Did you know that there are 30.2 million small businesses in the U.S. alone?

This number is only likely to increase in the coming years.

As a small business owner, you may struggle to get the word out about your company in such a competitive field. What’s more, you may simply lack the financial resources needed to launch massive advertising campaigns.

Luckily, there are plenty of tools at your disposal for boosting your organic visibility. Small business SEO services, in particular, can get you noticed without breaking the bank!

Keep reading to learn more about SEO services and how they can help your business today. Whether you want to learn and implement on your own, or invest in small business SEO packages, this article will get you started in the right direction.

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Google processes over 40,000 searches every single second. This equates to over 3.5 billion queries a day!

Businesses everywhere can take advantage of this incredible search traffic with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is a digital marketing strategy that can improve a business’s visibility.

Think about a basic Google search. A user types a keyword into Google that best approximates what they’re looking for.

Examples include “effective remedies for sunburn” or “best restaurants in London.”

Google then ranks websites based off of which ones best match these searches. The better the match, the higher the ranking.

For this reason, most users will stick to the first page of Google results when searching. They will most likely click on one of the top ten listings.

What does this mean? If your web content is appearing in the second or third page of search results, you’re missing out on potential traffic. What’s more, you could be missing out on brand visibility–period.

Enter SEO. This digital marketing tool is available to anyone with a website! And it is ultimately designed to boost your organic visibility by optimizing your content for keywords your customers are likely to enter into Google.

What is Organic Visibility?

Organic visibility refers to how “visible” you are as a brand.

In general, the more visible you are, the better. More customers will notice your brand and–hopefully!–walk through your doors or engage your website to make a purchase.

In fact, that’s what marketing is all about. Most advertising campaigns are designed to get the word out about your brand.

Organic visibility, however, is the best kind of visibility. “Organic” in the marketing world refers to something that happens naturally. Organic searches refer to Google searches that lead a visitor to your site.

This has a lot to do with inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is all about letting the customer come to you (rather than the other way around). It can be far more powerful than outbound marketing, and far less taxing!

SEO is all about helping you achieve that organic visibility. When your content is optimized for the right keywords, it will surface at the top of search results, and your organic “click-through rate” (how many people click on your link as they scroll through search results) will rise.

The higher your click-through rate, the greater your visibility. This can only lead to more conversions, sales, and long-term customers.

What Are SEO Services?

It’s possible to implement SEO on your own or with the help of professionals. In fact, you can optimize your content for search terms without spending a penny.

If you are interested in tackling SEO yourself, we recommend beginning with Google’s SEO Starter Guide.

Even if you eventually invest in SEO services, it’s important to know the rules of the game. SEO involves so much more than cramming some great keywords into your content!

SEO services research, implement, and track SEO campaigns for small businesses. Instead of you having to do all of that work, the experts handle it for you. Many businesses have discovered the value of organic SEO, so while you can get started on your own if you lack the budget, over time the SEO grind gets taxing and it makes sense to bring in the pros.

Every SEO package varies, but small business SEO services focus specifically on finding lucrative keyword opportunities that are attainable with your website and your budget.

Marketing professionals will help you get there through content marketing, monthly reporting, keyword optimization, and effective link-building.

The Financial Benefit of SEO Services

What are the benefits of SEO services as opposed to DIY SEO campaigns? More importantly, how can agency SEO services help budget-conscious small businesses?

As a small business owner, you may be wary of outsourcing anything beyond the essentials. This is totally understandable, especially if you are in the first few years of your business.

After all, most small businesses start out at a mere $3,000 to $5,000. The majority of entrepreneurs seek outside financing, such as business loans, to get things going.

Marketing’s ultimate aim is to “get things going,” though–by getting you noticed! For this reason, investing in professional advertising services may be exactly what you need to get off the ground.

Here are some other reasons why SEO services may be what you need.

The Many Elements of Winning SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) sounds simple at first glance. How complicated could it be?

Sure, SEO involves playing a bit of a matching game. Marketers choose search terms and knit these into existing content.

But it is so much more than this! If the only rule for SEO involved keyword integration, Google would have no way to assess authority and rank pages appropriately.

Google takes into consideration plenty of other factors when assigning rankings. For example, it looks very, very closely at content quality.

After all, Google has to maintain its own reputation as a search engine. If it fails to deliver good matches for searches, users will navigate elsewhere!

In its guidelines to a Google-friendly site, Google emphasizes the value of high-quality content. It urges marketers to give searchers the information they’re looking for. This content should be well-written and authoritative. It should not be misleading in any way.

