Introduction

SEO simply stands for “search engine optimisation”.

SEO is therefore the ongoing process of improving a business’s “ranking factors”, this is with the aim of improving where the business ranks within a search engine like Google.

So, for example, if you run a business here in Bristol,  and you want your business to appear on the first page of Google’s results, then often you will need to invest in “white hat” SEO.

Pack Digital is a digital marketing agency that works with many businesses here in the South West of England.

We always recommend that all SEO work is high-quality (white hat).

What is SEO?

SEO is therefore the process of strengthening your businesses “ranking factors”. Most digital marketing agencies will charge a fixed monthly fee for completing this work for your business.

What are the benefits of investing in SEO?

The benefits of investing in this form of digital marketing are if the SEO agency is successful, they can get your business onto the first page of the search engine such as Google or Bing.

This can help a lot of businesses to gain more customers, yet that’s if the SEO is “white hat”.

Why organic and local SEO is often a slow process

A lot of business owners within the South West, and also across the UK believe that organic and local SEO is a fast process, when often it is not.

The reason why it is often not a fast process is simply because your business will normally face a lot of competition.

For example, let’s say that you run a shop here in Bristol that sells electric bikes, for your business to get on the first page for say, “electric bikes” plus name of city, you must first beat all the other businesses that are currently on the first page of Google.

Now, if all the businesses on the first page of Google have been investing in SEO for say the last six years, then often a business that is just getting started investing in SEO will have a lot of catching up to do.

This is why a lot of agencies, including ours state that organic SEO is a slow process, as you have to beat your competitors standard of SEO, to get your business onto the first page.

Therefore, the agency has to get your businesses ranking factors to a standard where they are stronger than your competitors, this obviously takes a great deal of time, especially if your competitors have been investing for a long time before your business has started to invest in SEO.

Why must the work be high-quality (white hat)?

The work must be high-quality and white hat, if it is not, then your business could incur a penalty, like a Google Panda penalty.

What are penalties, such as the Google Penguin and the Google Panda penalties?

Many businesses have invested in agencies or businesses that have then implemented low-quality SEO- this often results in the business incurring a penalty, which can mean that the business is removed from the search engine, or the business may see it’s rankings substantially reduced.

For example, the business may invest in a company that’s making false promises, such as they may well be claiming that they can get the business onto the first page, within a few weeks, or a few months, yet the business may use low-quality SEO methods, which means that the business will incur a penalty, and could therefore be removed from Google.

So only invest in high-quality SEO.

What are keywords?

Keywords are quite simply the words or the phrases that the business wants to rank for.

For example, if you run a construction business here in Bristol, you may want to rank for “builders” plus the name of the city like Bath for example.

What does white hat mean?

White hat SEO simply means that the work is of a high-quality- however, a lot of agencies say that the work is “white hat” when it is actually not. You should only invest in high-quality work, otherwise your business could incur a penalty, such as a Google Panda penalty.

Why does my agency keep referring to an algorithm?

It is the algorithm which decides where your business is ranked, therefore your business must have the strongest ranking signals to be ranked in the number one position on Google.

What are ranking factors?

There are over 200 different ranking factors, these are ordered in terms of importance, most digital marketing agencies in Bristol and across the U.K widely believe that backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors, however again all of the SEO work must be high quality.

Which ranking factors should my marketing agency focus on?

This depends from business to business, so for example, sometimes the agency will have to spend a lot of time at the start improving the on-site SEO, where with some businesses the agency might be able to start straightaway building high-quality backlinks.

It therefore depends on the strength of the businesses SEO at this current time, therefore often an agency will undertake an SEO audit before they start SEO work.

How can this help my business?

This can obviously help your business by getting your business onto the first page in Bristol and in Bath.

Is this a fast process?

No, often the more honest SEO agencies will explain that organic and local SEO is often a slow process.

What are backlinks?

Backlinks are the links that link between your website, and another website, the links should be high-quality and relevant to your website.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is often just written text, like what you’re reading here. The text should be high-quality and written in a white hat way

Do businesses in Bristol invest in SEO?

There are many businesses within Bristol that are investing in local SEO.

Do I need an SEO consultant, marketing agency, or a digital marketing agency?

This often depends on size of your business, for example, if you run a large e-commerce business that is selling many hundreds of products then you are unlikely to employ an SEO freelancer.

Therefore if you are running a large business often you will need a digital marketing agency. However, with that said if you are running a small business within the South-West, within Bath or say Bristol, you may hire a freelancer.

How can your agency help?

If your business wants to invest in high-quality white hat SEO why not give us a ring?