The Raw Truth About Getting New Customers With SEO For Your Business

Do you want better results from your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy?

Now when I say better “results”, I’m not talking about metrics that don’t matter to you like…

an increase in your website traffic…

or ranking higher in Google’s search engine results page for irrelevant keywords.

You want more SALES and NEW CUSTOMERS.

That’s the ONLY thing that really matters.  You don’t really care to hear about all the fancy SEO terminology and metrics that you commonly hear an SEO company talk about.

You want your SEO efforts to bring you more sales and customers from the organic search results pages in Google.

I completely understand.

I’ve seen many businesses afraid to spend money on marketing because they’ve experienced their marketing budgets disappear into a black hole, never to return again.  The purpose of marketing is to receive a positive return on investment.   If you spend $1 on marketing, you should get a minimum of $2 dollars back.

In meeting with hundreds of businesses over the last 10 years, many of them haven’t been able to successfully use search engine optimization to increase leads, sales and grow their business.

Let’s look at a few reasons why…

Not all SEO is created equal

Have you ever called more than one search engine optimization company in Baltimore?

You probably received 5 very different price quotes.

You probably asked yourself, “why are SEO service prices all over the place?!”

Because search engine optimization is form of art.  There are hundreds of indicators that Google uses to rank websites within their search results pages.

In my experience, you sacrifice quality and results the cheaper the price, but the most expensive price doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the best results either.  You need to land somewhere in the middle.

(This SEO pricing guide I wrote, uncovers the secrets behind pricing in more detail.)

The reason why cheap SEO never works is because A LOT of time must be invested in order to see real results in the form of new leads and customers.

I’ll go over the right process later in this article, so you can get a better idea of what’s involved.

Outsourcing your SEO overseas

I’ve witnessed many businesses hire a contractor or SEO company overseas to manage their SEO marketing.

Bad idea.

Do you really want someone who’s native language isn’t English, writing your blogs and articles on your behalf?  Do you want this person making edits to your website’s content?  Or communicating with other others on behalf of your company to acquire backlinks to your website?

Maybe you don’t mind… but that’s probably one of the reasons why your SEO strategy isn’t generating the results you really want.

Relevant content that is engaging to your audience is one of the main indicators that Google uses to determine your rankings within its search results pages.

Many times, I’ve seen outsourced content poorly written, infested with grammar mistakes from beginning to end.

This not only negatively affects the reputation of your business but lowers engagement with your audience and in turn, can lower your Google rankings.

I’ll hire someone in-house to do my SEO

I’ve seen this result in two ways…

1. It never works
2. It works, but up to a certain point… and then the business calls us to achieve the results they really want.

Ok, let’s discuss #1…

I’ve witnessed many businesses get their IT person or administrative assistant to help increase their keyword rankings with SEO.

These employees make a valiant effort in learning and implementing SEO, in addition to juggling their previous responsibilities.

Instead of seeing results, you’ll most likely just see an overloaded, frustrated employee that is on the verges of quitting.

Search engine optimization is difficult.

It takes years to fully understand the ins and outs of the industry.  Reading the latest article or guide isn’t enough either.  You need years of experience implementing various SEO strategies to see which are most effective.

SEO is a full time profession.  It’s not something you can hand off as a part-time gig to someone who you think has extra time on their hand.

Now for #2…

There are some businesses who decide to hire someone who has SEO experience.  They may claim to have worked for years within the industry and have generated results for their previous companies.

….haha!

I laugh because it’s likely I’ve hired more SEO employees than you.  To be frank, someone who is truly skilled in SEO wouldn’t want to work for you….

Now I’m sure you have a great company, but an SEO expert who loves what they do, would have no room for growth at your company.

Think about it…

After they optimize your website and start generating results… what else is there for them to do?

Where do they go from there?

They’ll probably get bored with optimizing the same website, creating the same type of articles, and so forth…

It won’t be long before they leave… that’s if, you somehow are able to attract a true SEO expert in Baltimore or Maryland.

