Is the quality of your site content keeping customers from finding your site? You’ve likely spent a lot of time creating content for your site. But, does your site content actually give your customers what they’re looking for?
Quality content is defined by effectiveness in accomplishing two goals:

1. Giving your target audience relevant, meaningful and engaging content.
2. Provides search engines the information they need to return relevant search engine page results.

Search engines use a variety of factors to assess the quality of content, including engagement metrics, the content itself, and how authoritative it is.

Engagement metrics

• Click-through rate (CTR)
• Bounce rate
• Time spent on page
• Interactions with content, such as likes, shares, and comments
  

Content factors

• The frequency of content publication
• The quantity of quality content
• The age of the domain
• The keywords and search terms used in the title tag and headlines
• The number of authority websites linking to the content
• The social validation the content gets
• The popularity of the content
• The use of images and videos
• The length of posts and webpages

Authority

• The E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) metric
• Whether the content is produced by a subject matter expert
• Whether the content's topic aligns with the website's knowledge in that specific area 

​If your business is struggling to be found online, reach out. Our experts will help you be found fast, impress and convert people into customers.
 
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User-generated content (UGC) can make or break your businesses reputation. Engaging reviews with inviting photos attracts new customers, while fuzzy or unflattering images can drive them away. Here’s how to encourage great UGC while minimizing poor-quality contributions.

Proactively Encourage High-Quality ContentAsk happy customers to share. One of the simplest ways to get high-quality UGC is to ask customers directly. Train your staff to encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and share photos. A simple prompt like “If you enjoyed your meal, we’d love for you to share a photo and review on Google!” can work wonders.

Create in-store and digital prompts. Use subtle but effective reminders to encourage quality content:

• Add a note on receipts or menu footers: “Tag us in your best food pics on Google & Instagram! @YourBusiness #YourBusinessName”
• Use a QR code that links directly to your Google review page with a friendly message: “Love your meal? Share your experience with a photo!”

Leverage social media to set a standard. Customers tend to mimic what they see. Regularly post high-quality images of your products on social media. When you showcase stunning UGC on your own platforms, you set an example of what good content looks like.

Minimize Low-Quality Content (Without Discouraging Reviews)Subtly educate customers on “good” photos. Instead of explicitly telling people what to post, guide them subtly by posting social media content like, 'Voted best pics' or 'How to snap the best review pictures'.

• Offer controlled photo opportunities. Set up a well-lit “photo spot” in your business, like a fun/stylish/festive backdrop, table, or area. This naturally encourages better photography by giving your customers the tools to show your business in the best light.
• Limit the impact of bad UGC photos by encouraging a wave of positive reviews and better pictures to push it down.
• Upvote better images so they appear more prominently.

If a photo is particularly misleading or inappropriate, request content removal. Most 3rd party sites have a process such as Google's Removal Tool.

Monitor & Manage Your Online Presence
Be consistently vigilant. Regularly check reviews & photos - especially those posted to Google. Keep an eye on Google reviews and photos, up-voting high-quality ones to make them more visible.
Report any misleading or inappropriate images.
Encourage reviews on platforms with better photo quality. Google compresses images, sometimes reducing their quality. Encourage reviews on Instagram, Yelp, or Facebook, where images appear more polished, and then re share them to Google via posts.

Incentivize High-Quality Reviews While Adhering to Google Policies
Offer small perks for engagement. While you can’t pay for reviews, you can encourage participation:

• Host monthly contests. Run social media contests like “Best photo of the month wins a BOGO coupon!” to encourage customers to take better pictures.
• “Show us your review at checkout for a surprise treat!”
• “Tag us in your favorite food pic & we might feature you on our page!”

Follow, promote and attract local micro-influencers so they seek out your business. Invite local foodies or micro-influencers (1K-10K followers) to review your business. They’re more likely to take high-quality photos and help set a better UGC standard.

