Your Website Only Works If People Can Find It!
Your website is your hardest working employee – available 24/7 to provide customers with information and make sales. But if the only people who see your website are existing customers looking up your phone number then you’re missing out on a huge opportunity!
SEO works by optimizing your website’s search ranking factors, putting your website on top of the search results where potential customers can find it!
Are you ready to get more calls and make more sales?
SEO Isn’t an App – It’s a Process
Search engine optimization may sound like a perfect candidate for developing an app to do the heavy lifting. After all, SEO is about algorithms and making your website friendly for Google’s crawlers, right?
For better or worse, it just doesn’t work like that. For now (and likely for the foreseeable future) to get the best results from your digital marketing you need to work with experts. Our team includes SEO experts, marketing experts, social media experts, copywriters, and web developers who have a proven track record for success.
To better understand our SEO process, we’ve broken down what we do to get your website ranking on the first page for your industry’s most popular organic search terms.
As With All Good Things, We Start at the Beginning
Keyword Research
This is where all SEO projects begin – determining which keywords your customers use to find the service you offer. We assess between 500 and 1000 keywords, looking at search volume, search intent, ranking difficulty, and more.
Competitive SEO Audit
We assess your competitors, determine what they’re doing well that we can do better, and see where they’ve dropped the ball completely! This lets us score some easy wins and have your page rank higher than theirs.
Google Business Profile Updates
Ranking for local search engine results is absolutely essential for service industries. Our GBP pages meet Google’s very specific criteria that their algorithms are looking for in order to rank highly in local search.
On-Page Updates
This is a wide-ranging task that includes correcting title tags, internal linking, mobile optimization, and improving user experience to align with the ranking factors which Google prioritizes.
Analytics/Tracking Configuration
We establish tracking at the earliest possible stage of projects. This allows us to see in real time how website updates are impacting your traffic and conversion rates, and adjust our efforts accordingly.
Finalize SEO Strategy
After we’ve mapped out your site’s performance, keywords, and your top competitors, we use these findings to put the finishing touches on your business’s digital marketing strategy.
Weekly SEO Tasks – Making Incremental Gains
Keyword Tracking
We track your website’s progress on organic search results pages (SERPs) to determine how our SEO strategy is working in real time. Based on what progress your site is making we can further refine your on-page optimization.
Site Maintenance
We update website plugins, themes, and WordPress weekly to keep your site security up to date and protect against unforeseen outages. A website which is down or broken doesn’t generate any sales!
Google Business Page Updates
Local SEO is driven by your Google Business Page, so an active online presence there is essential. We make weekly posts, respond to reviews, and publish new images to keep your GBP fresh.
Monitor LeadGen KPIs
Ultimately, SEO is about generating leads, and so we monitor the numbers that show how your site is performing. While traffic is great to see, we pay special attention to leads, cost per lead, and conversion rate.
Monthly SEO Tasks – Longer Term Projects and Monitoring
On-Page SEO Audit & Updates
Inspecting the core elements of your on-page SEO and keeping your website and its plugins updated maximizes your site’s uptime and ensures that Google is able to properly index your pages.
Content Creation
Every month we create and release blogs (boosting website traffic, establishing expertise, and helping your service pages rank better) and newsletters to drive repeat business and build brand loyalty.
Link Building
One metric that Google uses to determine your website’s authority is the number of websites which link to it. Using a combination of channels we secure high-quality backlinks for your site, improving your domain authority ranking.
Monthly Review & Strategy Adjustments
As SEO is a process, it is important to step back and take stock of progress. Each month we have a conversation with our clients, assess site performance, and make changes if necessary.
Quarterly SEO Tasks- Seasonal Updates and Strategic Review
Quarterly SEO Audit
This is an in depth audit where we go through and check everything related to SEO. This audit checks on 138 different elements of your website and digital marketing and leaves no stone unturned.
Update Images & Content
Just like keywords, images and content need to match the time of year. We keep our clients’ websites looking fresh and relevant by updating underperforming or out of season pages and add new images to galleries.
Update Keywords
In most local service industries, seasonal keywords are essential keywords to rank for. As the year progresses we ensure that your web pages speak to your customers’ changing needs.
Quarterly Strategy Review
Changes in SEO take 3-6 months to be felt – Google simply doesn’t update page ranks very often. Using the results from the quarterly audit in combination with KPIs we update your digital marketing strategy to stay on target with your goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does your SEO package pricing look like?
Unlike many SEO agencies, we don’t offer ‘standard’ SEO packages. Instead, we create custom built SEO plans based on what your company needs to rank and generate more leads. We take into consideration variables like: the size of your website, how competitive your particular market is, and what your current SEO initiatives look like. Pricing starts at $1,000 per month.