Yes, it should be optimized appropriately for relevant keywords. But this is only part of the SEO pie.

Google also inspects link quality and number, especially the number of links to your site found on other sites. These “backlinks” can be valuable for assessing your domain’s authority and its likelihood of ranking highly.

If your site loads too slowly, this could also hurt your Google ranking. Google prioritizes fast-loading, mobile-friendly sites.

If you are new to marketing and SEO, all of these factors can be hard to keep track of! When you invest in SEO services, you entrust your campaign to experts well-versed in everything that influences rankings. What’s more, you can rest assured that they will be optimizing everything to ensure your organic visibility.

SEO Takes Time–And Effort!

SEO is a time-consuming, ongoing digital marketing process. It is not something you do in a day. Nor is it something that can be implemented and then left to its own devices.

In fact, the best SEO campaigns come from solid industry research. Professional SEO marketers will spend time analyzing your target market and industry niche. They will perform intensive keyword research to come up with the exact search terms your clients are likely to type into Google.

Then, they will optimize your content accordingly. Sometimes this involves fresh web design and actual content development. Some SEO services will incorporate link-building as well.

Once a campaign is launched, marketers will track it constantly, identifying areas for improvement and generating monthly reports.

As a small business owner, you’ve got enough on your plate as it is. Plus, your time is money. The more time you have to devote to SEO, the fewer dollars in your pocket.

SEO services can actually save you money by generating an effective campaign the first time–without costing you your time. The return on your investment will always be higher, especially if you are not well-versed in SEO already.

Like any relationship, building a strong relationship between your website and Google takes time. In the long run though, having a steady stream of organic leads for your business is an undeniable asset that leads to massive growth.

Results Happen Fast When You Outsource

Our customers have said it time and again. Outsourcing SEO generates fast, effective results. With SEO services, small businesses can get onto the first page of Google within a matter of months.

Tackling SEO on your own, however, can have variable results. It may take longer to boost those rankings organically without the aid of professionals.

Plus, it can be hard to identify areas for improvement if you don’t know what to track.

Don’t Get a Google Penalty

Yes, it is possible to make an SEO misstep. If you violate any of Google’s SEO rules, you are at risk of a penalty. Google penalties can tank your organic visibility. They can also take a long time to recover from.

DIY SEO marketers are at greater risk of these penalties than professionals. When you outsource, you eliminate this risk.

Any organic visibility acquired through SEO services you get to keep. End of story.

Final Thoughts: Small Business SEO Services

SEO can be a powerful tool for small businesses everywhere. Because it is a form of digital marketing, it is particularly ideal for budget-conscious businesses.

Small business SEO services can be especially valuable for boosting organic visibility. These are designed to get your brand on the first page of Google so that you can enjoy greater traffic, conversions, and sales!

While businesses do have to invest in SEO services, this investment is likely to save money in the long run. Every SEO campaign is time-intensive and unique and requires professional attention.

Are you ready to boost your visibility now? Start a conversation with us to learn more!

The post Small Business SEO Services: Improving Rankings on a Budget appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Just because you run a successful business doesn’t mean the search engines will automatically pick up all your products and services when potential customers are searching.

While these search engines algorhithms can seem confusing, but there is a method to the madness. Figure out that method, and you’ll end up with quality results.

Luckily, there are people who can optimize your website and manage marketing campaigns to make your business more visible online. This person is called an SEO expert. Search engine optimization is key for generating traffic on your site, which is the first step in growing your business using online marketing.

Do you need an SEO expert on your team? Let’s take a look.

What is an SEO Expert?

An SEO expert is someone who’s skilled in the art of building online traffic. It gets complicated, and it’s important to know what you’re doing because a wrong move could send you to the bottom of the barrel.

Search engines operate by reading your website and determining how much it can be trusted for your target keywords, which should reflect your primary products and services.

A good way to determine trust is to look at how many other websites are linking back to your site. If a popular website links to your website’s blog post or service pages, it’s a way of acknowledging your credibility for whatever that article or service may be. It’s kind of like the search engine algorithm’s version of a referral.

Typically, the more links to your site, the better. This gets tricky though, because not all links are created equally.

Think of search engines as crusaders for quality content in a never-ending battle against spam. Research shows that nearly 60 percent of the links on the internet are spam. Nobody likes spam.

The more spam that is associated with your site, the less likely you are to come up on a search. Alternatively, the more trusted sites that you’re associated with, the more likely you’ll be at the top.