Final ThoughtsSet the standard for your brand. Proactively encouraging great content, subtly guiding customers, and leveraging incentives, you can shape your online presence without needing to remove bad content directly. The more high-quality UGC you help generate; the less impact poor content will have on your brand.

Need more help?  Let's talk.

Here are some of the most common questions small business owners have about Google Business Profiles (GBP) along with clear answers:

Why are Google Business Profiles important?Optimized and actively managed GBP is essential because it helps your business attract new customers, drive sales and take opportunities away from your competitors by:

• Increasing your local visibility
• Improving your search ranking
• Building trust & credibility
• Driving online and direct traffic
• Enabling direct customer engagement
• Helping you compete with larger brands
• Showcasing your goods and services

When should I consider hiring a marketing firm vs. managing GBP myself?
Handling GBP management in-house can work for very small operations with minimal competition. However, most small businesses struggle to consistently manage their GBP due to lack of time and inconsistent efforts. As a result their business either disappears from search results or worse, has erroneous information that misleads customers. Professional marketing firms ensure that your profile is optimized, active, and driving real business results.

How do I create a Google Business Profile?To create a profile, go to Google Business Profile, sign in with a Google account, and follow the steps to add your business information. You'll need to verify your business, usually via a postcard, phone, or email.

Why is my Google Business Profile not showing up in search results?Your profile may not appear due to reasons like incomplete verification, incorrect business details, or low engagement. Ensure your profile is fully optimized with accurate information, photos, and regular updates.

How do I update my business information?Log in to your GBP dashboard, select your business, and update your details (address, hours, phone number, etc.). Changes may take a few hours to reflect on Google.

How do I get more customer reviews?Encourage happy customers to leave reviews by sharing a direct review link from your GBP dashboard. Avoid offering incentives, as this violates Google's policies.

Can I remove a bad review from my Google Business Profile?You can't directly delete reviews, but you can flag inappropriate ones for Google to review. Respond professionally to negative feedback to show excellent customer service.

How do I add photos or videos to my profile?Go to your GBP dashboard, select “Photos,” and upload high-quality images or videos of your business, products, or services. Regularly updating visuals improves engagement.

What should I do if my business information is incorrect on Google?If someone else has made unauthorized changes, you can request corrections in your GBP dashboard. If the changes keep happening, consider restricting edits or contacting Google support.

How do I optimize my Google Business Profile for search/SEO?Ensure that your business description is relevant, clear and concise. keep your information up to date, respond to reviews, post updates, and add high-quality photos. A well-maintained profile improves local rankings.

Can I use Google Business Profile if I don’t have a physical location?Yes! If you operate a service-based business or work remotely, you can set up a service area instead of a physical address. This helps customers find you without displaying a specific location.

How do I check my profile’s performance?Google provides insights in your GBP dashboard, showing how customers find your business, search terms used, and interactions (calls, website visits, etc.). Analyzing this data can help improve engagement.
 
 
💡 Need help managing your Google Business Profile? A professional marketing firm can save you time, improve rankings, and grow your customer base. Let's talk.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the ongoing process of optimizing your website for search engines. Many factors play into how long it takes to see significant results. In most cases, it takes 3-12 months to see consistent improvement. Learn more in this 6-minute read.

The first step in choosing the right agency for you is identifying your specific marketing needs. It’s important to understand that different agencies may offer different services. Some focus on foundational tools such as websites, SEO and SEM, others may favor social media and content marketing while larger firms may offer full-stack services. Businesses should evaluate their marketing goals, review agencies that can deliver results in the areas that matter most and then choose a firm that will truly value your business rather than treat you like a number.

Dr. Michael Perusich, CEO of Kats Consultants remarked, “we often think about marketing as a mechanism to accomplish a task. But, just like the need to create great relationships with your customers, the same is true when choosing your digital marketing partner.  I advise my clients to avoid firms with ‘thousands of clients’. Yes, that can be reassuring to hear but, that also indicates a high-volume, cookie-cutter approach where you are just a number. Choosing a strategic partner that truly values your business will bear much more fruit for your business in the long run.”  

