
SEO Companies Offer Better Expertise with Pro Strategies.
So here’s why to hire an SEO agency.
The Numbers Speak for Themselves
Traffic that comes from internet searches represents an enormous percentage of online browsing.
Data compiled by BrightEdge found that search engine traffic (referred to as “organic” traffic) makes up 51% of all website traffic. Google alone gets 5.6 billion searches per day, making it a critical piece in the search funnel for how users get to what they need – this means it ends up accounting for more than 40% of revenue.
People use search to find what they need. It’s as simple as that.
The reason that SEO is still so important is that consumer behavior is still dictated by the prominence of search – Google (and to a much lesser extent Bing) are still the go-to resources for how web users find what they need.
Search engines are everywhere now – people perform searches on Google, Bing, Facebook, Amazon, Baidue, etc. all the time. These resources are so ingrained in web browsing behavior that they still easily represent the largest marketing channel in the world, as well as the type with the highest ROI.
In fact organic traffic is so important that 44% of companies now make SEO a part of their marketing strategy. They also discover that SEO offers the best return-on-investment out of any digital marketing strategy. In polling, 32% of marketers say that out of all their strategies, SEO offers the highest return on investment.
A Search Engine Journal poll found that this number could be even higher, with nearly 49% of responders claiming that SEO gave them the best overall ROI – more than email marketing, paid ads, or social media.
This because out of all the most popular marketing strategies, SEO is comparatively low cost, but has the potential for huge returns over time.
Here are some other reasons why SEO is important for websites: The first Google organic search results get as much as 32.5% of the average traffic share. Making page #1 rankings, and spot #1 positions highly desirable for any business.
Similarly, page #1 results claim as much as a 91% of the total average traffic share!
Searchers rarely want to go past the first page of results to find what they need, this means that businesses that are stuck on page 2 and beyond could be severely missing out.
One of the benefits of hiring an SEO company is that you can get a professional team to oversee this entire channel for you.
Because search optimization can be somewhat involved many companies prefer to have a team or an agency that can give one hundred percent of their time and effort on handling it.
An agency that specializes in search optimization is going to know better than you.
One reason why to hire an SEO company is because they’ll be able to exploit the best tools, resources, and strategies to keep up with the changing landscape of SEO. By outsourcing your efforts to an agency, you’ll be able to focus on other areas of your company.
SEO is also a fast-evolving industry. Search engines like Google and Bing are constantly rolling out new updates which sometimes leave businesses struggling to keep up.
In 2019 alone Google released 6 major updates to their search system, those were just the big ones, they normally implement small adjustments to their algorithm dozens of times per month.
Many agencies are able to watch their client’s site health to see if they’ve been hit by an algorithm update, and to give advice on how they can repair their site when needed.
The advantages of hiring an SEO agency means that they’re able to expertly optimize on-page elements including page meta-titles, meta-descriptions, internal site-links, and keyword density with strategies that are proven to work over time.
When done properly these results can help boost organic performance slowly but surely – and they often involve keyword research and content editing that can be time intensive and resource consuming for most business owners.
Instead of trying to optimize SEO on their own (and possibly making things worse) many choose to outsource the work. This is why SEO is important for business.
But when done right, an agency will be able to use your performance data to fine tune and adjust your campaign.
So why hire an SEO company to read your data for you?
Grow Your Sales (Not Just Traffic)
Good SEO is about more than just traffic. By performing keyword research that focuses on industry language and searcher behavior, SEO agencies and digital marketing companies are able to focus on bringing in the right kind of traffic.
Being able to discover and target intent-driven keywords means gaining traffic specifically for people who know what they want and are ready to buy.
This is another reason why SEO is important for businesses who want to leverage their existing performance, professional SEO will help your brand to focus on keywords that gain you sales, and to ignore keywords that don’t.
Google keyword search intent funnel
For eCommerce sites, business-to-business companies, service-based organizations, and more – the benefits of hiring an SEO company are clear.
