SEO Agency Manchester
Rank higher on Google's search resultsOur SEO service is designed to boost your online visibility, drive organic traffic, and improve your search engine rankings with tailored strategies that deliver long-term results.
Our SEO Services
Let us know via our enquiry form if you’d like a custom plan putting together.
Local SEO
Citation building, daily social media posting and on site optimisations.
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MulTi-location local SEO
Strategies tailored to multiple branches of the same business.
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National SEO
Full audit with on site and off site growth strategies and bespoke content.
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eCommerce SEO
Strategies for online retailers and business to business sales.
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seo audits
Get your website and online presence analysed by our team.
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Keyword research
Discover the most valuable keywords to target.
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competitor analysis
Discover your online competition and what makes them rank.
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Mobile SEO
Rank higher on mobile searches on Google, Bing and voice search.
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Technical SEO
Ensure your website isn’t holding you back from ranking higher.
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international seo
Strategies tailored to help your brand sell across the world.
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voice search seo
Optimise your website and offering for the new era of voice search.
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content marketing
Tailored publishing strategies to boost your online presence.
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SEO Manchester
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the art and science of improving your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). Organic SEO focuses on increasing the number of free visitors your website receives by enhancing its relevance, structure, and authority for specific search queries. This process requires an in-depth understanding of search engine algorithms, customer behaviour, and effective keyword strategies.
SEO revolves around language, particularly the keywords your potential customers use when searching online. A comprehensive SEO strategy starts by identifying these keywords and optimising your website’s content and structure to align with them. The result? Better rankings, more traffic, and higher conversions.
The Benefits of SEO
Will SEO Increase My Website Traffic?
The primary goal of SEO is to improve your website’s performance in search engine rankings. While this doesn’t directly increase traffic overnight, a well-executed SEO campaign ensures a steady flow of relevant, organic visitors. The key lies in targeting specific keywords and phrases your audience actively searches for. For example, people searching for our services might type ‘SEO services agency in Manchester’ or ‘Manchester SEO agency.’
At Alloy Marketing, we begin every SEO campaign by conducting thorough research into your customers’ search habits, ensuring our strategies align perfectly with their needs.
By optimising your website for the right keywords and improving its usability and content, SEO helps your website become more visible to your target audience. Increased visibility means higher click-through rates, leading to sustained growth in web traffic over time.
Understanding SEO Services
Why Do I Need SEO?
Did you know that over 75% of users never scroll past the first page of Google search results? If your website isn’t on that first page, you’re missing out on a massive pool of potential customers. Working with one of the best SEO agencies in Manchester ensures your business appears in prime positions, building trust and familiarity with prospective clients while dramatically improving your chances of conversion.
SEO isn’t just about attracting traffic; it’s about ensuring your business stands out in a competitive market. A carefully crafted SEO strategy not only helps you reach the top of search rankings but also keeps you there, maintaining your edge over competitors. Moreover, appearing at the top of search results enhances your business’s reputation, signalling to customers that you’re a trusted authority in your field.
How to rank your website
Local vs National SEO: What’s the Difference?
Local SEO focuses on optimising your online presence to attract customers in a specific geographic area. This is ideal for businesses such as restaurants, retailers, or service providers that operate within a particular city or region. Strategies include optimising Google Business Profile listings, acquiring local backlinks, and targeting location-based keywords.
National SEO, on the other hand, is aimed at businesses looking to attract a broader audience, either across the UK or internationally. This involves more extensive content creation, targeting competitive keywords, and building a robust online authority. If you’re unsure which type of SEO is right for your business, think about where your customers are located and the scale of your operations.
SEO DETAILS
Technical SEO
Is your website struggling to climb search engine rankings despite having quality content? The problem might not be what you’re saying, but how your site is built. Technical SEO focuses on the behind-the-scenes elements that affect how search engines crawl, index and rank your site. From improving site speed to ensuring mobile-friendliness and fixing broken links, technical SEO lays the foundation for a healthy, high-performing website.
Our Technical SEO service is designed to uncover and resolve the issues holding your website back. We conduct a comprehensive audit, examining everything from site architecture and URL structure to XML sitemaps and structured data. By identifying and addressing technical barriers, we make it easier for search engines to understand your content, boosting your visibility and performance in search results.
Whether you’re launching a new site or optimising an existing one, our technical expertise ensures your SEO strategy is built on solid ground. With a cleaner, faster and more accessible site, you’ll not only please search engines but also improve the experience for your visitors, leading to better engagement and more conversions.