It’s difficult to be confident about what services are offered and needed, how pricing and terms are structured and most of all, what results should be expected. And with so many choices, how do you select the right professional marketing team?

In this blog post we will explore the critical questions you should ask and considerations you should evaluate before selecting a digital marketing agency for your small or medium-sized business, discuss what services marketing agencies do for you, review the elements that make up an effective digital marketing strategy and, reveal standard costs and compensation structures.
Understanding these points better ensures that you’re more likely to select the right partner and create a successful relationship that generates the consistent growth outcomes you’re looking for. Let's get started!

When looking to hire a digital marketing company there are several things to evaluate. Look for an agency with experience in your industry, ask for examples of past work, what tools they use to track success, how often they can meet with you, the size of the agency, how they are compensated, what specifically is included and what terms are required.  

1. What Services Do You Offer?  You want a company that provides comprehensive services. This is often referred to as ‘Full-Funnel’ services. That means they have a wide range of expertise and can handle various aspects of digital marketing, including SEO, social media, email marketing, content creation, and web design. If a digital marketing firm only specializes in one area, you may have to engage different firms to handle other aspects of your online marketing, which can be a hassle and time-consuming.
2. What Success Stories Can You Share?  Before deciding on a digital marketing firm, ask them to share some successful online marketing campaigns they have run for other clients. A credible and trustworthy firm will not hesitate to provide you with examples of their work. Case studies and testimonials from previous clients are a good gauge of what a digital marketing firm can deliver. If they can’t provide specific examples of what they have achieved for clients, you may want to keep looking.
3. What’s Your Industry Expertise?  Digital marketing practices vary by industry, so you want a firm that has experience in your business niche. This way, their team understands your target audience, industry trends, and engagement strategies. Ask for examples of past clients in your field and what specific marketing approaches they used to create consistent impact.
4. Who Will Be Managing My Account?  It’s essential to have a direct point of contact or account manager within the firm you hire. The account manager will ideally provide you with regular updates and reports on your campaigns' performance and help you strategize. Find out who this person is, and how open to communication they are, especially if you prefer to be hands-on with your campaigns.
5. What Are Your Compensation Structure and Terms?  It’s crucial to understand how the marketing agency will be compensated and what terms are required. Ask about their payment, terms and what’s included in their pricing. Be wary of firms that offer vague pricing terms or ask for large upfront payments and promise quick results.

Digital marketing agencies typically provide a variety of services such as website design, search optimization, search engine marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and SEO. Niche firms specialize in providing one or several services. Full-funnel digital marketing firms will typically offer all digital services plus graphic design, copywriting, video/audio production, branding, advertising, media planning/buying as well as public relations services.

1. Digital Marketing Agencies Conduct Market Research.  They’ll identify the target audience, understand the business's value proposition, and the competition's marketing activities. Through market research, digital marketing agencies can create strategies that resonate with the target audience's interests, generate leads, and convert them into paying customers.
2. Digital Marketing Agencies Create Strategies.  Look for them to develop an all-inclusive digital marketing strategy that includes various components such as search engine optimization, search marketing, social media marketing, email marketing and more. They also determine the budget required to implement each strategy and set specific goals in terms of leads generated, conversion rates, customer acquisition cost, and overall return on investment.
3. Digital Marketing Agencies Develop and Maintain Websites. Digital marketing agencies help businesses create and maintain websites that are fast, user-friendly, and optimized for search engines. The websites that digital marketing agencies create are easily navigable, mobile-friendly, and provide high-quality user experiences to the audience.
4. Digital Marketing Agencies Develop and Execute Paid Advertising Campaigns.  Search marketing targets specific audiences through various media platforms such as Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, etc. Programmatic ads serve paid advertising to users across any platform such as subscription video services referred to OTT (Over-The-Top) such as YouTube TV, Hulu, etc, or while people are shopping on Amazon or other ecommerce sites.
5. Digital Marketing Agencies Measure and Analyze Results.  Marketers use analytics tools to measure, analyze, and interpret the effectiveness of each digital marketing campaign. They generate data-driven reports to provide businesses with insights on their digital marketing campaigns, identifying areas of improvement, and generating recommendations.

