SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, and it is exactly that; the process of optimising a website so that it is read easier and more favourably by a search engine. By far the most popular search engine is Google, and that’s the one we usually focus on, but the techniques that are used for optimising a website for Google are very similar to those for the other search engines like Bing for example. 

When you search for something on Google, it uses an algorithm, which searches the web in a fraction of a second and displays results which it deems are relevant for what you’d like to see. SEO is a way to optimise a page so that for a particular keyword or set of key phrases, a website appears higher in the search results. For example, if you search for “dog groomers in chelmsford”, Google will display what it deems to be the most relevant website first, followed by the next most relevant, and the next, and so on. SEO is most useful to companies who are showing lower on the first page, or on the second page and beyond, as they have the most to gain from being higher in the search rankings. The higher you are in the search rankings for your keywords, the more people will see your website, and therefore the more traffic, leads and sales you will get. This concept is backed up by facts. 95% of people find what they’re looking for on page 1 of Google, so only 5% actually click through to page 2. If your website is on page 2 of Google then you’re missing out on a potential 95% more visibility.

SEO isn’t an instant process, and it should be seen as a long term strategy to gain more traffic, leads and sales. Following the initial audit, any changes that need doing will be made immediately, giving your website the best possible grounding for ranking well on Google. However, changes do not happen overnight. Google has data centres which are constantly crawling the world wide web, and these need to catch up with the changes you’ve made, before re-evaluating your ranking in the results. Typically, results begin to appear within three months, with traction being gained before the 6 month period and then with our re-evaluation, we can analyse what else needs to be changed and tweaked to help your website reach its full potential. 

Google does not publish how it actually determines which web page is the most relevant, but SEO is a huge business and as such people have devoted decades to unwinding the algorithm and working out which factors are the most relevant. Methods have been tried and tested over the years, and our SEO experts at Exo have a thorough understanding of what it takes to make a website rank well on Google. 

There are over 200 different ranking factors which are agreed to be the most relevant by experts in the SEO community, but the main two, which involve many other factors within them are on site optimisation, and off site optimisation. On site SEO refers to the signals which you give to Google to show your relevancy for a subject, and off site SEO is essentially the votes of confidence which other websites give to Google which it interprets as relevancy signals. The audit we carry out on your website when we start working with you, and periodically throughout our relationship covers all of the most essential factors which Google uses to rank a website, and ensures that all of them are fine tuned to help your website rank well.

Success is measured in SEO by results. Our main goal with any website we’re working on is to increase its ranking in the search results for relevant keywords. To measure this we produce a monthly report which keeps track of each keyword, and how it has changed in the month. This allows you to understand and see the real world results that our work is having, and you’ll also be able to look at the difference in traffic and enquiries that this is bringing to your business. It is always our aim to improve a keyword on a monthly basis, but as SEO is a long term strategy, it is possible that during the first few months of starting work there could be some fluctuation as Google starts to recognise the changes we are making and re-evaluate your relevancy as such. 

There is no secret to SEO. It’s something which needs hard work, dedication and time invested to get your website in the best possible shape, before constantly monitoring, tweaking and working to keep your website high in the rankings. SEO has changed a lot over the years, and practices which worked well 10 years ago are now completely irrelevant. It’s no longer something which can be played easily, and shortcuts do not exist. SEO in the modern age is now something which an agency has to stay on top of to ensure their methods change at the same time as the Google algorithm to give their clients the best results, and that’s exactly what we do. 

White Hat is the term used to describe SEO which is done properly. This means using tactics which don’t stray outside of Google’s webmaster guidelines. The Google webmaster guidelines can be quite strict, but White hat SEO techniques work well within them and ensure that you won’t be at risk of penalisation. The simplest way to describe White hat SEO is that it is the method of creating a website for a human audience, but which also satisfies Google as being relevant for certain keywords. There can be a fine line between White hat and Black hat SEO, and the lines can sometimes become blurred, but we would always work within Google’s guidelines to ensure that your site is best placed for long term results. 

Black hat SEO is the opposite of White hat, and as you can probably imagine, is the term used to describe trying to play the system just to give higher rankings. Some Black hat techniques can work, but Google will quickly catch on to this and could possibly give you a penalty; something which is hard to come back from. Black hat SEO includes webspam, such as generating bulk quantities of links to your website from sources which are not legitimate in an effort to gain rankings. It also includes writing content which isn’t aimed at a human audience and only serves to give signals to Google that you should rank for particular keywords. Google has teams of people who manually review websites and when they see any Black hat techniques, that’s when you could get a penalty. We never use Black hat techniques. All of the techniques we use are focused on long term results to ensure your website ranks well for as long as possible. 