How to rank your website
eCommerce SEO
In the competitive world of online retail, visibility is everything. eCommerce SEO is all about making sure your products appear in front of the right people at the right time. It’s a specialised approach to search engine optimisation that focuses on improving product pages, category structures and overall site performance to drive more traffic and boost sales.
Our eCommerce SEO service is tailored to the unique needs of online shops. We optimise everything from keyword-rich product descriptions and technical site structure to user experience and mobile compatibility. Whether you’re using Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento or another platform, we’ll help you stand out in search results and turn browsers into buyers.
With a strategic focus on both on-page and technical elements, we don’t just aim to increase traffic, we aim to improve the quality of your traffic. That means more targeted visitors, higher conversion rates and better returns on your digital marketing investment. Let us help you build a search-friendly shopfront that works as hard as you do.
SEO DETAILS
International SEO
Expanding your reach beyond borders? International SEO ensures your website is visible, accessible and relevant to audiences around the world. Whether you’re targeting new markets or already have a global customer base, international SEO helps search engines deliver the right content to the right users, in the right language and location.
Our International SEO service takes the complexity out of going global. We help you implement hreflang tags, optimise for region-specific search engines, and structure your site to suit multilingual and multiregional audiences. From translating content to managing duplicate URLs and geo-targeting, we cover all the technical and strategic aspects needed for international visibility.
Reaching a global audience is more than just translation, it’s about localisation, cultural relevance and technical precision. With our support, you can ensure your website speaks clearly to international users and search engines alike, helping you grow your brand across borders and boost performance in every market you target.
Data Driven marketing
Know what's going on with your marketing dashboard
Our clients often have limited budgets but big ambitions, so our work is based on the best quality data we can find. We implement website analytics and conversion tracking from day one and utilise this data to make informed recommendations for your campaign. You can keep tabs on your campaigns with us from our crystal clear live data dashboard from within your client portal.
What we're working on
See what we've completed in the past month and what we're planning on next month.
Business metrics
Traffic, referrals, leads from social/organic/paid alongside conversion data.
Insights & Advice
Insights and action points are recommended based on our extensive experience.
SEO: The Facts
What you need to know about search engine optimisation.
of searchers only check the top 6 search results.
of searchers only check the first page of search results.
of people looking to buy a product or service search online first.
Process Overview
Great SEO is a complex, ongoing process, our Manchester SEO Services cover all the bases so you can sit back and wait for the leads to start arriving.
On-page Analysis
Your website will be analysed for search engine compatibility:
- Checking for coding errors that might hinder search engine performance
- Checking for Meta tag optimisations that could offer improvements
- Checking for tracking code and webmaster tools verification
- Checking for image and media issues affecting indexation
- Checking for name, address, phone; citation consistency
- Providing an overall performance ranking for your whole website
- Recommend improvements with the highest return on investment
Competitor Analysis
Thorough analysis of your online competitors within your local and national market. Depending on the scale and competition for your market sector; the analysis will include:
- A comprehensive SEO analysis of local competitors
- Depending on your campaign – analysis of national competition
- We create a blueprint for search optimisation improvements
- We make recommendations on web marketing SWOT
- We report on progress on a monthly basis
- Custom reports can be requested – contact us for a quote.
On-page Optimisation
Optimisation of the content and coding of individual website pages to maximise the effects of all other search engine marketing efforts. On-page SEO can involve the following techniques.
- Adding meta data based on extensive keyword research
- Editing existing copy for optimal keyword density based on our recommended keywords
- Adding copy to enhance search engine relevance scoring factors
- Editing and fine-tuning copy to improve customer conversion rates
- URL re-writing for SEO benefits. We also set up the 301 redirects so you can keep getting the benefit and Page Rank flow from your old links.
- Modification of navigation system for more indexable content by the search engine bots
- Improving landing page quality scores for PPC advertising campaigns
Link Building
We generate interest elsewhere on the web to attract traffic back to your website. Creating links that point back to your home page and also product/service pages (deep linking), serves the obvious purpose of increasing visitors onto your website. More importantly though, links between sites serve as a voting system, a crucial ranking factor for search engine results performance.
- Link-building strategies aim to attract others on the internet to link back to your site
- Links from less popular or reputable sites are of little use to SEO but can boost traffic
- Links from reputable websites (those with a PR 1+) will boost your website performance
- We manage campaigns for clients looking to build and maintain a perfect web citation footprint using white hat, ethical techniques.
