Daily Archives: February 14, 2022

How To Find SEO Clients | Top Tips for You

How To Find SEO Clients

You have all the relevant digital marketing skills and are ready to offer SEO services. A couple of projects later, you can’t find new clients. You might wonder—what next?

High-quality clients are difficult to search for. If you don’t know how to find SEO clients effortlessly, you might struggle to scale your digital marketing services.

But not everything is doom and gloom. You’d be happy to know that 72% of marketers in the UK are spending on online marketing activities.

The SEO industry is active as ever and you just need to outline a fail-proof plan to create your sales pipeline. There’s a lot to learn about getting more SEO clients and this guide explains individual points that marketing agencies or freelancers can use to expand their client base.

Define Your SEO Services

Before moving on to the tips, here’s what every SEO agency should know—be clear on what you provide.

Laying a well-planned foundation for your SEO business can build a confident mindset. Typically, SEO agencies provide the following services:

  • Keyword research and strategy
  • Content marketing
  • On-page and off-page optimisation
  • Link building
  • Competitor analysis
  • Guest blogging
  • Email marketing
  • Paid advertising guidance

Proper SEO consulting can include all or most of the above services. Hence, before deciding how to find SEO clients, it is crucial to know what you aim to provide.

Finding Clients: Best Tips for SEO Agencies

Below, you will find practical tips and strategies to find potential SEO clients. Ensure you use most of these tips to gain great SEO leads.

Gain Credibility Through Free SEO Audits

Let’s begin step-by-step and formulate a plan on how to find SEO clients. With a general idea of SEO services, you will initiate a ‘well-defined’ approach.

Now, it’s time to present your services by gaining credibility. How do you do that? By conducting free in-depth audits. According to Ahrefs, you have a vast target audience of over 90%.

How To Find SEO Clients

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With so many business owners facing organic SEO issues, start by auditing their websites for free. A quick SEO audit of these websites won’t consume much time.

All you require to do is type relevant keywords and look beyond page one of Google. Next, audit these sites and approach them with the report. Here’s what happens.

  • Local SEO clients admire your genuine help
  • The SEO audit report explains steps to rectify their content shortcomings
  • Clients gain trust and, hopefully, avail your services

Overall, genuine SEO help is the perfect head-start to partner with businesses struggling for organic traffic.

Learn How to Explain SEO to a Client

Significance of SEO

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The process of getting SEO clients works well if you’re well-versed with the difference SEO can make.

For instance, it’s widely accepted that SEO is more effective than PPC to drive business sales. However, you need to explain the reasons behind this popularity. In the process, you grow your outreach to quality leads by establishing expertise. In simple words, clients prefer SEO companies that know what they do.

Start by explaining how long it takes to notice SEO results. Simplify the way you communicate about technical parameters in SEO. Notably, some clients aren’t hugely interested in knowing the intricate parameters.

So, you need to adapt and simplify your explanation further. This technique leads to an improved presence, and you will know how to find SEO clients through mouth-to-mouth referrals.

Focus on Content Marketing

Content marketing is most important for SEO

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To get more SEO clients, focus on creating solid content on your company’s website. As you can observe, content ranks first to contribute to an SEO-friendly website.

Hence, your website cannot survive without high-quality content as an SEO company. Publishing long-form content like SEO guides is an excellent strategy to attract the most clients.

Focusing on content marketing is like leading with an example. SEO agencies cannot expect clients to contact them without implementing basic marketing activities.

Gradually, eager business owners will approach you and your worry about how to find SEO clients will soon begin to diminish. In the process, you will be well-equipped to answer common questions as follows.

  • What kind of content to create?
  • Can a website rank high without content?
  • What are the types of content suitable for a specific website?

Consider content marketing to be a routine activity of your business. For more insights, check out the example of Growth Machine blogs. Due to regular and valuable content, this agency has a high reach to connect with the best clients.

Solve SEO Issues By Specialising in a Niche

What is your SEO speciality? The first few clients can ask you such a straightforward question. This is an essential tip in your process of how to find SEO clients. Consider this SEO statistic.

Link-building niche

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Around 42% of SEO experts pay equal attention to both types of link-building. So, these respondents have an established niche, i.e., link building.

Basically, this tip involves paying great attention to marketing your ‘unique’ attribute. With a strong command of your preferred SEO technique, you won’t need to think much about how to explain SEO to a client.

Remember to mention your niche separately on your website. Highlight how you were able to perform well in the target market through this expertise. You can get SEO clients at a better rate with specialisation. It’s all about staying fresh in the visitor’s mind with a qualitative highlight of your service.

 

Find Potential Clients on Social Media Platforms

Social Media Statistics

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One of the most well-known tips on how to find SEO clients is the utility of social media. It’s safe to say that SEO clients are more active on social media groups and channels than any other marketing channel. All you need is active monitoring of these platforms.

