As experienced small business Newport SEO experts, this is a question we hear quite often. In our experience, the importance of Search Engine Optimisation is either only partially understood or not appreciated at all by a majority of business owners. Let’s address that now. There is one image that shows why a company should care about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
The image here shows the number of visitors who click the first result they see when they use a search engine to find something. This image relates to the Google search engine but others show a similar pattern of behaviour. You won’t need a guru to explain and we’re sure you’ll already have worked out, at least, three things from this image
The number ONE result in the above search gets nearly one-third of the visitor clicks
The Top THREE positions get just over half of the clicks
Looking at results Six to Ten tells us that being on page 2, 3 or more for a search is almost not worth the effort
In short, if a business wants to use their website as a serious lead generation engine, then being in positions 1-3 on the first page of major search engines is a VERY significant factor. Remember, however, that ranking high in search engines doesn’t itself guarantee extra revenue. There are several other factors that must also be in place to convert those extra visitors into buyers. Our service checks and corrects, improves or builds those additional elements, thereby joining up the dots that lead to improved engagement, conversion and ROI.
So, are you convinced about the business value of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and what it can mean for a business?. Read on to learn how we can help with your Internet marketing.
Our South Wales Search Engine Optimisation And Internet Marketing Services
Excellent Local SEO Services
Based in Newport, Cwmbran, Monmouth, Chepstow or other South East Wales locations? Ranking your website in UK search engines for local business drives more leads, increased customer engagement and improved sales opportunities. Don’t be satisfied with your current position just because it doesn’t change! We are a Newport and South Wales consultancy – our goal is to help you reach your ranking potential in our local and regional markets.
Web Design and Optimisation
If your current website design needs a make-over then we can work with you in creating high-converting, mobile friendly and content-rich internet marketing sites that rank well and really promote your business in Newport and South Wales. If you don’t have a website then we can provide a total package and often have you live with a great looking, optimised, initial site to build on within a week or two. Oh, and yes, it will be mobile friendly.
Gold-Plated Keyword Research
Do you know the most productive search terms being used by potential customers in the Newport and South Wales area for your service? (they might not be what you think). You may well be missing out on substantial pockets of visitor traffic and potential extra business. We can help you understand exactly how to target the most important search terms for your services and what will be required to get your site optimised for them.
Google(tm) 3-Pack Maps Optimisation
If you are a Local Business looking to generate Leads then the local 3-pack Maps listing is where you need to be. Period! If you’ve struggled to get your business into the 3-Pack listing for big keywords in your area then talk to us. We are expert in placing sites in the 3-Pack for major keywords in small towns or large cities. On average, 80% of contacts for a business comes from clicking one of the positions in the 3-Pack listing and following up. So, get this right and it can literally be a local game changer. If you aren’t in the 3-Pack listing for your town then contact us and ask about our proof-based £5 up-front package.
Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising Campaigns
Is your current company website just not performing? Do you need quick lead generation while you get it sorted? If so then there are options available to you from Google(tm), Bing(tm) and Facebook(tm). You may even be surprised at how cost-effective one or more of those platforms can be for your business (provided you have expert help in assessing the options most suited to your line of business. Interested? Contact us to discuss your requirements if you need more leads fast.
SEO Campaign And Strategy Advice
If you think your website could be doing more for you then you’d be right. We have rarely seen a South Wales small to medium-sized business who’s web performance couldn’t be improved through implementing a tailored SEO and/or website development campaign. The trick is knowing exactly what to do (and, as importantly, what not) and this is the real power of SEO-specific expertise. Don’t consider your search optimisation just an afterthought for your website – it’s vital. First and foremost, we are experts in South Wales Search Marketing so we CAN help you really maximise your website potential.
Greater Market Exposure
Gain a greater foothold in your market for your business by building your website’s Newport and regional local rankings in the major search engines such as Google. Today, the ability to rank highly and overtake your competition has never been more important and is particularly true for local businesses.
Grow Customer Numbers
As Newport SEO and Internet marketing specialists, we can help you drive more customers to your website to engage with you and your products. Our recommendations and strategies are bespoke to your business needs and are optimised for your requirements. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to search marketing with us.
Increased Profits
After implementing our Newport Seo advice we’ve had the pleasure of watching South Wales businesses with improved rankings grow through increasing enquiries and new customers who want to purchase their products. Modern SEO is one of the most effective Internet promotion investments a local business can make.
What A Modern Web Presence Can Look Like
A Great Looking Branded Website
Your business website is your public face on the Internet and your Website credibility is an important factor in client engagement. Experience in Interent marketing tells us that customers have come expect a modern, mobile-capable, visually impressive 21st-century site that is easy to use and navigate. Statistics show that great looking, well-designed, mobile-friendly sites give customers a straightforward experience and the confidence to remain on the site and work with the business.