Process Details
Research
Every successful SEO campaign starts with solid research. We begin by analysing your current online presence, competitors, and industry trends. This helps us understand where you stand, what your audience is searching for, and where the best opportunities lie for growth. Keyword research, performance audits, and market insights all form the backbone of this stage.
Getting to know you
We believe the best results come from genuine collaboration. That’s why we take time to understand your business, goals, and brand voice. Whether you’re a start-up or an established brand, we’ll get to know your products, services, and customers, so our strategy is aligned with your vision and tailored to your specific needs.
SEO and content strategy
With the groundwork in place, we develop a bespoke SEO strategy that brings together technical improvements, on-page optimisation and content planning. This stage is where we map out how your site will grow and perform, creating a roadmap that outlines everything from keyword targeting to topic clusters and link-building tactics.
Technical SEO
Before we create new content, we make sure your website is technically sound. This includes improving site speed, mobile-friendliness, crawlability, indexation and overall performance. We fix what’s broken, streamline what works, and ensure your site meets all the latest best practices so search engines can easily understand and rank it.
Content writing
With a strong strategy and healthy technical foundation, we move on to crafting content that resonates with both users and search engines. Whether it’s product descriptions, service pages or blog articles, our SEO-focused copywriting strikes the right balance between keyword relevance and natural readability.
Workflow, consistency and transparency
We keep everything moving with clear communication and a streamlined workflow. From regular check-ins to shared project dashboards, you’ll always know what we’re working on and what’s coming next. Consistency and transparency are key, so you’re never left in the dark.
Reporting
We don’t just deliver results, we show you how we achieved them. Our monthly reports are easy to understand and packed with insights, highlighting progress, performance and next steps. From keyword rankings to traffic and conversions, you’ll have a clear picture of your return on investment.
Contribute to your SEO campaign.
What can you do to help your campaign?
There are aspects of SEO that you as the business owner can do yourself, to improve progress of your webpages up the rankings.
- At some point before you reach the top of page 1, you are likely to be held back by competitors who have got the edge over your website, in Google’s opinion at least.
- To get above these competitors in the rankings, you need to invest in Search Optimisation from a reputable provider, who will assure you of proper representation of your business online.
- If you’re looking for an affordable SEO agency in Manchester to really help you get a boost over your competition, get in touch today.
LEARN ABOUT SEO
SEO Fundamentals
A successful SEO strategy involves understanding and targeting a diverse range of keyword types to capture users at every stage of their journey. This includes a balance between branded keywords, which attract users already aware of your business, and unbranded terms that help reach new audiences. Page-specific keywords ensure each webpage is relevant and discoverable, while seed keywords provide a broader foundation for keyword research. Short-tail keywords bring high-volume visibility, whereas long-tail terms focus on attracting more qualified traffic with specific intent. In addition, optimising for local, national or global search phrases allows businesses to target the right geographical audience, depending on their size and reach.
Understanding search intent is essential for creating content that not only ranks well but also truly resonates with users. Informational queries aim to educate, often leading to blog posts and guides. Commercial searches reflect users who are comparing options and may benefit from case studies or reviews. Navigational intent drives users looking for a specific site or brand, while transactional intent reflects a strong readiness to act or purchase, making fully optimised product and service pages essential. Tailoring content to each of these intents ensures users find what they need, building trust and increasing the likelihood of conversion.
To support these efforts, a strong SEO strategy must be grounded in structured planning and continuous improvement. This starts with setting clear goals, understanding what competitors are doing well, and conducting in-depth keyword research based on real search behaviour. Matching content to keyword intent is critical, as is ensuring technical SEO elements are in place from the beginning. Measuring results in three-month phases keeps the approach agile and responsive. Alongside these foundations, practical actions such as submitting an XML sitemap, checking crawl and index status in Google Search Console, and tracking key conversions in Google Analytics help maintain performance and visibility in search results.
Keyword Types
In SEO campaigns, it is important to optimise for a range of keyword types to reach users at different stages of their search journey. Short-tail keywords, also known as head terms, are broad search terms usually made up of one or two words such as “trainers” or “laptops”. These tend to have high search volumes and attract a wide audience, but they are also very competitive and often less targeted. They are useful for building general visibility and increasing brand awareness.