Here are the quick steps you need to perform on social media sites:

  • Post informative blog posts
  • Engage with industry experts
  • Share relevant techniques and trends
  • Analyse competitors
  • Provide a real-life example of your SEO success

Striking a good balance between information and promotion will go a long way for this strategy. Don’t make your content 100% promotional on social media. Clients will most likely avoid such posts.

Use Warm Referrals

Significance of warm referrals

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Many marketing professionals ask a common question—’how to get SEO clients without cold calling?’

Warm referrals are the perfect alternative to get SEO clients in such a case. The trick is to use your existing client base and reach out to other potential customers. This technique can seem traditional but works wonders to expand quickly. The most significant benefit of warm calling over cold calling is the initial idea of your services.

Generally, your existing customers can inform all about your expertise to their connections. Hence, the potential client is well-aware of your skills and services. This prior knowledge reduces the time to explain every minute detail.

A great way to use warm referrals is through engaging with your current clients. Gradually, you wouldn’t need to try several strategies on how to find SEO clients for your business.

Enlist in Marketing Agency Directories

A well-known solution on how to find SEO clients is enlisting in online directories. These platforms are the bridge between marketing firms and local businesses.

In some cases, you can even get SEO clients located overseas through these directories. The image shows the portal of ‘Rnked Marketing Brokers.’ Register on the site, and clients can find you through the dedicated option.

Other examples of such directories include Sortlist, Clutch, and Google My Business. Most of these directories are, however, paid platforms.

Hence, you will need to pay a subscription fee to register on such platforms. This is an auxiliary way to get more SEO clients. Still, it is better to limit your spending by choosing up to two or three marketing directories.

Find a Potential Client on LinkedIn

LinkedIn Statistics

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At this time, LinkedIn is home to over 810 million users globally. Hence, it is an ideal professional network for many B2B marketers.

Now, you do not need to scratch your head on how to find SEO clients through LinkedIn. A personalised message is the best strategy to connect with potential prospects.

In addition, include ‘free SEO audit service’ in your message. Such a gesture establishes your eagerness to provide genuine SEO services. Also, it encourages the best clients to communicate enthusiastically.

Overall, persistence is the key to getting SEO clients on LinkedIn. Send follow-up messages, interact with the community, and comment on relevant posts. Interestingly, you do not need to spend a lot of money to leverage the LinkedIn advantage.

Generate Leads by Establishing Online Authority

Whenever the question, ‘how to find SEO clients‘ troubles you, remember this – It does not have to be unidirectional.

With several local businesses struggling to generate organic traffic, you are always in the game. However, you should know how to get SEO clients by establishing your brand identity.

What should you do to establish authority? A mix of all the following activities:

  • Publish informative blog posts and articles
  • Gain command on your niche
  • Collaborate with a professional design agency
  • Attend live events, conferences, and present seminars
  • Publish content that adds value
  • Promote your achievements statistically
  • Prepare well-defined SEO packages
  • Create SEO-centric videos on YouTube

This list can extend further. However, you can establish your authority by following most of the above steps. Overall, the ‘how to find SEO clients‘ worry will gradually decrease.

Organise Free SEO Events

Seminars, webinars, special training, you name it. Try to reach the local community through free SEO programmes. Importantly, these events can also be online.

This tip can work as a catalyst when you know how to find SEO clients through other ways. Events allow your team to grow contacts and attract clients.

In addition, such value-oriented events help build your SEO company reputation. In simple words, they prove your seriousness and genuine intention to help businesses improve their digital presence. Colleges and education institutes can also be ideal places to organise such SEO events. Notably, you will have the opportunity to meet many people and interact with them about practical challenges.

Client Expectations From an SEO Agency

Now that you understand how to find SEO clients, it is crucial to acquaint yourself with the client’s perspective. After all, analysis of your target audience is search engine optimisation 101.

Some clients are doubtful about the role of SEO agencies in marketing. They have expectations that some firms cannot justify. Hence, a simple list of client requirements can help you build the right digital infrastructure.

Let’s move ahead from ‘how to find SEO clients‘ to understanding the general notion of business owners.

SEO client expectations

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Nearly 22% of respondents expect an increase in online traffic after hiring an SEO agency. However, new leads, brand awareness, and rankings aren’t far away.

Overall, clients expect a mix of all the mentioned benefits through search engine optimisation. Here’s a list that takes you ahead of the ‘how to find SEO clients‘ question to the ‘what clients expect’ part.

  • Content strategy
  • Keyword planning
  • Web design and UX
  • Local and technical SEO
  • Content creation
  • Social media marketing

Summing Up

The answer to the question, ‘how to find SEO clients‘ isn’t straightforward. In fact, the solution is a mixture of adequate planning, expertise, presence in the target market, and online awareness.

In short, you need to perform a blend of various activities to get SEO clients. Other tips in this article help you ‘attract’ potential prospects. Notably, you should work well to establish your authority on SEO practices.

This way, you establish a stellar presence as a reliable SEO firm. Undoubtedly, clients will profit from your services, and your business can continue to flourish lucratively.

