Effective SEO in 2023 [Guide]

In today’s article, we will take a look at the vast subject of Google search engine positioning. We will answer the questions of what it actually is, what it consists of and what important issues are associated with it. And, of course, most importantly – what benefits can SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) offer us in 2023?

Website positioning – definition

Positioning is a set of actions to increase the visibility of a website in a search engine. The aim is to get as high a position as possible in the search results, covering selected keywords relevant to the business we are running. A good position obviously translates into our website being easier to find by potential customers and, in the long run, into conversions. Website positioning is one of the most important elements of internet marketing.

It is also worth mentioning here that in Poland, unlike in other countries, it is customary to separate the concepts of positioning and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). We will discuss the detailed differences between them later in this article.

To put it in a nutshell: effective SEO is about adapting a website to the needs of search engine algorithms and how the content on the page is analysed. Providing the best possible answer to a search engine question is also a key element. The highest positions in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) are achieved by carrying out consistent optimisation activities on our website.

When should you start positioning your website?

You should start positioning your company’s website when you want to:

1. Introduce a new brand, product or service to the market.
2. Increase the organic traffic and sales generated by the current website.
3. Increase your brand’s online visibility.
4. Verify the problem of getting the right customers – e.g. through poor quality of current enquiries.
5. Outperform the competition and become an industry leader.
6. Transform a website that has so far brought calorific organic traffic and sales.

What do we gain from SEO?

The answer that comes to mind first is gaining organic (free) traffic to our website. This boils down to the fact that people typing specific search phrases into a search engine want to obtain information on a particular topic, purchase a product or use a service. They therefore have an intention that our website can fulfil. A precise answer to the user’s need can turn out to be good quality traffic from the search engine that converts. This also builds greater recognition for your brand.

It is estimated that more than 95% of users use Google search. It is worth taking advantage of this potential to increase the visibility of your own website in search results.

What does effective SEO give us?

1. Increased visibility of the website in organic search results.
2. Increase in traffic to the website.
3. Relatively low advertising costs.
4. Long-term effects.
5. Brand prestige through high positions.
6. Valuable content and factual knowledge.
7. Target group identification.
8. Increased profits.
9. Competitive advantage.
10. Business development.
11. Consistent implementation of the marketing strategy.
12. Ability to monitor positioning results.

Contact us – we will perform an SEO analysis for you. This is the first stage for conducting effective positioning.

 

Web positioning strategy

Identifying and analysing the competition, industry, search results, link profile, on-page content, current traffic and conversions, allows us to plan all activities in line with the client’s business objective. We adopt a different positioning strategy when the Client is concerned with increasing sales (e.g. in the case of e-commerce) and a different one when we focus on image positioning (e.g. based on content marketing). Differentiated plans will be important depending on whether we are operating on highly competitive phrases, local keywords or in a niche industry.

A good starting point before conducting SEO activities is to have an analysis carried out by an SEO specialist, which includes:

1. Identifying the keywords for which it is worthwhile to carry out activities.
2. Determining current visibility with a comparison to competitors – this will also give us a starting point.
3. Specifying key optimisation factors to be implemented on the site – here it is worth identifying the client’s ability to make changes to the site (e.g. IT resources).
4. Determining the budget and number of links provided by the agency to the client.
5. Determining the goals we will be aiming for – so the client is aware of what to expect over a given period of time.

What does SEO strategy depend on?

1. The type and size of the site.
2. Budget.
3. The current state of the client’s website.
4. Seasonality of key phrases.
5. Business objectives.

Operating according to an SEO strategy helps to consistently and coherently execute planned SEO activities.

Why is it worth cooperating with SEOgroup?

What are the two factors that have the greatest impact on website positioning?

Effective SEO consists of 2 basic elements:

• On-site: technical optimisation of the website, UX and its content,
• Off-site: mainly Link Building.

So we can say that On-site + Off-site = organic traffic to the website. We will discuss each of these 2 elements below:

1. On-site SEO

On-site optimisation consists of its technical and qualitative adaptation to Google’s search engine guidelines. It affects the structure of the site, its content and structure. It is the absolute foundation of SEO. With SEO:

• we achieve high positions in the organic search results (SERPs),
• increase the authority of the website,
• we provide answers to questions typed into the search engine,
• eliminating obstacles that lower the authority of the website.