Mobile-Friendly
We know that 2 out of 5 business websites we see in the South Wales area are not optimised for mobile visitors. Search engines operate in slightly different ways for mobile and non-mobile results. So even if a website is ranking well for non-mobile, it may be ranking less successfully in mobile results. Such a performance hit denies any business a large slice of market exposure which is unacceptable in this day and age. With the pending roll-out of a major search engine’s Mobile-First indexing, it has never been more vital for a business to have a well set up and optimised Mobile device performance.
Social Media Connected
Building an interconnected social presence is an important part of business promotion. This must be done correctly with clearly defined goals in mind. Newport SEO services can help with developing a Social media strategy through to building, optimising and managing your Social media assets. Done well, an effective content and media rich Social media commitment can be an effective traffic driver to your website as well as an additional promotion engine in it’s own right.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is an extremely powerful asset to have. Loved by search engines, video assets can be ranked as a separate entity within search, giving twice the presence. Newport SEO expertise can help with advice on video content – how to get it produced, how to optimise it for business and built into a site. We can also help rank a video for you if that is a goal. However it’s achieved, we highly recommend engaging video content for any website – period!
Top Drawer Keyword Research
Search term analysis is a key factor in your website performing so a modern site has a strategy to target business-relevant search phrases and related content that has the best chance of delivering an increase in visitor/customer engagement. You would be surprised how many highly valuable search terms are overlooked by businesses assessing what terms a potential client would use to find them. We can help you maximise your search phrase potential and identify the sometimes subtle high-converting search terms that could work most effectively for you.
Page #1 Rankings
Getting your business in front of more potential clients is the name of the game. Ranking highly for local or regional searches is a key part of marketing a business in today’s internet world. For many businesses, the difference between position #6 and position #1 in search engines is worth tens of thousands of pounds. We can help you improve your search performance and, as importantly, maintain it. At our Newport SEO consultancy, we stay up to date on the twists and turns of evolving search engine ranking algorithms to ensure your site performs and avoids getting penalised.
Frequently Asked Questions About Newport SEO Marketing And Expertise
How Much Will Running An SEO Campaign Cost?
No search engine marketing consultancy should give you a price without undertaking an analysis of your current website and competition. The client business performance also needs factoring in to ensure there is value in a particular individual or organisation undertaking search engine optimisation work. You may also have additional requirements regarding your web presence (such as a new website, social media build or reputation management). We work with you in partnership to make sure we understand your objectives and that we can help you achieve them. You can rest assured that any package of business search optimisation work we undertake will be clearly defined in terms of goals and tailored to your available resources. By the same token, if we don’t think we can provide value to you then we will be open about that and explain why.
How Long Will SEO Take?
This is a really tough question to answer because it depends on a lot of different factors Each campaign is bespoke to a particular Business, website, objectives and competitive environment. There is no standard template so it isn’t possible to say exactly how long a typical package of work would take.
In some cases, results can be seen after a week while in other cases there will be a period of several, occasionally many, months. If we had to pick an approximate figure it would be somewhere between 1 and 9 months and depends on a number of factors. The following list outlines some of the main factors that define the length of a search optimisation campaign.
- What is the current position with your site and online assets (how do search engines currently see you)
- What are your goals
- What is your competition and how difficult is it to overtake them.
- How aggressive do you want to be
- What is your budget
- How responsive are you in fulfilling your part in the process
SEO work generally breaks down into a number of phases with certain types of work done fairly quickly while other types take place over an extended time period. In many high-end situations, there is a need for on-going optimisation and maintenance in order to sustain the goals that have been achieved and respond to changes in search engine ranking algorithms.
How Will I Know If my campaign Is Working?
Knowing how your search engine marketing campaign is performing is relatively straightforward but rarely happens in a ‘straight line’. Search optimisation success is measured by 3 main criteria
a) Search term Ranking changes – these generally come first
b) Traffic increases – these will generally follow ranking improvements
c) Improvements in sales, lead generation etc
For a successful optimisation campaign, all 3 of the above should align over time
That isn’t always the case though and other factors such as seasonality, holiday periods, summer breaks etc can come into play. Even if your measurements don’t increase every month, the overall direction of travel will be upwards over a period of months (compared to where you began).
If a) and b) occur but not c) then performance analysis can help find out why, using forensic study of traffic behaviour and conversion optimisation. This rarely happens, however.
How Important Is Video Marketing?
At Newport SEO services we believe that at this moment in time, video marketing offers a golden opportunity for local businesses. There is still a surprisingly low take up of this form of promotion given the plus points in doing it.
