If you have found a local SEO company (Search Engine Optimization company), you may be wondering what it is that they will do for you and your business. It would be nearly impossible to describe every element of the work that they will do, but one key element is that they will help your business website to build search rankings, identity, authority, and, ultimately, trust.
Authority
If you have a website, your goal should be to become an authority. This means that you are widely recognized for your knowledge. The algorithm on calculating authority is a closely guarded secret, but it is likely that they will look for multiple things. Some of those things include:
- Engagement metrics.
- Social references.
Google recently launched a set of questions that websites should ask themselves to make sure they could manage the Panda update, and expertise, authority, and trust were key things in that.
Engagement
If you have a good website, it interacts with visitors in a meaningful way. This is known as engagement, and the search engine robots measure it in a variety of ways. This includes:
- How long someone stays in your site.
- Whether they actually use things they search for in your pages, or whether they “pogostick” backwards and forwards.
- Long click and time on site metrics, which shows how valuable your content is.
- What your social gestures (likes, shares, comments) are like.
Again, search engines will not tell you exactly what they are looking for in terms of engagement metrics. However, what they will tell you is that it is important, and that they will build your site’s authority based on it.
History
Search engine robots constantly visit your pages, which gives them a sense of how you have developed. If you suddenly start to link to “bad neighborhoods”, or if you suddenly start to cover new topics, they may think something strange is going on. However, they won’t penalize you for changes alone. Rather, they want to see why you have made certain changes.
The robots also look at any violations you have committed, or penalties you have received. Google, for instance, forgives but never forgets. Essentially, you need to build an excellent track record that shows you are committed to being an authority, something that a local SEO company can help you with.
Identity
Last but not least, a local SEO company will make sure that your identity is somehow verified. Google Authorship was one way to do this, but that ended in 2014. Other forms of author ranking systems now do exist, and it is likely that they will continue to develop and evolve over time. Bing has Klout, which is really good for verification, as is making sure your website is linked up to your Google+ account.
The above is just a brief account of a single element that a local SEO company will do for you. What this demonstrates is that the world of SEO is hugely complex. Hence, it is best to work together with a professional company so that you don’t make any mistakes and actually improve over time.