Getting your website to the top of search engine rankings by using a mix of tried and tested techniques to jump ahead of the rest.
Are you looking for SEO Experts in Manchester. At Volume we have helped businesses in many different sectors to improve their organic rankings and get top search engine results.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the most important factors when considering a digital marketing strategy, this is because appearing at the top of all search engine results is key to providing good traffic to your website. Whether it’s leading to your homepage or a specific product you want to focus on, there is nothing more important than being on page one of search engine results.
Online advertising company Chitika conducted research which found that 95% of all search traffic is focused around the first page of Google. Additionally, they found traffic on the first page is focused on the top two results, the first result gets over 30% of all traffic and the second gets around 18%. Any rankings below get considerably lower.
There are three aspects which are important in order to reach the top spots on any search engine, on-site SEO, off-site SEO (link building) and content optimisation. However, the starting point for all forms of SEO strategy is keyword research. There are many different types of keywords which people will use to search for your products or services, and your business should be optimised around the ones that will give you the best conversions.
There is often confusion over the difference between SEO and PPC but it is quite easy to tell the difference. PPC refers to the paid search results that Google charges advertisers money for and are marked with the word ‘ad’. These appear in the top 3 or 4 and bottom 3 positions on a Google page, if there have been bids placed on that keyword.
SEO refers to the organic search results that appear between these ads. To achieve these positions your website must fulfil Google’s algorithm for delivering relevant and useful content for the keyword used in the search. As SEO experts in Manchester we will look at your website and build a strategy as to how to curate your site to improve your organic rankings.
Does my business need SEO?
If you want your customers to find your website easily online then the short answer is yes! Sometimes clients with smaller businesses think that SEO isn’t relevant for them, but unless you operate in a very niche industry where you can reach out directly to clients via phone or email, it is likely that generating enquiries online will be important to the growth of your business. And for those in highly competitive markets, search engine rankings can make a huge difference to long term success.
How long does SEO take to work?
It does really vary from sector to sector depending on the level of competition online, however as a rough guide you should allow at least 6 months to a year to see significant results. That isn’t to say that you won’t notice incremental improvements on a month by month basis, but initially progress will be quite slow as the search engines recrawl your site and take into account changes made. You will often hear people commenting that SEO is a marathon and not a sprint, and you should certainly see it as a long term investment in your business as opposed to a quick fix.
Should I do PPC or SEO if I only have a small budget?
Again it does depend on your sector, but in general we would recommend trying to do both if you can. SEO will set your business up for the long term and ultimately will provide a free source of sales or new business leads once it delivers the necessary page rankings. However running a small, targeted PPC campaign whilst your SEO is gaining traction is often a good idea as it will bring traffic to your site in the shorter term. Not least it will mean that Google crawls your site more frequently than it usually would, as it works to assess your Google Ads. You will also be able to glean valuable insight into the keywords that are most effective in driving traffic to your site.
Doesn't SEO just happen naturally?
It might over a long period of time, but if you think about how many millions of sites the search engines have to crawl, you will start to see you unlikely this is to happen without some intervention. In order for a new site to rank it will need to be identified by the search engines as a trustworthy source, it will need to have original content that is relevant to people’s searches and it needs to be set up in such a way that the search engines can easily find it. Using the knowledge of an SEO expert will help you to put your website in the best possible position to move up the rankings quickly and effectively.
Why has my page stopped ranking?
If all things were equal, once you got a URL to page one of Google it would stay there, however this doesn’t take into account the competition factor. Search engines are constantly striving to provide the best answers for users and if they find a web page that does this better than your site for a particular search term they will have no qualms in giving it the top slot. This can be frustrating but it is why SEO should be seen as an ongoing task and not a one off solution.
Keyword Research
On-site SEO
Off-site SEO
Technical SEO
