What is SEO? Why Hire An SEO Advertising Agency in 2023?

Updated as of 03/023

Search engine optimization (SEO) has been creating buzz in the marketing biz. While the idea isn’t new, its impact is now widely recognized – and marketers are working hard to develop strategies that center on SEO.

M2 remains ahead of the curve, with best practices already in place. In fact, we have an entire team dedicated solely to SEO! Read on to learn more about the importance of SEO, and how our marketing specialists can help skyrocket your site to the top of the results page.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization, in theory, is really quite simple. Good SEO makes your brand more visible to online users, increasing the odds that they click through to your website from the search page.

Just think about it: when was the last time you waded through the results on Google’s first page and looked to the second? It’s probably been awhile. Your target audience is the same, often choosing a result from the top of the list. That’s why it’s crucial that your brand is found there!

What is Local SEO?
Local SEO best serves businesses with multiple locations. It strives to boost visibility around each physical location, targeting users searching for services or products near them.

What is the Difference Between SEO vs Local SEO?
While the overall goal to increase visibility is the same, SEO and local SEO take different approaches. While traditional SEO seeks to reach consumers everywhere, local SEO is more targeted. In addition to the local component, there’s also an element of urgency for those searching for something near them. That makes local SEO suitable for businesses whose customers primarily make purchases at a brick-and-mortar location. SEO, on the other hand, is best for businesses that generate sales online.

Can I Do SEO on My Own?

Simple answer, maybe!

You don’t have to hire anyone to handle your SEO – you could do it yourself. There are plenty of guides, tips, tutorials and training videos explaining how to implement the principles.

The next question you should ask yourself is, do you have time?

That’s why hiring an experienced SEO agency is often the best solution. SEO is constantly growing and so are major platforms like Google. As you run the daily operations of your business, you have to optimize content and page structure, research and select relevant keywords, build links, run A/B tests, and analyze website performance. There’s a lot involved in getting visibility for your website and changes to the industry are constant. Hiring an SEO agency means you can get the exposure you want and ROI quicker than if you learn everything from scratch yourself.

4 Reasons to Hire an SEO Advertising Agency

Reason #1: An SEO Specialist Has Valuable Insights Into the Industry.
The SEO world spins FAST, with new technologies and resources constantly emerging. Most businesses can’t spare the manpower required to handle SEO properly – so trust a professional instead! Our SEO team works diligently to stay up to date, handling the nitty gritty details so you can focus on what you do best.

Reason #2: Data Analysis Can Be Tricky.
Discovering your target audience requires data. Lots of it. An SEO specialist can help digest it, distilling the facts and figures into a comprehensive marketing strategy. We can also track which web pages and keywords are performing best, and then further optimize them.

Reason #3: We Know How to Make Every Keyword Count.
We’ve all heard that content is king, and in the realm of SEO, the right keywords reign supreme. Choosing them requires a keen eye, though. An SEO advertising agency performs in-depth research to identify the most searched keywords, then makes sure they feature prominently in your content. That way you’ll get the most clicks for your keyword, and ultimately, the most bang for your buck.

Content is anything that your audience views or hears, including:

Blog posts
Infographics
Videos
Web page copy
Social posts
Podcasts
Google My Business pages
Email newsletters

Reason #4: Keep Your Brand From Making a Major Blunder.
Search engines can be finicky, and there are certain terms that they just plain dislike. That’s why, although SEO might sound simple, an amateur approach can have serious consequences. Nothing drops search traffic faster than a website that doesn’t perform – whether it takes too long to load, has obvious errors, or is full of harmful digital content. A trained SEO specialist can ensure you avoid these mistakes, and spare you from learning the hard way.

How Do I Know If My Website Needs SEO for the Type of Work and Industry I Am In?

The easiest way to know if you need SEO for the type of work you do – research the competition.

By researching your competitors, you can see what keywords they are targeting and how much organic search traffic they are receiving. You should also research the types of content they are creating and the strategies they are using to optimize their websites. This will give you an idea of how competitive your industry is and whether or not you need to invest in SEO.

At Motivated Marketing, we handle both site audits of your website and will perform a competitor analysis of your competition to see their visibility online in comparison to your own. With tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, AI, and more, we have the resources to determine who is the best in your industry and how to compete. Then, we will strategize on how to implement the optimization needed to allow your website to stand toe-to-toe with the best of them.

