The results are in, and you’ve got good news: You’re generating leads and sales. Suddenly, your phone starts ringing off the hook, and your inbox has more messages than you can handle. You’re thrilled that your business is growing at such a rapid pace. But as you look to grow even further, you start contemplating hiring an outside search engine optimization (SEO) management agency to handle your online marketing — a managed SEO service, to be exact.
But what exactly is it? How can it benefit your small business?
What’s a Managed SEO Service?
A fully managed SEO service is a type of digital marketing that takes your current SEO campaigns to the next level. In essence, it’s the difference between taking a road trip with a GPS versus just driving around aimlessly in hopes of finding where you want to go.
With so many brands vying for consumer attention, brands without a tailored SEO strategy often miss out on valuable opportunities to lead to higher sales and more brand recognition.
Managed SEO Service: How Can It Benefit Your Small Business?
SEO management services can benefit your small business in several ways, including:
Save Time and Energy
As a small business owner, you already have a lot on your plate. Rather than spending hours trying to learn more about content creation or SEO and paying someone to manage it for you, use a fully managed SEO. There are tons of great companies out there that offer the service, so you can pick the package that’s right for you. So, along with other website SEO services like link building, keyword research, on-page SEO, SEO audit, technical support and digital marketing, full-service companies help you increase visibility on Google or Bing so more people can find your business.
Provide a Clear Vision of the Marketing Aspects of Your Brand
The advantage of working with a fully managed SEO service is having an expert on your team. SEO professionals know how to manage SEO campaigns for success. They can help you find your target audience, set the right priorities and implement strategies.
The best-managed SEO services let you know where you stand by answering questions like:
- What are our keyword rankings?
- Which targeted keyword is driving the most organic traffic?
- Which target keywords have the most opportunity?
- How are my blog posts performing?
- Are my efforts being measured and reported?
- What’s the return on investment (ROI)?
- Do I have a digital marketing plan in place?
- Is my keyword research done correctly?
- Do I have the right keywords in place?
- Is my target audience accurate?
- Is the content on my site relevant to the visitor?
While these questions can feel overwhelming, professional SEO services allow you to focus on your business.
Save Money
If you want to take a risk and try out something new, it can cost you quite a lot of money and time if you don’t know what you’re doing. With fully managed SEO services, any risks that are taken will be calculated, and the company will do everything in its power to make sure that you are getting the greatest return on investment possible.
Enable Your Small Business To Focus On What It Does Best
Managed SEO packages are available in a range of price points. Depending on the level of support you require, you’ll be assigned a technical account manager or a dedicated team responsible for your website. Your assigned SEO specialists will monitor, manage and review your website’s performance on an ongoing basis. By partnering with a professional SEO service provider, your business can spend more time doing what it does best and let your social media marketing partner handle the rest.
Stay Ahead of Ever-Changing Search Engine Algorithms
A managed SEO service makes it easier for you to keep up with updates in search algorithms and the ever-changing web. An SEO agency will optimize your site and update it accordingly, keeping you abreast of any industry changes.
Improve Brand Reputation
A good SEO strategy can help you attract more potential customers while also improving your brand’s reputation.
Improve Site Functionality
Having an adequate level of SEO for your website can boost your site’s functionality. An ideal website experience is one that is free from errors and provides users with a seamless browsing experience. Any website owner will tell you that having a site that looks great, is easy to navigate and functions well is as important as the aesthetics of the site.
A good SEO management company will have the tools to help you make sure your site functions well both for visitors and search engines. Website owners benefit from this by avoiding common pitfalls such as broken links, outdated content, or errors that may cause users to leave your site.
Generate More Site Traffic
Using SEO management services will allow you to generate more traffic to your website to increase conversions and grow sales. You can get more organic search traffic to your website by:
- Optimizing the keywords on your website so that it ranks on the first page of Google results
- Improving the quality of your site’s content and navigation, so it is easier for any search engine to crawl and rank your site
- Improving the quality of your inbound links by getting other authoritative websites to link back to your own
- Targeting long-tail keywords that help you rank for specific products, services and target customer groups
- Building a simple, fast and secure website. It is also important to optimize your images as they’re highly valuable in the eyes of any search engine. An analysis of over 1.5 billion search results found that 90 percent of websites containing images ranked on the first page of Google results.
- Maintaining a valuable content marketing strategy
- Having a well-optimized website with relevant, navigable and well-designed pages
Boost Your Overall SEO Performance, Regardless of Your Size
Managed agencies take the time to assess your company’s goals and requirements first and then create a tailored SEO strategy for your business. They won’t just jump right in with a set template and squeeze your business into it.
Elements of an Effective Managed SEO Service
A managed SEO service does not simply consist of keywords added to a blog and a monthly payment to the provider. Here is a list of elements of an effective managed SEO service, with some explanation as to why each is considered important.
A fully managed SEO service can include:
Website Analysis
At the heart of every successful SEO strategy is website analysis. This is where you look at everything from content optimization, local SEO, technical SEO audit, keyword research, competitor analysis, on-page optimization and more.
Content creation
Content creation is a vital service the managed SEO agency provides, and it should be the leading ranking factor. It would be best if you had well-written and highly engaging content for the most important pages on your website to provide value to potential customers.
On-Site Optimization
Onsite SEO is all about improving the experience of your website. Optimizing elements such as titles, meta descriptions and tags can greatly improve the way search engines perceive your site. Additionally, page titles and meta descriptions are often used in search engine results pages (SERPs). You should ensure that these elements accurately describe the web page content and purpose.
Link Building
A managed SEO service provider will ensure that the links they build to your website are high quality and relevant. They can also build links to sites in a niche that does not have much traffic but competes in that niche with your own business.
A well-managed link building service builds very few links from websites within your same niche. Links from other sites in the same niche could be useful, but the number should be low.
Social Media and Local SEO
Social media and local SEO are the bread and butter of a successful internet marketing program. They account for half of all organic traffic and a sizable portion of conversions on eCommerce sites. Social media also drives brand awareness, which is an increasingly important factor in search rankings.
Content is at the heart of these marketing channels, which can be created in-house or outsourced to a professional service provider.
These days, most SEOs should at least be active on Twitter and Facebook, where they can share their expertise and engage with prospective customers. As for local SEO, it’s important to note that Google has changed how it ranks locations, moving away from proximity towards incorporating data about businesses from their reviews and other online sources. So get started on your review strategy on sites like Yelp, Foursquare, Yellow Pages and TripAdvisor.
Reporting and Tracking
Reporting and tracking are key elements of any SEO management service. An experienced SEO company will use industry-standard tools to monitor your site’s ranking and performance. Tracking tools will allow you to see how your site performs from week to week, month to month and year to year. You can find out how well your strategies are working compared to what you had originally planned for the site.
Finding an SEO Service
Depending on the size and budget of your business, you’ll likely want to find an SEO service that offers all these services and more. You can also make an educated choice or comparison by asking them questions like: Do you use google analytics? What metrics do you measure? Do you have a keyword difficulty tool? What is your average cost per link? Do you offer a free consultation? Do you offer a customized strategy? Do you hire a dedicated project manager and SEO experts? What’s your typical client size?
While the above is not a comprehensive list, it should give you an idea of what to look for in search engine optimization services. Make it easy for yourself and look for an SEO service provider who offers all the above and answers your questions with confidence and clarity.