How To Sell SEO Services: Aiming Local Businesses | Your Route to Success

How To Sell SEO Services

Small and local businesses out there need a smart and robust website to stay ahead in their game today. This means building an online presence and positioning high on search engine rankings.

If you’re in the service of providing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and thinking of ways to sign on your first clients, we’ve got your back. We have done the homework on proven strategies and pathways for you to learn how to sell SEO services, or improve for growth.

It isn’t the most difficult task to locally sell SEO, but it is not a cakewalk either. There are many layers of challenges even if you are a veteran in content marketing and SEO services, and the thought of pitching to a local supermarket chain or even a gym can seem daunting still.

An immensely competitive market makes sure that the clients you target are swamped with other agencies’ pitches. Yours must therefore be a compelling case for a client to give you their account.

But fret not, we are here to help. With this mini-guide to prepare better towards extending your services among your local clientele and foster a long-term business relationship.

Finding and Approaching Potential Clients

Before a successful SEO proposal, focus on your groundwork in finding potential customers.

Unsure how to go about it? Here are a few approaches for how to sell SEO services:

Create your Niche

Many businesses want SEO services, and your strategies therefore will fit any industry. Yet, nevertheless finding your area of expertise is crucial.

If you’re just starting out, it would do you good to research on sectors such as health, lifestyle, B2B, and so on to arrive at your focal interest.

But if you’ve been around a while, identify where most of your clients belong and deep dive into it. This ensures your agency fits the prospective client’s overall needs.

Establishing yourself as a specialist in a specific industry is a significant selling point to use as an advantage when preparing a pitch. Inbound marketing will help identify and build strong networks for more leads.

Turn up the Social Buzz

A digital footprint is vital to convince clients about your potential. Digital marketing and social media are tied together, so make your presence felt across platforms.

Build a Website

You should pay extra attention to your business website for it’s the face of your company.

Work with your web designers to place visual cues across web pages, graphics, and CTAs and optimize content with significant backlinks and meta descriptions. Link building strategies like placing infographics and guest posts are one of the best SEO tactics for higher conversion opportunities.

Create Informative Online Content

Aim to educate audiences on how to sell SEO solutions or set up analytics dashboards, to attract relevant visitors on your page and boost organic search traffic. Create interactive channels of posts, blogs, and newsletters to gain traction.

This way, you attract businesses that are actively interested in what you have to offer. Blend these with email marketing messages to leave an imprint for possible future leads.

Build a Brand and a Reputation

Once your website begins to climb up in organic searches, make sure to give your brand a unique voice. Push valuable content and post opinions on common niche forums to impress local clients.

Selling SEO to local businesses is an uphill task if you are not projecting yourself as a valuable brand. This will require patience, so brace yourself for long determined work.

Businesses need to know you exist for you to sell SEO. Make yourself visible, but steer away from a hardcore sales approach.

It is not easy to make a good reputation, so work towards satisfying output delivery for current clients. With a string of successful local SEO sales and outputs, your own clients may garner attention to the brand via word-of-mouth. Become a part of local business communities and forums, address sessions, and build familiarity.

Along with that, set up lead generation strategies and keep revamping them with time for growth. Additionally, you should consider opting for personalization in email campaigns for better visibility.

Identify and Track Businesses.

There are multiple ways you could approach a business and involve many tools. Implement your expertise and trail clients for the right pitch.

Begin with a simple keyword search in the area– for example, local spas.

  • Record advertisers and other top results to create a database.
  • Use a CRM to manage and keep track of your leads. Observe businesses moving through your pipeline and prioritize accordingly.
  • You can use the omnipotent Google Analytics to track leads efficiently. The best lead-tracking tool allows you to set destination goals and combine them with attribution to identify their exact source. Furthermore, it also lets you to set custom events that prompt possible leads at any given time. You can use this with the Google Tag Manager to draw insight into tracking leads.

Lead tracking and management software 

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  • Alternatively, you can take a more direct approach of looking up and contacting prospective clients first-hand. Although this process is challenging, good strategies like well-written cold emails can pay off.

Craft a Perfect Cold Email

With inboxes full of them, you need an email that stands out from all the spam businesses that already exist.

Prevent your email from going to the dreaded spam folder by doing the following:

  • An eye-catching subject line is the first step. You barely have a few seconds to grab the reader’s attention, and the subject is the most valuable element.  Design promoters to follow up on an email after a few weeks. Don’t spam, but just put in a reminder about your SEO services that are available for their needs.
  • Design sophisticated yet straightforward templates to convey your sales message. Have options and run pilots to check better response rates.
  • Keep it real, and do away with overtly flowery and misleading captions. Many businesses have spam filters in place to funnel out unwanted emails. You don’t want to be one on that list, so keep away from trigger words to fight your way into the primary inbox.

The Hottest Guide to Cold Emailing – for B2B Sales | CIENCE

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Make your Sales Pitch Stand Out

Now that you’ve finally narrowed down on serious local SEO clients, reached out, and captured a few warm leads- pat yourself on the back, but don’t celebrate just yet.

