The importance of Transparency

We work with a number of different clients all over the country.  Most of the industries that we work in are highly competitive.  Some of these niches are pretty well networked, and when someone is suddenly on page 1 for everything the competition notices. 

That being said, we have had a few instances where we were hired on by former clients competitors.  We have also turned down a number of high paying local SEO contacts because it was a direct conflict of interest.  We stay loyal to our clients and don’t take on their direct competition… as long as we are still working together. 

What is a Conflict of Interest in SEO?

While web design and site building are not a direct conflict; doing monthly SEO is.   Below is a screen shot from an SEO Facebook group that we are a part of.  Some of the answers are surprising to say the least.   It’s amazing what some “pro’s” have to say.

While some people have a rather jaded view of what their clients are all about, we value all of our clients and won’t pull shady nonsense like some of these guys.

False Promises

We have learned through experience that it is better to be upfront about everything and be honest… even if it hurts or could possibly cost us a client. When someone asks us for help with their SEO, we do an honest audit of the site and give reasonable expectations about time and deliverables.

Some people don’t always like that they hear, but you won’t hear false promises or outlandish expectations on any proposal that we send out. Promising someone “page 1” in a month is just bad SEO ethics.

Maintaining a good reputation

Good SEO shouldn’t hurt anyone, but it is an SEO’s job to get their clients ranking. There is always a limited amount of space on the first page, and everyone wants to be there. In our experience, many businesses don’t understand the importance of having a good internet presence until they no longer have one.

We try our best to be friendly with former clients. There have been cases where a former client have gotten quite upset that we are now helping their competition. The conversation was very close to having a heated conversation with a jealous ex rather than a former client.

Hiring an Ethical SEO

The best way to hire an SEO with ethics is to ask them questions before any agreement is made. We offer honest advice on our consultation calls, and don’t get butt hurt if someone decides to work with a larger agency that offers all the bells and whistles that we don’t.

Feel free to contact us for Local SEO help.

The post Business Ethics in SEO appeared first on Keep it Local SEO | Small Business SEO experts.

This is a very common question that we get, and there is no easy answer.  In this post we will go over a number of different factors involved in ranking a website. If you really want to know how long does SEO it take for you site to rank, you have to understand the following.

How well is your website optimized for SEO?

This is one of the most important factors in helping your site rank.  A well optimized site is basically the foundation for how well your site will perform. Poorly constructed sites will take much longer, and generally we will have to do a complete overhaul of a site before we start working on anything external.

Many of our clients come to us with pretty looking websites that have zero on page optimization.  This is usually a combination of incorrect metadata, missing alt tags, incorrect header tags, etc. These small web design flaws will cripple a sites rank progress.

This doesn’t just apply to small businesses. We have seen huge companies that with a staff in the thousands that have garbage sites (in regards to optimization).  Don’t feel bad about it.  Let a professional fix it.

How strong is your online reputation?

You are going to hear us preach online reputation all day long.  Good reputation helps you rank. Great reviews on your Google Business Page will bring in more clicks to your website.  It doesn’t make sense to rank your site for a number of search terms if you have a 2 star rating on every business profile online.

If you look at most of the “snack pack” (Top 3 in Google Maps), they have great reviews.  If you have bad reviews or no reviews, that is something that needs to be handled while we work on your site.  This way when you do start ranking, your potential clients see great reviews and are more likely to contact you.

How much competition is there online for your business?

If you are like most business owners out there, you probably provide a service or sell products that are not exclusive to only you.  There are hundreds of plumbers, contractors, roofers, nail salons, real estate agents, etc in any major city.  Odds are some of your competition has been in business longer than you, and their site has been up longer than yours as well. Some business niches are highly competitive and if your competition has a strong site with a good online reputation, that will greatly affect how long it takes your site to rank.

Everyone wants to be #1. We understand this and do our best to help our clients achieve their goal of ranking high. Every one of your competitors wants to be #1 as well.  Ranking a site in a competitive niche is an uphill battle, so be prepared to stick it out and then maintain your position when you get there.

How big is your SEO budget?

Proper SEO is an investment. One of the top reasons we turn away potential clients is a lack of budget for SEO. While we do understand that you may not have a huge budget to optimize and rank your site, we know what it takes (and what it costs) to get great results. The more competitive the niche, the more it will cost to rank.

The cost of ranking refers to man hours, tracking, research, outreach, link building, maintenance and much more.

Unlike other SEO agencies, we don’t outsource our SEO to other companies overseas.  We do all of our digital marketing work in house.

Local SEO or National SEO?

Local SEO is targeted to a specific area.  While the process to rank a site is generally the same, there are plenty of differences involved. Local businesses have more specific needs to show up high in the search engines.

While we do have national (and international) clients, we apply different strategies to rank our local clients.

How much can you contribute?

While many people would love to build a site and magically have it appear on Google, this is just not going to happen. Unless you are the one and only chimpanzee trainer in the USA, it can take a few months to a year for you to see page 1 rankings.  You have to treat your site like a living thing.  It needs to grow.

Growing a site means adding new content that is up to date and will keep your visitors engaged.  Google only knows and crawls what you put on the site.  If you offer a number of services, but don’t have content on the site listing these out, then don’t be surprised if you are not showing up for these terms.

How fast can you rank on Google?

Hopefully this has given you a general idea of what we have to deal with when we take on new clients.  While this all may seem simple, it is a process.  SEO is an artform that is constantly evolving as Google changes its algorithms.  We as SEO’s must stay up to date with what is going on and apply our knowledge and work ethic to our clients sites.

The post How Long Does SEO Take? appeared first on Keep it Local SEO | Small Business SEO experts.