An effective digital marketing strategy requires careful planning, research, monitoring and goal-based adjustment. You need to define your target audience, establish your goals, choose the right channels, plan and implement your strategy, monitor and measure your results then adjust for improvement.
Effective digital marketing strategies are comprised of foundational elements no matter a business’s size, target audience or industry segment. By following these steps, you will be able to create a successful digital marketing strategy that delivers results for your small or medium business.
Ask agency candidates for example digital marketing plans and look for these elements:

1. Defined Audience and SMART Goals. The target audience demographics and what they are looking for, should be clearly identified. Goals should be focused on increasing website traffic, generating leads, improving brand awareness, or increasing sales. No matter the goals, they need to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
2. Channel Selection.  Selecting a mix of digital marketing channels that align with the audience and goals is key. Each channel (SEO, content marketing, PPC, social media marketing, email marketing, programmatic, etc) has its strengths and weaknesses, and you need to choose the ones that work best for your business. If you’re looking to boost your website traffic and generate leads, you may want to invest in SEO and content marketing. Whatever channel you choose, make sure it aligns with your audience and goals.
3. Planning and Implementation. This involves creating a content calendar, developing a messaging strategy, creating high-quality content, and testing and tweaking the messaging and delivery. The content calendar should outline the topics and themes you’re going to cover, the channels you’ll use, and the frequency of your posts. Your messaging strategy should be consistent across all channels and align with your brand’s tone and personality. Your content should be SEO optimized, engaging, and provide value to your audience.
4. Monitor and Measure Results. Track progress, identify what’s working and what’s not, and adjust accordingly. Use an iterative process based on analytical data to optimize strategy and to achieve dependable growth.

Digital marketing agencies typically offer two types of compensation structures: project-based & retainer-based. Project-based compensation is charged by the hour for one-time projects such as website design, branding, or social media setup. Retainer-based compensation is charged monthly for services such as content creation, social media management, and email marketing.
When asked about why they chose a retainer through a full-funnel firm, Eric Johnson of CJ Real Estate said, “We struggled to realize how our website, SEO, email, events and social media - all our marketing -  works together and needs to be managed as a whole. We wasted so much time and money with one-off projects and short-term focus. I’m so glad we listened to Chris Lowers and let his team get us marketing strategically. Grey Partners is a remarkable digital marketing agency – they have us off the sales roller-coaster and enjoying steady business growth. And, we’re spending about half of what we did on project work. Go figure!”
Service costs are often substantially reduced by entering into a monthly retainer agreement because it offers the same benefit for both the client and agency – consistent success. Agencies know that your success is their success. One-time projects typically won’t be good for them or their clients over the long term because websites and SEO must be continuously nurtured to be consistently successful.
Check out these FAQ’s to learn more about digital marketing agency pricing:

1. What is the average hourly cost for digital marketing agency services?   Usually, digital marketing agencies charge between $90 and $200per hour for their campaign or project-based services. Hourly fees will vary depending on the scope and complexity of the project.
2. What is the typical cost of digital marketing agency retainer services?  Retainer services vary based on the scope of services provided. Most small business spend approximately $1,200 - $3,000 per month while larger brands may allocate $10,000-$30,000 or more per month for digital marketing services.
3. Are paid advertising costs included in digital agency service compensation? No, unless specifically called out in the contract, hard costs are not included.  Paid advertising costs, stock images, royalties, hosting and other hard costs are charged separate from digital marketing services.
4. What to look for in a Digital Marketing Agency Contract? Before signing a contract with a digital marketing agency, ensure that you're clear on important details such as deliverables, timelines, and payment terms. Check for clauses such as a non-compete or early-termination fees. Always ask if there is a 30-day out or if longer notice is required to terminate services.
5. Are Digital Marketing Agency terms flexible and negotiable?  Yes, reputable marketing firms are always ready to offer flexible terms customized to your needs. While many digital marketing agencies offer standardized contracts, you may want to negotiate a lower retainer if you commit to a longer-term engagement or ask for a clause that allows you to increase or decrease your retainer based on business needs.