There is more work to do for a stellar pitch that seals the deal.

To stand out from other shortlisted agencies or an existing SEO provider, you should consider the following:

Define your Value Proposition

Warren Buffet says, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” All the sales communication must drive home your value proposition. Focus on presenting the importance of your services on the table and how clients are to benefit from roping you in.

Focus on Defining your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

Consider the following key points to improve your chances of selling local SEO services:

  • Applicability to business – do you meet the customers’ needs?
  • Your Value – What are your services; how will the clients benefit from the sales process?
  • Uniqueness – how are you special from other SEO agencies?

How to Identify Your Brand's Value Proposition | by Jones + Waddell | The Startup | Medium

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Ask these questions when working on the proposition. Remember to add in visual elements to take it up a notch. Additionally, also take a look at the 7 Ps of Marketing: Product, Price, Place, People, Physical Evidence, Process, Promotion to include relevant action points for a crisp delivery.

 

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Show your Value, Don’t Merely Tell

This golden rule is crucial for your website.

Past client testimonials are a reliable source for building trust among new clients and hence you might want to consider the following:

Include Customer Reviews

Studies suggest about 97% of B2B buyers consider user-generated content such as peer reviews to be more credible than other types. A direct positive recommendation or gathered client feedback quickly puts you in a good light, as clients always seek external assurance of quality.

Post the feedback on your website with real names and contact of as many clients and share the same in your pitch, should anyone need validation for your services.

Paste this across your social media handles in the form of regular and repurposed posts and hashtags.

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Do not shy away from including statistics about your most-valued selling services and highlights. These will greatly help with your digital traffic as reviews already have relevant keywords inbuilt that customers tend to search for.

Case Study: Rebranding from a Search Agency to a Digital Agency | State of Digital

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Add Case Studies

Another strong action to sell SEO services is including case studies that were milestone services or significant growth points for your agency to back up your successful marketing narrative.

For inspiration, check out this case study of how Emil propelled his website to #1 through good old fashioned white hat SEO.

Avoid the One-Size-Fits-All Approach

You’ve walked in to provide solutions around SEO and other additional services. It is all about fitting into your client’s needs as a competent SEO agency for providing solutions that matter the most to them.

It is therefore best to avoid an agency-centric approach that focuses on ‘what you can do’ rather than being concerned with ‘how the customer benefits’.

A good place to begin would be with why they should seek SEO.

Furthermore, you would also want to avoid ready-made solutions to common problems of search engines’ ranking or optimization. Let them list expectations, and take charge thereon. Provide room for businesses to address their SEO issues, and demonstrate how you’ll solve them.

How To Sell SEO Services

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Convincing clients to believe in your services and ability to tailor-make solutions leads to successful sales. Do not over-promise and guarantee organic search features for there is no such surety.

Amp up your preparation, and study their social media handles and website to understand design and functionality. Your expert gaze will identify issues affecting their performance. Go the extra mile and present a complimentary SEO audit in your pitch, along with your proposed solution.

How to start in SEO (for clients) - Quora

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Do Away with SEO Jargon with Clients

Another commonly ignored tip on how to sell SEO is to skip out on SEO jargon. Not all clients, local ones especially, are comfortable with the technicalities behind the curtains of SEO. This makes the reason why you’re being considered on board.

It is hence imperative that you assess your client’s SEO knowledge before the pitch to set a comfortable tone. The business may either mostly require everything from scratch, or there is an SEO infrastructure already in place.  Help them understand the SEO process and how will your role helps with content creation and generate leads.

Include a brief and a simple explanation of how and why things work in the SEO services industry.

The main purpose is to diagnose current issues and discuss a viable long-term strategy for the local business client to whom you are selling SEO services.

So, map out their problems and visualize possible solutions. Don’t forget to include options, timelines, and estimated costs to help them decide on accommodating your services in their budget.

Stay Ahead on SEO Updates

As SEO tools and trends change more often than not, it is best to learn and unlearn the processes to stay updated. Stay abreast with different SEO metrics, and scout for new ranking techniques for search results. Your clients will presume your expertise on all their problems.

Additionally, meet with fellow industry experts to discuss novel solutions, and keep active in industry meet-ups in your area.

You can share these new developments in SEO marketing with your clients and general audience via newsletters and social media.

Extend Incentives Initially

A free trial period or complimentary SEO service such as an audit are sweet deals to convert a local business into a loyal client.

Plan incentives for just the optimum amount and duration as a sample taste of your working style and services that will benefit them in the coming days. Once the client is happy with the trial period, have automatic conversions in place to complete the sale of service.

Partner with Fellow Businesses

You can expand your outreach by striking partnership deals with related specialists in the same industry. For instance, your content agency could bring in graphic design teams to provide a bouquet of other services as a bundle.