Consumers now do 70% of their research online before getting into any sort of sales conversation.
Website analytics and performance data can be analyzed to find areas of your site that provide the best opportunities, and that can continue to grow long term.
It also helps them discover intent-driven keywords that provide you the best valued. Combining this data with ranking data allows SEO workers to go URL-by-URL and focus on web search traffic from people who are more likely to convert.
Get Data to Fine Tune Your Business
Most businesses already rely on statistical information for understanding their customers and expanding their company.
Chances are that most companies already use data analytics tools like Google Analytics to monitor their site traffic and KPIs.
But without a good insight into SEO strategy they won’t be able to properly get insights from that data.
The reason why this data is important for your business website is because it allows you to both establish a benchmark of your campaign as well as to use the way your KPIS change over time to make adjustments to your strategy.
An expert SEO team uses Google Analytics data to monitor page performance and to see why site pages are struggling.
They can target your important conversion pages, or high-value pages and as they make adjustments they can check back later to see the effect of the strategy.
Because SEO takes time to see results, many businesses make the mistake of changing things too frequently and then wondering why they are not seeing results.
With data from Analytics and Search Console a professional agency can watch organic traffic period-over-period (POP) or year-over-year (YOY) to help inform you where your business is growing and areas where you may be struggling.
Another reason why to hire an SEO agency to monitor your site is that professional companies will be able to set-up and use resources for monitoring your site in Google’s index.
Data from Google’s Search Console can give insights on impressions, traffic from the search (clicks) click-through-rate (CTR) and average keyword rankings.
This keyword data can help inform your overall SEO campaign and help to discover high-value keywords and monitor rankings to help grow your success in the long-term.
Analytics data helps businesses monitor KPIs and to see the benefits of hiring an SEO company.
This kind of data demonstrates why SEO works.
Get Long-Term Help to Improve Your Technical SEO
SEO work goes beyond just content and keyword focus. Most people know that targeting keywords and incorporating keyword focused content onto your site is part of SEO, but the truth is that modern search optimization goes far beyond this.
Years ago using keyword rich content, and meta-keyword were enough to boost rankings in the search-engine results page (or SERP).
With Google’s famous PageRank system, web marketers were able to exploit the benefit of backlinks with dishonest link building schemes.
Why hire an SEO company when you already have a web developer for your business?
Modern SEO is now far more complex than ever. Web developers can help you implement important back-end SEO factors and can work with you to improve your performance.
But many web developers are not trained to understand search optimization. One of the benefits of hiring an SEO company means you’ll have access to resources that can help with more complex issues.
Performing a technical audit of your site’s help can ensure your site has not been down-ranked by Google or Bing.
Plus professional analysts can scan your site to ensure that your Analytics tracking is working properly, your content is visible to search engine bots, and that your site is mobile-friendly – along with a lot more.
Technical SEO involves adjusting these elements for improved SEO and monitoring technical health in Search Console to make sure your presence in Google’s index isn’t harmed.
What Radd Clients Get
With a comprehensive SEO strategy that focuses on both on-page SEO and technical website health, Radd has been able to help businesses see consistent results.
Average year-over-year traffic growth for clients across the web was easily 22% in the first quarter of 2020.
With a strategy that focuses on intent driven keywords and content optimization to target relevant search language, our customer websites boasted an average year-over year-revenue growth of 34%!
Last year we helped clients grow traffic to their site by an average of 18% by utilizing professional keyword research strategies.
Leveraging their existing rankings with striking-distance adjustments, optimizing on-page content and adjusting back-end technical factors. One of the benefits of hiring an SEO company is that they can work with you to focus on your specific industry goals.
By working closely with our businesses and adjusting campaigns to meet their specific KPIs, we used these strategies help businesses to grow their total average revenue by 58% in 2019 alone.
With the power of our proprietary RaddBOT tech we can replicate and observe websites the way that search engines do and identify areas of on-page SEO relevance. From there we can begin adjusting and monitor their site to worked toward ranking growth.