- Advertising your business on Youtube is advertising on Google. Google wants you to have a video, both on your main site and on Youtube.
- Ranking a Video is a lot more straightforward than a website and less prone to penalty. It is also a separate ranking opportunity, independent of your main website.
- Relatively few businesses are currently doing this in the South Wales region from what we can see.
- Despite common belief, producing a promotion video is not hugely difficult, nor expensive. An Oscar-winning production is not required.
- Searchers are generally drawn to video first when viewing search results. Watching is often preferable to reading in many situations.
If your company is not advertising on Video in the South Wales region then it is an element that you should seriously be considering as part of a promotion strategy.
Others offer a free Website analysis - why don't you?
Yes, this is often done and the primary purpose of a free, automated, online site audit is to gather leads for the provider (often an Agency) to follow up.
We don’t feel this automated, submit your website URL approach, is the way forward so we don’t do it. We will provide this if you ask but before you do, consider the problems with such a generalised, automated, audit
- Much of the report you receive may not make a great deal of sense unless you are an SEO practitioner.
- Which of the recommendations you receive will have the greatest positive impact on your site?…and which, if you act on them wrongly, will potentially most harm your site?
- Some of the key areas that could be affecting or missing from your site are not covered by a typical automated audit.
- The automated audit is not bespoke to your situation and therefore is at best, generalised guidance
We don’t think this is a good approach. We aim to take a personalised look at your site and general situation. We can do this because we are not a huge Agency with a large number of clients. We aim, as part of our initial consultation with you, to identify some of the top issues that will be impacting your site – based on the objectives you have. We certainly aim to provide actionable information that won’t damage your current site position – whether you go on to work with us or not.
What Kind Of Engagement With You Can We Expect?
We aim to work with you on a rolling monthly basis – we don’t look to lock you (or us) into a long-term contract early in the partnership. After all, if we can’t help you then why stick around?
There are occasional situations where this will vary and those instances tend to be driven by individual circumstances and specialised, bespoke requirements. These usually emerge during initial discussion so there won’t be any surprises.
Why Work With Newport SEO Services?
We are not an agency but an independent consultancy. We are biased of course but we believe consultancies that are good at what they do offer a lot of advantages over an agency. Our thoughts
Agency
PROS
- Comfortable, warm feeling about them
- A shinier well-exercised Sales process
- Better feeling they are reliable
- Appear more polished
CONS
- Conflict of interest issues – often have multiple clients in the same industry
- Low to medium quality SEO techniques
- Often outsource to non-experts who can be based overseas
- One manager may not understand the complete picture and context
- Standardised approaches
Consultancy
PROS
- Individual commitment to your businesses requirements
- More flexible and adaptable
- Standardised and bespoke processes when needed
- Expertise not out-sourced to non-experts
- Only charge for services that provide value to your business
- Greater communication and interchange
- One consultant manages the overall picture
CONS
- Can be (wrongly) perceived as less reliable or corporate
Hopefully, those bullets are helpful to you in making a choice if you decide to pursue search marketing for your business. Do remember though to first consider the question “is search engine optimisation sensible for my company”.
Frequently Asked Questions About SEO In General
What is meant by Search Engine Optimisation?
Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO) is an expert service designed to increase traffic to websites or other online properties. For a business, this can mean increased lead generation and customer engagement. SEO is based on 3 stages of optimisation;
- On-Page - aims to identify target search terms and then optimise content plus supporting media to improve search engine rankings.
- Technical - designed to optimise site structure, speed, responsiveness and other technical issues that may be holding back a website's ranking in search engines. Will normally include a full technical audit of the website to identify problem areas.
- Off-site - work carried out to leverage other websites and social media to assist the target website's rankings. All 3 stages make up an SEO campaign
How do you do SEO for a website?
SEO can range from basic to advanced depending on the goals, issues and budget of a potential client. SEO is carried out in 3 main areas;
These 3 main areas are all included as part of an SEO campaign of work and may last many months. SEO is also usually an ongoing commitment to achieve best results.
What is Online Marketing?
Online marketing is the term given to a range of services designed to improve a business or individual's visibility online. This will include SEO but also a range of other services that are run in a campaign to improve visibility over time.
Do SEO by yourself?
You can but proper strategic SEO is a specialist service that is carried out in great detail by an expert. SEO experts usually have many years of successful performance based on real-world testing and implementation. SEO can simple or complicated but an expert is required to get the best value from an SEO commitment.
What is the difference between SEO and SEM
The difference between SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is that SEO is one part of SEM. SEM includes SEO but also a range of other online marketing services which combine to produce the desired set of performance results for a client.