So you’re looking to hire an SEO team, or already have, and you’re wondering, “What can I do to ensure the SEO people I hire maximize my ROI?” Well, it’s not an uncommon question we hear come up at JCSURGE. We’re fortunate to have a client base that is engaged with the work we provide, and it makes us feel like we’re actually doing something and helping a business. At the end of the day, you’re hiring real people who want to feel valued, and one of the easiest ways to give those people that feeling is by being engaged to at least some degree. This means sending content, asking questions, and checking in on those people once in a while.
Here’s a quick list of 6 easy yet powerful ways you can help your SEO team help you:
- Send photos and unique content
- Send announcements and important updates
- Check your rankings, but don’t obsess
- Understand some of the SEO terminologies
- Get reviews for your business (local and national)
- Think outside the box and ask for perspectives on different marketing ideas
Looking to hire an SEO agency? Consider contacting our team at JCSURGE for a free video analysis of your current marketing situation + a free consultation!
1. Frequently send photos and unique content
Google loves photos and videos. It’s a strong ranking signal and boosts your website’s user experience (UX). It also helps your brand engage with your target audience. However, this is one that’s often the hardest from our experience working with various local businesses across the country. Business owners are busy people, so it’s not too surprising that when told they need to send photos and videos, they often forget or get overwhelmed that they simply don’t get around to it.
If this is you, don’t worry; here are a few ways to make this process easier…
Don’t overthink your photos and videos
Often times business executives can get into the trap of overthinking their image. Fair enough, you want to make sure you’re only putting out high-quality content for your prospects to see, but it’s always best to put out something rather than nothing. As SEO people, we don’t need the most high-quality image and panoramic videos to put on your website in order for you to start ranking higher. We simply need images of you, your business space, and some photos that are relevant to the work you provide. They can be cropped or a little tilted; that’s ok! So if you’re having trouble getting photos and videos to your SEO company, just remember that we don’t need much to work with in order to help you, but we need something.
Send faces and people
Adding on to the point above, sending photos and videos of live people, specifically people who will be performing the work, adds a touch of personalization and trust to your customers. If you run a home service business, this becomes exponentially more important when you have guys coming into people’s homes. But this applies to lawyers, accountants, financial planners, and almost any local business industry.
Send 3 photos a month
If you honestly have little to no time for sending over photos or videos, you can simply take 3 photos a month. A picture of your storefront, of one of your team members working, heck, even a picture of the road leading to your office will do.
At JCSURGE you can always text us your images to (917) 747-4234 or email them to [email protected]
2. Send announcements and updates on your business
At JCSURGE, we typically manage both the SEO campaign and website design/maintenance, but this also translates to taking an interest in your business as well. What this means is we want to hear what’s going on with your business. Are you buying a new truck for your contracting business? Are you opening a new location? Do you have a big new case you’re working on? Keeping your website and online presence active with a healthy stream of incoming written and visual content is something that will almost always produce a positive effect on your SEO projects.
We use company updates on your website, Google My Business page, social media profiles, and supporting articles as well. If you’re asking yourself, “Is this really important to share with my SEO team?” the answer is almost always going to be a yes.
3. Check your rankings but don’t obsess
It almost sounds like every SEO company’s dream to have clients seldom check their rankings, but this is NOT the way we want to operate. Why? Because it creates an unstable relationship between your business and the SEO team. If you hire our team for example, and you simply say “I’ll check back in 6 months” sure at face value it sounds good. But if you completely ignore the process, then you may be disappointed to find out that the results are not as you expected them to be. This can lead to you feeling like you’ve wasted your money and lead to us having a bad reputation, both of which we want to avoid.
So how should you be monitoring your SEO performance? Typically you will receive a list of keywords your team is targeting, alongside regular reports of what has been accomplished and how your traffic is looking overall. Be active! When you have 5 minutes at your time, try entering a few of those keywords to see how your business is doing in the organic search and Google Maps if you’re a local business.
Avoid micromanaging and obsessing over your rankings as well. Being too involved can create anxiety both on your company’s end if things go south one month and the SEO company if they feel that they’re being watched every second. Try to keep a healthy balance of checking your rankings once every few weeks, and if you notice a major dip speak up! Dips are common, and with Google constantly updating its algorithm, it’s important to be aware of fluctuations and how the team you hired plans on handling them.
