here and there and it wont affect you in a negative way, however its cheap and easy to do it that way and can sometimes get a bit out of control. The other problem is that you don’t know what is being done with Black-hat link building and how many actual backlinks they are really doing so it may throw out your who backlink profile. Buyer beware! Want to know more about this? Check out this article on Forbes. At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works and how to avoid the Google Slap or Blacklist.
Can Link Building Be Harmful?
Link building does not have to be harmful at all! The idea of quality link building is very positive for your site and its content overall. You want to use good sources for your links. Look for legitimate high quality links, Those links that are content oriented are usually going to be best.
For example, you can find blog sites which offer their readers good information, write an article and send it in with your BIO and ask that they publish your article (better to ask first), this is the best way of building high quality backlinks. This is called Guest Posting, it takes time and energy to get done – or you can have us do it for you! At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works how how to get the right backlinks to boost your online authority.
What is Local SEO All About?
You may have heard of the concept of localised search engine optimisation. What is that all about? Local SEO is a process to try to rank highly for specific keywords and types of content targeted at a particular geographic area. If you are used home builder in Sydney Australia for example, you may want to write content that is targeted towards that city specifically, rather than trying to compete with all the other builders websites and their content across the whole of Australia. At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works, especially using your Google Business Listing to rank locally for the search phrases ou need to dominate!
Is SEO Really Worth It?
Yes, search engine optimisation is worth it! Most businesses that put in the time to give search engine optimisation a fair shot end up getting a lot of benefits out of it in the long run. It takes patience and commitment to the process. At Managed SEO we have a simple yet affective 5 step framework which we use to get constant results for our clients.
The goal of this blog post is to help clarify some of the misconceptions that exist about search engine optimisation. To answer some of the more common questions that exist on the technical elements of SEO. Hopefully, we have done that so you can enjoy your path into the SEO world. At Managed SEO we love to show people how SEO works and why it is worth doing! If you are looking for Shopify SEO we can help you with that as well!
Please read more about our 5 step system, it will help you see the roadmap to quality search engine rankings!