Such an arrangement could translate to a combined wider social media reach. Consider leveraging this by cross-posting across your partners’ feeds, inviting them for guest posts, and even putting in a good word for them wherever deemed fitting.

Final Thoughts

Now you know how to sell SEO services, primarily targeting local businesses. As businesses increasingly decide to hop on the digital marketing bandwagon, they will need competent strategists like you to steer the digital growth.

Articulate your brand value and system along with deliverables and identified KPIs for your prospective clients. Make a mark online on your social media platforms with creative posts to drive engagement and lead generation, which will ultimately pave the way to sell SEO services.

Establish strong market goodwill to secure a sturdy local foothold. With new clients, aim to bring fresh perspectives rather than cookie-cut solutions for a personalized outlook.

Entering new businesses may seem tricky at first so employing multiple strategies to find a comprehensive fit is an intelligent move. Test various strategies to decide the best ones for your business.

These awesome tips of selling SEO combined with your SEO prowess can help you make a distinguished brand name in selling SEO services with niche expertise in the local business space.

How Many Keywords Per Page to Boost SEO | Everything You Must Know

How Many Keywords Per Page

The race to rank high on search engines is aggressive as ever. First, you learn the basics of search engine optimisation. In the process, you understand the significance of keyword research. But you’re still stuck. What gives?

After in-depth research, you might have a comprehensive list of relevant SEO keywords. Still, when you start creating content, a natural question comes forward – ‘how many keywords per page should I use?’

If you want to ace the SEO game, you have to find relevant keywords and their proper frequency for SEO. Eventually, you’ll see the results with improved search engine results rank. So, to enjoy these benefits, let’s understand some proven and valuable tips on keyword density.

How Many Keywords Per Page SEO: A Quick Glance

In short, you should use one main keyword per page. However, factors like keyword stuffing, variations, and page topics impact search results.

Along with one keyword on one page, you should use two to three keyword phrases or variations. Why? Here are some solid reasons:

  • The benefit of using long-tail keywords
  • Variety in the content
  • No need for overuse of the primary keyword
  • Maximising keyword rankings

If your primary keyword is ‘caps Birmingham,’ use related keywords like ‘Birmingham cap stores’ and ‘branded caps for men.’

 

Search Engines and Keywords: A Never-ending Connection

Before delving deep to analyse the common query, ‘how many keywords should I use for SEO, here are some vital stats.

How Many Keywords Per Page

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SEO experts believe that on-page elements (with approximately 33% share) are most important to impact Google web page rankings. Here are some of the most essential elements:

  • Meta description
  • Meta title
  • Page URL
  • Title tag
  • Keywords

The metadata on your page contains multiple keywords. In addition, users type phrases or keywords to search for the desired service. This on-page SEO importance makes it crucial to decide how many keywords per page before publishing your content.

Keyword Stuffing And Placement: An In-depth Look

First, you should understand the impact of SEO keywords. Basically, a web page can contain several keywords and phrases. Hence, a well-optimised SEO page can rank in the top search results based on the following:

  • Use of right keywords per page
  • Correct keyword placement
  • Smart use of phrases
  • Use of long-tail keywords

In a nutshell, how many SEO phrases are to be used depends on your content’s length, quality, and scope.

Explanation

Each page should have a well-defined length and a unique set of keywords. Generally, proper keyword research provides a list of as many keywords as per relevancy. Hence, you should choose one primary keyword per page. The next two or three keywords can be secondary or long-tail. A page of 500 to 1000 words can work well with this keyword density.

However, you can increase the frequency of the primary keyword for a 3000-word page. According to SEO experts, here’s a general rule of thumb: Main keyword density should be 1-2%.

The Problem of Too Many Keywords Per Page

A particular page can have many keywords jammed together. For instance, you could include the main keyword phrase four to five times in a small article, which leads to unnecessary stuffing. This mistake harms your SEO results and is prominently called keyword stuffing. So, it is crucial to include a secondary keyword on the target page.

Always take care of keyword stuffing in your SEO strategy to make your page sound more natural and avoid the Google penalty.

How Many Keywords To Use Per Page For Organic SEO?

Now, how many keywords per page to boost SEO? Well, it can vary. However, one primary keyword and three related phrases are recommended numbers. Still, you can follow these tips to generate more traffic through proper keyword usage.

Assign a Singular Focus on Keywords

Instead of focusing on your whole website, target landing pages dedicated to a particular topic. This way, you can simplify the monthly search volume, track keyword rankings, and create content optimally.

Consider an eCommerce store with specific pages for different products. If a landing page contains information about clothes, find other relevant keywords that revolve around ‘clothes.’ If the main keyword is ‘clothes in the UK,’ just add two more relevant phrases. Keep the remaining keywords for other target pages.

Use Variations in Other Pages

Here’s a stat worth noting—50% of online visitors type search queries of four words or longer.

So, it’s time to use these long-tail keywords to redirect other pages. Voila! Now you have the same words with more relevancy.

