What You Need to Know Before You Pay for SEO Services

I don't know about you, but I get at least one email or phone call a week from an SEO expert. Typically, I will take the call or schedule a meeting because I am curious if there is anything I am missing in my SEO strategy. While not meant to be a slam against SEO service providers, you really should look at DIY SEO before you pay.

Before you pay for SEO services, here are some things you need to know.

What is SEO?

HubSpot has an easy to understand definition: SEO stands for search engine optimization -- that much has stayed the same. It refers to techniques that help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This makes your website more visible to people who are looking for solutions that your brand, product, or service can provide via search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.

The primary goal of SEO is to drive more traffic to your website. If you dive a little deeper, what you probably want is your ideal customer to visit your website so they can purchase your product or service. This is an important difference. Instead of just stuffing a bunch of keywords into your blog or web page, you will want to use topics and phrases that solve your customers' problems. 

Think about how you perform an internet search. If you are like most people, you ask a question looking for an answer. This is why topics and phrases are a better SEO strategy than keywords alone.

As you can see in the image above, I had a very specific search request. Notice I did not follow a bunch of "steps" along the buyer's journey.

Google has some interesting observations on the buyer's journey and how consumers are searching the internet now: "Forget everything you know about the marketing funnel. Today, people are no longer following a linear path from awareness to consideration to purchase. They are narrowing and broadening their consideration set in unique and unpredictable moments. People turn to their devices to get immediate answers. And every time they do, they are expressing intent and reshaping the traditional marketing funnel along the way."

Practical & Tactical:

Actions To Take

Before You Pay For SEO Services 

You can't manage what you can't measure. Here is a list of items that your SEO specialist should be implementing on your behalf. While some of the terminology may seem unfamiliar to you, it would be worthwhile to know exactly what they are and how it relates to connecting your services to the ideal buyer.

Optimize Your Snippet

No, we are not talking about a haircut! The snippet is what people see when they are searching on the internet. It has three basic components: Page Title, URL and Meta description.

Page Title (blue text) - Get to the point. Deliver your message in 70 characters or less.

URL (green text) - Focus on the keywords for which you want to be found in search.

Meta Description (black/gray text) - Give a clear reason why they should visit your website.

Organize Your Website 

Use Heading Tags

Heading Tags are like chapter titles in a book.

They are part of an SEO strategy to align Page titles, Meta Descriptions, and content. H1 Heading Tags can be thought of as chapter titles in a book.

Other Heading Tags like H2, H3, etc., are like those words under a chapter title in a book that tells you what to expect. These provide meaningful input to search engines to better understand the page content on your website.

Maximize Alt Image Text for SEO

You found this great stock image
you want to use in your blog or landing page. 

It is called: Conceptual image of light bulb on wall with sketches of ideas. 

That's nice, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the content on your page. 

If you right click the image above and hit, 'save image,' you will see the alt image text.

Now, right-click the image to the right.

We have added alt text that aligns with this article.

Alt Image Text allows search engines to better understand the content of the image and provides input for text-to-speech programs for the visually impaired.

Add Structured Data 

What is structured data? This is code that is added to specific web pages to allow search engines to better understand what is on the page. Structured Data is very useful for Blog Posts, Product Pages and Service Offerings. Google has made this easy with their Structured Data Testing Tool.

 

Fix Broken Links

No one likes the "Page Not Found" message! We really like using the Check My Links extension for Google Chrome. Use this tool to fix any broken links on your site.

Perform Keyword Research

We find many people have unrealistic expectations around keywords. If you have a relatively new website and/or just beginning to publish content on your website, you most likely won't be on page one for a keyword that is used by a million other websites. It is important that you talk with your current customers to find out how they search for solutions to problems using the internet and focus your keywords around solving those problems. Quality over Quantity. A useful tool to help you find high-quality keywords is Keywords Everywhere. We use the paid version and find it very useful.

Align Your Content with SEO in Mind 

If your Page Title, URL and Meta Description are about yellow sneakers, then your page content must be focused around yellow sneakers. You will hear the term, "Black Hat SEO," for all the ways to game search engines. Frankly, that is too much work and can have negative consequences. Why try to cheat, when the rules are available to everyone? Google tells you exactly how to do this in aFree SEO starter Guide. Google Search Console is a very useful in helping you determine what content is resonating with your audience and what content is falling flat.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free service offered by Google that helps you monitor and maintain your site's presence in Google Search results. You don't have to sign up for Search Console for your site to be included in Google's search results, but doing so can help you understand how Google views your site, which helps you to optimize your site's performance in search results. To maximize results, connect Search Console to Google Analytics.

Google Analytics     

If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. If you can't manage it, you can't improve it. Google Analytics allows you to measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts. 