Most businesses who hire someone to manage their search engine optimization in-house, will find someone with low to moderate SEO skills that will take them to a certain point…

It may be just enough where you’ll see some results, but not exactly the ROI you want.

What most businesses don’t realize is that it takes a team to effectively optimize your website and generate measurable results in the form of more leads and new customers.

Typically one person can’t do everything that is involved within the SEO process.

In reflecting on our own process, we need a website developer, content writer, link builder, public relations representative, social media strategist, and SEO manager on our team.

All these valuable team members are needed to effectively implement a results-driven search engine optimization strategy.

That’s why hiring one person, will take you only so far… one person is just one piece of a large puzzle.

Ok, let’s now discuss the correct way your business can start acquiring new customers with search engine optimization

Keyword research

Keyword research is crucial to any SEO campaign, and isn’t nearly as simple as most think it might be.

However, often times the keywords you think of aren’t the keywords your target audience is actually  putting into Google – those are the keywords you need.

There are lots of tools out there that can help you get this valuable data. SEMrush and UberSuggest are a great place to start. They both help you gain insight into common phrases and keyword variations users are searching for. They also estimate approximately how many users are typing those phrases into the search bar, which gives you a better idea of which keyword phrases to prioritize.

But if you want to get the most “bang for your buck,” Google AdWords is the best tool at your disposal.

AdWords not only shows you keyword phrases users have actually typed in – it shows you which keyword phrases convert those users into leads and sales. 

You get real data from real customers, which helps you make better decisions on the rest of your site early on, rather than wagering on estimates and waiting for organic data to come in over time.

On-page SEO

Content

The information you put on your site is going to have a major impact on your site’s SEO.

Not only does it have to be relevant to your business, but it also has to be engaging for readers.

There is so much content available online. And if your site is difficult to read or dull, visitors are quick to leave, knowing that another site out there can give them a better experience.

Further, the content is where a majority of the keywords you just researched are going to be implemented in your website.

You need the right balance of keywords in your text.

You need to use the same keywords fairly repetitively in order for Google’s robots to really understand which industry you are in and which searches your site would be most relevant for.

However, if you over-use a keyword, Google’s robots will think you’re trying to game the system, and it can actually lower your rankings.

Over-using keywords also creates a bad user experience since your content will not only seem repetitive, but it often doesn’t even make sense when you try to force keywords into sentences.

User experience is an important ranking factor for Google, so it’s crucial that you optimize your site for users first, then for Google’s robots.

Page speed

The speed of your website has been an important ranking factor for a while now.

If your site takes too long to load, both users and Google’s robots will give up and move on to the next site.

This is especially true when it comes to mobile sites.

Mobile searches now make up the majority of searches in most industries now, so mobile site speed specifically has also become its own ranking factor.

Further, updating your site’s speed once isn’t enough. Google is constantly raising their standards as new technologies emerge and users’ expectations increase, so it’s important to consistently re-evaluate your website’s speed and make the necessary updates.

Site markup

Proper site markup is important to help Google’s robots be able to read and understand your site with ease.

While its robots are becoming increasingly smart, they still rely on some structure to help it process and index content quickly.

After all, there are over 130 trillion pages in Google’s index being crawled regularly.

If your site has proper markup, the robots should be able to efficiently crawl your site and index your content (including any site updates) efficiently. If they get stuck on something or don’t see information because it’s hidden in the code, then there’s a good chance that information won’t make it into Google’s index.

Off-page factors

SEO isn’t limited to just what’s on your site.

As one of the hundreds of ranking factors, Google also takes in to account your company’s reputation around the web.

Ideally, your business has already generated lots of buzz from other sources like news agencies and industry experts and, of course, happy customers.

But the reality for most small to medium-sized businesses in Baltimore is that they barely have an online footprint at all outside of their own websites.

Social media

Having a social media presence is a great way to get company news out there, and an even better way to interact with your audience.

Find ways to make your information relatable to users so that they’ll want to like, comment on, and share your posts. The more they like your brand, the more likely they are to do business with you.

Further, when your social media followers engage with your content, it often shows up in front of their own followers − which is a great way to get your content in front of even larger audiences/potential leads.

