Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search engines are what people use to make their buying decisions. And when they have their phone out ready to call or their credit card in hand, you want it to be your website on their screens. That’s where SEO comes in.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be defined as positioning your website for maximum search engine visibility.
And it’s something all businesses with a website need to consider: research shows that if your site isn’t in displayed on page 1 of Google for a given search, you’re essentially invisible to your customers.
Nearly all web designers and developers claim they can ‘do SEO’. But as search marketing specialists, we go above and beyond the basics. And the results show. With SureFire looking after your SEO needs, you’ll get a full review of your site and search engine presence, intensive keyword research, quality strategic link-building, and on-page optimization of web content – just for starters. We’ll also perform ongoing maintenance of your search engine presence, growing and optimizing your online strategy as your business evolves.
SureFire’s SEO process can be categorised into three steps: analysis, on-site optimisation, and building search engine reputation.
Step 1: SEO analysis
Before beginning any work, SureFire will first work towards understanding your market and competitive landscape, identifying relevant keywords and pinpointing any SEO issues with your existing site. More specifically, analysis involves:
- Scoping – consultation with the aim of understanding your target audience and broader marketing objectives.
- Site Audit – analysis of your website’s functional specifications to identify potential search engine compatibility issues, as well as identifying current rankings and link popularity.
- Keyword Research – identification of appropriate keyword search phrases based on relevancy, popularity and competition that will generate targeted traffic to your website.
- Competitor Analysis – benchmarking your current website’s search engine presence against your main competitors’ websites.
Step 2: On-site optimisation
This involves carrying out any required changes to your site identified during the Analysis step, plus adding tracking codes and XML feeds.
- Technical fixes – enhancing the search engine ‘friendliness’ of your site’s structure and technical architecture.
- On-page SEO – optimisation of your visible web page content including title tags, meta tags, headings and page copy.
- Analytics set up – generating and implementing appropriate analytics tracking codes to assess website performance and conversions.
- XML feeds – generation of an XML feed for a complete list of all URLs to be indexed.
Step 3: Building search engine authority
SureFire will then work towards building the authority of your website in the eyes of search engines by developing and executing a custom link building strategy. This stage of work will include but not be limited to:
- Directory submission – submitting your site to the most appropriate key directories, including identification of the most relevant categories and development of submission descriptions.
- Online PR – promotion of your website through submission of press releases to selected online marketing channels.
- Social media – raising your brand awareness and online presence using social bookmarking and social networking sites, which search engines are increasingly factoring into their algorithms.
- Content development – Identifying additional content opportunities that will enable your site to target a broader range of customer generating keywords.
- Article syndication – writing and distributing topical articles to relevant online publications in order to attract new traffic and generate links.
- Link solicitation – Increasing the number of links to your site using a variety of best practice sources and techniques. This will result in a natural-looking link structure that won’t get you penalised by search engines.
- Ongoing performance review – In-depth monthly performance reports which allow us to gauge the effectiveness of our SEO efforts and take appropriate action to improve performance and change focus where necessary.
We’re already delivering great SEO results for TVNZ, Hyundai and many more prominent NZ companies – contact us now to find out how SureFire can improve your online presence and get more people seeing your site.