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases such as “best laptops for university students” or “waterproof running trainers for men”. While these have lower search volumes, they are much more targeted and typically result in higher conversion rates, as they reflect clear user intent. Optimising for long-tail keywords is especially effective for attracting users who are closer to making a decision or purchase.
Branded keywords include the name of a business or product, for example “Nike running shoes” or “Samsung smart TV”. These indicate that the user is already aware of the brand and may be looking to compare or buy, making them highly valuable for capturing demand and defending branded search space. On the other hand, non-branded keywords do not contain any brand names and are important for attracting new users who may not yet be familiar with your business, helping to grow organic reach and discoverability.
Branded and Unbranded
Branded keywords include your company name or specific product names, helping you capture users already familiar with your business. Unbranded keywords focus on general search terms related to your offering, ideal for reaching new audiences who haven’t yet heard of you. A strong SEO strategy balances both to build visibility and brand recognition.
Page-Specific and Seed Key Terms
Page-specific keywords are tailored to individual pages, ensuring each piece of content ranks for the most relevant queries. Seed keywords, on the other hand, are broader core terms that serve as the foundation for deeper research and content planning. Together, they shape a comprehensive keyword strategy that covers every corner of your site.
Short and Long-Tail Keywords
Short-tail keywords are typically one or two words long and highly competitive, such as “trainers” or “digital marketing.” Long-tail keywords are more specific phrases, like “best running trainers for flat feet”, they may have lower search volume, but they attract highly targeted traffic that’s more likely to convert.
Customer Journey Terms
Different keywords resonate at different stages of the buyer’s journey. We target awareness-stage terms for users just starting to explore, consideration-stage terms for those comparing options, and decision-stage terms that capture ready-to-buy intent. This ensures your content meets customers wherever they are in their journey.
Local, National, and Global Phrases
Depending on your audience, we optimise for geographic relevance. Local keywords focus on nearby searches like “plumber in Bristol,” national terms broaden the reach across a country, while global phrases target international visibility. This approach supports businesses of all sizes, from local shops to global brands.
Terms Searched by Audiences
We identify the exact phrases your target customers are using, not just the ones that look good on paper. Using tools, data, and insights, we tap into real search behaviour to ensure your content aligns with what people are actually typing into Google, not what you think they might be.
Evergreen and Topical Terms
Evergreen keywords have long-term value and consistent search demand they’re the foundation of sustainable SEO. Topical keywords tap into current trends and seasonal interest, perfect for timely content that drives spikes in traffic. A mix of both keeps your content fresh and relevant all year round.
Primary and Secondary Phrases
Primary keywords are the main focus of a page and should be woven into the core of the content. Secondary phrases support the main term and help capture a wider range of related searches. Together, they boost your chances of ranking for multiple queries while improving the overall relevance of your pages.
Types of Website Content
Blogs
Blogs are a powerful way to target long-tail keywords, answer customer questions and demonstrate your expertise. They help drive organic traffic, support internal linking, and keep your website fresh with regular updates. From how-to guides to industry insights, well-written blog content engages readers and builds trust over time.
Whitepapers
Whitepapers offer in-depth analysis and are ideal for showcasing thought leadership in your industry. Often used in B2B marketing, they help capture leads and support your authority on complex topics. These detailed documents are great for targeting specific keywords while providing real value to your audience.
Product/Service Page
These are the core conversion pages of your site. They must be clear, persuasive and fully optimised for search, covering relevant keywords, benefits, features and FAQs. Strong product or service pages not only improve visibility but also turn visitors into customers by addressing intent and building confidence.
Case Studies
Case studies highlight real-world success stories and build credibility by showing how your product or service has delivered results. They’re excellent for SEO when structured with keywords and client-focused messaging, while also serving as social proof to nudge potential customers towards a decision.
Infographics
Infographics combine visual appeal with informative content, making complex data easy to digest and shareable. While they’re less text-heavy, they can be supported with keyword-rich on-page text for SEO value. Infographics are great for link-building, improving engagement and increasing time spent on site.
Understanding Intent: Why Do People Search?
Behind every search query is a purpose, a specific need, question or goal the user wants to fulfil. Understanding search intent is essential to crafting content that not only ranks well but genuinely satisfies what the user is looking for. When your website matches the intent behind a search, it stands a much better chance of attracting relevant traffic, boosting engagement and driving conversions.
