Here we answer some questions that we frequently get asked about SEO…

 

Knowing which SEO company within Cardiff to choose, well, that can sometimes feel like a difficult decision for any business to make.

So, in order to help you understand what we can offer, and to answer some commonly asked questions we’ve put together this rather helpful article.

 

#1 So, why do most SEO companies charge a fixed monthly fee?

Well, that’s a really easy one to answer- the reason that most digital marketing agencies charge a fixed fee is because SEO requires an ongoing investment.

Unlike some marketing agencies, we don’t tie businesses into long contracts, however, with that said here’s why SEO never really comes to an end, and that’s because your direct competitors will always be trying to reach the top of Google as well.

So, this means that quite often, if a business was to stop investing in organic SEO, well its then more likely that the business will quickly get overtaken by other businesses, so pushed back down the ranks.

 

#2 So you are saying that our website could move back down as well as up?

Yes, it’s a common misconception that an SEO agency will implement work, and your business will move up and it will stay there forever- simply put, it doesn’t work like that.

Some businesses move up and down in terms of where the business ranks every single month, day or even fluctuate by the hour. So, what causes this?

Well, its Google’s algorithm evaluating each businesses SEO, so business that invest in SEO must appreciate that you are often facing constant competition, you could therefore move up and down depending on the level of competition.

 

#3 Okay, so what if you get my business to the very top of Google- and we then only pay once we drop back down again?

This approach does not work in our view, the reason for this is say you pause your investment for say 6 months, well your competitors then have a 6 month window to overtake you.

So, when the business does finally drop, it may not just drop a few places on Google, but by many places. Then the seo agency has the normal amount of work to do in order to catch-up, plus the 6 months where you have not paid for SEO, so pausing the investment, well we think is a waste of time.

Often pausing your investment just lets other businesses an increased chance of overtaking your business.

 

#4 So how long will it take to get my business ranked on the first page of Google?

This all depends on the strength of the competition, please don’t be duped by the generic statement that gets rolled out by some agencies, that “it will take between 6 and 12 months”.

 

Why is this a silly statement to make?

Well, because every business sector is different, you may have some businesses that have invested in SEO for a long period of time, so to beat these businesses, well, this will involve a lot of work, say sometimes years in order to overtake these companies. Where for some other business sectors, we may be able to get your company on the first page in say just 3 months.

Therefore, it depends on the strength of your competitors SEO. We recommend that your marketing agency makes a judgement after they have evaluated the competition.

In a nutshell, say you have a group of competitors, these businesses have been investing solid for say the last 4 years, well, it’s going to be harder to overtake these business. More SEO work is needed, this should be reflected in the quote.

If a business faces lower competition, then the quote should be lower.

 

#5 So you’re basically saying that SEO is a slow process?

Yes, often it can be a slow process, some Cardiff SEO companies do not make this abundantly clear from the start, and that’s often because they just want your signature on a 12- or 24-month SEO contract.

 

#6 Yes, you say that SEO is not a fast process, but I have contacted a business that says that they can do it in half the time!

So many businesses have invested in cheap seo, or businesses that have made false promises, only to later realise the business has incurred a penalty. A penalty can mean that the business gets removed from Google.

A penalty can mean that a business is removed from Google, for example this can often happen if low quality backlinks are built.

 

#7 Okay but we haven’t got forever and a day to wait and see results, so what’s the solution?

We have highly skilled SEO consultants that work for us, so we can implement high-quality SEO.

We can suggest ways where we can set short term goals, in order for the website to obtain more customers. Then over the longer term we can focus on the goals that take longer to achieve, yet will help you to gain even more customers for your business.

 

#8 What if my websites previously incurred a penalty, can you help?

Some businesses do work with companies that have incurred an algorithmic or manual penalty, however we do not.

We do not work with businesses that have incurred an SEO penalty simply because it often takes too long for a website to recover from a penalty.

 

#9 Okay, so our website is brand-new, why are some SEO companies saying it will take much longer to improve the businesses SEO?

Brand new websites simply take longer to optimise. This is simply because new websites have to go through something which is called a “sandbox period”.

 

#10 How much does SEO cost?

This is dependent on two things, one how competitive your industry is, i.e if you face a high amount of competition then the marketing budget should be higher, as more SEO work is needed.

Then there’s the second factor, that is how long has your business been investing for?

If you are starting to invest now, yet many of your direct competitors have been investing say for the last 5 years solid, well, there’s going to be much catching up for you to do.

Often therefore if your competitors have been investing for a long time before you, your marketing budget will need to be higher in order for more work to be completed, and in order for your business to catch up.