SEO

Service description

Search engine optimization improves how well a business's website appears in unpaid search results. A provider typically audits the site's technical health, researches the terms customers search for, improves page content and structure, earns links from other sites, and reports on rankings and traffic. Rankings are set by the search engines, so no provider controls them.

Common industries

Applies to any business that wants customers to find it through search.

ROI

Organic traffic keeps paying after the work is done; a durable channel, though results build over months, not days.

Benefit

Improve your organic search visibility — technical fixes, content, and links — to grow traffic that compounds over time.

Why get it

Customers often start with a search. Appearing for the right terms brings visitors without paying for each click, and the gains from fixes and content usually last after the work is done.

When you benefit

Ongoing: an initial audit and fixes, then continuing content, link and monitoring work, since rankings keep changing.

What it costs

Typically a monthly retainer.

When you pay

Most providers charge a monthly retainer for an agreed scope, often after a one-time fee for the initial audit. Some bill hourly or by project for technical fixes or a site migration. Retainers are normally invoiced monthly in advance.

Other costs

SEO software subscriptions, content writing, developer time to make technical fixes, and any tools or paid placements used for link building.

Risks to know

No one can guarantee a ranking, so a provider who promises one deserves scrutiny. Shortcuts such as buying links or mass-producing thin content can leave a site worse off, and a poorly handled site migration can lose the rankings it already has.

When risks arise

Gains typically take months to appear. A drop caused by risky tactics can arrive suddenly, and mistakes in a site migration tend to show within days or weeks of launch.

The process

The provider audits the site and the competitive landscape, researches search terms and agrees a plan with the business. It then fixes technical issues, improves or creates content and earns links, and reports on rankings, traffic and leads, adjusting priorities as results come in.

Your commitment

The business gives the provider access to its website, analytics and search tools, explains its customers, offerings and goals, and approves content and technical changes. It names who can make site changes quickly, since slow fixes slow results.

Documents to gather

• Website admin and analytics access
• A list of the products, services and locations you want to be found for
• Your main competitors
• Past SEO audits or reports, if any