Search engine optimization is the process of acquiring organic search traffic. The goal of SEO is to increase your position in the organic or non-paid search results delivered by search engines such as Google or Bing.

Advertisers should be aware that the ROI of search engine optimization is not immediate. It takes time to deploy your SEO strategy and to see its results. Furthermore, search engine optimization is a continuous process because your competitors will not sit idly as you try to outrank them. They will try to outrank you too.

Search engine optimization can also require additional expenses for web development if your website requires significant improvements or even small changes.

Another challenge is figuring out whether you want to outsource content marketing and copywriting to an agency like Metric DS or to keep it in-house. This choice carries its own set of advantages and disadvantages that are unique to your business.

Marketing managers who are thinking of investing in search engine optimization need to be mindful that offline marketing has a major impact on your organic search traffic.

Onpage SEO

Onpage search engine optimization is the process of improving your website’s content, security, accessibility, load speed and other key parameters, which search engines use to determine how to rank websites. Search engines want to show websites that provide a great user experience and content that is relevant to users’ search queries.

Off-page SEO

Off-page search engine optimization is a collection of techniques and processes that increase a website’s perceived authority, relevance and trustworthiness.

Search engines determine whether your website has authority on a specific topic based on multiple factors. For obvious reasons, search engines do not disclose how their algorithms work. However, research shows that the number of backlinks from respected, popular and trusted websites has a major impact on how your website ranks, too.

In other words, when a major blog links to your website, search engines view this as a signal that you are trustworthy.

Backlinks

A backlink is just a link from one website to another. However, not all backlinks are created equal. For example, a link in a paid advertorial does not carry the same authority, or page rank, as a natural link in a blog post written by an influential blogger.

Search engines have also become incredibly sophisticated and can identify whether a website is trying to ‘game the algorithm’ through paid backlinks.

SEO audit

The first step in search engine optimization is auditing your website and your competition.

A technical audit is a snapshot of your website. It shows whether technical issues are preventing you from ranking higher. For example, your organic traffic could be suffering because you’re missing an SSL certificate or because your content is not well formatted.

You will also uncover problems with your website’s code, page load speed, and other technical aspects.In other words, a technical SEO audit will show you what’s under the hood of your website.

An off-page audit will identify how you rank for specific keywords vs. your competitors. It will identify key opportunities to outrank your competitors.

An important part of any in-depth audit is the backlink analysis, which will show the page rank of all websites that link to you and to your competitor. This will help you create a comprehensive backlink strategy and approach the right websites and blogs to collaborate with.

Black hat SEO

Search engine optimization is a long-term process that takes time and considerable effort. It is only natural that some will try to use unethical shortcuts. Black hat SEO refers to techniques that are against the guidelines of search engines.

Our first step is to understand your business goals and your pain points. This is a conversation that will help us determine how SEO can help you achieve these business goals.

Technical SEO

We run a technical audit to identify problems that might be keeping your website from ranking higher. You will receive a detailed report with insights and recommendations. This report will provide a robust framework for the next steps that are necessary to optimize your website. We highly recommend starting with this step.

Comprehensive SEO analysis

This type of analysis is truly comprehensive. It includes backlink analysis of your website and those of your competitors. It also includes keyword opportunities and social signals that will give you a better idea of where to direct your efforts.

Content strategy

The third pillar of our search engine optimization offering is scaling and improving your content. We will propose a list of topics that fit your business and create value for your customers. This is a collaborative effort and we strive to work closely with our clients to get it right. Our next step is to create a regular posting schedule and begin work on your content.