Another factor that influences the effects of positioning is building good quality content and saturating our site with it. A high level of content allows Google’s search engine algorithm to understand what our website is about, what its purpose is and to which customer it is directed. The website texts should therefore contain keywords. Uniqueness and uniqueness of the content is also a necessary condition for success.

2. Off-site SEO

The second element which has a huge impact on the successful positioning of a website are the links which lead to it from other places on the Internet. A steady increase in the number of such links is a signal to Google that recipients are willing to share the knowledge gained on our website – thus representing a high value. Links take the form of a linked word or graphic.

• natural links, i.e. links posted on the web by real users,
• links that are obtained unnaturally in order to increase the position of the website. A filter may be imposed on your website for inappropriate use.

Links may also be divided according to their value into:

• dofollow, which give part of the value to the page to which they direct,
• nofollow, which do not, but play a role in building a natural link profile.

In the context of Link Building, it is also worth mentioning internal linking. Thanks to it, the customer stays on our website longer. We also have a greater influence on the distribution of PageRank (i.e. the method of determining the value of sites) between our sub-pages.

Acquiring external links

Fundamental to positioning in Google search results is the creation of a valuable group of links leading to our website. Why is this so important? Below you will find some important advantages of doing so:

• increases the reputation of the website – Google’s search engine robots will be able to perceive your website as one with a high reputation, so they will position it more favourably,
• creates the profile of an expert in a given field,
• you reach a wider audience related to your industry, which can lead to future profitable collaborations,
• you improve your brand image,
• and, what is in theory obvious, you will increase your website traffic – including referrers. If you use this well, conversions will also increase.

The best ways to acquire external links are to look for them on high-authority and topical sites. Among the most relevant methods of acquiring external links we can find:

• the art4art method, i.e. the exchange of articles between sites,
• posting professional studies, analyses or expert opinions on one’s own website, which will have links to popular and reputable personas,
• publishing content in online magazines,
• patronising high-traffic web events,
• delivering training (e.g. webinars) in your industry,
• realising B2B partnerships,
• creating valuable profiles on other social networks (e.g. Facebook) to publish high-quality content on an ongoing basis,
• participation in conventions and industry meetings,
• implementation of an e-book project,
• creation of reportage and journalistic content for the company blog (e.g. interviews).

How does web positioning differ from SEO?

We have already mentioned that, in Polish industry nomenclature, it has been accepted to distinguish between web positioning and SEO. SEO is referred to as on-site or on-page activities. As we have already mentioned, they boil down to website optimisation. Web positioning is called off-site or off-page activities. As the name suggests, these are activities carried out outside the target website. They include link building, i.e. the acquisition of links directing to the website.

Keywords and search engine positioning

One of the most important factors in the issue we are discussing is keywords. As a rule, it is easier to position pages on phrases with low competitiveness, while it is much more difficult to position them on those frequently searched by a search engine user. For a good balance, it is therefore necessary to measure their popularity. This can be achieved, for example, through tools such as Keyword Planner or Senuto. It is also a good tactic to analyse your competitors’ sites from this angle. This, in turn, will usually require close cooperation with an SEO agency.

The target point for this is to be on the first page of a search engine. This is important because most potential audiences only view the top TOP10 in search results. For example, if a page is ranked higher than 20 for a given keyword, the likelihood of a visitor navigating to it from the search results is almost zero. Thus, we will not generate any traffic.

It is worth mentioning that search engine users have different needs and, consequently, different intentions. The table below shows the most popular types of keywords along with their intent.

What tools are helpful for positioning strategies?

Here is a list of programmes considered to be some of the best keyword research tools.

• Google Ads Keyword Planner – is one of the most popular keyword research tools. In addition, it allows you to analyse the number of searches and predict how much benefit targeting ads can bring. It is integrated directly into Google Ads. Only a free account is required to use it. Unfortunately, accurate data is only available to users with active campaigns.
  

