Introduction

Bristol is home to many businesses, there are a wide mix of different companies here in the South West, from small companies, right through to large multinational PLC businesses here in Bristol.

However, there is one thing that unites a lot of these businesses, and that is they all need high quality SEO.

That’s to say it doesn’t matter if you run a scaffolding business in Bristol or Bath, or you run a solicitor’s practice that employs hundreds of staff, most businesses these days need to invest in SEO.

This article will explain what SEO is, and also how we work with many businesses to help improve their organic and local SEO.

What is SEO?

First things first, SEO simply means search engine optimisation-and this simply means that a lot of businesses in Bristol partner with a marketing agency to improve the company’s ranking factors.

Now, some businesses think that there are just a small number of ranking factors, however there are hundreds.

Most digital marketing agencies now believe there are over 200+ ranking factors, yet these are not all worth the same some are much more important than others.

For example, backlinks are widely considered, by many SEO agencies in Bristol to be one of the more important ranking factors.

Therefore, to get your business onto the first page, often you will need a lot of good-quality backlinks.

Other ranking factors include meta titles, meta descriptions and also content marketing for example.

How can it help my business here in Bristol?

Let’s say that you run a plumbing business here in Bristol, you would obviously benefit from getting your business on the first page for “boiler repair” or “boiler replacement” in the city of Bristol.

This is exactly how we help businesses, we can help to get your business on the first page for relevant words that are important to your company.

For example, let’s say that you run a scaffolding business, you would obviously want to go on the first page for “scaffolding companies” plus the name of the area where your business is based, we can help you to achieve this.

What is content marketing?

A lot of marketing agencies make content marketing sound really complicated, but content marketing is just what you are reading here, written text.

However, the work needs to be really high-quality, it needs to be “white hat”, if it is not white hat then this could negatively impact your businesses SEO.

If the content marketing that is written is low in quality, so for example you keep mentioning words that you want your business to rank for in an excessive way, and this does not read in the natural way, then this could mean that your business incurs a penalty.

What are backlinks?

You may hear your SEO agency talk a lot about backlinks, that’s because they are one of the most important ranking factors.

To get your business onto the first page, the business normally needs to have a lot of high-quality backlinks.

Why is my Bristol SEO agency stating that we need to invest every single month?

A lot of businesses sometimes believe that SEO is a one-off process- that is they pay a digital marketing agency a one-off fee, that’s to get onto the first page, however this is often not the case.

For the vast majority of businesses, they need to invest every single month.

A lot of business owners here in Bristol might be asking well why do we need to pay every single month?

The simple answer to that is your competitors will not stop trying to reach the first page, that is they will continually be paying an SEO agency to improve where the business ranks, or to stay put where the company ranks.

Therefore, this means if your business was to take its foot off the accelerator, then another businesses might quickly overtake you, this is why businesses need to pay every single month.

What is white hat SEO?

However, a lot of business owners here in the city of Bath, and also in Bristol think that all SEO agencies offer the same quality work, this is often not the case, that’s because some businesses will offer really good-quality white hat SEO and some will not.

You have to be careful about which business you choose, because if the quality of the work is low then your business might incur an algorithmic penalty.

How long would it take to get my business on to the first page?

This depends on the level of the competition, if your business faces a lot of competition, and your competitors have been investing for say the last nine years in SEO on average, then your business will have a lot of catching up to do.

That’s to say, let’s say you run a solicitor’s practice in the city centre of Bristol, if your business is a newly founded business, and you are going up against other solicitors practices which have been investing in SEO for say the last 10 years, then your business will have a lot of catching up to do and therefore to get your business onto the first page, will often need a lot more time and it could take a lot of time to get onto the first page.

However, on the other hand, let’s say that you are about to start a new coffee shop, and you want to get your business onto the first page for “local coffee shops”, in your area, there might only be say 10 local coffee shops, so it might be a lot easier.

What are ranking factors?

You might hear your Bristol digital marketing agency talk about ranking factors, ranking factors are simply the factors which an SEO consultant will strengthen to improve your businesses SEO.

For example, backlinks are one example of a ranking factor, and meta titles and meta descriptions are another, there are widely thought to be over 200 different ranking factors.