The takeaway
Before hiring a digital marketing firm, it’s crucial to do your research and ask critical questions to ensure that you end up with a firm that complements your business needs. Ask about the firm’s services, previous success stories, industry expertise, who will be managing your account, and their pricing structure. Ensure significant experience, an understanding of your goals and objectives, a commitment to be ahead of the latest trends and technology, transparency, and the ability and desire to measure success. With a clear understanding of the digital marketing firm, you’ll be more comfortable working together toward the common goal of building your brand and achieving consistent growth outcomes.

If your website is not SEO friendly, you are missing out on significant traffic, leads, and revenue for your business. Think about it, what good is a website that's essentially hidden from your customers?

In this article, we'll take a closer look at what it means to have an SEO-friendly website and provide you with tips on how to optimize your website for search engines.

First, understand that SEO is a process rather than a destination. It must be continually refined and updated.  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) refers to the process of optimizing your website's content, structure, and links to increase your rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). Essentially, the higher your website ranks, the more likely people are to see it when they search for relevant keywords in Google or other search engines. This can lead to more traffic, increased brand visibility, and ultimately, more conversions.

There are three core SEO elements: on-page, technical and off-page.

On-page refers to the content that makes up your website - both (1) what people see and read to learn about your business so they can take action and buy, and (2) what search engines read to learn about your business so that they can return relevant results to people searching. One of the main components of SEO is keyword research. This involves identifying the search terms that potential customers are using to find businesses like yours. There are various tools available for keyword research, including Google AdWords Keyword Planner, Moz Keyword Explorer, and SEMrush. Once you've identified your keywords, you'll want to incorporate them into your website's content, meta descriptions, and other on-page elements.

Technical SEO plays an important role in your website's rankings. This involves optimizing your website's structure and code to make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content. Factors such as site speed, mobile friendliness, and structured data can all impact your rankings. Working with a professional web developer or SEO agency can help you ensure that your website is optimized from a technical standpoint.

Off-Page SEO refers to everything you do outside your website to improve your ranking on search engine results pages, such as link building, social media marketing, and guest blogging. Off-page SEO is an essential part of optimizing your website. Without a good off-page SEO strategy, your website may struggle to rank well on search engine results pages. Remember, Off-page SEO is not a one-time thing; it’s an ongoing process that requires continuous effort. If you want your website to rank well, you need to build quality links, engage with your audience on social media, guest post on other websites, submit your website to web directories, and save your website pages on social bookmarking websites.This involves posting content on third party sites and getting other websites to link back to your website, which signals to search engines that your content is valuable and authoritative. You can build links through guest posting, outreach campaigns, and other methods. It's important to note that not all links are created equal, and quality over quantity is key. Getting a few high-quality links from authoritative websites can be much more beneficial than getting numerous low-quality links.

When done well, these three components contribute to build search engines understanding of your EXPERTISE, AUTHORITY and TRUSTWORTHINESS. In search vernacular this is referred to as E-A-T which is the fuel that drives search engine effectiveness and your websites ability to generate high seach engine results page rankings.

But what exactly is E-A-T, and how does it impact your website's visibility?

E-A-T is a concept that emerged from Google's Quality Rater Guidelines, which are used to train human evaluators on how to assess the quality of search results. Expertise refers to the knowledge and skills of the content creator, authority relates to the creator's credibility, and trustworthiness is about the overall credibility of the website.

Why E-A-T is Important
When search engines crawl your website and finds high-quality pages with excellent E-A-T, it views your content as trustworthy and authoritative. As a result, your pages are more likely to rank higher in search results than pages with lower E-A-T. Poor E-A-T, on the other hand, can result in lower search engine rankings and less visibility for your brand.