  Keyword planner

• Google Search Console – this is another tool from thesearch giant that is primarily aimed at website administrators and webdevelopers. However, as Google suggests, the application can also be used by portal owners who want to better understand what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ of optimisation. Currently, it is difficult to talk about portal optimisation without having an insight into the data provided by the service.
  

  Performance Report in Google Search Console

• Answer the Public – is a tool that will allow us to get to know the various combinations of keywords that customers formulate in the search engine. The programme generates visualisations and tables on an ongoing basis. The questions and key phrases provided by the application are based on automatic suggestions from Google. The tool can be used for free, but this version allows no more than two searches per day.
• Senuto – is an analytics platform that allows key phrase searches, queries, website visibility analysis and monitoring. Its extensive features help you get to the information you need to optimise your website and improve its visibility in search results. It is one of the most widely used positioning tools in Poland.

SEO audit

Carrying out an SEO audit is essential to check which elements of our website need to be improved or updated. Performing one will not only give us a better insight into our website, but will also make it easier to carry out further optimisation and positioning activities.

Among the interesting tools helping to perform SEO audits, we can find various crawlers, i.e. programmes thoroughly scanning our website and subpages. Among the most popular solutions of this kind, we can mention such applications as:

• Screaming Frog,
• Deepcrawl,
• Sitebulb,
• OnCrawl,
• JetOctopus,
• Ahrefs,
• SEMrush,
• Ryte,
• Botify,
• WebSite Auditor.

A properly conducted SEO audit should also hook into an off-page analysis. SEO support can be performed through an in-depth analysis of the types, number and quality of links. It is also worth mentioning that an SEO audit should be carried out periodically – especially when significant changes are made.

The components of a website audit vary depending on its type, size and the client’s ability to implement it. Such an analysis is performed differently for an online shop (e-commerce), a Google business card page and yet differently for an advertising website. However, it is possible to distinguish a few components that should be present in most documents of this kind, namely:

• an analysis of the current visibility of the site,
• evaluation of the site’s structure, including an internal linking study,
• inbound link analysis,
• keyword analysis,
• evaluation of correct indexing of individual sections of the website,
• page loading speed,
• uniqueness of content,
• competition analysis,
• sSL implementation,
• analysis of the presence and correct use of JavaScript on the site.

The price of a website audit depends primarily on the size and complexity of the website. Audit is performed differently for a small information website and differently for large websites. The price of a reliable audit starts from several thousand zlotys upwards, depending on the size of the audited website.

What influences the position of a website in search results?

Effective website positioning is a very complex process. When preparing and implementing the related strategy, many factors must be taken into account. It is on their basis that the Google search engine creates a ranking of websites. So it is worth asking: what are the most important guidelines?

Creating dedicated content types

One of the most important aspects regarding SEO is the creation of customised content in the form of an article, category (listing), product or service sub-page, according to the requirements of an SEO specialist. These resources will act as a landing page to which the user will be directed from the search engine. This is the correct starting point to begin your SEO efforts.

Where to place keywords on the site?

The most important places on the website to place keywords are:

• titles and meta descriptions,
• headings,
• text,
• alternative image descriptions,
• slugs.

Titles (including the title tag) and meta descriptions, the elements of our website that display in search results. Done well, they will be our business card. The keywords they contain indicate to both customers and Google search robots what is on the website. It is important to signal the benefits offered by the sub-pages. The language of benefits can therefore be used in them.

Headings – on a website, they are the designation of titles, sub-headings and mid-headings. They are also known as heading tags. By keeping them structured and structuring your website accordingly, it will be more understandable to Google’s robots.

H1 – title, H2 – sub-headings, H3 and H4 – subsets of the H2 heading.

Website text – is the main content of our website, as well as the pages. In the case of an online shop (e-commerce), it can also be a description of the product itself or its category. It provides a high level of User Experience (UX) for our client, and allows Google’s search engine algorithm to understand what our website is about. A blog on our website is also worth mentioning in this context. It has a very positive impact on the visibility of our website.