The algorithm will then calculate the strength of your ranking factors, and compare these with your competitors, if your business has the strongest ranking factors, then your business will be ranked on the first page.

Why must all of the work be high-quality?

All of the work must be high-quality otherwise your business could incur a penalty

Do many businesses invest in white hat SEO?

Many businesses in the city of Bath, England and also Bristol England invest in SEO.

Why does my SEO consultant keep talking about an algorithm?

It is the algorithm which decides where your business is ranked.

Why does the cost depend on how good my competitor’s SEO is?

If your competitors have really strong SEO, then it will take longer of your business to get onto the first page, because you need to beat there standard of SEO in order to overtake those businesses.

So, for example, if your competitors have been investing for the last 10 years in SEO, and your business is just getting started investing in SEO, there will be a lot of work to do to catch up with your competitors.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is what is used to get your business onto the first page locally, we can get your business on the first page in Bristol and also Bath.

This form of advertising is brilliant for local businesses such as plumbers, solicitors and hairdressers for example.

What business citations?

We can create business citations in order to improve your local SEO.

What are penalties?

If the work is not high-quality then your business could incur an algorithmic penalty.

Why we think it’s a good idea to partner with a Bath SEO agency or an agency in Bristol.

We think it’s a good idea to partner with a local SEO agency, so you can have face-to-face meetings with your SEO consultant’s.

 

No matter if you’re a plumber or let’s say a solicitor, one thing is for absolute certain, that is each business will face a lot of competition within Bristol.

And the reason for that is Bristol is a booming city, and as such its home to many companies.

Now it’s a good thing in a way that Bristol is a large city yet on the other hand your business does face a lot of competition- this is why so many company’s invest in SEO.

Yet, some company’s who are just getting started, well they may not know what their SEO agency should be working on in order to improve their SEO.

That’s to say they may well be paying a digital marketing agency, but not really knowing what they should be getting for their investment.

So that you are better informed on what are the important aspects when in comes to investing in local SEO, here’s 10 areas of local SEO that we deem as being important.

#1 Quality content marketing

Now you may have some digital marketing agencies that say for our monthly fee we do not offer content marketing. Instead they may focus more on onsite SEO, such as adding meta titles and meta descriptions.

However, when you pay a bit more, well you should expect your digital marketing agency to be offering you with quality content marketing.

So for example, let’s say your business is a vegan restaurant, well your online marketing agency may well be giving away free vegan recipes on your website, and if the work is good quality, then it may well be able to give your SEO a boost.

#2 Make sure your website is well designed

It’s all well and good searching for “best SEO agencies in Bristol” and then getting on the phone and saying we want to work with your SEO agency- but what if your website is poorly designed?

And by this we mean, well what if it’s a one-page website, that’s really badly designed. Well, normally the SEO company may say a redesign is needed, or some improvements that’s before SEO even starts.

So for example, the digital marketing agency may say you need to add more pages, or other design changes may well be needed.

So for example, let’s say that you run a solicitors practice, and you want to promote the employment law side of the business, well, your seo company may state that a dedicate employment law page is needed, or the page needs to be better designed.

#3 Quality backlinks

Your business will need quality backlinks. These backlinks should be built in a white hat way.

#4 Are your businesses citations consistent?

Let’s say your business was based in one location for quite a while, and you therefore had business citations built for that location. Then your business moved offices, and you build new business citations, but the old business citations still exist.

Well, this could cause conflicting business citations, which could damage your businesses seo. So, this would need to be rectified by your seo company.

#5 Onsite SEO

Your seo company should look to improve your company’s

·        Meta titles and meta descriptions

·        Alt text

·        Content marketing

·        Internal links

·        Add blog posts

·        Add new pages

#6 Regular

The thing is some businesses still think that organic seo is a one-off process, however it is not.

So, let’s say your business sells classic cars, and your seo business then takes your business to the top of Google for “classic cars Bristol”- yet if your business stops investing in seo, then its entirely possible that after a few weeks, or months your business drops back down if it does not keep investing in quality seo.

#7 Mobile version

There should be a mobile version of your website.

#8 White Hat

All work must be white hat

#9 Google My Business

Your business should have a Google My Business account

#10 Each service should have its own page

Each main service that your company offers should have its own page, for example a double glazing business should have one page for double glazed windows and then a different page for doors.