FAQs

We've compiled a list of our clients' and prospects' most commonly asked questions to inform your SEO decision-making process.

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How does a website rank higher in search results?

Search engines exist to provide the most relevant and authoritative results in response to users' search queries. Holistically speaking, the more relevant and authoritative your website is in addressing users' search queries, the higher it will rank in search engine results. Here are the 4 fundamentals of SEO, and the 4 keys to rankings higher on search engine results:

  1. Technical/On-Page SEO: On-page SEO refers to optimizing your website elements to help search engines better crawl and index your website, and to better help users understand what your webpages are about. On-page SEO includes optimizing your website structure, loading speed, meta tags, schema markups, and more.
  2. Content Creation: SEO content creation refers to creating logistical and relevant content pieces to increase your business credibility and help your web pages rank higher in search engine results.
  3. Keyword Strategies: Keyword strategies involves selecting and targeting high-performing keywords to increase your rankings for those keywords and to drive qualified users to your website.
  4. Off-page SEO: Off-page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your website that can impact your search engine rankings and website authority. Off-page SEO includes tactics such as link building, guest blogging, influencer marketing, social media marketing, and more.

Contact one of our specialists to discover how to rank your website higher in search results.

Is SEO a short-term or long-term thing?

We live in a society that loves instant gratification; we can spend meaningless hours browsing through social media instead of investing that time into completing more productive tasks. However, all great things take time and SEO is no exception. Unlike instant-gratification marketing strategies such as pay-per-click advertising, SEO is a long-term investment that cannot be accelerated without penalties. Although SEO is a long-term investment, it also brings in signifigantly greater returns and long-term benefits. If you are only looking to make a quick buck, then SEO is not for you but if you are invested in growing your long-term business revenue, then SEO might be your next business investment.

Is SEO still worth it?

With such saturated online markets these days, you might question if SEO still works, or if SEO is still worth it. Of course, nobody can deny the immense value of ranking high on search engines, but is ranking high in competitive industries still possible? Ultimately, it's a question of whether of not you have the right SEO strategy in place and a partner who knows how to get results. If you have a professional SEO partner dedicated to achieving your success, then it is absolutely possible to rank your business on page 1.

That said, you can also calculate an ROI (return on investment) for your SEO investment by comparing your current business metrics with your projected future metrics after investing in SEO to determine if SEO is worth it for your business. However, SEO services from an experienced and reputable agency dedicated to helping you dominate your industry are almost always worth your patience and your investment.

Can I do SEO by myself?

Absolutely! These days, everything can be found online including how to do SEO for yourself. With lots of research and even more practice, doing your own SEO can save you money and guarantee you complete control over your SEO process. However, learning SEO is a tremendous time investment and "getting good at it" takes even longer. Additionally, each aspect of SEO requires specific skill-sets and capabilities to effectively implement. For example, technical SEO requires advanced technical and programming knowledge, whereas link building requires understanding how to market your business to webmasters who receive hundreds of backlink requests each day. Things can also get pretty ugly if they are done wrong, resulting in penalties and website detractions. Ultimately, doing SEO by yourself is absolutely an option but if you would rather focus on your business and leave SEO to the experts, the consider partnering with an SEO agency like Elevate Status.

Do I need a website for my business?

In our modern digital age, having a tangible online presence can make or break your business because regardless of what services or products your business provides, the vast majority of your target audience is searching for similar services and products online. In fact, nearly 89% of consumer purchases begin with online searches. Having a beautiful and credible company website is crucial to establishing your online presence and credibility. From connecting with a larger audience and scaling your business credibility to dominating search engine results and centralizing customer service, having a beautiful website is essential to growing your business. At the end of the day, it does not matter how amazing your products and services are if your target audience can't find you.

Should I run organic SEO for my business?

Today's consumers rely on search engines for nearly everything, from researching their favorite clothing brands to finding the best B2B service providers. Regardless of what your business offers, your target audience is searching for similar products and services on a search engine. If you want to attract those potential customers to your website instead of a competitor's website, then you should consider investing into an organic SEO campaign. In a digital era where 95% of website traffic goes to websites on page 1, investing in professional organic SEO services to scale your business visibility and increase your search engine rankings is crucial to growing your business.

Should I run local SEO for my local business?

Local SEO is extremely important for increasing your business visibility and driving local traffic to your physical establishment, especially for brick-and-morter stores in competitive local marketplaces. In a digital era where 95% of smartphone users have performed local searches, of which 61% have called a local business of interest and 59% have visited the physical store, if you want to attract those potential customers to your business instead of a competitor's, then you should consider investing in local SEO. 