E-A-T is tough to quantify. Search engines do not provide a guide to building E-A-T ranking factors but, we know that there are a few factors that drive E-A-T. Some of these factors include the quality of your content, the expertise and credibility of the author, the reputation of your website, and the quality of your website's user experience.

Effective SEO generates strong E-A-T by feeding search engines high-quality content that's informative and helpful to your target audience, ensuring that you're publishing content that's written by experts in your industry, establishing your brand as a credible authority in your niche delivering top-nothc user experiences with intuitive navigation, fast loading speeds, and a mobile-friendly design.

So how do business owners move forward?

1. The first step to improve your website's SEO is to evaluate its structure. An SEO-friendly website should have a clear and organized structure that makes it easy for search engines to crawl and index. This means having a logical hierarchy of pages, a clear navigation menu, and a URL structure that is easy to read and understand.
2. Once you have a clear and organized website structure, it's time to focus on your content. High-quality content is the backbone of SEO, providing value to both your readers and search engines. To optimize your content for search engines, you need to ensure that it includes relevant keywords and is structured using header tags. Additionally, strive to make your content engaging and informative, as this will encourage users to spend more time on your site.
3. Link building is one of the most effective ways to improve your website's SEO. High-quality backlinks from reputable sources can help establish your website's authority and credibility in your industry. This, in turn, can improve your website's ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). To invest in link building, reach out to other websites and ask if they would be interested in linking to your content.
   
4. Mobile optimization has become increasingly important for SEO in recent years. With more people using mobile devices than ever before, Google has placed increased importance on responsive design. Ensure that your website is optimized for mobile devices by using a responsive design and ensuring that your content is easily accessible on smaller screens.
5. Social media can be an effective tool for SEO, allowing you to connect with your audience and build backlinks to your site. Incorporate social sharing buttons on your website and encourage users to share your content. Additionally, use social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn to share your content with your audience.
   

Having an SEO-friendly website is essential if you want to establish your brand and grow your business online. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can optimize your website for search engines and improve your visibility on SERPs. Remember, SEO is a long-term process, and it requires consistent effort and attention. Stay dedicated to these efforts, and you'll see positive results over time.

The more you understand SEO the more likely it is that you'll seek professional SEO help. Here are 12 questions to ask before hiring an SEO provider.

SEO is the primary driver of brands, businesses and organizations of all types and sizes. Customer journeys beging with search. And, organic search delivers 53% of all website traffic.

Think about it, whenever you want to go somewhere, do something, find information, research or buy goods/services – what's the first thing that you do? It's probably involves a click.

How people search is fragmented and businesses are struggling to keep up with the pace of change. While Google may represent over 84% of all searches most business leaders aren't aware that 61% of Americans start their product search on Amazon verses the 39% who begin on a search engine like Google.

Unlike other marketing channels, SEO work is sustainable. Think of SEO like an ecosystem. As long as you care for the individual parts the system sustains itself with minor maintenance requiired from you. However, when a paid marketing campaign ends, so does the traffic. f

The bottom line is that SEO is foundational to your business. Yes, it's a marketing channel but the most successful businesses budget SEO as a capital expense because they understand that SEO is elemental to consistent market share. Without a strong SEO plan your business simple can't compete.

Start-up AI search-bot companies seek to one day carve out a slice of the massive web search market that Google has so thoroughly dominated for 30 years.
Large Language Model (LLM) AI search-bots represent a fundamentally different approach to retrieving content from the web. Google works by matching search queries with relevant sites that its web crawlers have found and indexed, then ranking those content sources based on their popularity and other factors. AI “answer engines” (as one start-up, Perplexity, terms them) leverage the language skill of LLMs to understand queries, then assemble customized, conversational answers based on content from millions of web pages.
Learn more in this 4-minute read from contributor Mark Sullivan's article in Fast Company.

