SEO services can help businesses rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Generally combined as part of a larger SEO strategy, they work in tandem to showcase the relevance of your web pages for particular queries and improve technical site performance.
To help you navigate this SEO services FAQ, I’ve separated questions into three sections:
- The Basics: What Are SEO Services?
- Getting Started: When Should You Start SEO Services?
- Powering Growth: How Do You Choose SEO Services?
Have questions about SEO in general? Check out this post for basic information about what SEO is.
The Basics
What Are SEO Services?
SEO services are tested processes that can help businesses improve their website’s performance in search results and attract more organic traffic. They may include deliverables, such as monthly reports or audits, and work best when combined into a comprehensive strategy focused on the business’s SEO goals.
- On-Page SEO Services: Keyword research, page optimization, content creation
- Technical SEO Services: SEO audit services, page speed optimization, site migration
- Off-Page SEO Services: Link building, backlink analysis
- Enterprise SEO Services: On-page and off-page SEO for large-scale sites
- Local SEO Services: Google Business Profile optimization, citation building
- SEO Consultation: Expert advice and support for an internal SEO team
Some agencies may offer a different SEO services definition, but I think this sums it up in a way that highlights the primary aims: ranking higher and driving more organic traffic to the site.
Note: At Victorious, we view technical SEO as a component of on-page SEO since all the technical fixes are performed on the site.
What Is SEO Services’ Main Goal?
There are a variety of SEO goals that correlate with business growth. Depending on the needs of your business, they may include:
- Increasing site traffic
- Building brand awareness
- Improving user/customer engagement
- Driving more leads
- Increasing revenue
While SEOs may focus on certain factors, like how many keywords your site ranks for or how many engaged sessions you have, the main goal should always be to support your business objectives.
What Are SEO Service Metrics?
There are different ways to measure the effectiveness of SEO services over time. I recommend using Google Search Console and Google Analytics to see how your pages perform, where your traffic comes from, and how much revenue can be attributed to particular channels. Ahrefs or another SEO tool can help you see how well your pages are ranking and which keywords you’re ranking for.
What Are Organic SEO Services?
All search engine optimization services focus on driving organic traffic, which is why some may call them “organic SEO services.” Organic search is different from paid search in that you need to earn your position in search results rather than paying to appear there. While companies using SEO services will pay their SEO providers for their time and effort, they aren’t purchasing placement.
On the other hand, paid search engine marketing includes using pay-per-click ads like Google Ads to improve search visibility. These results are marked as ads in SERPs to help differentiate them from organic search results. Click here to learn more about PPC vs. SEO.
What SEO Services Do SEO Companies Offer?
SEO companies may differ in how they present and describe their SEO services, meaning it can sometimes be difficult to compare them.
Here’s a list of some different SEO services:
- Keyword Research Services
- SEO Site Audit Services
- Expert SEO Consultation
- Google Analytics Setup
- Google Analytics Optimization
- Competitive Analysis
- Site Migration Assistance
- Advanced Site Sweep
- Robots.txt Optimization
- XML Sitemap Creation & Submission
- Backlink Analysis & Manual Disavow
- 301 Redirect Audit
- International SEO Optimization
- Page Optimizations (Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, and H1 Header Tag Optimizations)
- Page Speed Analysis & Recommendations
- Internal Link Optimization
- Conversion Rate Optimization
- Keyword Cannibalization / Duplicate Content Analysis
- Site Architecture Optimization
- Featured Snippet Optimization
- Schema Review & Implementation Guidance
- E-E-A-T Analysis
- Full Site Content Audit
- External Anchor Text Research & Analysis
- Link Building Service
- Google Business Profile Optimization
- Local Citation Audit & Cleanup
- App Store Optimization
- YouTube Optimization
- SEO Content Writing Services
- SEO Content Optimization
Many SEO services are suitable for sites of all sizes; they just function at a different scale. For example, every site owner interested in ranking higher on search engines needs to do keyword research, match the keywords with relevant pages, and optimize those pages with new metadata to reflect those keywords. A smaller site may only have to do this for 10 or 20 pages, while a larger site may have to optimize hundreds or thousands of pages.