Not to mention, websites at the top of local search results receive signifigantly more traffic than websites further down the page because local searchers typically want answers to their queries instantly. Ranking at the top of local search results and local 3-packs will drive signifigantly more traffic and potential revenue your way compared to ranking further down on search engine results. At the end of the day, if you want to scale your local visibility and business revenue, then consider partnering with a professional local SEO agency like Elevate Status.

Should I do SEO or SEM/PPC for my business?

First of all, what is the difference between search engine optimization (SEO), and search engine marketing (SEM)? The main difference is that SEO focuses on appearing higher on organic search results to capture more organic search traffic, whereas SEM focuses on paid strategies such as pay-per-click Google Ads to generate paid traffic. Although SEO is the more cost-effective and long-term solution, there are situations which benefit more from SEM as well.

Pros of SEO:

  • SEO produces long-term benefits that don't wither away after you stop investing.
  • SEO is not dependant on your monthly ad budget. 
  • SEO can capitalize on 1600% more search traffic than SEM can.

Cons of SEO: 

  • SEO results and rankings require patience.
  • SEO requires more diverse technical expertise.

Pros of SEM:

  • SEM generates traffic, leads, and sales immediately.
  • SEM advertisements are easier to split-test and optimize than SEO.

Cons of SEM: 

  • SEM, like other instant-gratification marketing tactics, only produces short-term results.
  • The results of SEM dissappear as soon as you stop investing in it.
  • SEM requires constant high-attention maintenance.
How can you tell if an SEO agency is bogus?

SEO agencies are everywhere. The odds are pretty high that you might encounter some bogus SEO agencies during your search for an experienced and reputable SEO partner. Although it ulimately falls on your shoulders to gauge whether an SEO agency is credible or not, it can sometimes be hard if you don't have a lot of SEO experience. To help you out, here are the 3 biggest telltale signs of a bogus SEO agency to watch out for:

  1. Claiming to have "secret" SEO methods that other agencies don't. No SEO agency has an undiscovered "secret formula". Some agencies just offer better services with better transparency than others.
  2. Promising specific rankings in specific timeframes. Google's guidelines on search marketing explicitely state that nobody can guarantee specific rankings on search engines.
  3. Having no data transparency and accountability for their work. Every reputable SEO agency will guarantee campaign transparency to keep you in the loop, albeit some do it better than others.
How can I tell if my SEO campaign is working?

Firstly, remember that unlike other instant gratification marketing strategies like pay-per-click advertising, SEO is a long-term, high-reward investment. If you are interested in making short-term gains, then SEO may not be for you. That being said, how do you tell if your SEO campaign is working? Simple: data transparency, analytics, and a touch of patience. Is your web traffic growing in accordance to your expectations? How about your keyword rankings? Is your business revenue increasing? What's your ROI so far? Analyze your campaign metrics to determine if your SEO campaign is producing the results you want, but keep in mind that SEO results take longer to show.

Organic searches vs Local Searches: What's the difference?

The main difference between organic searches and local searches is that organic search queries are typically broader-based inquires, whereas local searches express a specific geographical component. Local searches also typically express elevated levels of buying urgency and buying intent compared to organic searches, and have higher conversion rates because local searchers often don't have time to scroll through all of their search engine results.

Organic search queries might look something like "how to fix a leaky pipe" or "what should I wear with a grey suit", whereas local search queries might look something like "plumbers near me", or "mens clothing stores".

Organic SEO vs Local SEO: What's the difference?

Just like with organic vs. local searches, the main difference between organic vs. local SEO is that local SEO contains a geographical component, and a different target audience. Organic SEO targets a qualified audience on a national or even international level, whereas local SEO specializes in specifically connecting with users in your local area. For example, only users living in New York will consider visiting a local pizza place, so there is no use in connecting with users living somewhere else in a different city. In addition to traditional SEO strategies, local SEO also employs some additional tactics to dominate local search results:

  • Creating and maintaining listings and citations (Google My Business, Yelp, YellowPages, etc).
  • Building geo-specific backlinks instead of traditional backlinks.
  • Focusing on local keywords, often including phrases like "near me" or "location", instead of organic keywords.
Why should I partner with Elevate Status?

The first step is determining whether or not you are invested in growing your long-term business revenue and exposure. If you are determined to invest in your long-term business growth, then your next step if finding a reputable SEO agency to invest in. That said, we don't like to brag but at Elevate Status, we proudly represent a team of experienced specialists, a professional track record, and unparalleled client transparency. Ultimately, if you want an SEO agency that treats your business like an in-house SEO team would, then consider investing in Elevate Status.

When can I expect SEO results & page 1 rankings?