Building on the example in step one, consider your related keyword to be ‘clothes for men.’ You need to revolve the other two to three phrases around this keyword. The trick here is to include relevant keywords on each page that encourage clients to explore other pages. Hence, your site will gain more organic traffic.

Find Balance Between Search Volume and Competition

To ensure you don’t end up with fewer keywords per page, it is vital to conduct thorough research. Aim for phrases or words with a high search volume.

At the same time, research your preferred Google tools for low competition keywords. The trick here is to stay relevant without extremely difficult competition. Targeting such keywords improves the probability of ranking high on the first page.

A Lead-up to Organic Search Engine Optimisation

If you know how many keywords should you target, the road to gain more traffic becomes easier. Smart keyword placement improves your chance to rank in the first five results.

Yes, you read that right. The first five results are more relevant than ranking on Google page one. Why? Here’s the reason.

SEO click-through rates

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The first five organic searches account for a staggering 67.6% click-through rate. How can you achieve a place in the top five? One way is—proper keyword frequency.

Basically, organising keywords on the different pages on your site improves your chance to create optimum pages. Subsequently, Google scans your page and notices the following aspects:

  • Proper on-page elements
  • No keyword jamming
  • Controlled use of primary keyword
  • Sufficient use of long-tail keywords

In addition, visitors engage with more natural content due to proper keyword density. Keyword planning for a single page can thus lead to a long-term benefit.

Keyword Placement: Beyond A Page

Besides the suggested frequency on a single page, keywords can help generate traffic at specific on-page locations.

  • Headline
  • Metadata
  • Headers
  • URL

Important SEO elements

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Nearly 36% of SEO professionals feel headlines to be the most vital SEO element. However, can you spot the one common factor in the four crucial SEO parameters?

Here’s the answer – Keywords. These search terms are present in each of the crucial SEO elements. Hence, in addition to deciding keywords per page, it is crucial to use them at relevant locations. Also, meta keywords can be a part of your meta KW strategy on the sidelines.

A Word on Keyword Rank Tracking

Digital marketing can get too technical at times. For instance, you can decide the main keywords per page strategy and quickly move on to the tracking process.

Do not spend more time analysing the keyword rank of one page. Instead, use Google Analytics to monitor the site traffic. After all, viewers will enjoy reading content with the perfect blend of keywords and related terms.

Eventually, you can plan for more keywords for different pages. Small businesses can achieve more traffic and rank high on Google in this process.

Wrapping Up

The best strategy to decide keywords per page is to finalise a primary or main keyword. Next, conduct keyword research on long-tail phrases. Consequently, use three variations of keywords on one page.

You can keep the main keyword density between 1% to 2% for lengthier content. Likewise, you can use five to six related keywords on the page.

During this process, avoid keyword stuffing. Also, follow the tips to utilise keyword density for your organic SEO advantage. Hence, you can now decide how many SEO keywords to target on different pages.

Best Ways Make an SEO Audit Report? | Quick Tips for You to Follow

make an SEO audit report

You’d often hear about the importance of optimizing your website. To enhance the traffic of a web page and solidify the position of your business on the internet, search engine optimisation is a must. What after you have that bit sorted? Of course, you would want to make an SEO audit report!

Now, if you have some SEO clients under your wing, a question pops up: how do you maximize your website optimisation efforts?

The answer lies in SEO audit. When you make an SEO audit report, it helps determine the website’s current health, giving you a clearer picture of the areas of improvement. It’s a roadmap that marks the specific points where the web page is winning, losing, and struggling.

This process of map charting allows you to create a document specifying issues concerning the website and plans and ways to solve them. But how do you make an SEO audit report? Let’s find out.

Make an SEO Audit Report: What are The Different Types?

Before we get down to real business, we must first understand all the different kinds of SEO audit reports. It’ll also help clarify which audit report meets your needs.

  • Technical SEO audits

As the name suggests, this audit covers the website’s technical facets. It includes site architecture, indexability, on-page elements and URL structure. Technical SEO audit fixes specific issues that hinder the search engines from properly indexing and crawling the website. Hence, it comes before the backlink audit and content audit.

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  • Local SEO audits

Local SEO audit is pretty similar to the technical SEO audit, except its focus lies on how a website performs and comes up on local search results. This specific kind of audit essentially checks if the website’s name, phone and address are accurate on the listings.

Conducting local SEO audits is significant because this brings in customers for your business. Stats show 50% of local searches result in physical store visits. So, if the website is not optimised for local, organic search, it would minimise the website traffic. An overall downfall in conversion rates.

  • SEO Content audits

SEO content audit indicates which page garners more search traffic and conversion, if it requires any update, or if some page needs deletion.

The content audit gives an idea to the content team about the keyword rankings. Plus, it provides an idea about how to fill the gaps on the website, to enhance its search rank. Overall, an SEO content audit gives an insight into the indexable content of the website.