Content 

I don't know about you, but many people struggle with content creation. It's important to note that content can take many forms:

• Blog Posts
• Surveys
• eBooks
• Infographics
• Website Pages
• Videos
• Case Studies

We have found that listening to questions people ask about the problems they struggle with is very helpful in content idea creation. Social media groups and communities are a great resource for ideas.

Pro Tip: Use internal links to connect useful content thematically.

Use a Pillar Page to build internal links. "A Pillar Page is a comprehensive resource page that covers a topic in depth and links high-quality content created for the supporting subtopics."- HubSpot

Here are some examples of Pillar Pages:

5 Things Financial Firms Need To Know About Cyber Security

International Standards Used In Calibration

Google My Business

Social Media

In addition to ideas for content creation, social media is an effective way to promote your content and improve SEO. Check out  How To Monitor Social Media In 13 Minutes A Day to help you get started.

By familiarizing yourself with the basic terminology and best practices mentioned here, you can effectively manage your budget and get the results you want for your business. Better yet, with many of the tools we have recommended, you can already get started to improve your own SEO on your own "terms" (no pun intended). 

Lastly, an important point to remember: SEO is more than a one-time purchase or fix. It is a strategy that requires ongoing attention. At Analytics That Profit, we don't sell an SEO package; SEO is built in to our overall marketing strategy. 

The Biggest Problems With A Website Update, And How You Can Avoid Them

3 Reasons A Website Update Goes Over Budget and Over Schedule

There are several inherent problems with traditional web design. One of the biggest stumbling blocks is the reiterative process. A single change starts the process all over again. The adage of 1 step forward and 2 steps backward definitely applies. Another problem is the dormancy of a website. Websites are put on set it and forget mode. We will revisit it next year.

In the meantime, the market has changed and new opportunities exist and the website just sits there.

1. Web Developer/Code Dependent

In traditional web design, unless you are experienced in web development and coding you are dependent on someone else to make changes to the website.

Submit a request.

Wait.

Publish.

Find issues.

Submit another change request.

Wait.

Publish.

A month has now passed! The use of templates that are designed for the end user solve this problem. The coding piece is removed.

Platforms such as Squarepace, WordPress, Wix, GoDaddy and HubSpot offer themed templates for websites. All the coding is done behind the curtain so the end user can add content without any special coding skills required.

2. Lack Of Website Hyperfocus

We need to update our website. Why? Our competitor's sites look better than ours. Reminds me of what my mother used to say to me.” If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?” Me being the snarky little ginger that I was would reply “Yes! All my friends would be dead.” Didn’t work well with my mother and won’t work well for your business. It costs money to refresh a website. The lack of a hyper-focus makes your website a cost center, not a revenue generator. If you are going to spend money on your website, then shouldn’t it have a desired outcome and ROI? If all you want is your contact information, then go with a simple contact page. The reality is, most people use the internet to research potential vendors.

Research from Google has shown that 90% of B2B researchers who are online use search specifically to research business purchases.

Average Searches Conducted Prior to Engagement

Image Source: Google

A hyper-focused website will solve problems for visitors. Potential customers, when searching the internet for vendors, want to understand your capabilities and unique value proposition to solve their problem so they can move forward in the buying process. This is why it is important to understand your customers using Buyer Personas. Once identified, you can provide highly relevant hyper-focused content that will lead them through the buyer’s journey.

Pro Tip: Ask your current customers what they want to see on your website.

3. Ignoring Low Hanging Fruit

While a cool digital online tool seems like a nice addition, they can be expensive to develop. Focus on low hanging fruit first. The revenue generated can then be used to pay for the cool digital tools. How do you find low hanging fruit? Identify friction points in the conversion process with Google Analytics. An easy way to do this is to set up goals in Google Analytics. If you have not set goals in Google Analytics read this article.

Once you have identified the friction points, design the conversion process so it is easy for your website visitors to get the information they need. Solve the problem. Don’t be the problem.

Your WebsiteA 24 HOUR SALES FORCE THAT NEVER TAKES A VACATION!

Here are some enlightening facts from Google:

• 90% of B2B researchers who are online use search specifically to research business purchases.
• On average, B2B researchers do 12 searches prior to engaging on a specific brand’s site.
• 71% start on a generic query, so they’re looking for product first, not for you.
• Seventy percent of B2B buyers and researchers are watching videos throughout their path to purchase.

Source: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/the-changingface-b2b-marketing/

This makes it clear that your website is most likely the first “salesperson” consumers will talk to in their buying journey. Building your website around this data will provide consumers with a positive experience with your brand.

Your “salesperson” needs to have answers as to why you can solve the problems that consumers are researching.

A website update every 18–24 months is obsolete thinking. We view your website as a living and breathing organism that is always in a state of evolution.