Informational Users with informational intent are looking for answers, explanations or insights. These searches often begin with words like “how,” “what,” or “why”, for example, “how does SEO work?” or “what is sustainable packaging?” Creating content such as blog posts, guides and FAQs helps meet this intent and positions your brand as a helpful, trustworthy source of information.
Commercial Commercial intent sits between research and purchase. These users are comparing options and considering their choices, often searching for terms like “best accounting software for freelancers” or “top-rated noise-cancelling headphones.” Content such as product comparisons, reviews and case studies is effective here, as it guides potential customers while subtly promoting your offering.
Navigational A user with navigational intent already knows where they want to go, they’re just using search to get there. This could be as simple as typing “Nike login” or “BBC News homepage.” Optimising for branded keywords and ensuring your site is clearly indexed helps ensure these users find you quickly and easily.
Transactional Transactional intent indicates a strong desire to take action, whether that’s making a purchase, booking a service or signing up for something. These users search with phrases like “buy running shoes online” or “book a dog grooming appointment near me.” Optimised product pages, clear calls to action and streamlined user journeys are key to converting this type of traffic.
How We Create a Bulletproof SEO Strategy
Effective SEO isn’t about guesswork, it’s about creating a smart, structured plan that delivers real, measurable results. Our bulletproof SEO strategy is built on insight, consistency and attention to detail at every stage. We combine technical expertise with creative thinking to make sure every action we take is purposeful, targeted and aligned with your wider business goals.
Here’s how we build a strategy that’s made to last:
Set Goals from the Very Start
Before diving into the technicals, we start with clarity. What are you trying to achieve, more traffic, better leads, increased sales? Defining specific, measurable goals allows us to focus our efforts and track success over time. It also means our strategy is built around what matters most to you and your business.
Research Your Competitors, What Are They Doing?
A key part of our process is understanding your competitive landscape. We look at who’s ranking well, how they’re doing it and where the opportunities lie. Analysing their strengths and weaknesses helps us position your brand more effectively and find gaps you can fill to get ahead.
Undergo Extensive Keyword Research
We dig deep into keyword data to uncover exactly what your audience is searching for, and why. From short-tail to long-tail, we build a robust keyword list based on volume, competition and relevance. This research becomes the foundation for both your content and your technical optimisation.
Align What You Create with the Intent behind the Targeted Keyword
It’s not just about ranking, it’s about giving people what they’re actually looking for. We match every piece of content to the right kind of search intent, whether that’s informational, commercial or transactional. This ensures your content doesn’t just attract visitors, it keeps them engaged and drives action.
Optimise the Back End of Your Website from the Very Start
Technical SEO is baked into our strategy from day one. We make sure your site is fast, mobile-friendly, crawlable and structured in a way that search engines can easily understand. Fixing these behind-the-scenes elements early on lays the groundwork for stronger, more sustainable performance.
Measure Results in 3-Month Chunks
SEO takes time, but we don’t leave you guessing. We track and report progress in 3-month phases, highlighting what’s working, what needs adjusting and where the next opportunities lie. This approach keeps the strategy agile, transparent and focused on continuous improvement.
Quick Tips to Improve Your Search Rankings
Quick Tips to Improve Your Search Rankings
SEO can be complex, but there are a few simple checks and actions you can take right now to help boost your site’s visibility. These quick tips are designed to help you identify any hidden issues, track your progress and give search engines a better chance of understanding and ranking your content effectively.
Check Your XML Sitemap
Your XML sitemap acts like a roadmap for search engines, guiding them to the most important pages on your site. Make sure it’s up to date, properly formatted, and submitted in Google Search Console. A clean, accurate sitemap helps ensure your pages are crawled and indexed more efficiently.
Check That Google’s Crawling Your Site
Head over to Google Search Console and check the crawl stats to see how often Google is accessing your website. If crawl activity is low or irregular, it could be a sign of technical issues that need addressing, such as broken links, blocked pages or site speed problems.
Find Out How Many Pages Are Being Indexed vs How Many You Have
There can often be a big gap between the number of pages on your site and how many Google is actually indexing. Use Google Search Console to compare the two. If lots of your pages are missing from the index, it might be due to duplicate content, poor internal linking or noindex tags.
Set Goals on Google Analytics
It’s hard to improve what you can’t measure. Set up goals in Google Analytics to track actions that matter, like form submissions, purchases or time spent on key pages. This allows you to see which pages and keywords are driving results, helping you refine your strategy and focus on what’s working.
