First, let's look at the alternative.  Traditionally digital marketing requires you to spend money in order to make money. 

For example, you're running ads online or have a billboard advertisement.  The problem is that when you stop paying for this, your sales pipeline will dry up. 

Alternatively, with SEO, when you rank on the first page of Google and other search engines, you're generally there to stay. 

That means you don't have to continue funding this advertising engine in order to get consistent, qualified leads. 

With SEO the leads never end.

Our typical SEO process looks like this:

MONTH 1: Onboarding, Site Review, Strategy Development 

Month 1 Task List:

• Baseline SEO Audit and Report – Thoroughly audit and document existing rankings, link profile, internet presence, and social media. This baseline report will be updated and sent to you on a monthly basis. The report will include:
  • Keyword Rankings 
  • Popular Pages
  • Visibility Compared to Competitors
  • Organic Search Analytic Overview
  • Backlink Profile
• Website Audit – Conduct a thorough review of your website to determine your current site's strengths and weaknesses and identify potential challenges.
• Client Onboarding Meeting/Call – During our kick-off meeting/questionnaire, we will:
  • Learn about your company, competitors, customers, and target demographic
  • Review the Baseline SEO Report and Website Audit
  • Discuss historical and present website SEO efforts
  • Identify key metrics of success (traffic, conversions, etc.)
  • Set goals (traffic, primary conversions, secondary conversions)

• Information Exchange – Client to provide website access (i.e. FTP, WordPress login) and access to any existing web tool accounts (i.e. Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools)
• Keyword Research, Analysis, and Selection – Research keywords and related phrases to identify primary and secondary keywords.
• Develop Onsite SEO Strategy – Review Website Audit and create a comprehensive strategy to improve the site's overall onsite SEO.
• Develop Landing Page Optimization Strategy – Analyze existing keyword target pages and create an optimization strategy that focuses on these pages.
• Develop Content Strategy – Create content strategy including release frequency, topics, resources, and writers.
• Develop Website Authority & Link Building Strategy – Evaluate current backlink profile and authority metrics to develop off-site SEO strategy including:
  • Citation Cleanup (Directories, Company Listings, Etc.)
  • Backlink Analysis and Cleanup
  • Link Building Strategy and Budget
• Create SEO Strategy Brief – Summarize all strategies into a single SEO Strategy Brief that will be updated and sent to you on a monthly basis.
  • Target Keywords and Landing Pages
  • Onsite SEO Strategy
  • Landing Page Optimization Strategy
  • Content Strategy/Schedule
  • Website Authority and Link Building Strategy

MONTH 2: Onsite Optimization

Once we have planned your overall SEO strategy, the next step is to optimize your website. During this stage, we will make sure your website and all landing pages are properly optimized for search engines. In addition, we will ensure there is a relevant and properly optimized landing page on your website for each targeted keyword phrase outlined in the strategy brief.

Month 2 Task List: 

• Monthly SEO Audit and Key Metrics Report – Audit existing metrics and prepare monthly report.
• Implement Overall Onsite SEO Strategy – Implement overall onsite SEO strategy as outlined in the SEO Strategy Brief.
• Implement Landing Page Optimization Strategy – Create and/or optimize landing pages to focus on target keyword phrases.
• Prepare to Implement Content Strategy – Onboard writers and submit topics for professionally written, keyword targeted blog/site content.
• Implement Website Authority & Link Building Strategy – Create foundation links using techniques outlined in the Website Authority & Link Building Strategy, and make any necessary onsite changes to support offsite optimization and link building.
• Review Social Media Strategy (If applicable) – Review Social Media Strategy and make any necessary onsite changes to support these efforts such as default page titles, descriptions, and graphics.
• Update SEO Strategy Brief – Create checklist of completed items, update SEO Strategy Brief, and send to client.

MONTH 3: Off-Site Optimization

Once your site is optimized, it is time to re-review your internet presence and start getting the updated page information out to the search engines.