That’s called link value, and we’ll get to that soon.

The process of acquiring links to your website is often known as linkbuilding, and is a critical part of improving your online presence. Linkbuilding is fairly technical and time-consuming, which is why many businesses prefer to hire an SEO expert to help guide their business to the top of the online search mountain.

With a few hours of research, you may be able to grasp and even execute a few basic linkbuilding ideas on your own. But you could also work on your own engine, build your own home, or defend yourself in court.

If you really want to dominate the search engine results, the most efficient route for many business is to hire an SEO expert.

The Link Almighty

So, why are links so important? How do they work?

The idea is pretty intuitive, but it can be helpful to get a run-through on the specifics. We mentioned a link is like a referral, but you can think of links as references on a job application.

The more references the better, right? That depends. You wouldn’t want to put a known drug dealer down as a reference on a job application.

You would, however, want to put Bill Gates down. That would immediately bump your resume to the top of the pile.

The concept is the same with links. The less trusted the links in your network are, the less likely a search engine is to trust you. If your site is frequently linked to websites like popular news sites or universities, you’ll be more trusted.

So the question is, “How do I get associated with the most trusted links?” The job search analogy applies here as well.

In order to be qualified for a high ranking job position, you need to have relevant experience, quality references, and the people skills to land the interview in the first place.

Thankfully link building is a bit more straightforward than job hunting, and unlike a job interview, it can be contracted out to the experts!

Just like with a job interview, if your website has strong references from other popular websites, it will be seen with more authority.

Types of Links

In the early days of the internet, search engines determined your spot by examining the material on your website. The status quo is now focused on how many people have linked to you.

We’ve established that having more links means having more SEO traffic. That’s a general rule, but as mentioned not all links give you the same pull in the eyes of the search engine.

Popular Sites

Links from popular sites will hold more weight in a search engine. Popular sites tend to have more links, so they are seen as more important. Getting links from popular sites will make you a more popular site.

However popular sites also know their worth, and it takes a skilled SEO expert to land those links for your business.

Niche Sites

Getting links from sites in your niche is also a huge plus. This means that you should try and buddy up with similar sites to your own, even if that means competitors.

Think of it this way: if you were a musician and you had links on the pages of every artist in the top 40, you’d get more traffic than if you had links from the 10 greatest plumbers in the world.

A good SEO expert will work to build relevant links from authoritative sites in your industry.

Link Neighborhood

You will want to link to other sites as well, and by doing so you enter into new “link neighborhoods.” A link neighborhood is the nexus of links that you are connected with in a sort of link exchange.

Because of this, you’ll want to make sure that you aren’t linking to sites that aren’t trusted. Your best bet would be to link to popular websites that get a lot of traffic (but that doesn’t mean that you should avoid the chance to promote a friend, or local artist’s website).

Low-Ranking Links

When you comment on a social website, or post frequently on social media, you are also generating links. These don’t hold nearly as much weight as a link from The New York Times, but hey, it’s still something.

You may be thinking, “I could just post a million comments in every video I watch on Youtube!” Don’t think that.

If you throw an inhuman amount of low-ranking links into the internet, the internet will associate you with those low-ranking links. You would then be spamming. You would become the Internet’s enemy.

Time Frame

The internet has been around for a long time. Ever notice that you never see websites from before 2005? That’s because links lose value as they age if the website is not updated with fresh content and design.

You’ll want to keep your website current and maintain an active SEO linkbuilding strategy, even if you are already ranking well for your search terms.

Search engines do this to keep their searches up-to-date because some things just aren’t relevant anymore.

How Do I Improve My Link Value?

An SEO expert can help you, but you may already have access to some low-hanging fruit.

Just like anything else, you’re going to have to start small. Ask around to people that you know who have websites or blogs. If they’re in your niche, even better.

Build relationships with other people in your niche by commenting or messaging with them. The comments will add a little value to your site in the search engine, while the simple act of reaching out greatly improves your odds of getting links on this person’s site.

Another way to boost your site’s ranking is to start a blog that falls into your site’s niche. You’ll want to maintain it and write consistently. Many SEO experts can help you manage this as content and linkbuilding go hand-in-hand in a good SEO campaign.

Developing quality content on your blog will reinforce your linkbuilding campaign, as the search engines will see that not only do you have good links pointing to your site, but you are consistently producing relevant content related to your keywords as well.

It can be difficult to do all of the things listed above on your own. Hiring an SEO expert, as mentioned, can save you time and grow your business when done right.

What Should I Look for in an SEO Expert?