Contact us to learn more about why SEO is important for business and to get more information about our strategic SEO services. Plus, check out our client testimonials to see what other brands have to say.
Our professional team can give you a site consultation and provide info on why SEO is important for your business.
How We Chose the Best SEO Companies
For small businesses looking to gain a new and improved online presence that places them at the top of a potential customer's keyword search, employing the services of a professional SEO firm may be their best bet.
Fortunately, there are a multitude of firms specializing in a wide array of services, including search engine optimization, web design and email marketing.
To help small businesses find the best SEO firm for their particular niches, budgets and needs, we evaluated the top firms on what matters most: service lines, size, and industry focus.
Multiple Service Lines
Because every business has unique needs that can change over time, it's important that SEO firms offer a range of service lines to accommodate their clients where they are presently and as they grow.
In this list, we've included SEO firms with service lines that include pay-per-click, link building, website design, public relations, and more.
Size of Firm
Whether large or small, every SEO firm has advantages and disadvantages. Depending on their needs and circumstances.
A small business may prefer to work with a small team that offers highly personalized services or a large firm that has lower prices and a more systematized approach.
To give small businesses an idea of how size may play a part in their experience working with a given firm, we included businesses of all sizes in our list.
Industry Focus
To cover as many small business needs as possible, we also selected firms that cover a wide range of industries.
Small businesses selecting an SEO firm to up their internet game may want to pay special attention to the industries some firms may specialize in to ensure the firm has knowledge of and experience in their particular market.
What Are SEO Firms?
SEO stands for search engine optimization, a digital marketing strategy that helps websites appear near the top of a search result so consumers and potential customers can easily find and visit a company’s page.
SEO firms specialize in this strategy to help their clients’ websites rank as high as possible on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Often, when looking for a service or product, instead of searching for a specific company name, consumers will type words related to what they’re looking for in a search engine such as Google.
These keywords are what SEO firms use to help companies improve their search engine rankings.
Additional tactics they may use to help a company improve its ranking and online brand include placing links throughout the internet that lead back to the company’s website, developing original content, managing pay-per-click advertisements and designing new websites or social media pages.
Benefits of SEO Firms
When a small business hires an SEO firm, they may reap a wealth of intentional and even unanticipated benefits.
A successful SEO campaign can result in improved search engine rankings that drive new, organic traffic to a company’s website.
This new traffic, especially if combined with website design services and the right content and landing pages, can lead to many conversions, meaning a growing number of paying customers and an increase in revenue.
Because SEO firms specialize in online marketing and branding, many offer public relations and brand management services that improve a brand’s reputation across social media pages, search results, and even third-party websites that contain online reviews.
Additionally, SEO firms can help companies specifically target the right customers for their brands using data such as demographics, location, and buying habits.
Strategies such as email marketing and social media campaigns can deepen customer engagement and even use automation to save companies time while still increasing website traffic and profits.
What to Look for in an SEO Firm
When you’re looking for the right SEO firm for your small business, you’ll likely want to find one that has experience working with your industry and offers multiple service lines and comprehensive strategies that meet your company’s unique needs.
Depending on your industry and online branding, you may want to look for an SEO firm that:
Offers multiple SEO strategies such as local and international SEO
Provides specific eCommerce strategies including Amazon SEO
Has pay-per-click management experience across a variety of popular sites
Is experienced in social media marketing
Offers brand management services with a transparent, systematized approach
Provides detailed and easily accessible reporting to keep its clients up-to-date on exactly how their money is being spent and the progress being made
Takes the time to understand and research your company and competition to develop the best keywords
Focuses on conversions and delivering a high ROI
Offers services at a price that fits your budget
Doesn’t require overly long contracts
The Cost of SEO Firms
Depending on factors such as where the firm is based, its size and level of experience, the cost of SEO firms can vary significantly.
Many firms charge an hourly rate, and prices can range from below $25 an hour to more than $300 an hour.