Month 3 Task List: 

• Monthly SEO Audit and Key Metrics Report – Audit existing metrics and prepare monthly report.
• Review Onsite SEO – Review onsite SEO and make necessary adjustments.
• Review Landing Page Optimization Strategy – Review landing page optimization and make necessary adjustments.
• Implement Content Strategy – Begin adding fresh content, according to the schedule defined in the Content Strategy.
• Continue Executing Website Authority & Link Building Strategy – Continue building links and search engine authority, using the methods outlined in the Website Authority & Link Building Strategy.
• Update SEO Strategy Brief – Update SEO Strategy Brief, and send to client.

ONGOING: Monthly SEO Maintenance and Updates

The first three months laid a solid foundation on which to build your website's authority with the search engines. 

To keep the momentum going, it is essential to continue posting and promoting fresh content on a regular basis and monitor and fine-tune your SEO strategy each month.

Ongoing Monthly Task List: 

• Monthly SEO Audit and Key Metrics Report – Audit existing metrics and prepare monthly report.
• Monitor and Fine-Tune Onsite SEO – Review onsite SEO and make necessary adjustments.
• Continue Executing Landing Page Optimization Strategy – Review landing page optimization and make necessary adjustments.
• Continue Executing Content Strategy – Add fresh content, according to the schedule defined in the Content Strategy.
• Continue Executing Website Authority & Link Building Strategy – Continue building links and search engine authority, using the methods outlined in the Website Authority & Link Building Strategy.
• Continue Executing Social Media Strategy (If applicable) – Implement the Social Media Strategy as outlined in the SEO Strategy Brief.

Update SEO Strategy Brief – Create checklist of completed items, update SEO Strategy Brief, and send to client.

Google Ads or Social Media Ads are great for bringing leads to your doorstep immediately.  These are people who are actively searching for a solution to their problem.

SEO is about sustainability, it's more of a marathon than it is a sprint.  Proper SEO takes time but once you reach the first page for your desired search terms, you're likely not going anywhere anytime soon.

In fact, most of our clients utilize SEO and Google or Social Media Ads at the same time.  That way they start generating leads immediately while their SEO is climbing and it's easier for the return on investment from Paid Advertising to pay for SEO services.

Using this approach, you now potentially take up real estate on the first page in 2 - 3 positions (your ads, your local listing and your organic SEO listing).

There is no easy answer to this question.  It all depends on your company, how competitive the landscape is and how competitive the keywords are.  We generate what's known as "long-tail keywords" for easy wins while your more competitive keywords climb in the ranks.

Generally, you can see results in as little as 1 month.  In most cases, it may be 3 - 6 months before you reach the top of the first page for more competitive keywords.

While working with our agency you can expect that we have the systems and processes down to provide you with an exceptional experience while working with us.

You don't have to worry about us taking vacations, not answer phone calls or emails or all of a sudden disappearing on you.

While working with Freelancers is certainly not a bad thing, these are risks you essentially carry if you don't work with an agency.

We're also able to provide support on many different areas of your digital marketing because we have experts in their fields and 10+ years of experience.

This stands for "Name, Address, Phone number" and is important because you want all of your directory listings to be consistent with the same NAP to not confuse Google or your customers.

"Citations" is another word for Directories.  The more citations your business has the more legitimate you look to Google and your customers.  Most of the directories also provide you with a backlink back to your website.

On-site SEO includes but is not limited to:

• Meta Descriptions
• Site Depth
• Meta Titles
• Rate of Audience Engagement
• Content Quality
• Redirects
• Content Length
• Duplicate Content
• Content Freshness
• Social Tags
• URL Structures
• Broken Links
• Internal Links
• Outbound Links
• Keyword Usage
• Image Title Tags
• Site Depth

Off-site SEO includes but is not limited to:

• Keyword & competitive analysis
• Backlinks
• Link building & outreach
• Tracking and reporting
• Social media
• Article submission
• Directory listings

Technical SEO usually includes but is not limited to:

• Site Speed
• Mobile Friendliness
• Crawlability
• Meta Security
• Secure Forms and Data Entry
• User Experience