Tag: An introduction to SEO

One of the main questions we get asked about at Trident is “How much does SEO cost?”

There are a lot of things that can mean the cost can vary and we’ll explain more in this blog.

Over the years SEO has left people confused because they don’t understand what’s included in the service and how it works, we’ll explain more here, including what you should be looking for when commissioning SEO services for yourself.

What is SEO?

Firstly, we’ll just cover here what SEO (or Search Engine Optimisation) is. SEO in simple terms is how you optimise your site and your content so that it appears higher up the search engine rankings on sites like Google and Bing for your target keyword. This is the ranking on search engines outside of the adverts that appear on the search results page – it’s only for organic traffic.

On-site SEO

A typical SEO campaign should include technical and on-site SEO. This would include on-site changes to the technical aspect of your website to make the search engine find the information more easily. In addition, there would be further on-page changes, such as making the content more relevant for your user’s queries, which in turn would help your site rank higher for those search terms. This might include making new landing pages or writing blogs to enable users to find the information they are looking for about your business and how you can help them, or how your product makes their life better.

Off-site SEO

The other important part of SEO is off-site SEO. This is where you are doing work outside of your website to improve your ranking. This is usually done by getting more credible websites to link to your website and give you a backlink to your own site. Having more backlinks gives the search engines more trust that your site is a credible site and then in turn will make your site rank higher. The best ways to get backlinks are – building directory listings, guest blogging, and getting great content on your own site that loads of other websites want to link to and share. Having more backlinks can increase your domain authority which is a measure of the level of credibility for your domain.

How much does SEO cost? 

The cost of SEO can vary and this really depends on a number of factors. The main driver for the cost of SEO is the amount of time being spent on your campaign and what drives the amount of time required is usually one of 3 things:

• Number of keywords or search terms you want to optimise for
• The competitiveness of your keywords
• If you are trying to rank locally or nationally (linked to competitiveness, but local searches can still be fiercely competitive!).

The more competitive your keywords are the more time that is needed to produce great content and gain higher quality backlinks in order for your site to rank highly.

Some agencies will charge upwards of £5000/month for blue-chip businesses. Some businesses will offer SEO for as low as £50/month – but given what we have outlined above, you have to question if they can commit the level of resource required to make your site competitive and rank for your search terms. As a guide, at Trident the cost of SEO starts at £375 per month for smaller local businesses and can range to over £1000/month for larger businesses with competitive keywords. If you’re interested in finding out how we can help you, contact us today.

To conclude, the price of SEO does vary, but often as SEO is a long-term strategy for most businesses, and the results can drive great returns it’s one worth considering for a lot of businesses. If you’ve not considered SEO and would like to have your site audited to see how you rank against your competitors, get in touch and we’ll talk you through that and any improvements you might like to make.

SEO consists of multiple strategies, actions, and best practices, all of which have the goal of improving your website’s position in search engines. This is why it’s called search engine optimisation. Here’s why SEO is so important for a business.

1. An organic search is often the main source of website traffic.

If you have a website for your business, then you want to get as many pairs of eyes on it as possible. With SEO, an organic search that matches the terms you have optimised can drive relevant traffic to your site, getting you more views, more potential leads, and more conversions.

2. SEO builds trust and credibility.

In the early days of SEO, there were lots of shortcuts to help you rank. As the algorithms have got smarter, this isn’t the case anymore. By providing valuable content, you can improve your rankings, building trust and credibility.

3. SEO gives a better user experience.

People don’t want to search for ages for the information or product they need it. By using SEO to make sure you can deliver relevant, valuable content, and give site visitors a good experience and a reason to start on the site.

4. Local SEO.

People often search using ‘near me’ if they’re looking for a service in their local area. If your business relies on local customers, then it’s good to be seen in the vicinity to build your brand in the local market. Google My Business is the easiest way to rank locally, with information like opening hours and contact details.

5. Understanding SEO helps you understand the web and ultimately your business leads.

You can get a better idea of why people are coming to your site, what they’re looking for, and how you can deliver what they want. This creates repeat business, loyal customers, and more conversions.

6. SEO is relatively cheap in the long-term.

A lot of SEO work is done on-page. It’s a long-term strategy that should be incorporated into your website structure and your content. By making SEO a central part of your online presence, it doesn’t have to be expensive.

7. SEO highlights new opportunities.

You should keep a close eye on the results your SEO is delivering. See what terms people are searching on your site and on search engines to find you. These results can show what your audience is interested in, so you know what content to create to keep bringing them back.

8. Page one of Google is where you need to be.

Think about your own search engine use. You probably only click on the first few results, and almost certainly don’t go beyond the first page of results. To get traffic, you need to be on the first page of Google when people search a term you have optimised for. SEO can help you get there so you can generate as much relevant traffic as possible.

Struggling to increase traffic to your website?

Contact us, we are an SEO agency Leicester and we’d love to hear from you.

If you have a website, then you are going to need to think about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). In simple terms, SEO is how you optimize your site and your content so that it appears higher up the search engine rankings on sites like Google and Bing for your target keyword. 

The search engines themselves have their own criteria that they use to evaluate and rank websites.  These search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated when it comes to ranking content and now place focus on the user experience.  A great user experience boils down to a quick, well-designed website, with relevant content.

Relevance is a major component of modern SEO. How well a site’s content matches the search terms used is vital and can have a huge effect on your search engine rankings.

A word of caution, don’t be tempted to produce loads of poor quality, keyword targeted content just for the sake of it.

How to make your content relevant

If you take the time to make sure that your content is relevant, then users are going to engage with that content, rather than simply looking for answers elsewhere. This shows that your site is relevant to that particular search term. 

So how do you ensure that your site is relevant? Well, there are a number of basics you’ll have to cover in order to improve your rankings. This includes doing your keyword research to make sure that you’re targeting the right ones and maintaining a good keyword density throughout your content. Thankfully, the days of keyword stuffing are over, not only does it look bad, but it will directly affect your credibility with visitors as your content will read badly and make you look unprofessional. 

Keep on top of your technical SEO too, this includes making sure that your title tags and meta descriptions are all up to date and relevant to your content and search terms. 

A word of caution, don’t be tempted to produce loads of poor quality, keyword targeted content just for the sake of it. Users are far more sophisticated than this. They are looking for quality, relevant content. Concentrate on creating better content rather than more of it, it will ultimately benefit your rankings.