Slug – is a string of characters in the URL of a subpage. Although including keywords in it has little impact on website positioning, it gives the link an aesthetic and comprehensible look. It has a positive impact on the user experience.

On-page graphics optimisation – an important aspect when optimising on-page graphics is the compression of image files. Admittedly, high image resolution is more pleasing to the eye, as it can slow down the loading process of a website. And this is a guideline that has a huge impact on search engine positioning. For this reason, it is advisable to equip yourself with image compression applications or to select images with a lower resolution.

The name of the graphic file is also an important issue. It is worth putting key phrases in it, however, one should be careful and match the words to the content of the image. A good method is to name images as the viewer sees them.

A key factor of an image file for search engine robots is the alt attribute. It defines the name that is visible to the algorithm, thus allowing the content of the web page – the alternative text for the image file – to be read correctly. As with a regular image, it is important to create a unique and keyword-related alternative name.

It is also worth mentioning CDN (Content Delivery Network), which is a technology used to support the host server. This solution has a positive impact on the loading speed of a website. It relies on having image files on external servers. Even the search engine Google suggests this solution as effective for optimising a website.

What are the most important things to undertake when creating a website?

In any field of business, proper planning of your strategy is a key element. The same is true for website positioning and SEO management. Therefore, it is worth taking care of a few basic factors that can help you optimise your website effectively.

Creating a company blog

One of the best factors to support successful SEO is good, high-quality content. Arranging a company blog is not only a chance to promote our products, but also a place to publish extensive, thematic and decent material (in the form of, for example, articles or columns) that can be a valuable source for the audience. In addition to promoting our own brand, we can use the blog to post internal and external links, publish information or answer customer questions.

Conducting a site, competition and keyword analysis

In order to effectively solve SEO problems and improve the positioning of our website, it is worth performing an in-depth analysis of the site. It will help us not only to improve our actions, but also to identify the advantages and disadvantages of our site in terms of SEO.

It is also a good idea to conduct a competitive analysis. This will allow us to understand the specific industry in which we operate. It will also enable us to pick up on good key phrases and effective themes – from a website positioning perspective, of course.

It is also worth taking care to analyse the keywords that will be appropriate for our website. They should be popular with our chosen target group. Poorly chosen keyword phrases may negatively affect the final results – despite high positions in search results, we will be doomed to a lack of conversions. Therefore, this is an important issue that we should address as one of the first.

Taking care of internal linking

Our portal or online shop will have from several to even several hundred sub-pages. It is therefore important to take care of correct internal linking. Such hyperlinks are nothing more than links that lead the user to other parts of our website. For example, it may be a transfer of the recipient from the home page to a sub-page containing the company’s offer. If we place internal linking correctly on the portal, we will improve our Page Rank status, make it easier for the user to navigate the site, reduce the rejection rate and positively influence the positioning of keywords in search results.

Correct information architecture

Information architecture is the way in which resources are arranged within a given system – in our case, a website. In order to plan the information architecture correctly in the context of SEO, it is necessary to consider in response to which keywords we want to appear in search results.

In order for information architecture to effectively attract traffic from Google’s search engine, there are a few principles to keep in mind:

1. It is worth following the principle: from the general to the specific.
2. A separate page should be devoted to each topic (represented by a phrase or a set of closely related phrases).
3. Do not create multiple sub-pages on the same topic.
4. Each relevant sub-page should be internally linked.
5. Each relevant sub-page should contain unique content that fills in the subject matter.
6. It is important to skilfully match content types (e.g. article, product, category, service sub-page, homepage) to keywords.

Page loading speed

A faster page means a higher chance of conversions, a lower abandonment rate and an additional factor in the page’s position in search results. From the perspective of running Google Ads, we can also count on a better quality factor when the algorithm evaluates our page. As you can see in the graphic below, a page that loads for an average of 5s results in an increased likelihood of abandonment for the user who stays on it by as much as 90%.

Website accessible on all devices – nowadays this is almost the norm, while it is worth mentioning that a properly created website must be fully responsive on all mobile devices.

Contact us!