Typically, firms that charge as low as $25 an hour are based outside of the United States, such as the several on our list headquartered in India.
Most often, firms do not post their prices directly on their website and require potential clients to call or email them for a consultation.
Typically, however, this includes an introduction to their services such as a free website audit to show how they believe the company’s rankings could improve.
Many firms with high-quality, comprehensive strategies or exceptional levels of expertise in certain industries may charge anywhere from $100-$200 an hour.
Some may offer month-to-month or longer term contracts, and some may also price their services in packages that include a specific number of keywords or content creation services per month.
SEO should never be an afterthought even though the return is not immediate.
To rank first in a Google search result, your store's content needs to match a potential visitor's intent.
Optimizing your site for SEO can feel intimidating and tedious, but really it’s all about understanding how search engines work and how searchers use them and implementing that insight into your pages copy, then methodically running through some completely accessible backend tinkering.
We've put together a step-by-step guide to optimizing your Shopify store—no SEO experience required.
Why is SEO so important?
1. The majority of traffic comes from organic search
If you don’t have an SEO strategy for your store, you might be missing out on traffic and revenue.
Online stores can expect 35% of total traffic to come from search engine results pages and 33% of revenue from this organic traffic making it the marketing channel that can produce the highest traffic and revenue, according to Wolfgang Digital.
2. Paid advertising costs are increasing and SEO is “free traffic”
Putting work in to increase organic traffic through SEO may cost you time and effort, but its compounding effect makes organic traffic the best value for money channel to produce customers.
3. Ranking first in search engines can get you up to 30% more daily traffic
There’s a joke in the SEO world that if you wanted to hide a dead body, you’d put it on page two. That’s because being in first place gets the most clicks—disproportionately so compared to ranking in 11th position.
If you happen to have a page that is performing well for organic traffic even without having done any optimizations for search, the likelihood is you can improve the page to bring more traffic, sometimes with the smallest tweaks.
Before you start: Essentials to improve your Shopify SEO
There are a few vital things you need to set up before jumping into improving your Shopify store’s SEO. These are:
Purchase a custom domain. Simply put, your store needs its own domain to succeed in SEO. Custom domains create more trust with potential shoppers clicking through from search engines and they’re also more memorable. If you still have brandname.myshopify it’s time to upgrade to a custom domain like brandname. You can pick up a custom domain for anywhere between $10–$20 a year. If you need help, we have a resource on how to choose a domain name for your store.
Ensure you have Google Analytics installed on your site. Google Analytics is free to install on your website and lets you see how much traffic and what it does on your site. Learn how to set up Google Analytics on your Shopify store.
Ensure you have Google Search Console installed on your site. Google Search Console gives you insight into what pages rank for which queries, where they rank, and how many clicks you get amongst other useful insight. Learn how to set up Google Search Console on your Shopify store.
Have a mobile ready theme. Shopify offers a handful of free themes and they are built with Responsive Web in mind out of the box. If you’ve made any customizations to your theme or had one built, it’s best to test its mobile readiness with this Google tool even if there haven't been tweaks made.
Remove password protection. If you’re still getting your product pages created and sorted, you might want to wait to unlock your store to the public and search engines. But if your store is password protected, search engines won’t be able to see beyond your homepage and crawl or rank your pages on their search engine results page.
Be on a paid plan. While stores on free trials can be crawled and indexed, if you’re not on a paid plan you’re going to put all this work and not see the fruition of your efforts once your trial is over as waiting for a new store to rank will take longer than 14 days.
Once you’ve confirmed all of these are in place, you’re good to go. Use this SEO guide to improve your store's organic traffic and visibility in search engines like Google and Bing.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the under-the-hood type of SEO. Like the fresh engine oil that keeps a car running, it often can’t be seen but can dramatically improve search performance of your website.
Technical SEO ensures that your website is optimized for search engine crawlers, has good page speed, and is mobile device optimized.
It also optimizes your site for humans by making sure its structure, navigation, and internal links allow easy browsing, and that meta tags are filled in so both search engines and humans know what the page is about.
