When it comes to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), there are many “experts” out there claiming that they know how to get anyone to the number one position. Often, these “experts” are taking shortcuts and selling the same old gimmicks, to unsuspecting customers who are none the wiser.
Granted, SEO isn’t as simple as it used to be; it has become more complex than just keywords. It requires a fair bit of knowledge, consistent work and specialised skills to get anywhere near the top of the rankings.
Unlike pay-per-click advertising, it’s a long-term game that can bring lasting results if it’s done right from the get-go.
Being the best SEO company in Melbourne doesn’t come easy; it takes skill, knowledge and experience.
Firstly, it means having employees that are Google Ads certified i.e. have an in-depth knowledge of the ins and outs of how Google Ads works, as well as having exhaustive knowledge about the other aspects of SEO.
Secondly it means being highly adaptable; keeping on top of the many constant updates that Google makes, as well as keeping on top of all the constant SEO developments.
The digital marketing game is never stagnant, rather it’s ever-changing, so being adaptable is crucial to any SEO company.
Whether you’re looking to provide the best SEO services to your customers or you’re looking for the best SEO in Australia, there are 5 crucial principles that every leading SEO company embraces.
Here are the 5 principles that the best SEO company in Melbourne follow:
These 5 core principles are essential to SEO success. They look at the complete concept of SEO, incorporating all aspects, rather than just focusing on one or two parts of it; it’s a holistic approach to something that requires all parts to work in sync.
1. Learning
The first principle that will lead to SEO success is Learning, which involves the following three elements:
- Data analysis: Analysis of a company’s website
- Competitor analysis: Three key competitors are analysed, as well as the relevant industry
- Campaign planning: Detailed analysis identifies areas for improvement
Data Analysis
Doing a thorough analysis of a company’s website will identify what’s working and what’s not. Analysing things like page rankings, backlinks, keywords, landing pages and everything in-between, will give the SEO company a better understanding of the current status of the website’s SEO.
Competitor Analysis
A detailed analysis of the three leading competitors in the market is also done to determine what they’re doing right, and what needs to be done in order to outperform them.
Knowing what they’re doing well is important, but harnessing your unique strengths should be the focus for your SEO strategy; you don’t want to have to constantly “one up” the competition.
Understanding where both your business and your competition fit within the market is a crucial part of getting an understanding of the full picture, so you can determine where to go next.
Campaign Planning
Now that a detailed analysis has been done about the current situation, a plan can start forming about where you want go, as well as what’s required to get there. Campaign planning involves identifying goals, and coming up with innovative ways to achieve those goals based on the status quo.
Weaknesses aren’t such a bad thing; they’ll purely narrow down where the focus should be.
2. Improving
Now that the missing pieces of the SEO puzzle have been identified, the campaign plan can be put into action. Each technical and on-page issue will be fixed in order to fully optimise the website.
A website quality audit and a technical SEO audit are done to identify existing errors. Technical issues like hosting, indexing, page loading speed etc. are identified, on-page issues like content, keywords etc. will be reviewed and off-page issues like backlinks etc. are all revised.
Website errors such as broken links, poor images, page title issues and bad keywords help identify duplicate content, excess redirects, unlinked pages etc. Other tasks that will be undertaken as part of Improving are a sitemap review, checking browsable versions of the site and internal links, testing the site speed, doing a backlink audit and so on.
Thorough keyword research will be done at this stage in order to find the most effective keywords for your website including long-tail and intent targeting keywords.
The website is basically trawled for all existing errors and then expertly optimised in all aspects.
Some fixes may seem simple (they’re quick and easy to fix), however they will have a positive effect on your SEO once they’re all corrected, and are working well together.
3. Building
Building is a principle that focuses on designing and creating content that increases online exposure.
This is the content marketing element of SEO which will result in the best SEO in Australia; it carries weight within the overall SEO concept and shouldn’t be overlooked or undertaken half-heartedly.
A thorough audit of existing content will be done to determine where the gaps are, and original, engaging content will be created to fill those gaps and ultimately improve your SEO.
Keywords
A keyword gap analysis of your 5 best performing competitors is done in order to identify opportunities for new content. Basically, your competitors’ content will be reviewed, and compared to your own.
Gaps will then be identified, which essentially are opportunities for you to create content to fill those gaps, ensuring that you’re not just repeating what others are saying.
Your current content will be completely reviewed to determine if it’s providing any actual value to your potential customers, and if not, I’ll be revised/ recreated/ deleted all together.
A detailed content to keyword map is developed, from which the content will be created. Keyword mapping involves assigning or mapping keywords to specific website pages based on keyword research. It allows you to make specific on-page SEO changes to make the page(s) more relevant to the mapped keywords.