That is why we became a Growth- Driven Design certified HubSpot Partner.

HubSpot conducted a survey in 2016 and found only 42% of marketers make impactful improvements to their website every year. We get it. Coordinating Developers and Coders, Graphic Designers and copywriters can become a nightmare.

Traditional Web Design: Waterfall

We use the HubSpot Growth Driven Design model for a website refresh.

It is based on agile methodology and dramatically reduces the time from concept to launch. It removes the interdependencies of traditional waterfall design: The next process has to wait on the previous process.

Successful websites begin with a focused growth strategy. Our goal in the strategic stage is to develop an empathetic understanding of your audience’s world and how the website can solve problems along their journey.

The goal of the Launch Pad website is to quickly build a website that looks and performs better than what you have today but is not your final product. Your Launch Pad is the foundation from which you collect real-user date and optimize.

The advantage to this approach is we can make changes to your website and make them live with a mouse click. No developers or designers need to be involved.

Analytics That Profit is a HubSpot Certified Agency Partner and a certified Growth Driven Design Agency.

What To Do When You Get A Phone Call From Google

There is a discrepancy on your Google My Business page. We are calling about your Google account. Most likely you have or will receive a phone call that starts just like that. Is it legit?  Does Google ever call you directly?

Here is what Google says:

Protecting against fraudulent calls

As a business owner, you can receive many types of phone calls, including some from automated systems. They range from unsolicited recorded robocalls (which are often scams), to conversational systems that perform a task on behalf of a single user (like booking an appointment). This article will help you understand the difference between trusted automated systems and scams.

How to identify legitimate calls from Google

There are a few circumstances where you may receive a call from someone who claims to be from Google. Here’s how to identify whether it’s a real call from Google or from a possible scammer:

• Google does not make unsolicited sales calls from an automated system. However, we may place automated phone calls to your business, as a service to Google users, for non-sales tasks like making reservations or confirming your business hours. These calls are only enabled for businesses that offer public phone numbers for the purpose of receiving calls from the general public, and use the automated voice-calling service Duplex.
• Google will make automated calls from a set of designated numbers. For example, in the US, calls from 650-203-0000 will be from Google. If businesses don’t want to accept these calls, they can opt-out by simply saying so on the call. Businesses will also be able to opt-out of reservations or bookings made using Google Duplex.
• You may receive calls from Google operators for the purposes of development, customer service, or support related to your Google Ads, Google Play or other Google accounts. However, Google will never ask you for payment information over the phone or guarantee you favorable placement in our products.

What to do if you receive a suspicious call

Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous individuals and companies who make fraudulent and misleading calls. Sometimes, callers or pre-recorded robocalls falsely claim to be working “with Google” or “for Google” in an attempt to sell different schemes and online marketing services to unsuspecting individuals and companies.

Many of these types of calls are not allowed under U.S. law (unless you have given permission to receive them), and Google is never behind them.

Here’s what to do if you receive an unwanted automated robocall from a non-Google entity:

Report suspicious calls in the US

If you're in the US and continue to receive unwanted calls, you can submit a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). To file a formal complaint, go to www.donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222. You can also submit a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission.

Hang up

If you receive an unwanted call from someone who claims to be Google or working with Google, feel free to hang up at any time. Do not press any key even if the voice recording prompts you to in order to speak with a live person or to be taken off the call list. Pressing a key may lead to more unwanted calls.

Help us track down scammers

Google understands these types of calls can be bothersome. We are committed to doing our part to try to put a stop to these calls. However, this isn’t always within our control; for example, many of these callers use untraceable phone numbers and other cloaking tactics.

Help us track calls that falsely associate themselves with Google. Contact us directly via our webform and include the following information:

• The caller’s company and contact information.
• Any emails or documentation received from the caller as part of a follow-up.
• Any additional information about the call.

Prevent future unwanted calls

• Check out the FTC’s tips on how to handle unwanted calls, and robocalls resources with additional information about robocalls and steps you can take if you receive one. 
• Check with your phone company to see if they can block calls from any problematic numbers.
• If you're in the US, register your personal number with the National Do Not Call Registry at: www.donotcall.gov/register/reg.aspx or call 1-888-382-1222."

Source: Google

Check out these helpful articles:

Why Successful Business Verify Their Google Page.

Using Google My Business as a Lead Generation Tool

How To Create A Post On Google My Business

How To Set Up Messaging On Your Google My Business Page

How did they get your phone number?

Congrats! Your marketing is working. Your phone number is visible on your website and/or your Google My Business page. This is a good thing. But as is the case with most good things, it comes at a price. The price is the annoying scammers. 