Basic Understanding of SEO | Important Concepts to Know

Creating High-Quality Content

High-quality content is essential for SEO success. Creating content for your website is essential if you want your audience to gain value. Your content must be informative, gripping, and pertinent to your intended audience. Crafting content of high quality will bring more people to your website and increase the likelihood of other websites linking to it, thus improving your SEO ranking. Transitions words such as ‘if’ and ‘thus’ can be used to make the content flow better. Additionally, using passive voice when writing content can also add to the professionalism of the text.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is a critical aspect of SEO. By researching the keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for, you can optimize your website’s content to better match their search queries. It’s important to choose the right keywords and phrases for your content, as this can significantly impact your website’s ranking on SERPs. Some popular SEO tools to use include Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz Keyword Explorer to conduct keyword research.

Website Architecture

Website architecture refers to the structure and organization of your website’s content. A well-structured website can significantly improve your SEO ranking, as it makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content. By organizing your content into logical categories and using descriptive URLs, you can improve your website’s navigability and help search engines better understand your content.

Link Building

Link building is an essential component of any SEO strategy. We’ll work to build high-quality, relevant links to your website from other authoritative websites in your industry. This will not only help improve your website’s search rankings but also drive referral traffic to your website.

Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website’s content. Backlinks are an essential part of SEO. They help search engines decide if your website’s content is important and respectable. By constructing high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites, your SEO ranking will greatly improve.

User Experience

User experience refers to how easy and enjoyable it is for users to navigate your website and consume your content. Having a good user experience is essential for SEO success. With a user-friendly website that loads quickly and is easy to navigate, you can help visitors stay on your website for longer and encourage them to return. This will improve your website’s ranking on SERPs.

On-Page SEO

Once we have our target keywords, we’ll begin optimizing your website’s on-page elements. This includes optimizing your page titles, meta descriptions, headers, and content to include your target keywords. We’ll also ensure that your website’s URL structure is optimized for search engines.

Title Tag Optimization: The most important thing for search engines to consider when ranking a webpage is the title tag. It should include the primary keyword and be no more than 60 characters.
Meta Description Optimization: A meta description is a short summary which appears below the title tag. It should also include the primary keyword, but be shorter than 160 characters.
Header Tags Optimization: Header tags help to make the content on a webpage easier to read. The primary keyword should be included in the H1 tag and H2 and H3 tags can be used for subheadings.
Content Optimization: Search engines look closely at the content of a webpage when ranking it. To get the best results, the primary keyword and related keywords should be included in high-quality, informative, and engaging content.
Image Optimization: Images can also help a webpage to rank better. This can be done by compressing the size, adding descriptive alt tags, and using relevant file names.

Off-Page Optimization

Off-page optimization is a way of making sure that a website is as successful as possible in search engine rankings. Making sure your website has a good online presence involves a few steps. Firstly, obtaining positive reviews and links from other websites is key. Additionally, its important to share the website on social media, and to be listed in relevant online directories.

To outrank a competitors, we recommend the following off-page optimization techniques:

Link Building: Getting quality links from other websites is the process of link building. To do this, we suggest creating content that is interesting, helpful, and draws other websites to link to it.
Social Media Optimization: Social media plays an important role in improving a website’s ranking in search engines. We suggest setting up profiles on popular social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram and optimizing them accordingly.
Online Directories: Being listed in online directories can also help with a website’s search engine ranking. We suggest submitting the website to popular online directories such as Google My Business, Yelp, and Yellow Pages.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to the optimization of your website’s technical elements, such as your website’s site speed, mobile-friendliness, and schema markup.

With the goal of increasing your website’s visibility, it’s important to optimize its technical elements. We’ll audit your website to determine if any technical issues exist that could hinder its performance. From there, we’ll provide helpful suggestions to improve its speed, mobile-friendliness, schema markup and more.

SEO Reporting

SEO management can help improve a website’s ranking on the internet. To do so, the SEO team must conduct extensive research and analysis. This includes looking into keywords, building links, tracking the website’s rank, monitoring traffic, auditing content, and comparing the website to its competitors. All of this helps the team determine the best ways to enhance the website and its ranking. Transitioning is important to ensure a successful SEO strategy.

Staying on top of our SEO plan’s effectiveness is critical. To ensure this, we’ll set objectives like tracking website visits, gauging our website’s rank for certain keywords, and monitoring the number of people ultimately making a purchase. This way, we can verify our SEO plan’s effectiveness and make any necessary modifications. If you require assistance, consider enlisting Motivated Marketing to provide direction.

Need A SEO Agency Near Me, Choose A Full-Service Marketing Agency like Motivated Marketing

A strong SEO strategy positions your brand at the top of the page – and the top of your audience’s minds. At Motivated Marketing, our Charleston marketing agency can help you claim that top spot, with a dedicated SEO team focused solely on search engine optimization. Contact us today to get started!

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