How long before I should expect results from SEO?
When you invest in SEO, you are investing in a marketing strategy that is long-term and is meant to become a fundamental way to drive leads for your business, for the life of your business.
Unlike purchasing advertising (be it online or off), the return on your investment from organic search marketing will typically not be realized immediately. This is important to keep in mind.
Now, to actually answer the question: In most cases, we are able to achieve measurable gains in organic search traffic for our clients in anywhere between 3 and 4 months.
However, the goals that we define at the start of the project (based on far better metrics like actual conversions!) are typically reached in 8 to 12 months
What is the difference between local and organic SEO?
Local SEO refers to the process of optimizing your businesses online local listings so that they can be found via searches that trigger localized search results.
The majority of this optimization work goes into your businesses local presence on Google. For example, if you were a injury lawyer in Yamika, you’d want your business to show up in these search results for the query “personal injury lawyer”:
Local SEO Example
With local SEO for lawyers, work is done in essentially 3 places:
- On your Google Local, Bing Local, and Yahoo! Local Business listings
- On your business listing on other local directory websites
- On your website
Organic SEO has some overlap with local, but here we are interested in optimizing your website so that it can be found for relevant search queries, which do not trigger localized results.
For example, if you had a website on which you took maritime injuyr cases, you’d want to show up here:
Organic SEO Example
With organic SEO, work is essentially performed in 2 areas:
- On your website
- Off of your website (link building)
How many hours of work will be done on my project on a monthly basis?
Our budget rate is $200 per hour. This means that the number of hours that we will work on your project per month can be calculated by simply dividing your monthly investment by $200.
Please do note however that we are committed to meeting agreed upon goals.
If we ever find ourselves in a situation where we failed to deliver to expectations, budget restrictions will be ignored and we will do what is necessary to live up to our commitment.
Once I sign up, what does the process for getting started look like?
Once you decide to hire us, then what?
1. Payment
First, we need payment (we wish we could work for free but, alas, we have to eat too!). Typically, we send an invoice to you via email for the first month of the project. You can pay with the credit card of your choice. If you have a specific method of payment in mind, we will do whatever we can to accommodate.
2. Client Intake
Next, we need to begin the process of gathering all of the information we need to get to work. This starts with assigning a project manager to your project. Each of our clients has a dedicated project manager who is their primary point of contact.
From here, your project manager will send over the client intake form. This form is designed to give us all of the information we need to get started.
3. Kick-off meeting
Once the payment goes through and we receive the client intake information, your project manager will be in touch with you to have a project kick-off meeting. At this meeting, goals for month 1 will be set, deliverables will be defined, your project manager will request any additional information needed, and you can ask any questions that you have as well.
Do we provide PPC management services?
The short answer: yes. We are however very select with our campaigns and minimum budgets. If you’re interested in a SEM campaign please inquire with our consultants to see if one of these campaigns would be ideal for your website.
What type of content should I put on my blog?
In short, publish the most useful content possible, which addresses the primary questions and concerns of your customers and potential customers.
Many businesses add industry news to their blog. While this is useful at times, it puts your blog content in direct competition with news sites. Why do that? I am sure that you have heard many times that having a blog is an important aspect to your online marketing efforts, but unless there is strategy behind that content, it becomes quite a useless endeavor.
When your current, or prospective, customers and clients are searching for answers to specific questions surrounding your niche, your blog is an ideal place to answer those questions. This promotes the strategic advantage of being seen as an expert at the precise time that these prospective clients are searching for an answer to their question. In essence, they find YOUR answer, and that places your company in a position to be seen as a trusted expert on the topic. That’s a great place, and time, to promote your business!
Quantitatively, how do I know SEO is working?
The first thing that must be understood is that SEO is a long-term marketing strategy. Keep that in mind.
If the SEO company/consultant you have hired is worth their salt, the technical answer to this question is immediately upon hiring them. Structuring your site in a way that promotes your SEO strategy is an important step to ensure success, and that process should be started from the get-go.
Having said that, numbers must control the decisions that guide strategy. From the initial keyword research, all the way to the ongoing strategy, numbers must guide the strategy. Reporting the progress of the SEO strategy depends on those same numbers. Understanding those numbers is a great way to know whether your SEO is/will work for your company.
It needs to be clear, however, that although higher ranking drive traffic, driving more business is the point of investing in SEO. It is the sales increases of your business, the increased number of case sign ups, or people walking through your door that constitutes the reason behind why money is invested in SEO. Let those numbers be the quantitative guideline to gauge the effectiveness of your SEO strategy, but remember, this is an investment that is empathetic to your long-term business goals. We want your business to thrive now, in 5 years, and in 15 years from now. We hope to attract clients who want the same.
Additional Frequently Asked SEO Questions
What are the SEO Basics & SEO Term Glossary