In addition to these types of calls we have the infamous robo-call. You would think the National Do Not Call Registry would solve this problem. Think again. The Federal Trade Commission- FTC- receives 19,000 complaints daily from people who are on the list and still get called. Obviously being on the list does not help.

How to detect a fraudulent call

Pay attention to the language. Most of these scammers will imply they are working with Google or on Google's authority. Here are some tips to detect a fraudulent call.

• Google will not call you unless you have contacted them and specifically asked for a callback.
• Calls from 650-203-0000 will be from Google.
• They will ask for the owner.
• They will ask you to verify your account with the "credit card on File."
• They will offer to update your account and/or verify your account for a fee.
• An overwhelming sense of urgency.

Remember, your Google My Business listing is FREE. You can update your information for FREE at any time.

The FTC is currently involved in litigation against these types of scams. You may want to read Google is not calling you  by the FTC.

 Here is a list of some Google scams:

• Google Lotto Scam
• Gmail Tech Support Scam
• Vehicle Purchase Scam
• Google AdWords Impersonation Scam
• Google Job Offer Scam
• Google Account Recovery Scam via SMS Messages
• Google Top Placement/SEO Scam
• Google Maps/SEO Fake Invoices
• Google Telemarketing Calls
• Google/Zagat Job Scam
• Gmail Update Phishing
• Google AdSense Scam
• Tax Payment Scam
• Blackmail & Extortion

Don't let all this negative stuff depress you.

Google My Business is a great tool for business.

We strongly encourage( OK, we really insist) all of our clients verify and optimize their Google My Business listing.  

Check out our Google My Business page for step by step instructions on claiming and managing your Google My Business page.

Did we forget to mention it is FREE!

 

How Do I Know If My Marketing Is Working?

ou have hired the best creatives.

You have maximized your budget.

Now what?

How Do You Know If Your Marketing Is Working?

Here are some simple things you can do to make sure your marketing is working.

Set A Goal

Every activity in business should have a desired stated outcome. Desired outcomes could include more RFQ's (Request For Quotes), Website visits, White-paper downloads, Schedule a call, etc. Once you established the goal then you need to measure for success. Google Analytics makes this very easy. 

Choose events that lead to revenue generation. It can be as simple as Quotes Submitted, particular Downloads or number of Downloads, Specific Time On Page or Watching a Video.

[Click here to see what Google says about setting goals.]

Here are some examples of goals that lead to revenue generation.

It takes an understanding of your business processes to select the correct goals. When selecting goals it is best practice to involve all those involved in the sales process so proper attribution can be assigned. 

Monetize Your Goals

Your gut reaction might be to assign Total Sale Value as the monetary value of the goal. The problem is you have not accounted for all costs.  We recommend that you download our ebook Marketing Metrics Your Boss Really Cares About for the methodology of calculating ROI on marketing.

Download The Marketing Metrics Your Boss Really Cares About

Consider using some percentage of the profit after accounting for all costs. You must reach a consensus agreement with everyone involved in the process. Once you have agreement on the profit piece, the really hard part is next.

You must identify the sales that were generated by your website. This could include visitor downloads before they called for a quote or Simple Form Submission. This requires meticulous attention to detail in record keeping and the patience to gather historical data. Segregate existing customers from new customers to present a solid case so you don't hear "They were already a customer so we would have gotten that business anyway." 

We like to use HubSpot with our clients as it makes tracking and attribution simple.

• Collect Data over a Specified Time Range - 30 days is OK, but 90 days is better.
• Reevaluate your goals to make sure you did not miss any "key" revenue generating activity.
• Determine the monetary value from website generated revenue based on goal completions.
• Assign Monetary value in Google Analytics.

Now you will see the results of your efforts in Google Analytics reports.

Focus on What Is Working

Once you are seeing the ROI (Return On Investment) that makes sense for your business with a specific marketing approach, do more of that. You can spend all the money you want on marketing that does not work and it will not make it work.

Many believe economic theory proves that spending more produces more results. Modern research show this is not always a valid model. You may want to read Large Stakes And Big Mistakes to see how this does not always hold true.

Be bold enough to stop doing what does not work. This is very difficult thing to do. You read article about how a campaign created enormous success and you want to try it.  What worked for others may not  work for you. 

Don't Underestimate The Power of Free Marketing

Google My Business is a free tool that is overlooked by many businesses. Think of Google My Business as a mini website. 

Here are a few easy things you can do as a business owner to take advantage of this FREE lead generation tool called Google My Business.

Verify Your Google My Business Page -It is FREE. Your business contact information, hours, phone, website, reviews, photos,etc are posted for the world to see at no charge to you.

Post on your Google My Business page- read this article for the step by step details.

Set up messaging on your Google My Business page- Check out this blog post for step by step instructions.