 

Competitor analysis in SEO

Another important factor in SEO is the so-called competitive analysis. It allows us to find out about the online activities of companies in our industry. We will also find out how much it will cost to position our website and where the niches are in the field we deal with. The initial SEO audit, which is carried out by a marketing agency for sales purposes, includes a complete analysis of the client’s website and direct competition. Through this, we will be able to assess which objectives and strategies make sense and will be most effective in our case. Performing a competitive analysis on a regular basis will also bring long-term benefits – our concept will be able to be adapted to changing trends or competitor activities – it will become a flexible and long-term business strategy.

Important! Conducting a competitive analysis must not be about plagiarising other people’s ideas, but about orchestrating other ideas into our assumptions. It is by appropriately adapting the solutions of competing companies that we have the chance to do something more creatively, more efficiently or simply better. Copying will serve us and our potential clients badly.

How do you effectively check your competitors?

To start with, it is worth getting down to the nitty-gritty of precisely who our competitors are. Here, it is much easier for experienced entrepreneurs who have been operating in a particular field for years – we simply know our market rivals. However, if you are just starting out, it will not be impossible to analyse your competitors – all you have to do is look around and find the current industry leaders. To do this, we can use the Google search engine – simply type in the name of the service/good, the location of the company and observe the search results.

We can assume that our competitors in the search results will be sites that rank high on the pool of keywords that are relevant to our business.

However, this is a fairly superficial analysis and in order to get a fuller picture, we can consult an SEO agency. They will carry out an analysis of our web traffic and examine the popularity of key phrases. Another way, which is a bit truncated, is to enter the name of our site in the Senuto application. We will then receive a list of domains that are our natural competitors.

What to avoid when positioning a website?

Duplication of content

One of the problems that you often have to face when positioning a website is precisely the issue of content duplication. It consists of duplicate content under more than one URL. We can divide it into:

• external duplication – which is the copying on your site of texts from other places on the Internet,
• internal duplication – which involves duplicating content on the same page.

In order to get rid of the above problem, the domain address should be verified in Google Search Console, and an appropriate 301 redirect should be applied. In addition, by design, the focus should be on constructing unique texts.

Keyword cannibalisation

A similar problem is the phenomenon where more than one subpage of a website has been optimised for the same keyword. Google’s algorithm then independently selects which one to display for a given query. This results in problems with achieving a stable position in search results. Sub-page optimisation is required to eliminate cannibalisation. It is also important to remember about the appropriate use of keywords when creating the content itself.

It is also worth remembering not to use so-called Black Hat SEO techniques . These are actions which, theoretically, at a low cost, may help to position our website. However, these methods may result in Google imposing filters and restrictions on our website – which will ultimately have a negative impact on the position of our portal.

Black Hat SEO techniques

Link farms and link exchange systems

Link farms are nothing more than collections with a huge number of links and low-quality content. In theory, the more external links, the better. However, Google also pays attention to the value of links. In addition, it may penalise you for doing the following:

• buying or selling links,
• conducting large-scale link-for-link exchanges,
• producing articles based solely on inserting as many links as possible,
• using bots or link exchange applications.

This is why it usually does not pay to use link farms or link exchange systems. Sooner or later, Google’s omnipresent hands will touch your site too, imposing a long-term penalty.

Cloaking and doorway pages

Content cloaking involves creating two versions of content on a page. One is visible to users, the other to search engine robots. The viewer may see, for example, Flash animations, while the algorithm reads the content full of keywords. Such a technique is of course poorly received by Google’s search engine and a penalty may be imposed for it.

Transition pages, on the other hand, are used to achieve the highest possible positions by using different domains redirecting to one page. A second way is to publish sub-pages that only direct to one, most relevant part of the page.

Spam in comments and low-quality content

Spam in the comments usually consists of the notorious posting of comments with links to other websites. Google’s search engine defines this as an unfavourable action for which it may impose a penalty.

Regarding valuable texts: quality is often a relative term, however, there are several factors that influence the evaluation of content by Google robots. These include:

• content vividly copied from another source,
• duplication of content within the same website,
• creation of a large number of texts based on synonyms (synonymisation of material),
• very short texts that are illogical or incomplete,
• content overflowing with spelling, linguistic or stylistic errors.