Unlike instant-gratification marketing tactics like pay-per-click advertising, SEO is a long-term, high-reward investment. Our specialists begin optimizing your website and researching your keywords as soon as your campaign begins, but it is impossible to pinpoint an exact timeline for when you can expect SEO results and first page rankings because each website, business, and industry is different. The length of time it takes to achieve results depends on your website content, industry competitveness, the keywords you're targetting, and other factors. All things considered, our clients typically see positive rankings movement in the first 3 months. Page 1 rankings typically start showing after months 4-7 depending on how competitive the keywords are, and how competitive the industry is.

What on-page SEO work can I expect from Elevate Status?

On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing web pages to improve a website's rankings and traffic. Strong on-page optimization is fundamental to our SEO campaigns, and our specialists utilize an all-bases-covered approach to your on-page SEO. Here is the on-page work you can expect with Elevate Status:

Technical SEO: Technical SEO refers to optimizing your website to help search engines crawl and index your website more effectively. Technical SEO includes:

  • Creating an XML sitemap
  • Optimizing website URL structures
  • Inspecting and reworking duplicate content
  • Reworking 404 broken links
  • Minimizing 301 redirects
  • Optimizing page loading speed
  • Much more...

On-Page SEO: Although on-page SEO and technical SEO overlap slightly, the goals of on-page SEO are to help search engines and human users better understand what your webpages are about, and identifying specific webpages as relevant to specific search queries. On-page optimization includes:

  • Reworking your website's internal linking structure
  • Minimizing page loading speed
  • Optimizing for mobile friendliness and display size responsiveness
  • Optimizing meta tags & descriptions
  • Creating accurate image alt texts
  • Optimizing headers and footers
  • Beautifying website design
  • Reoptimizing content readability
  • Much more...

Keystone Content Creation: The third on-page SEO aspect you can expect with Elevate Status SEO is the creation and maintenance of original, industry-relevant blogs and publications designed to provide valuable content to your target audience, increase your website rankings, and drive qualified traffic to your relevant conversion pages. For example if your business is a clothing brand, creating high-ranking blog content such as "How To Style Different Types of Jeans" and "20 Perfect Clothing Color Combinations" will rapidly boost your brand credibility and website traffic.

Contact us to examine our full range of on-page deliverables.

What off-page work can I expect from Elevate Status?

Off-page SEO work refers to actions taken outside of your company website to impact your rankings and organic traffic. Although off-page SEO includes strategies like social media advertising, influencer marketing and brand ambassador programs among other tactics, building backlinks from external websites is by far the most influential and impactful off-page SEO strategy.

Our organic SEO off-page strategy centers around organically securing industry-relevant backlinks from high-authority blogs and publications. Our specialists work to supplement your backlink profile with strong, authoritative backlinks designed to increase your websie authority and generate industry-qualified leads to your website.

Our local SEO off-page strategies also include securing local backlinks from geo-specific blogs and publications with influence in your local market. For local SEO, securing geo-specific backlinks proves much more impactful than securing traditional backlinks because traditional backlinks don't target your target audience. In addition to local link building, we also work to create and maintain a consistent business presence for your company across many local listings, citations, and directories. Having many quality local citations, listings, and business directories will increase your search engine rankings, build your brand trustworthiness, and provide accessible social proof that other customers have enjoyed your products and services, which will dramatically increase your organic traffic and customer conversions.

Contact us to examine our full range of off-page SEO deliverables.

Does your SEO work with WordPress, Wix, and other CMS's?

A CMS (content management system) is software that allows users to create, maintain, and adjust complex websites without the need for specialized technical knowledge. Our specialists mainly work with WordPress websites, but are also experienced with all kinds of CMS's including Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and others.

Will Google penalize my website for working with you?

There will always be different opinions about the most effective ways to approach SEO, but there is one distinction you need to know: white hat vs. black hat SEO. White hat SEO refers to SEO techniques that comply with search engine guidelines and focus on long-term returns. Black hat SEO on the other hand refers to manipulative tactics that violate search engine guidelines in order to get the "quick wins". Black hat SEO techniques such as duplicate content, keyword stuffing, and spamming backlinks are what ultimately result in demoted rankings and search engine penalties. Here at Elevate Status, we only engage in premium white hat SEO strategies which focus on your long-term ROI, and will not get your website penalized in any way.

Do you have any past SEO work I can look at?

Of course we would not expect you to trust our word without any SEO case studies to show for it. Check out our many SEO success stories and testimonials.

What does your SEO pricing look like?

There is no such thing as a "one size fits all" SEO package because each website, business, and industry is different. Your website has different assets that can be leveraged and improvements that can be made to achieve different marketing goals compared to even your closest competitors. Because there is no "one size fits all" SEO package, there also is no a "one size fits all" SEO package price. Our specialists need more insight into your goals and business situation to accurately produce a campaign quote. Get in touch with one of our specialists for a free SEO consultation and a personalized SEO campaign quote.

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