4. Learn some of the terminologies
Whether you’re a lawyer, plumber, accountant, mechanic, or dentist, it’s nice to hear when your customer has some understanding of the lingo you typically use in your industry. The same applies to SEO. Getting yourself familiar with the basics of search engine terminology will make communication and understanding much easier. Here is some vocabulary every business owner should know in the SEO world:
- Keywords/keyphrases
- Organic keywords
- Organic traffic
- Bounce rate
- Session rate
- Meta tags
- Backlinks and internal links
You can learn more about SEO terminology by reading our article: SEO Terminology Basics
So next time you’re looking at your report or have any questions, you can help clarify your points by using a few of the industry terms. For example, suppose your rankings went down for a particular keyword. You can say: “Hey, I noticed our rankings dropped for 2 organic keywords. Is this something to be concerned about?” Or let’s say you have a question about your site activity: “What is a good bounce rate to have for my eCommerce store?”
5. Get customers to leave reviews
If you’re a local business owner, the easiest and most effective way you can help us SEO specialists help you is by getting your customers to leave you a review. Why? Because Google reviews are an important ranking factor when it comes to ranking in the Google Maps section. That’s at least from an SEO standpoint, but from a more practical business standpoint, Google Maps is typically the best way for prospects to find and engage with your business. The majority of local search traffic goes to companies ranking in the top 3 in the maps section, and with each listing, you can see their reviews.
According to Search Engine Land, 72% of people say positive reviews increase trust in a business. What this means is that if you have multiple five-star reviews, you are more likely to not only rank higher but increase the likeliness that a customer will call you instead of your competitor.
So be sure you’re asking your customers to leave Google reviews, and have them mention the service/reason they reached out to you. A bonus tip is to encourage your customer to include keywords to increase your listing’s relevancy.
Reviews for national companies
Getting reviews is just as important, if not more important, for national companies than local businesses. This is because you’re likely competing against a LOT more people with a LOT more resources. Getting testimonials and other online reviews can be posted on your website and social media to increase trust in your brand. So always be sure to stay on top of getting reviews no matter if you’re a local business or eCommerce store.
6. Think outside the box, and ask your team for perspective
SEO is a subcategory of online marketing, and if you look at the bigger picture, it’s a part of marketing in general. We’ve heard people associate SEO with computer programming and crazy backend code that only a few computer nutjobs understand. But the reality is that search engine optimization, just like any marketing strategy, is a lot more fluid and cooperative with other aspects of marketing. It involves more problem solving than anything else.
What this means for your business is that you should always be utilizing your SEO team for outside the box perspective when it comes to other forms of marketing. For instance, at JCSURGE we typically focus on local and some national SEO. We seldom run social media ads anymore, but we are always happy to pitch in our few cents to the matter. A good SEO team or consultant will be available to answer any online or general marketing questions as well. You can, and always should be able to, ask your team “what do you guys think about running a social media marketing campaign?” or “Should we consider running YouTube ads?”
Be aware that some agencies specialize in just SEO and don’t touch for example YouTube ads. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask them about it, it just means they may not be the best fit to take full control of that project. Always utilize your SEO team to ensure you’re getting as many eyes on a problem or project as possible.
Conclusion
When it comes to hiring an SEO agency, company, or consultant, remember that they are not magicians. They are craftsmen, but like any craftsmen, they are only as good as the materials and tools they are supplied with. So when you’re managing a team of SEO specialists keep in mind the following:
- Send photos, videos, and other unique content as often as you can
- Keep your SEO team updated with your business’s progress overall
- Occasionally look at your ranking, but avoid micromanaging
- Get familiar with some SEO terminology to better communications
- Get reviews and testimonials for your business (local and national)
- Ask your team for questions related to marketing that may not be in the SEO field
If you’re looking to hire a professional SEO agency, consider reaching out to our team at JCSURGE. We work with local and national business executives across the United States to increase their search visibility.
JCSURGE
Phone: (917) 747-4234
Email: [email protected]
401 E 74th St Unit#1B
New York, NY 10021
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