It is also worth adding to this the fact that we should avoid so-called keyword stuffing, i.e. stuffing keywords by force.

Why is Black Hat SEO dangerous?

Conducting such techniques is risky mainly for two reasons:

Imposition of a manual penalty – this form of sanction is manually imposed by a Google employee. In this case, you will receive a manual penalty notice and guidance on how to get out of the situation.

Receipt of an algorithmic filter – an overlay is received from Google’s algorithm. You will not be informed about it, however, you will be able to notice it after an extreme drop in your search engine position.

Both penalties contribute to a drastic reduction in the position of our site, and may remain unremoved for a long time. Therefore, it is not worth the risk and use confirmed and trusted sources for website positioning.

Positioning of local companies vs. online shops

Another variant of the issue we are discussing is the differences between positioning websites of local companies and large, nationwide brands or online shops (e-commerce).

In the first case (also called local SEO), the focus should be on keywords that are related to the location. Their purpose is to increase our visibility in the region. The website is then tailored to queries from a particular city, such as SEO agency Gdynia or car service Gdańsk. A Google Maps result is also shown at the top of the search results.

The case is different when promoting large, nationwide websites or online shops. Activities then consist of increasing the visibility of our site also for extended key phrases – in other words, for the long tail. With niche word associations, we will generate valuable traffic. Their precise targeting will ensure us a higher conversion rate than with general words.

Online shop positioning requires a holistic and individual approach. Which industry an online shop operates in and who the potential customers are often defines a number of individual issues related to the optimisation of an online shop. In many cases, the wrong keywords and the aforementioned information architecture miss the customer’s intent.

Positioning of CMS-based websites versus websites made in a web designer

It is also worth noting the difference in optimisation and positioning of pages made in a CMS (WordPress, Joomla, PrestaShop) and those made in a website builder (e.g. Wix). When comparing them, it should be noted that the process of performing these activities itself is not too different. However, what is important here are the possibilities that these two forms of setting up your own site give us. Page builders tend to be truncated of many functions (especially in the free versions), so it is worth thinking twice before starting to design a site on them. The minimum that must be provided in order to optimise and position a site to any degree is:

• the ability to edit the title and meta descriptions of all pages,
• the ability to edit the url,
• ability to connect Google Search Console and Google Analytics to your website,
• the ability to create a responsive website,
• ability to edit content – including adding new content.

In truth – the more options, the better. Many SEO issues need to be improved by looking into the code of the site, which often seems impossible with a page builder.

Do paid advertisements help with SEO?

CPC (cost per click) is nothing more than an advertising effectiveness factor expressed as the ratio of the cost of an ad impression to the number of clicks on that ad, usually settled by PPC (pay per click). That is to say, the advertiser pays for the effect (click on the ad) and not for simply being displayed in the paid search position.

There is still a myth circulating on the internet that paid advertising drives organic (free) traffic. Google debunks these rumours and unequivocally states that no paid advertising has the slightest effect on the appearance of a page in a search engine (in terms of free display, of course).

How long should I wait for the effects of positioning?

An SEO agency will not guarantee a precise answer to the question of how long it will take to position a website – as the result depends on too many ranking factors. However, there are ways to estimate approximate results within a set time. It is important to set a specific goal and then work towards it.

According to a study conducted by Ahrefs (one of the SEO tools), from the first indexing of a page (while starting SEO activities) to finding yourself in the TOP10 for selected phrases may take from a few months (e.g. in the case of local phrases) to even a few years (e.g. in the credit industry). A great deal depends on the competitiveness of the industry, the ability to implement optimisation changes on the website and the starting point regarding the current strength of the website.

Who should I outsource SEO to?

Internet marketing agency or freelancer? If we want to position our website properly, we have three options available to us:

• outsource the work to an internet marketing agency,
• order the service from a freelancer,
• do it yourself.

The first and most obvious option is to use an internet marketing agency. In this case, you get a comprehensive service. This is of great importance, as SEO is a very time-consuming process. It also requires a great deal of work. Therefore, it is worth ensuring that our project is handled by a whole team of employees, among whom we can distinguish:

• SEO specialist,
• Programmer,
• Content specialist,
• and an account manager responsible for contact with the client.