How Do SEO Services Work?
SEO services are generally created to address particular ranking factors. To show how SEO services work, I’m going to start with an example.
Let’s say you want keyword research completed for your site. A qualified SEO agency tackles the job and provides you with keyword themes mapped to specific pages on your site. They even include a recommendation to create a new page to target a particular keyword theme.
With keyword research in hand, you optimize your existing content to include the provided keywords and rework your on-page optimizations (page title, h1, meta description, alt text, etc.) to weave in the keywords, as well.
A few weeks later, your agency lets you know your updates are paying off — you’re now showing up in search results more often, and you’re ranking higher for those important keywords. Googlebot noted your changes and which search terms it should show your pages for.
Basically, the keyword research service has helped you showcase your relevance for certain queries, and your page updates make it easier for Googlebot and other search engine crawlers to understand what your page is about.
Different SEO services tackle different ranking factors, and they have the best return when combined into a comprehensive SEO strategy. While keyword research is the foundation of SEO, additional services will build upon it so you can make iterative improvements over time. There’s no pressure to do everything at once — an SEO partner will help you maximize your efforts by highlighting the most critical SEO tasks to tackle.
Who Needs SEO Services?
Every website can benefit from SEO. At its core, search engine optimization is about making a site easier for search engines to crawl and index so they surface it for particular queries.
Let’s say you run a gluten-free bakery in New York City. Chances are, you aren’t the only gluten-free bakery in town. To capture online attention when searchers are looking for gluten-free treats, you’ll need to make sure your site is optimized around the appropriate keywords. Otherwise, it may not show up.
Why Should Businesses Use SEO Services?
SEO services make it easier for potential customers to find a website. The internet has become a crucial part of how people find, vet, and engage with businesses. Showing up for industry keywords is key for connecting with your target audience. Quality SEO services help you pinpoint those keywords and optimize around them so your website shows up when it matters.
SEO content writing can also help bolster your content marketing activities. By creating more content that ranks well, you can increase the number of people you reach and educate both potential and current customers.
Getting Started
What Ranking Factors Do SEO Services Optimize For?
There are over 200 Google ranking factors. Different SEO services strive to address particular ranking factors.
For example, PageRank is an often-discussed component of Google’s algorithm. While its components are secret, most SEO strategists have accepted there’s a correlation between PageRank and backlinks. Backlinks pass link equity and serve as a recommendation of a page, which Google takes to mean the page is reputable and has quality content. Having backlinks from quality referring domains, then, can impact how well a particular page ranks in Google search results.
One of the primary components of off-page SEO is link building, which helps site owners secure incoming links. By focusing on quality referring domains and proper link velocity, off-page SEO services target specific Google ranking factors related to PageRank.
When Should Businesses Start SEO Services?
There is no wrong time to start SEO. If you’ve created content and tried to drive traffic to your site with little-to-no results, SEO can focus your efforts so you can improve your search visibility.
If you have a website and aren’t doing SEO, I recommend you start immediately. Driving organic traffic to your website is hard — and doing it without SEO is like trying to find your way to a new town without a GPS. It’s pretty easy to get lost and fail to reach your destination. With SEO, you can improve and grow your website with a customized roadmap that takes into account your goals and your industry.
If you haven’t launched your site, it’s still a good time to start SEO services. What’s the point of starting services so early? Well, working with an SEO consultant or SEO agency during the web design and development process can help you make sure your website architecture is appropriate, the right pages are noindexed, your pages are optimized, and your internal linking strategy is on point. Launching a website with your SEO ducks in a row can help you gain momentum more quickly when you launch.
How Do SEO Services Fit Into a Strategy?
In this FAQ, I’ve primarily talked about SEO services on their own. However, when combined into a comprehensive SEO strategy, they can provide exponentially more benefits.
Think of a comprehensive SEO strategy as a 200-piece orchestra. Each chair has an important role in delivering a beautiful symphony.