If you’re serious about vying for top search engine results, then you know you that brand crediblity is a critical component. But Google has been ambiguous about what E-A-T (expertise-authoritativeness-trustworthiness) actually is, and how it plays into your SERP rankings.

So how do you prove your E-A-T your success?

Learn more in this video from our friends at Moz where Lily Ray discusses the ways in which you can prove that all important “E” – expertise – and measure your success.

Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility in Google, Microsoft Bing, and other search engines whenever people search for goods, services or information on topics that your organization has expertise or authority. What you’ll learn in this guide:

• Why SEO is important
• How SEO works
• The SEO Process
• Organic SEO versus paid search
• SEO planning

Whenever people want to go, do, find, research or buy – their journey usually begins with search. In fact, 53% of all website traffic flows from organic search results. Want to know something, Google it.
Smart marketers build search relevancy so that they can engage users across a myriad of search, social and retail platforms as they begin their customer journey.

How SEO Works
SEO works through a combination of people, processes, technology and activities working in unison to provide search engines with the information they need to view your site as expert, authoritative, and trustworthy.
Search engines perform four core functions to produce page results:

1. Crawling: Search engines use crawlers to discover pages on the web by following links and using sitemaps.
2. Rendering: Search engines generate how the page will look using HTML, JavaScript and CSS information.
3. Indexing: Search engines analyze the content and metadata of the pages it has discovered and add them to a database (though there’s no guarantee every page on your website will be indexed).
4. Ranking: Complex algorithms look at a variety of signals to determine whether a page is relevant and of high-enough quality to show when searchers enter a query.

SEO is a journey, not a destination. Your search results are dependent upon feeding major search engines relevant information fast from credible sources so that search engines view you (your site) as experienced, expert, authoritative and trustworthy. Effective SEO involves three disciplines:

• Technical SEO: Site performance – the structural elements you control on your website to help search engines index and crawl (read) your site such as load speed, responsiveness, structured data, site maps, image optimization, etc.
• On-Page SEO: Relevance – the content you control on your website to help search engines understand the relevance of your company to a search query, i.e., site content, title tags, meta data, keyword usage, links, etc. 
• Off-site SEO: Credibility – the content you influence that is published on other sites such as: NAP citations, backlinks, reviews, article mentions, etc.

 
Technical and on-page optimizations are directly controlled by you. Off-page SEO is a different animal because you can’t control the content that other sites publish.
 
Technical optimization
Job one for SEO is technical optimization. This begins with site architecture that makes it easy for search engines to discover and access all of the content on your pages (text, images & videos). Properly indexed sites allow search engines to crawl and capture and organize your site so that it returns relevant search engine page results.
User experience is also a critical element of technical optimization. Search engines stress the importance of pages that load quickly and provide a good user experience. Elements such as Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness and usability, HTTPS, and avoiding intrusive interstitials all matter in technical SEO. 
 
On-page optimization
People and search engines are your primary audience. Your site must be optimized for both. Effective SEO optimizes the content your audience sees (what’s actually on the page) as well as what search engines crawl (the code).
Publishing high-quality content congruent with your audience’s wants and needs, and that follows Google guidance, ensures that your content your experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness as perceived by search engines.
For people, content must be:

• Relevant, covering topics with which you have experience or expertise.
• Inclusive of keywords people use to find the content.
• Unique and original.
• Well-written and free of grammatical and spelling errors.
• Current and accurate.
• Well organized and readable.

For search engines, content must be organized and include:

• Title tags
• Meta description/data
• Header tags (H1-H6)
• Image alt text

 
Off-site optimization
Working to influence content that you do not control is a significant challenge for any organization. Managing your listings and reviews is the best place to start. Listings are free NAP citation (Name-about-place) such as Google Places, Yelp, Bing Places, etc. Reviews are another tactic that you can directly influence.
There are four core off-site tactics:

1. Listing management: Claiming, verifying and optimizing the information on any platforms where information about your company or website may be listed and found by searchers (e.g., directories, review sites, wikis).
2. Ratings/reviews: Getting them, monitoring them and responding to them.
3. Link building:  referring backlinks from a third-party site to your website offers significant ranking and traffic benefits. The challenge is the effort required to establish and maintain these links. Chris Lowers president of Grey Partners advised, “Link quality wins. Successful marketers get results by establishing backlinks from relevant, authoritative and trusted websites.”
4. Content Marketing:  referring backlinks from this can refer to a host of tactics from podcasts to posts to native articles and more. Anywhere you can insert content on a reputable third-party site helps build your expertise and authority as perceived by search engines.