Just like links, not every SEO expert holds the same value. It may seem like a simple job at first glance, but there is a lot of detail and work that goes into optimizing your site.

Make sure to have an open discussion with the person or team you choose before they begin taking the internet by storm. A storm can be good and bad.

The person managing your site holds a lot of power, and they can do some damage to your reputation if they aren’t careful. That’s why you need to ask them a few things before you begin doing business:

Set clear expectations as to what you would like to see. Discuss a result that you would like to see in a certain time frame, and hold them accountable to that. They should be able to look at your keywords ahead of time and make recommendations to match your budget and timeline.

Next, make sure that their practices are going to be beneficial to you. Ensure that they aren’t going to turn your site into one that’s registered as spam, or link you to unfavorable sites. This is what happens when many “budget” SEO experts start running a campaign

Lastly, look for reviews and references. If your SEO expert can’t point to specific examples of successful work, your company probably isn’t going to be their first home run.

Start Doing the Work

Developing an effective and successfully-ranked website is not always easy. You can hire an SEO expert, but you’ll want to begin laying the groundwork as soon as you can with some of the tips in this blog.

Regardless of whether you go the DIY-route or contract a professional SEO company, make sure you have a good understanding of your business metrics and customers before you start.

Ready to go? Start brainstorming ways to generate high-quality links to your site that won’t damage you in the long run. If you’d like to talk to us about SEO for your business you can get in contact with an SEO expert.

The post How an SEO Expert Can Help You Grow Your Business appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Content marketing is the hottest industry in SEO at the moment.

A lot of SEO companies already jump started their own blogger services to boost SERPs.

And loads of companies do their own content marketing. In fact, a full 94% of small businesses are doing it and 93% of B2Bs.

But the question that’s on everyone’s mind is “Is Content Marketing and Blog Writing Effective?”

This is the question we aim to answer today. And we hope you’ll come away inspired.

Why Are You Asking About Content Marketing And Blog Writing?

One of the first questions we learn in life is “why?” And it’s a great question.

But have you asked yourself, why you’re asking about the effectiveness of content marketing?

If you’re asking, it’s probably because it’s not been as effective for you as you thought. Did we nail it?

But the evidence we see right now is that businesses still agree: content marketing is still effective.

So why then are you not seeing results?

There are a few reasons. And there may be a few places you might shore up in your approach.

Promotion Is Queen

You can’t do nothing with your content once you create and post it. Once it’s up on the web, it has to actually connect to the rest of the web. And that happens through promotion.

This is the difference between mere blog writing and content marketing. The former is just great words with a few links. The latter is a content promotion strategy.

It’s a two-step process: create content, promote content.

You have to balance the two.

If you’re not seeing results, it’s probably because you’re focusing too much on one or the other. And you’ve probably let the promotion slip because that’s the hardest part sometimes.

Where do you promote your blog writing?

Social media is a great place to start. Places like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest. And email newsletters, LinkedIn profiles, and guest posts and mentions on other websites.

If you aren’t promoting, get promoting.

Your Content Is Rotten

You may have the absolute opposite problem. You might spend all your time and money on promotion and nothing on creating great content.

If your content is horrible, you’re wasting all your money on the promotion side.

The point of quality usable content is organic promotion. People will only share information they enjoy and find useful.

If they find thin or boring or useless content, they move on.

So, what can you do to make blog writing more effective for content marketing? Hire a better writer. And then make sure they understand your niche or industry well.

Remember, the content has to be useful as well as quality.

Hire A Digital Marketing Team

If you haven’t already, hire a team to help fine-tune your content marketing strategy.

Sometimes all you need to make your content marketing strategy take off is an extra set of eyes. The expertise of a company who’s primary work is content marketing will increase your ROI ten-fold or more.

So, check out our portfolio and see how we can turn your business into gold.

The post Does Content Marketing and Blog Writing Still Work? appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Do you want to take your business to the next level and see it grow considerably and consistently? A high quality, strategic SEO campaign can do just that and more.

Did you know that 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results and 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine?

What’s more, a study by Outbrain found that search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300%.

You can spend as much or as little as you want on SEO, but what would happen if you went all out? Here’s what actually happens in a $1500/month SEO campaign.

What is an SEO Campaign?

SEO involves the optimization of a website, blog or web platform to encourage genuine traffic to be directed towards the site more often. SEO is pivotal in determining the rank of websites. If done right, it will attract more people to your site and therefore increase long-term growth.

What Kind of Businesses Should Aim for the $1500 per Month Budget?