Blog posts are one of the ways businesses provide added value to their potential or existing customers. Detailed content that offers insights to readers can be one way to engage an audience, and improve your SEO.
“How to” or “Guide” type blog posts offer a solution to a problem without asking for any direct action from the reader. You’re sharing your industry knowledge and insights with others without asking for anything in return.
As your content becomes more engaging and offers more value, you’ll become a trusted source and be seen as an industry leader. While this might take some time, it’s a great way to build brand loyalty, as well as improve SEO.
Landing pages
Landing pages are a key focus in a content audit. Current ones are reviewed and either improved or replaced, and additional ones are added as required.
In order to maximise conversions, landing pages need to completely provide what the user is searching for; a designated landing page should exist for every set of keywords. It may sound like a lot of work, but it’s actually not, and it produces amazing results if it’s matched correctly to the user’s intent.
4. Promoting
Doing all the legwork is a crucial part of SEO, but it means absolutely nothing if the end result isn’t seen, and drifts into oblivion.
Promoting is a crucial principle of SEO, but is often not a core focus. Getting this wrong will wipe away all the hard work that has been previously done.
Many companies have the technical skills when it comes to SEO, but they lack the promotional know-how. Simply put, your website will be perfectly optimised for SEO, but you won’t see the results that you were hoping; it could eventually crash and burn.
Promoting is a special skill which only the cream of the crop get right. You need to be a highly experienced SEO company in order to be able to maximise the visibility of a website, in a completely saturated landscape.
Backlinking
Building domain authority is a key aspect of SEO which comes with being an industry leader; your website is seen as hugely relevant to a specific subject area or your industry as a whole. This relevance has a direct impact on your site’s ranking with Google; it assesses the domain authority through its algorithm.
Your SEO company will share the content using their SEO knowledge and network to build up the site’s backlinks. Basically, backlinking occurs when another site links to your website. Generally, that site will have a high domain authority which in turn increases your site’s authority.
If a site with a high domain authority links to your site, not only does that have a positive effect on your website’s authority, it also generates traffic to your site.
The more exposure your site has to a wider audience, the better your SEO will be; it builds brand awareness.
5. Evaluating
There’s no aspect of digital marketing that doesn’t need Evaluating.
Evaluating is a crucial principle of SEO that should be given as much attention as the others.
Continuous and regular evaluation is done by good SEO agencies. Knowing what’s working and what’s not is something that every SEO company should have a handle on, but sadly this isn’t the case. More often than not, they’re not analysing what they should, and SEO strategies fail to produce results.
In today’s SEO world, programs like Google Analytics provide real time data at the click of a button (or so they say), making evaluating that much easier.
Knowing if something isn’t working at the moment it isn’t working is the amazing thing about present day SEO.
The digital marketing arena is continuously evolving; f you can’t evolve with it then you will be left behind.
Vital to evaluation is adaptability. The best SEO company in Melbourne will have the capability to be nimble, and adapt quickly. As much as the data is available in real time, an SEO company needs to be able to makes adjustments quickly in order to steer the SEO strategy back on track.
Conclusion
SEO has come a long way from where it once was; gone are the days where keywords were the only factor of a winning SEO strategy, and when Google could be tricked into ranking websites that took shortcuts.
Google is way too smart these days; it’s hugely intuitive and can’t be easily deceived. A comprehensive SEO strategy needs to be implemented in order for you to see any results.
Google will reward you for all your hard work, and you’ll see your SEO improve as the days/months/years go by.
An SEO specialist in Melbourne may be your best bet to achieving those SEO results that you just haven’t been seeing. They’ll have the experience, knowledge and expertise that are needed to get you to the top.
SEO requires consistency and determination; results won’t be seen overnight. This is often the reason why organisations get frustrated and end up giving up, rather than soldiering on.
These 5 principles are at the core of SEO, and if embraced will drive your SEO strategy to succeed.
Don’t give up on that top spot, it can be achieved with the right approach. Google may be smart but the best SEO company in Melbourne is smarter. SEO professionals in Australia and worldwide have tactical approaches to SEO that do work.
If you haven’t thought about SEO to date, then now is the perfect time to start. An in-depth audit of your website will tell you where you are, and what you need to do to get to where you want to be.
It’s not out of reach, any business can have a winning SEO strategy, whether it’s large or small.
It’s not only global corporations with deep pockets that can succeed, small businesses often have innovative and creative ways of doing things, and are nimbler when it comes to adapting to change. There’s often less red tape and a flatter hierarchy, which is a win when it comes to SEO, and the flexibility it requires in order to succeed.