Reviews

Reviews are also crucial to any business in today’s world.

Many customers check reviews first before making a purchasing decision to get a better idea of your company. Reviews give users honest insight into what it’s like to do business with you.

While you shouldn’t pay or incentivize customers to leave a review for your Baltimore business, it’s often beneficial to encourage them to leave a review.

Don’t be discouraged if you occasionally receive a bad review. They often have some bit of constructive criticism in them, and present you with an opportunity to improve your business in the future.

Link building

Other websites linking to your site play a larger role in SEO than you might think. There’s a few reasons for that.

First of all, if you have other websites linking to you, they’re often doing you a favor – they’re getting your company name and website out in front of a larger audience, and thus increases your chances of getting leads.

Further, links to your site are often a sign of legitimacy. Having other businesses, especially well known websites, talk about your company shows that you are a high quality resource.

From interviews, to local news articles, to directory listings, and beyond, there are many ways to build links to your website.

With so many options, it can be difficult to know which way is best for your business. That’s why it’s important to have a local SEO company in Baltimore working with you to strategize which methods to prioritize, so your efforts will have the maximum potential to work for you.

Track conversions

Whether it’s online sales, form submissions, or even phone calls generated from your site, it’s important that you track all leads coming from your website.

In fact, conversion tracking is probably the most important factor of SEO since, after all, the main reason you’re doing any SEO is to get more conversions.

Not only will conversion tracking show you which activities are working, they are also a great way to accurately measure ROI.

It’s important that you know how many leads you convert into customers on average, and how much each of those customers are worth.

So how do I know this process works?

SEO is an acquired skill, but a lot of what makes it work for your business is the hard work and time that is invested.

Over the last decade, we’ve refined our search engine optimization strategies and processes.  We’ve worked with hundreds of businesses in Baltimore, Maryland and several states nationwide.

We know what works and have a proven track record.

Here are results we’ve achieved for some of our clients:

Bay Management Group Property Management

We’ve helped local businesses like Bay Management Group grow into a national brand:

Using SEO, we took them from not ranking at all to ranking on the first page of Google for over 110 of their target keyword phrases

• On average, 10 leads contact them per day
• Company grew from a 1-man company in 2012 to having 3 offices in 2 states, with a staff of 60+ (currently in 2018)
• Company is currently within the top 25 largest property management companies in Baltimore (according to Baltimore Business Journal)

Here are screenshots of their website analytics (Oct 2016 – Sep 2017)

Brody Brothers Pest Control

We implemented a long-tail keyword SEO strategy where we targeted keyword phrases that were very specific to the client’s services.  This approach resulted in more qualified leads and fast business growth.

• Using this SEO strategy we were able to increase their leads by 1,084% in 12 months
• 53 keywords ranked within the top 3 listings of Google’s search results pages

The risky side of SEO

Search engine optimization is a popular way to acquire new customers and grow your business but…

It’s unpredictable.

The truth is you’re at the mercies of Google.  They could suddenly change what they consider important factors in ranking websites within their search results pages and overnight your online visibility could change…

for better or worse…

Because SEO is unpredictable and Google can change its mind about you at any given second, it’s extremely difficult to guarantee.

It’s similar to guaranteeing you’ll win at a casino.

SEO isn’t guaranteed but we’re crazy enough to do this…

We offer a guarantee on our results for most industries.  Real results like quality leads and new customers.  These are results that actually mean something and are important to you.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “but I thought SEO isn’t guaranteed?  Why in the world would they offer a guarantee?  Is he crazy?”

Yes, you’re correct (no not the crazy part). SEO isn’t guaranteed but I think it’s crazy that you pay us for a service and have nothing to show in return.  Would you walk into the store, go to the cash register, give them money and then walk out with nothing in your hands?  Of course not!

We think it’s only fair to do whatever that is in our power to generate new leads and sales for you using search engine optimization, so that you get the service and results you pay for.

A guarantee on our work holds our feet to the fire and doesn’t leave you exposed as the only one at risk.  We are willing to put our “skin in the game” as well.