The requirements of running any business are long, including those that are online. It’s a must these days for any company to have a website, but if potential customers can’t find it, it won’t help your business grow. The more people that see your site, the more opportunities you have to share your brand, build relationships, generate qualified leads, and ultimately gain new clients.

More website traffic doesn’t just mean more money, it can make the difference between whether or not it’s a success, possibly allowing for the development of more products and services. But to get that traffic, you need your content to be search engine optimized. As you’re probably aware, the benefits of hiring an SEO company are many, as trained professionals with the proper expertise and experience typically provide the best return on investment. If you’re like most business owners, however, your knowledge of SEO and how SEO companies operate is probably limited and could be way off the mark.

So once you’ve decided to pull the trigger and take advantage of SEO consulting services, what can you expect?

Discovery

When you initially sign up with an SEO company, a meeting is necessary so that the agency can learn everything they need to know about your business, from the type of products or services you provide to the locations you conduct business in and who your competitors are. It’s also important to identify who your target audience is, such as how old they are, the type of problems they face, and many other demographics. Learning about your audience will give the company a better ability to provide the best type of content. As Chron.com notes, it’s one of the most crucial elements for any new business, without it, you can’t realistically expect it to survive.

While face-to-face meetings have long been the preferred way to discuss all of these aspects, a Zoom meeting or conference call is sufficient too.

SEO Audit

One of the first things an SEO company will do is run an audit of your website, likely using tools and programs to diagnose its SEO health. The time it takes depends on the complexity and size of the site. They’ll want to determine if your site appears trustworthy, if it has the right messaging you’re trying to relay to your customers and potential customers, and whether or not it has calls to action in place. The process involves analyzing how well your presence on the web relates to best practices which is the first step in creating the implementation plan, which will have measurable results. It should be easy to understand, providing a “big picture” view of what’s happening. The expert who is directly managing your account will explain their observations, suggestions, and concrete steps that should be taken.

Improving On-Page SEO

Once the audit is done, the agency is likely to spend a lot of time on keyword search to ensure that the biggest money keywords are targeted within content, internal links, and title tags. Having proper internal links tends to make a big difference with Google and other search engines.

Regular Check-Ins

A reputable SEO company won’t just leave you with a list of things you need to do based on their audit. Regular check-ins to outline link building opportunities, keyword rankings, site traffic, and conversions should occur. Whether it’s on a weekly or monthly basis, you should get detailed insight into all SEO-related activity so that you’re kept in the loop. There should also be someone available to answer any questions you have.