Common FAQs
How much do SEO services cost?
The cost of SEO varies depending on the size of your website, the level of competition in your industry, and the scope of the work required. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach instead, we’ll provide a tailored proposal based on your goals, with transparent pricing and no hidden extras.
Will I have a dedicated account manager?
Yes. You’ll have a dedicated point of contact who’ll manage your SEO campaign, keep you updated, and be available to answer any questions. They’ll coordinate with our wider team, including content writers, developers and strategists, to ensure everything runs smoothly.
How do I get started with your SEO services?
The first step is a free consultation where we’ll get to know your business and goals. From there, we’ll carry out an audit, present a strategy proposal and outline what’s involved. Once you’re happy, we’ll agree a start date and get to work.
What input do you need from me?
We’ll handle the heavy lifting, but collaboration always helps. We may ask for access to your website, CMS or Google accounts, as well as your approval on content or technical changes. You know your business best, your insight helps us get things right from the start.
Does SEO help increase sales?
Yes when done properly, SEO helps bring in highly relevant traffic that’s more likely to convert. It’s not just about rankings, it’s about attracting the right people at the right stage of their buying journey. Strong SEO supports both visibility and sales growth.
Is SEO a good investment for small businesses?
Absolutely. SEO levels the playing field by allowing smaller businesses to compete with bigger players online. A well-executed strategy can bring steady, long-term traffic without relying solely on paid ads, making it a smart, cost-effective option for growing your business.
How do you create an SEO strategy?
We start by getting to know your goals, audience and industry. Then we carry out a full audit, analyse your competitors and carry out keyword research. From there, we create a tailored roadmap covering technical SEO, content creation, on-page optimisation and ongoing improvements, all designed to get results.
Get a free SEO report
We love data and it's also pretty vital to help your website generate steady leads from online sources.
Enter your business details to get a free SEO report that illustrates the areas we can help you with. From on-site technical fixes, improving mobile compatibility or building your backlink profile, we have the tools and expertise to get your website's organic rankings where they deserve to be.
Free SEO report includes:
- Backlink profile and health
- Top keywords & their rankings on Google
- Citation sources
- Competitor snapshot
FAQs
Answers to your frequently asked questions about our SEO services.
SEO
Why isn’t my website ranking on Google?
There could be many reasons your website may not be ranking on Google. Common issues include lack of keyword optimisation, speed or load time issues, lack of quality backlinks, or technical problems like indexing errors. New websites take time to rank, and if competitors are investing in SEO this can make ranking harder. Regular SEO improvements and monitoring are key to better visibility.
A sudden drop in rankings can be alarming, but it’s not uncommon. Google’s algorithms are continually evolving, with frequent updates designed to improve the quality of search results. These updates can sometimes impact your website’s position, especially if your site isn’t fully compliant with Google’s latest guidelines.
Other factors that may cause a drop include:
– Recent changes to your website’s content or structure
– Links from low-quality or spammy websites
– Competitors ramping up their SEO efforts
– Technical issues such as slow loading speeds or poor mobile compatibility
If your website’s rankings have fallen, don’t panic. Our team can conduct a full SEO audit to identify the root cause and implement a tailored recovery plan. From addressing penalties to improving on-page and off-page elements, we’ll get your site back on track.
SEO is a long-term strategy that requires patience and persistence. Typically, you’ll start noticing results within 2-3 months, with significant improvements becoming evident after 6-12 months. Factors that influence the timeline include:
- The competitiveness of your industry and keywords
- The quality of your website’s existing content and structure
- The scope of your SEO campaign
At Alloy Marketing, we use only white-hat techniques, ensuring that our work delivers lasting benefits. While some providers may promise quick fixes, these often come with risks of penalties and poor long-term performance.
What is W3C validation in SEO?
W3C validation is a code check that looks for accessibility and performance issues that can negatively impact user experience and the ability of search engines to crawl a website.
What is on-page optimisation in SEO?
On-page optimisation in SEO refers to things that happen directly on the website to improve search performance. This includes technical improvements to meta titles and descriptions, headers, content, keywords, and image metadata. It also involves site speed monitoring and fixes, mobile optimisation, and user experience auditing to ensure your site performs at its best wherever your visitors come from.
What is image optimisation in SEO?