An alternative option is to outsource this to a freelancer. The downside of this solution is that one person has to handle all aspects of SEO. Thus, you may find that the size of the project may be overstretched.

The third option is to try SEO yourself. As we mentioned above, this option means a huge amount of work, as well as the compulsion to acquire a lot of knowledge in this industry. It is therefore worth choosing it only if you consciously want to learn the subject. In any other case, it will definitely be most worthwhile to leave it to the professionals.

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How much does effective SEO cost – price list?

Methods of settlement and cooperation

There are various methods of billing and cooperation between the client and the internet marketing agency. Among the most important of these are:

Subscription or lump sum

A popular form is the subscription or lump sum, i.e. a predetermined rate for a certain amount of work. In this case, work refers to the number of on-site SEO and off-site SEO optimisation and positioning activities undertaken. In the subscription method, the contractor should perform the work openly, i.e. send reports and statistics on the position of the website on an ongoing basis. A definite advantage of such a solution is the possibility to plan the activities undertaken by the agency, while the client has a constant insight into its work. A given method of cooperation allows for a continuous increase in the position in search results, thereby also improving the user experience (UX) of the website. Because of these aspects, subscription billing is often referred to as the most equitable solution.

Billing for traffic

The next form of settlement with an Internet marketing agency is the so-called billing for traffic. The scheme is as follows: a certain amount of user traffic (i.e. website hits) is created on our website and the agency is paid for this. However, be careful as this method may not work for all sites – it all depends on the industry, date, time, environment and type of content on the website. This is sometimes abused, as traffic may not translate into conversions – in which case the client doesn’t make money, but has to pay.

Position-based billing

Another option is position-based billing. This solution is used less and less every year, mainly due to possible abuse. It is based on choosing specific key phrases and then positioning the website on a specific position in a search engine – under that specific phrase, of course. Currently, fewer and fewer agencies and clients choose this solution, as it is unprofitable for a number of reasons. Firstly, SEO is a process, not a case of doing a few things and getting out of the way. As a result, contractors would be forced to work for free for initial jobs. Secondly, phrases are not the same as phrases, which means that some pages are much harder to position than those with more niche phrases. Thirdly, a high search engine position may not translate into conversions, so the client may not get the profits they deserve.

As an example of this, see the table below:

So, for example, for the phrase “toy shop Sopot” we would pay for high positions even 150 PLN / day for the display of our website. Of course, the prices given are examples and may be higher or lower, depending on the key phrase on which we want to position ourselves.

Accounting for the effect

The last, rarely used, method of settlement is commission payment. It is usually used in co-operation with online shops and consists in transferring a certain percentage of commission from sales to an Internet marketing agency.

In conclusion, the subscription method seems to be the best billing model. Not only because of the fair settlement of this method, but also because of the client’s continuous insight into the agency’s work and the high efficiency in each case.

How do you learn SEO?

Undoubtedly, many people believe that positioning is an extremely difficult craft and requires a great deal of knowledge and experience. However, if we already start to learn and know the basic mechanisms, it will be easier to understand the techniques and process of positioning. The beginning of studying positioning usually starts with three, basic components: determining the audience, searches for a specific phrase and keywords. These factors can be called the foundations of positioning, which will make it easier for us to analyse both the competition and the effectiveness of our site.

After this, the usually lengthy control process begins, which involves in-depth monitoring of the site’s positioning and continuous improvement of its imperfections. The assumption is that our actions will most often be similar, with errors understandably occurring on many similar sites. However, each site is unique, so it is also worth being ready for needed repairs or a complete overhaul of the site. This is where an SEO audit comes in, so that we can determine the course of optimisation and fix any errors that occur. In theory, each of us can review such an audit and make corrections on our own. However, it is worthwhile to seek the help of a skilled and experienced SEO specialist, as they will be able to recognise exactly what is wrong with our site and what difficulties the positioning process is facing.

Is learning SEO difficult?