How long before I start seeing results?
Since Google updates its search result page rankings on its own schedule, there is always a lag time between updating your on- and off-page SEO and seeing meaningful results.
Changes to your Google Business Profile typically result in increased traffic and leads within 60 days. Your business’s ranking on Google Search will take longer to update; expect 3-6 months before you’ll begin to see your website climb, and possibly longer for the final results to be realized.
I've worked with an SEO company in the past and they said they're going to do all of what you say you’ll do, but I never saw results / I'm not sure what they actually did!
We have a commitment to accountability and make it easy for you to see the work we’re performing.
All clients are given a Monday.com dashboard which provides an easily accessible snapshot of all of the deliverables completed each month. All of our work and spreadsheets related to your business are available for our clients to view directly in Google Drive, 24/7.
Communication is one of our keys to success, and to that end we provide monthly meetings with your account manager, who is a Cut Throat Marketing stakeholder. If you ever have any concerns or questions about our marketing services, you will have direct access to your SEO manager. No dealing with a middle man, no talking to a robot on a 1800-number, just real people who know your account.
Finally, you don’t have to take our word for any of this – our past clients’ successes and reviews will give you an idea of what to expect when you work with us.
Do you guarantee results?
Nope – but we follow best practices and have a litany of past successes. Whenever we start an SEO campaign we set targets which we believe are attainable and then iterate towards those goals. Any SEO company which makes claims of guaranteed results should be given a fair amount of skepticism as Google’s ranking algorithms are not public and are subject to frequent revisions.
How is local SEO different from "traditional" SEO?
Unlike traditional and ecommerce SEO, local SEO is highly dependent on the physical proximity of the customer performing the search to your business. This triggers additional modifiers in Google Search, particularly as it pertains to Maps and Google Guaranteed Ads.
Not all businesses benefit from local SEO, but if you are a service provider (electrician, plumber, roofer, landscaping, appliance repair, locksmith, etc.) then local SEO is an absolutely essential part of your marketing strategy.
Link building for local SEO is unique, and requires special attention to which sites are providing you with citations – with priority being given to locally relevant backlinks.
Finally, web design for local SEO is a bit different. Blog content becomes more about proving expertise in your field rather than simply generating content to bring people into your “content funnel.” Accuracy of information in your website is of utmost importance, as Google downranks pages with contradictory contact information and creates the possibility for lost leads if customers are unable to contact you easily.
Is SEO the right marketing play for my company?
SEO can be one of the most effective methods of using internet marketing to generate leads and nearly all businesses will benefit from an SEO campaign. However, we recommend SEO as a component of a holistic approach to marketing rather than a unilateral approach to your digital marketing strategy.
It’s important to recognize that SEO can take up to a year to start generating a return on investment, and for that reason we also offer full-service marketing, which uses search engine marketing in combination with pay per click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, and traditional marketing.
Some marketing agencies are in fact solely SEO specialists, and may promote SEO as the one true answer to marketing. For best results you need to work with a team which can provide professional SEO services in addition to content marketing, conversion rate optimization, and traditional marketing.
Why Work With Cut Throat Marketing
Put simply, we are the best marketing company in South Carolina. We have a passion for education and self-improvement and are not content to rest on our laurels. When you work with us you are getting a marketing partner who will take the time to get to know your business and develop effective marketing strategies tailored to help you grow.
Proven Results
All marketing firms claim that they can help your business grow – but we have a proven track record of growing our clients’ businesses. We’ve seen our clients increase their web traffic by up to 3,835%, increase their leads generated by 320%, and seen our client’s annual revenue grow by $1,000,000.
We Have a Reputation for Success
You don’t have to take our word for it! See what our customers have to say about working with us.
Award Winning Industry Experts
We were ranked the top SEO service company in South Carolina for 2022, have received accolades from CIO Reviews, Clutch.Co, The Columbia Business Report, and have been featured on the BBC’s Business Daily Podcast.
Schedule a Free Consultation
What It Takes To Get Started
15-30 minutes of your time to discuss:
- Your company
- Which goals you’d like to achieve in the next 6-12 months
- What you’re already doing to achieve these goals
What You’ll Get From The Consultation
15-30 minute free consultation with one of our marketing strategists discussing:
- An honest assessment of your current marketing model
- 2-3 actionable tips to improve your lead generation
- High level marketing strategy to meet your 6-12 month goals
- A quote for implementing these recommendations (if both parties feel this is a good fit)