What is Search Engine Optimisation / What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation, often referred to as SEO, is the method used to make websites rank as highly as possible on a search engine. Given that many users of search engines such as Google and Bing want to find a site that meets their needs as quickly as possible, it is essential that websites are listed on the first page. Research shows that the first ‘organic’ listing on a page (that is an a listing that is not a paid advert) get’s between 36% and 56% of all of the traffic on that page.
For the purposes of SEO in the United Kingdom, the usual focus is ranking well on Google. Why Google? Simply because Google has circa 90% of the search engine market.
Why do I need SEO?
Did you not read the first paragraph? Your site will get between 36% and 56% of all the clicks if you can make it to number one on page one! Imagine your business capturing all of those clicks. If you have a website that can convert clicks to customers then that is a serious amount of potential customers.
Can you guarantee I will be number one on Google?
Don’t let anybody guarantee you a number one spot on Google. Think about it this way, if you have two companies in the same business who are both competing for the same keyword, both with an SEO company that guarantees a number one spot, what will happen? They can’t both be number one.
It all comes down to who has the most ‘relevant’ website for a search term. How Google determine what is relevant is a closely guarded secret but they do give lots of clues. You wouldn’t expect to type in to Google “plumbers in Liverpool” and be presented with a website that talks about model trains in Newcastle. What we can guarantee is that your website will be optimised to the highest possible standard for your search terms both in terms of content, coding, and the all important inbound links. We can’t say you will without doubt be number one because that would be dishonest, but we can say we know what to do to give you the best possible chance of making it.
Is all SEO the same?
No. Broadly speaking there are two types of SEO. ‘White Hat’ is the type of SEO that we participate in, where sites are optimised, inbound links generated and everything is one in accordance with Googles guidelines. ‘Black Hat’ SEO can be very effective but these practices are a little more underhand and Google take a dim view on anybody participating in black hat SEO. The penalties can be up to and including complete exclusion from the search engine.
The services offered by SEO companies differs too. Many people reading this will have had the usual email from SEO companies promising 1000’s of inbound links, the promise of being number one and a impressive looking number of services. But having 1000’s of links or blogs from poor quality sources doesn’t actually do any good. It would be better to have one high quality link to your site than 100 low quality link. You may have guessed by now that we only link from quality sites.
Another thing many SEO companies do is take a lazy view. They tend to focus on link building, blog writing and social media. That is all very good but your website needs optimising too. Here is what Hubbaguru do that many others don’t:
- Start with an audit of the competition looking at their keywords, their site design, user experience and the text they use. This takes the most time but is essential to plan a campaign. Why do we do it? Because the chances are your competition don’t!
- Find the keywords that will yield the best results – there is no point in focusing on a keyword that is not going to get you traffic
- Amend your website content so it is optimised for your keywords and others related to them. Easy? No, we have to ensure that the website still reads well for the end user. This is a key point that other SEO companies miss
- Amend the site coding. Meta tags (the code Google uses to find the page title and description), image titles, video titles etc
- Fix errors. Google hates coding errors – we fix them!
- Add pages where necessary – yes, we will even build on your site if required!
- Optimise page URLs
- Improve the user experience by making your site easier to use and more relevant to them
- Ensure that sites have up to date sitemaps, are authorised on Google and statistics are available
- Optimise your listing to get conversions. It’s great being number one but what if your listing is so unattractive it puts people off?
- Optimise your listing again! We will try and get Google to show reviews of your products or services so you stand out
- Optimise your listing a third time! Okay, let’s really push the boat out and make your listing look like the premium listing on the page by having an image next to it. That should really stand out from the crowd.
- Perform all of the tasks the other SEO companies do by submitting you to directories etc
One thing you will notice is this is an intensive approach – no stone is left unturned. Our focus is on your website not the inbound links. We’re different.
How long does SEO take to work?
Some SEO results are quicker than others and the truth is it’s up to Google how long it takes. Many of the changes we make can be seen in as little as a few days, some a few weeks and some a few months. Depending on where you start in the rankings, the keywords you target and the amount of competition you have we would give an indicative time of between 1 – 9 months.
Why should I choose Hubbaguru?
For all of the reasons mentioned above. We do things the detailed way by looking at optimising your site in every possible way, not just getting some links to your site and altering a few titles and descriptions. Don’t settle for anything less that a full SEO service, to do so is a waste of money.