  • SEO backlink audits

SEO backlink audit analyses the website links to determine their quality. It includes checking all the external links and internal links. So, if there is any spammy links or broken links, this audit will help detect them. Essentially, it uncovers the gaps and reveals opportunities that would help in building SEO strategies.

Backlink Audit Overview manual - Semrush Toolkits | Semrush

Checklist of SEO audit report

Before you make an SEO site audit report, it’s essential to understand its purpose. SEO reports serve two primary objectives:

  • It helps to educate the client.
  • It frames a valuable guide for your work.

More often than not, clients do not have any idea about SEO and how it works. So, it’s essential to create an SEO audit checklist, based on which you can further create a document outline. This outline will clearly state your go-to plan and everything else the client needs to know.

Your SEO audits should ideally indicate the following things:

  • A list of recognisable, broad categories under which specific SEO factors will fall.
  • Explanation of every SEO factor and why it’s significant.
  • An indication of the website’s current status, whether the client’s web page meets those specific SEO factors or not. If they do, you can mark them as ‘pass.’ If not, you can mark them as ‘fail.’
  • A well-curated action plan would describe how you would resolve the client’s web page issues.

This basic outline of the audit helps the client understand the issues with his website and the measures or SEO efforts you will undertake to fix them.

Here’s a template of what your basic SEO report would look like. You can always tailor-make it according to your needs, as per the client’s website. This is how you formulate a basic SEO audit report.

How to Collect Information for SEO audit report?

Every client is different; thus, everyone’s website differs. So, to make an SEO audit report requires you to know specific information related to the client’s website. There is a wide range of SEO audit tools to help collect and process the data.

So, these audit tools help quickly and effortlessly collect all the relevant information.

These tools automatically inspect all the factors from the website audit checklist. Then, the tools give one overall grade for the website performance and specific grades for each industry-specific category. These grades will help create a baseline for you, giving you an idea of which particular website area needs improvement.

Some of the SEO audit tools that you can employ for your use are:

  • Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool offered by Google that gives an overview of the organic traffic on a website. The information it provides includes the number of website visitors, the device they are using, and the site they used to land here.

  • Google Search Console

This tool provides you with an option to gauge the website’s performance. Any issues concerning site speed, smooth adjustments and security are prompted via this tool. Additionally, it gives an idea about which particular phrase helps encourage visitors to land on the website.

  • Google Adwords

Another one by Google! This tool helps to display specific advertisements to show up on the search engine’s result page. Its functioning is straightforward. The businesses buy a particular amount of time for which the advertisement will be displayed on the search engines. This is based on keywords.

So, you can determine your live search data and model your website to fulfil the audience’s requirements.

  • SEO Meta in 1 Click

It’s a tool that shows all your data and meta tags with utmost clarity. It’s a free plugin that prompts accurate meta descriptions, title names and word count necessary for the website. Basically, it improves page SEO by helping you optimise your content.

What Information to Fill in SEO Audit Report

Here’s a list of all the essential SEO elements and the necessary description and action plan that needs to be filled in the SEO audit report.

Duplicate Title Tags

Pages on a website require different tags. If the pages have the same title, it will be difficult for the search engines to categorise your page and rank it accordingly. With a unique title, the chances are that it will more often show up on search engine results.

So, in the audit report, you can include the alternate URLs with duplicate tags that need rewriting.

Multiple Title Tags

Again, if the pages have multiple titles, it will mess up with the SEO efforts and confuse the crawlers. So, include all the pages with several tags in your audit report. Explain how it needs to be deleted for better categorisation and organic search traffic.

Missing Title Tags

A title tag effectively explains to the search engine what the page is about and helps in categorising them accordingly. So, when you make an SEO audit report, include which pages have no titles and what tags you specifically propose.

Long Titles

This, again, is not beneficial since the search engine only shows up to 65 characters. So, if the title is longer than that, it serves no purpose. When you make an SEO audit report, list pages with long titles that need to change and the URLs you supposedly propose for the same.

Hostname

One website may have different hostnames, but all the hostnames should essentially direct the visitor to only one version of your site. So, in your report, you need to explain to the client if HTTPS or WWW version needs to be directed to one website if it isn’t already happening.

Reachability

Reachability essentially concerns itself with how far the deepest level of content is. If it requires more than three clicks from the home page to reach the important facts, figures, and content of the website, it’s no good.

If the website’s architecture is not correctly built, visitors will find it inaccessible. Search engines may not be able to crawl around your website, so they won’t be able to find and categorise more pages of your website. In the audit report, mention the number of pages hidden too deep within the website. So, if any page is more than three clicks away from the home page, state them expressly.

Anchor Texts

Anchor text gives a snippet of what the website is about. This snippet helps the search engines figure out the destination website. It’s also what shows up on the search engines, so it needs to be creative for visitors to open the website. This anchor text needs to be descriptive so that it can be linked with the site’s internal pages.

In the SEO report, mention the generic anchor texts from the website and the URL that displays the anchor text. Try to provide some revisions of what you think the anchor text should be like.