Small and mid-size business, often with local emphasis should look at this kind of price range.

For regional businesses with a niche audience, $2000-6000 is more reasonable and for international businesses, expect to pay more than $10000 a month for optimal results.

What Do you Get for $1500 per Month?

An SEO campaign budget of this level will usually provide extensive link building, which is a very important part of generating online authority. It will also include:

• Keyword analysis
• Competitor analysis
• Onsite SEO
• Content strategy and development
• Google Analytics
• Monthly reporting

When Will You See Results?

In the SEO world, you won’t see results overnight and this is really important to keep in mind.

In the first few months of A $1500/month SEO campaign (or any for that matter), there will be a gradual increase in traffic to your website. But by the 5th or 6th month, rankings will go up significantly.

Don’t panic if you don’t see immediate results, it takes time for SEO to affect rankings, traffic, sales and leads.

The Benefits of Using a Monthly SEO Service

If you’re looking to form a long-term partnership with an SEO service, a monthly campaign will enable you to develop a working relationship and strategy that grows with time. Monthly services are also fantastic if you need to outsource SEO work since it’s one less thing for you to have to worry about regarding your business.

You’ll have someone managing your campaign from start to finish, leaving you time to focus on everything else.

Final Thoughts

A well-rounded marketing plan is imperative for both new and established companies. Regardless of how many years your business has been up and running, it is essential to think long-term when addressing budgetary considerations for any SEO campaign.

The Internet is constantly changing. There are trends and methods that will come and go, but SEO is here to stay, which means you and your business need to jump on board.

Want to learn more about how Midas can help with your business’s SEO needs? Contact us today to talk to one of our experts.

Curious about our past work? Check out our impressive portfolio.

The post What is Involved in a $1500/Month SEO Campaign? appeared first on Midas Marketing.

Whether you’re new to the business world or a seasoned professional, you want to see results fast.

And if you’re looking to put time and money into SEO projects, you really want to see a quick return on investment.

So before you get into SEO, let us help you understand how it works.

What Are SEO Projects?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It basically refers to any online marketing you wish to perform that uses natural and organic methods to move up the ranks on various search engines like Google and Yahoo.

It basically refers to any online marketing you wish to perform that uses natural and organic methods. These various methods can be free to perform.

SEO is designed to help move your site up the ranks on various search engines like Google and Yahoo.

Here’s what information these search engines are looking for:

• Map Listings: Google especially wants to know where your company is located. We are an SEO company in Portland, OR for example, so we want to make sure Google recognizes that for local search.
• Organic: Can be any kind of content you create online such as your website, blog, etc.
• PPC (Pay Per Click): You pay for your search engine rankings by paying Google to place you at the top. However, these results show up as ads, which are different than organic or map rankings.

What Can Help Your SEO Project Be More Effective?

There are 4 factors that search engines look for when it comes to content.

They are:

1. Your Domain Name: The longer you own your domain name, the more Google and other search engines will trust your site and its content. Do some research on its former owner’s history when buying a new domain name.
2. Keywords and Phrases: These words and phrases help drive traffic to your site.
3. Content: It has to be good enough so people want to read it. Then it has to be good enough so Google ranks it.
4. Type of Business and Location: It’s free to claim your business listing on Google. Your business will then be listed in the proper category and your clients can find you easily online.

How Long Will It Take?

Certain parts of your projects will take longer to achieve results from than others.

On other SEO projects, you might get lucky and a see a quick turnover.

However, if you’re just starting out, here are the results you can usually expect to see.

Here’s what you can do that might show a quick turnover rate of 24-48 hours:

• Publish new URLs
• Create substantial indexable content on each of those URLs
• Utilize major ping services by pinging them

And here are SEO projects that will take the longest time:

• Performing an audit
• Implementing the work
• Google and other search engines to notice you and recrawl the new content
• Creating new content

SEO projects are like losing weight. If you really want to see positive, lasting results from your efforts, you have to be consistent. While short terms results can be exciting, they may turn out to be the low-hanging fruit. So be excited about the short term results, but trust that good content and commitment will always win in the end.

A good rule of thumb is to budget 3-6 months for a campaign to see how it goes. You may need more time than that to hit all of your goals, but that first window will give you a healthy idea of how to build a long-term, ongoing SEO strategy.

We’re passionate about helping you create amazing content that keeps your customers coming back time and again.

Contact us to see how we can help you outshine your competition!

The post How Long Does It Take To See Results From SEO Projects? appeared first on Midas Marketing.