Category: SEO

Are you looking to improve your website rankings? Is your goal to get more love from Google and reach the top of SERPs?

So far, you’ve been focusing on keywords, and that’ll bring you results, for sure, but have you tried to up your link building game yet?

Backlinks are one of the most important Google ranking factors, yet, more than 55% of pages on the web don’t have a SINGLE one.

If you don’t want to be among websites that are constantly missing out on the opportunity to rank higher, it’s time to learn what backlinks are and how to use them to get more search traffic.

The Definition of Backlinks

So, what are backlinks anyway?

As the name suggests, backlinks are created when one website links to a page on another website. Backlinks are also referred to as inbound links, incoming links, or external links.

Simply put, you have a backlink on every website that links to any of your pages anywhere in their content.

Is Any Backlink Good?

You may be familiar with the saying that any publicity is good publicity. Well, backlinks don’t really work that way. You want to look for specific attributes in a backlink to make the most out of it.

For example, a backlink will be more clickable when attached to appropriate anchor text that naturally fits the content and invites people to find out more about a certain topic. Also, a backlink will work even better if the anchor text contains a keyword you’re trying to rank for.

And what about domain authority? Aim for backlinks from websites that already have Google’s trust. If you get a backlink from an authoritative website, you will definitely get more organic traffic to your site.

Finally, a good backlink should be placed somewhere in the main content of a page, rather than remain hidden somewhere in the footer where no one will notice it.

With this in mind, a single high-quality backlink can pay off more than having a hundred poor-quality backlinks.

Why Do Backlinks Matter?

When writing an article on a medical topic, will you back up your claims with links to Mayo Clinic’s blog posts or to some random articles without references or author’s name?

You’ll choose Mayo Clinic because linking your post to their website gives you credibility. Someone who links to your website gives the same credibility to you.

Backlinks tell Google your content is high quality and trustworthy. In fact, backlinks are one of the three most important factors that Google considers when deciding where to rank your website.

The Bottom Line

Have we cleared your doubts?

Backlinks may not be easy to earn, but they are a valuable asset that helps websites rank better in search engine results. Moreover, they give your website authority, which contributes to your brand reputation.

The more backlinks you have, the more people will trust you. That’s a pretty good foundation for building a top-quality online presence and achieving the website ranking goals you’ve set for your business.

A simple Google search for the word ‘SEO’ throws up about 761,000,000 results!

That’s the sheer volume of content Google decides to show for SEO. So, as a business owner, it’s no wonder if you are overwhelmed trying to understand what SEO really is.

In this blog post, we have tried to break down SEO in a simple manner so even your good old grandma could understand (just saying!).

What is SEO anyway?

SEO, as you may know, stands for Search Engine Optimisation. SEO is the process of optimising your content for higher search engine rankings without paying the search engines.

Now what do you mean by that, you may ask.

Let’s say, for instance, you are running a photography business in Perth. You put up a beautiful website, hoping people would find you online.

But how do people actually FIND you online?

This is where the search engines like Google come into the picture.

People searching for wedding photography might enter that keyword, “Wedding Photographers in Perth” on a search engine. Mostly the search engine would be Google. And choose a website that appears on the top of the search engine results.

Now if you want your website to appear on the top of the search results, you need to woo woo the search engines by optimising your website content for the keyword, “Wedding Photographers in Perth.”

This process of wooing search engines, whenever someone searches for a particular keyword, so your online content appears most likely on the top of the search engine results page is called Search Engine Optimisation.

Why should you care about SEO?

We already saw a Google search for the word ‘SEO’ throws up about 761,000,000 results!

But guess what?

Most people don’t click beyond the top 5 search results.

Search results on the second page of Google are almost non-existent for many.

Only the results on the first page get clicked most of the time.

You might be the best wedding photographer in Perth. But if your website doesn’t rank on the first page of Google, not many will give you a chance to prove it.

If you want people who don’t know you to FIND you online without paying for ads, then you should care about SEO.

If you want more organic, specific and high-intent traffic to your website, then you should care about SEO.

If you want to show up whenever someone is finding information related to your product, service or industry using a search engine, then you should care about SEO.

What are the benefits of SEO?

You spend less for acquiring new leads.

When done right, SEO has the cheapest Cost Per Acquisition (CPA).

SEO traffic is organic. Meaning, you don’t have to pay for click fees like you do with Google and Facebook Ads.

For instance, for one of my clients, the cost of each lead through SEO was 90 cents. They were also getting about 8X more traffic through SEO when compared to Google Ads.

Whereas, the average cost per click for Google ads is $2.83. When you include the ad management fee, each lead through Adwords costs approximately $9.65/-. That’s almost 10X higher than SEO.

Even though SEO takes a longer time to do, it has a cheaper CPA and Cost Per Lead (CPL).

Quality & Consistent Traffic
Yet another crucial advantage of SEO is that you will generate quality and consistent traffic, attracting people who are interested in your service or product to your website.

In marketing terms, SEO comes under the umbrella of inbound marketing strategy, which lets the audience to discover you when they start researching for information.

For successful businesses, it is vital that you are being found at each step of the buyer’s journey.

That is, you need to appear before your prospects when they are actually in need of your product/service.

SEO makes this possible.

Whereas, with paid advertising, once you run out of your budget for that day, your Google/Facebook ads will no longer be visible. Which means you are going to miss out on a chunk of prospects.

Better Conversions
Unlike outbound marketing, where you need to reach out to customers, SEO leads, where a prospect reaches out to you seeking information about your product and service, result in higher conversions.

Because these prospects are already looking for information related to your service or product. So they will arrive with a specific goal and need in their mind.

Establishes your authority
When you rank top in the search engines results pages(SERP), you will be considered as a reliable source. People might think you are an established player in the industry and that many people have researched you.

Whereas, if you rank low, people will consider that you are a new player or not well known in your industry.

You’ll generate leads without lifting your finger
Imagine leads knocking your inbox without you making any phone calls, emails, or ads. It would be amazing, right?!

That’s very much possible with SEO.

Is SEO a one-time thing?

Nope.

SEO is an ongoing process. It takes a lot of time, dedication and efforts to get results.

Search engines like Google constantly update their algorithms and criteria for a high-ranking website. Hence, a SEO professional must stay on top of the changes and make the required adjustments to ensure your website dominates the search engine rankings.

Is there something called good SEO and bad SEO?

Of course!

Technically, it is called White Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO.

Black Hat SEO employs sneaky and deceptive ways to improve search engine rankings. Search engines do not approve these techniques as it goes against their guidelines.

White Hat SEO uses honest and ethical ways to achieve better search engine rankings. In other words, they stick to the search engine guidelines.

Remember, black hat techniques can get you penalised and even banned from the search engine results page altogether.

On the other hand, white hat techniques, though takes time and effort, will deliver long-lasting results.

Okay. So how much does SEO cost?

You might not find a concrete answer to this question because of the variables involved in the SEO process. However, you can expect an experienced SEO professional with proven track record to charge anywhere between $75-$200 per hour.

To find out more about how we can help you with your SEO, contact us today!