A Google penalty can be either manual or algorithmic. An algorithmic penalty isn’t difficult to come back from, because it just means that the algorithm doesn’t necessarily like a change which you’ve made, or the algorithm has been changed and the update means your website needs to catch up. Keeping track of changes means if we suspect you have an algorithmic penalty, things can be rolled back, or improved to ensure your ranking increases. A manual penalty however is very different. This is when someone who works for Google looks at your on and off site optimisation and decides there is evidence that you have been working outside of their guidelines. They can then penalise you, which will essentially mean your website doesn’t rank for your keywords and this can be very damaging. Websites can be brought back from a manual penalty situation, however it does take time. This would include a thorough audit of the on and off site optimisation before making changes and then submitting a reconsideration request for Google to review. Because our techniques are always White hat, Google penalties are not at all likely to come from work we carry out. If your website has been penalised prior to working with us for whatever reason, we are experienced in bringing websites back from them and will be happy to discuss your project. 

SERP stands for “Search Engine Results Page”. This is the page which shows up for any keyword when you type it into Google. If someone refers to your SERP position or SERP ranking, it means they’re talking about where on that page you show up. There are 10 organic ranking positions per SERP, with usually some adverts and a local stack at the top. For some keywords, Google also includes a “People also ask” box which shows questions or terms which may be related to your query. 

SERP rankings fluctuate daily, and it’s not uncommon for one search term to return different results throughout a week if you keep on checking. There are many different reasons for this, and one of them is because nowadays, Google personalises searches. This involves them taking into account your browsing history, search history, location, demographic etc. What this essentially means is that if you are to search one term from one place, on one account, someone else could receive different results from another place, on another account, based on what Google thinks would be the best result for them. This isn’t the only reason why SERP rankings can fluctuate however. Normal fluctuations can simply be because everyone on page one for a keyword is either trying to get higher up the rankings, or keep themselves at the top if they are already there. If everyone is doing work to perform well in the search engines, it takes knowledge, constant monitoring and the ability to adapt to any changes to ensure long term success. 

There is no reason why a website won’t rank on Google. Google has put years into their algorithm to make it what is now regarded as the best in the world, and there is no reason at all why they would single out your website and choose not to rank it. However, that doesn’t mean it will naturally rank well. If you’re truly not ranking at all, then chances are you have a Google penalty, so that’s the first thing to check for. If you don’t have a penalty, then the issue is more than likely that you are ranking, just very poorly, because your website isn’t optimised. The purpose of SEO is to assist websites which are performing poorly in SERP, by optimising them for their niche and their keywords, helping them to increase their rankings in the long term.

It’s very easy to know which keywords are right for your business, but it is specific to who you are, what you do, who you serve, and the areas that you do business in. As a part of our audit we will do a keyword analysis to come up with which keywords are best for you, however some of them will be quite obvious. If you’re a dog groomer in Chelmsford for example, “dog groomers chelmsford” will likely be your most valuable keyword. Variations of keywords can be found using the Google Keyword Planner tool also, as you can see how much traffic each term gets. This allows you to decide which keywords should attract the most focus. Once you know which keywords you’re going to focus on, you can tailor your website to these. You won’t only rank for these keywords however; Google is far more intelligent than that these days. You will also likely rank for similar keywords, or variations on the terms, all of which help you get more eyes on your website, generating more leads and making more sales.

Yes, you can do your own SEO, but it involves in-depth knowledge and a lot of time to do it yourself. If you’re running a small business then realistically you’re going to be spending a lot of time dealing with customers, and attending to your other commitments. Because SEO is a time consuming process, which involves learning a completely new skill, many business owners choose to pass this responsibility on to a company who already has the knowledge, track record and ability to get results easily, without the learning curve or trial and error. 

The changes we make to your website will be dependent on the weaknesses and strengths we identify. No website optimisation is the same; everything is tailored to your specific business, customers and niche. However, our 100 point audit will give a baseline for changes to be made, and we will explain what we will do for each point in order to improve it. When it comes to making changes, we will confirm with you each change if you’d like us to, or you can choose to leave us to make changes as necessary. We will always be happy to explain why we have made any changes or the reasoning behind them. Alternatively if you’d rather we didn’t have access to your website we’re happy to work in that way too. We can let you know which changes we would advise making and when to make them, if you’d prefer to be in full control.