Organic SEO Versus Paid Search
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and its objective is to ensure that your site attracts visitors through relevant search results. SEO results occur organically because your site is optimized for search engines. SEO is vital and sustainable – traffic continues without additional spending.

• SEO = driving organic traffic from search engines. 
• PPC = driving organic and paid traffic from search engines. 

PPC stands for pay-per-click. It’s a type of paid search marketing where advertisers are charged whenever a person clicks on their ad. Ads are served as search results or display ads next to search results.
It’s important to think of SEO and PPC as complimentary marketing channels. SEO is foundational providing long-term traffic without exponential cost. PPC is an effective tool for as long as your budget allows. When your paid campaign ends, so does the traffic. And, the more aggressive your competition – the more expensive your cost to be competitive.

SEO Planning
Effective SEO is based on clear objectives and adhering to a long-term action plan to reach them. Remember, SEO is a journey rather than a destination. It’s ideal to think of your strategy as an endless road trip. The path you take will evolve over time – but your goal should remain clear and unchanged.
Your SEO plan may include things such as:

• Setting goals (KPI’s, OKR’s) and expectations (timelines/milestones).
• Defining and aligning meaningful KPIs and metrics.
• Deciding how projects will be created and implemented (internal, external or a mix).
• Coordinating and communicating with internal and external stakeholders.
• Choosing and implementing tools/technology.
• Hiring, training and structuring a team.
• Setting a budget.
• Measuring and reporting on results.
• Documenting the strategy and process.

 
Turn ideas into effective SEO actions through research such as:

1. Audience research: It’s important to understand your target audience or market. Who are they (i.e., their demographics and psychographics)? What are their pain points? What questions do they have that you can answer? 
2. Keyword research: This process helps you identify and incorporate relevant and valuable search terms people use into your pages – and understand how much demand and competition there is to rank for these keywords.
3. Competitor research: What are your competitors doing? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What types of content are they publishing? 
4. Brand/business/client research: What are their goals – and how can SEO help them achieve those goals?
5. Website research: A variety of SEO audits can uncover opportunities and issues on a website that are preventing success in organic search. Some audits to consider: technical SEO, content, link profile and E-A-T. 
6. SERP analysis: This will help you understand the search intent for a given query (e.g., is it commercial, transactional, informational or navigational) and create content that is more likely to earn rankings or visibility.

 
Because code is intangible, many organizations wrongly think of websites as static objects and struggle to allocate the resources required to maintain an effective site. The same is true for your SEO.
 
Consistently improving your SEO is dependent upon analyzing, assessing, and reporting performance. You need to know if traffic drops to a critical page, pages become slow, unresponsive or fall out of the index, your entire website goes offline, links break, or any other number of potential catastrophic issues. There are a variety of resources to help you make data-driven decisions such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Performance reporting should be reviewed at meaningful time intervals, typically comparing to previous report periods and tell the story of your customer journey. Monthly reporting is ideal for information sites. E-commerce sites should consider weekly performance measures.

Our digital world is ever-evolving. Search engines, user behavior and your competitors are always changing. Websites change, become stale and break over time. There is always an action you can take to improve your results. Or, as Chris Lowers put it, ‘SEO will only end when our competition dies.’
If you found this page via a search engine, you likely searched for ‘what is SEO’ or ‘how does SEO work’. 
This article is published by Grey Partners, an authoritative digital marketing company with solid expertise on and experience in the topic of SEO since 2009.