If your website has discrepancies in these areas, it can stifle your rankings until errors are identified. By resolving these errors you’ll see the benefits like:
Users engaging more with the site because it’s faster and all important content and pages are easy to access
Increased crawling activity from crawl bots because the site is easier to crawl, which increases organic traffic over time
Note: This is not a full guide on technical SEO for Shopify, it’s a list of the must-haves you need to get in place for your site to perform well in search.
It’s easy to overlook internal linking, especially in the early days of building your online store. I understand—it simply doesn’t seem that important compared to publishing new pages and promoting your business.
Creating internal links isn’t just about pasting links to appropriate anchor text across your website.
It’s about creating the necessary pillar pages that will pass authority to dozens of other relevant website pages and blog posts, and/or vice versa. This can be done with a clear navigation system from your homepage that’s designed for both user experience and search engine crawlers.
Take Gymshark, a fitness apparel brand. Its homepage lists only two top-level menu options—simple.
Once you hover over either Womens or Mens, you get a dropdown list of products and collections offered. The dropdown is split into what’s trending, Gymshark’s staple products, styles that are specific across its product range, and accessories that don’t quite fit into other categories.
What is worth calling out here is that this menu structure is built for humans first and search engines second.
This is vital for building buyer trust. Our research on what solidifies trust with new shoppers found that category navigation that is easy to understand and use across all devices is a must-have if you want to win sales.
Yes, while Gymshark does create an easy to understand menu and category navigation system, it also lists its most important pages that will get organic traffic in this menu and optimized the anchor text for it.
You can see this under Womens > Products. When you click through to Shorts, you’ll find that this page ranks for ideal search terms like “workout shorts” and “women’s workout shorts,” which draw ideal customers in from search engines.
Now the question is, "how do I apply this to my business?"
Let’s take our content demo store, Kinda Hot Sauce, which sells hot sauces, as our example. Say we hear from customers that they love our habanero hot sauce and want more variations of it, and so we've added three new flavors to our habanero range. Here’s what we do next:
Conduct keyword research. We use a free SEO tool like Ubersuggest and type “habanero hot sauce” into the keyword analyzer to get an idea of monthly search for that term (4,400). Great! We’ve found a new category for our new line of products to be nested under.
Create product pages. In our Shopify store, we go to Products > Add product to create the product listing, and we ensure that everything is filled in from the title and descriptions to the SKUs and shipping information.
Create a collection page.
Navigate to Products > Collections to create a new page and add the three new product pages.
While creating the collections page, we make sure to follow on-page SEO best practices when filling in the Search engine listing preview by aiming to use “habanero hot sauce” in the page title, description, and URL and handle.
Add our new page to the menu. In our Shopify store, we go to Online store > Navigation > Main menu. From there we easily add our new habanero hot sauce collection to our navigation system under Shop.
Add a breadcrumbs app to your store.
An app like Category Breadcrumbs ($4/month) makes it easy to show your customers the path they’ve navigated down through your category tree.
Their “breadcrumb trail” gives them an easy route back by clicking on the appropriate link. For example, you’re reading this blog post on the Shopify blog, and you can click “Shopify blog” to take you back to the blog homepage.
In the beginning of this article, we noted that you should create a Google Search Console account.
Once you’ve done that, the next step is to submit your sitemap. Submitting your sitemap on Google Search Console allows your store to be crawled and indexed by search engines.
This simply means that a crawl bot visits your ecommerce site, explores the homepage, and makes its way down all your product categories, collections, and product pages and back up again until it’s complete.
It does this so it can list them on search engine results pages.
The good news is that Shopify creates a sitemap for all stores right out of the box. You won’t need to build your own—this is only recommended for truly advanced SEO managers.
If you’re on the Basic plan, you’ll get one auto-generated sitemap; if you’re on the Shopify plan or higher and use international domains, then you need to submit the sitemap file for each domain.Learn more about: SEO agency vietnam