Redirects

In basic terms, redirect links take the visitor from one page to another, causing distraction. It also makes it hard for search engines to site crawl, too. Your audit report should mention the redirect links that need to be deleted.

Long URLs

An ideal URL length is about 128 characters long. If the URL is this long, it will appear on the search engines result. Additionally, shorter links are better when it comes to social media re-shares. The report must list the URLs that are too long and need revision.

Broken Links

Broken links point to a dead website or a nonexistent page. It makes it difficult for the crawlers to reach the right website. If the links direct the crawlers to the wrong website, it wastes their resources and negates the SEO score. So, your audit report must mention all the broken links that need fixing.

404 Error Page

There needs to be a proper setup for ‘page not found.’ It should indicate the broken page or 404 error for visitors and site crawlers. In the absence of those, it creates a bad user experience. In the audit report, specify if the website needs a ‘page not found.’

Dead End Pages

A dead-end page essentially has no links to follow through for other internal pages. Every website must have internal links directing visitors to check out the new pages. Without this, the visitor will not navigate the website ahead and exit. It pulls down the site traffic!

Your audit report should mention the specific pages that require internal linking.

Duplicate content

Every page must have unique content. If any page displays a duplicate copy of the same content, it will cause issues for the search engine crawlers. Overall, this impacts the placement in search engine results.

So, in your audit report, mention duplicate pages. Specify which pages have duplicate content and how you plan on reworking those for better SEO.

Duplicate Meta Descriptions

Every page should have a unique title. Similarly, every page requires individual meta descriptions too! The meta description is a small blurb that explains what is on the page. It then prompts the crawlers to categorise and rank the page, and then it shows up on the search engines. Thus, improving on-page SEO.

In your report, specify which pages have duplicate descriptions and how you plan to revise those.

Robots.txt

A robots.txt file prevents the crawlers from accessing part of or the entirety of the website. So if the file exists on the website, the chances are that the website would not rank well or show up on the search results.

Mention in your report if the website has a robots.txt file and how it needs deletion. No restrictions on website access should be present.

Several Links

Having links on the website pages is good. But having too many of them creates an impression that the website is of poor quality or spam. So, how many links are ideal? Well, avoid pages that have 1000 links. If a page even has 100 links, try to minimise those.

Your report must state all the pages with more than 100 links and which ones need removal.

Server Errors

If a page is requested, but the website cannot display it, it’s called server errors. If there are too many server errors, the website’s performance will plummet. Crawlers will be unable to find the website at all, let alone rank it well.

So, in the report, mention all the server errors present on the website that needs the client’s attention.

Low Word Count

If you want the website not to receive poor placement on the search engine, make sure the word count is not low. So, a minimum of 300 words or more is ideal. So, list the specific page URLs that need more content for better rankings.

Session IDs

Session IDs keeps track of the visitor’s activity on the page. But search engine crawlers find it hard to make sense of these session IDs. So, if you need to improve the organic search performance of the website – no session IDs!

Specify all the URLs that need the removal of session IDs in your audit report.

Image Descriptions

Adding descriptions to images improve the website’s performance since now the graphics contain text. And this text can be searched for and understood by the crawlers. So, the chances are that the website will have better search visibility. Using target keywords would improve the possibilities further.

So, in your report, include the page names with images with no textual descriptions.

Speed Analysis

It is perhaps the most important factor because people barely have any time to spare anymore. So, if the website has a high loading time, the bounce rate will be high. It will negatively impact the SEO rank.

Your report should include an analysis of the website speed, as opposed to the site speed of the competitors. You can list all the ways you can improve website loading speed.

Metadata

Metadata includes HTML tags that specify the software used to build the website. It makes the websites vulnerable to attacks from malicious users. Your report must specify the pages that include the metadata, compromising the website’s security, and how to eliminate those.

Links from Top Websites

A website with links to third-party sites with credibility betters the SEO performance. The better, more known website you link to your own, the more trustworthiness it builds. So, it’s good to have many external links to other sites on your website.

Your report must indicate how linking from top websites is efficient and effective and how other websites do so. Moreover, you can create an action plan to create a map of what actions you would take and which website’s link you would include.

Social Media Shares

In this day and age, if a website is not being shared on social media often, it’s losing out on a lot of traffic. So, adding tags on the web pages to make it easier to share on social media sites is essential. A website with better reach on social media performs better, so add tools that make it easy.

Your report must indicate which social media tags are missing and should be included on the pages.

Wrapping Up

SEO audit reports are essential to lay a foundation for a website’s SEO improvements. But more importantly, this allows you to build a trusting relationship with your business clients.

It gives the clients an idea that you are not just googling things but have an understanding of white-hat SEO tactics. Moreover, clients with little to no knowledge of SEO work may find this report interesting and educative. After all, it outlines the overall plan of strategy that you would employ to make your client’s website bang on the search engines!

A little bit of effort, site audit and report making will go a long way to help you and your client both. Hopefully, this article walked you through all the essentials and how to work through them!