Conducting successful SEO activities is mainly based on experience, handling tools and learning lessons. If you have an analytical mind and know the basics of how HTML or WordPress-based websites work, this is an ideal starting point for learning SEO. The best first step you can take is to set up your web project and run tests on it from the information you gather in the process of learning SEO.

Here are some basic tips when learning SEO:

1. Theoretical knowledge is key. It is worthwhile here to make sure that you read e-books, tutorials, expert videos or webinars properly. Without this, SEO is impossible, as we will simply have no idea what might be going on with our website. And looking for answers online is sometimes pointless.
2. To err is human. It is important to spot such problems. That’s why it’s worth betting on running your own blog – it will be the best, free practice for ourselves. We will be able to focus on article positioning, internal and external linking, deciphering site seo audits and much more. Before working for a marketing agency, it’s worth checking out for ourselves and thinking about whether SEO is for us.
3. Various forums and groups are a great place to expand your own knowledge. You can learn something interesting from practically anyone – especially people working in the industry. However, be sure to check information from anonymous forum members: fake news is the scourge of the 21st century.
4. He who asks does not err. Therefore, let’s not consider ourselves omnibuses after reading four articles about SEO and watching two videos. In addition to theoretical knowledge, we will need practical examples that we can arrange for new situations. Practice, practice and more practice.
5. Various training and courses on SEO are interesting. You can then acquire a lot of both theoretical and practical knowledge. However, it should be remembered that no bootcamp will give us as much as working on commercial projects. However, such learning methods are certainly the closest to real work in SEO.

The most popular questions about SEO and positioning

Can I position my website myself?

Yes, but it requires a huge amount of time and work. An inexperienced person can often unknowingly make many mistakes that will prove crucial in achieving high search engine rankings. Lack of experience will certainly prolong the time in which the desired results can be achieved. SEO is largely based on experience, so lack of experience can prove crucial.

What type of SEO should I choose? Which one will be right for my company?

The best solution is to carry out an SEO analysis, which will dispel any doubts. It is important to work out together with the SEO agency what goals we want to achieve so that we can eliminate mistakes right from the start. For this to be possible, an SEO specialist must analyse the client’s website and its competitors and then choose the right keywords.

Is it worth investing in SEO and positioning?

Absolutely yes. Of course, this depends on the industry in which your website operates, but it is usually very profitable. An increase in website traffic and subsequent conversions can make a significant difference to any company’s profits.

How long do I have to wait for the effects of positioning?

An SEO agency will not guarantee the client a precise answer as to how long it will take for their website to be positioned – as the result depends on too many ranking factors. However, there are ways of estimating approximate results within a specified time – most often it is a period from several months to several years. It is important to set a specific goal and then strive to achieve it. In order to estimate the time to achieve results, an SEO analysis should be carried out.

Can I stop SEO and come back to it in a while?

Yes, although this can have a very negative impact on your website’s score – you may even return to the starting position. A great deal depends on the intensity of your competitors’ activities. Positioning and SEO is a process, not a one-off service – it needs to be done regularly to be effective.

Does SEO require changes to the website?

Yes. The whole process of website optimisation is based on implementing changes to the current state.

What is needed to start SEO?

In order to start SEO activities, you will need to grant access to Google tools: Search Console, Analytics and Tag Manager. In addition, if the agency is implementing optimisation recommendations, login details for the website’s administration panel and server must be provided.

Which keywords to choose?

This is one of the more crucial elements when developing an SEO strategy. The experience of the specialist is very important here. Most often the most popular keywords are chosen for the selected industry – however, competitiveness should be kept in mind. These may be brand phrases (e.g. company name), general phrases (defining what the company does), long tails (complex word sequences) or location-specific phrases (e.g. Warsaw or Poland). In order to correctly select key phrases for a website, an SEO analysis should be conducted.

Summary

Positioning is one of the most effective forms of generating traffic to a website. It is important to remember that it is a process and you have to wait for the effects – especially if you start a new business in a competitive industry.

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If you are interested in positioning, please contact us via the form below.We will carry outan SEO analysis for you. This is the first step for conducting effective SEO.