Ideally, an SEO analyst will work with you to create a strategy based on your site’s needs and your business’s goals. The strategy should include a timeline for different SEO services that takes into account the size of your website and your budget. SEO services can run simultaneously in most cases. There are some situations where you may want to complete a service before starting another. For example, you should complete an audit before starting link building to make sure you get the most benefit from your backlinks.
How Much Do SEO Services Cost?
When researching SEO agencies, you may find they offer different payment models.
Some may bill month-to-month or offer longer-term contracts with a specific scope of work; others may work on a pay-for-performance model.
This latter model is generally not recommended since SEO companies that only get paid when they can show SEO improvements may revert to black-hat SEO or showcase vanity metrics that don’t mean much to make a buck. You may get short-term savings by going for a pay-for-performance agency, but your site’s performance will pay for it in the long run.
Month-to-month contracts may seem ideal since they provide some flexibility. However, that makes it hard to plan ahead and build a robust strategy that will actually deliver results.
Longer-term contracts — like those for one year or even two years — provide more opportunities for growth. SEO takes time. By partnering with an agency that’s committed to supporting your growth for a longer period of time, you can focus on critical improvements and data-driven strategies that will improve your website and your search performance. Yes, this is a larger investment, but the return tends to be higher as well.
Dive deeper into how much SEO costs here.
How Long Do SEO Services Last?
In most cases, customers enter into a contract with an SEO agency to secure SEO services. The contract length varies depending on the SEO company. However, I’ve found short-term contracts and month-to-month contracts often don’t allow enough time to measure and assess results. An SEO agency invested in your success will likely require a longer-term contract so they can create a data-driven strategy that will help you improve your SEO performance.
Powering Growth
How Should You Choose SEO Services?
There are two SEO services every website needs and which will inform what other services may be beneficial for improving search visibility.
The first is keyword research. Keyword research helps you understand what keyword themes to optimize your pages for and provides insight into the types of content currently ranking for that keyword and their search intent.
The second SEO service every website needs is an SEO audit. An SEO audit identifies issues impacting whether Google can access and crawl your web pages, how well-optimized your site currently is, and what barriers prevent you from ranking better in search results.
Once your SEO partner has completed these two services, they’ll likely recommend additional services based on their findings. Even if your SEO audit shows all technical aspects of your website are in order, additional SEO services like SEO content writing services and link building services will allow you to improve your search visibility and drive more organic traffic to your website. Together, these make up the 4 pillars of SEO services: keyword research, SEO audit, content, and high-authority link building.
What Are the SEO Services That Provide the Most Value?
Every website is different and will require different tactics to help it succeed. Our team can help you identify which SEO services are right for your business. Ultimately, though, the SEO services that will provide the most value are the ones you have the resources and internal support to implement.
Too often, I’ve seen a company secure an SEO audit detailing a variety of fixes they can make to improve their site’s search performance — and they fail to implement the recommendations. If you aren’t able or willing to act on recommendations and make changes to your site to improve it, you may not see much value from technical or on-page SEO services.
Since off-page optimization focuses primarily on link building, it can help you gain competitive parity with sites that have more referring domains. Companies that can’t change their websites quickly but want to see SEO improvements may benefit from an increased off-page SEO budget while still working with their internal team to implement on-page recommendations.
Why Are Ongoing SEO Services Recommended?
SEO is not a one-and-done activity. Once you reach your desired rankings, they aren’t locked in. Changes to your web page, search engine algorithm updates, and new content published by the competition can all dislodge you from your rankings perch. It’s better to be proactive about search performance rather than scrambling to regain footing after a rankings drop.
If you want to maintain your SEO performance or continue to improve, you need ongoing SEO services that will allow you to attain more backlinks, build topical authority, and maximize your site’s technical performance.
Our SEO Services Are Proven To Drive Organic Growth
At Victorious, we pride ourselves on customizing our SEO services to best support your needs. Your goals are our goals, and we work in partnership to establish a strategy that drives results. Schedule a free SEO consultation to learn more about how SEO services can help you reach more potential customers.