There are several strands to this:
• Optimising file sizes for loading speed
• Correct naming of files and captions for accessibility
• Keyword-optimising alt text to communicate the subject of the image to search engines
• Image optimisation is an important part of SEO since poor optimisation can let the site down on several fronts simultaneously.
What is enterprise SEO?
Enterprise SEO means optimising large websites with many pages, usually for corporations, charities or online stores with hundreds of products. It requires a skilled and planned approach with regular, long-term investment. We have had the pleasure of working on a number of enterprise SEO projects, including for websites with thousands of pieces of content and stores with many thousands of products. We would be delighted to help with your project. Please get in touch for more information.
What is better, SEO or PPC?
Both SEO and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising have their advantages. PPC delivers immediate results by placing your website at the top of search results through paid ads. However, these benefits stop as soon as you stop paying for ads. In contrast, SEO provides long-term, sustainable growth by improving your organic rankings. While results take longer to materialise, the return on investment is often higher.
For the best outcomes, we recommend integrating SEO with strategic PPC campaigns. This approach allows you to gain quick wins while building a solid foundation for ongoing success.
Both are important, but neither is better as they both have their own advantages. SEO offers longer-term, cost-effective results. With steady investment, your rankings will stay high, and your website will get more traffic.
PPC provides immediate visibility and targeted traffic through paid ads, we often liken it to turning on a tap for leads. SEO is ideal for sustainable growth, but PPC provides an immediate boost, especially in competitive markets. The ideal approach is to run PPC and SEO campaigns simultaneously, which gives your business maximum exposure to potential new leads.
What are the best practices for on-page SEO?
Best practices for on-page SEO include:
• Avoiding keyword spamming. Needlessly filling the page up with keywords is bad for visitors, and Google won’t respond well to it either.
• Optimising meta content – Use well-researched, relevant keywords in well-written meta content.
• Using correct headers – Arranging content with clear headings in the correct order benefits both Google and your visitors.
• Optimising content – No list of on-page SEO best practices would be complete without mentioning the importance of keyword optimising the content itself!
• Load speed – Ensure fast load times for better user experience and search performance. Poor load teams mean that visitors drop off very quickly.
• Mobile-optimisation – Most of your traffic will likely be from mobiles, so these visitors need to have the best experience possible.
• Image metadata – Using keywords in image metadata is useful for both search visibility and accessibility.
The Importance of Link Quality
Not all links are the same. Each inbound link to your site carries a different level of trust and respect from Google. Google constantly evaluates your website for keyword relevance and valuable content, and it does the same for the sites that link to you. If a reputable website links to you, that link holds more value. Conversely, links from low-quality or spammy sites are devalued or may not count at all. Monitoring the number of links to your website helps you identify fluctuations and address any issues. One high-value link from a renowned site can offer more benefits than numerous links from lesser-quality websites.
SEO KPI Definitions
- External Backlinks (Majestic SEO): The total backlinks to your website, based on MajesticSEO’s Historic Index. This reflects changes when gaining or losing links, and updates when MajesticSEO refreshes their index.
- External Backlinks (Moz): The total backlinks to your website as determined by Moz’s Site Explorer tool.
- Citation Flow: A metric from Majestic SEO that assesses a website based on the number of times a URL or domain is cited by external pages.
- Trust Flow: Another Majestic SEO metric predicting trust based on the credibility of external websites linking to you.
- Domain Authority: Moz’s prediction of a website’s search engine ranking potential, combining various metrics into a single score.
- MozRank: Reflects a page’s importance on the internet based on the number and quality of links pointing to it.
- MozTrust: Moz’s score for link trust, highlighting the quality and trustworthiness of linking sources.
Page Rank (PR)
- Calculated by: Google
- Scale: 0 – 10 (integer numbers)
- Formula: PR measures a webpage’s popularity by the quantity of links pointing to it, irrespective of link quality. It’s an outdated metric, and although widely recognised, it’s just one of many signals Google uses.
MozRank (mR)
- Calculated by: SEOmoz
- Scale: 0 – 10 (two decimal numbers)
- Formula and Analysis: Similar to Google’s PR but with key differences, like being a decimal value. It provides a clearer picture of link profile strength. High mR requires more effort to improve.
MozTrust (mT)
- Scale: 0 – 10 (two decimal numbers)
- Formula and Analysis: Focuses on the quality of links, indicating a page’s long-term strength rather than sheer volume, helping to gauge the maturity of a link profile.
Domain-Level Metrics
- Domain MozRank & MozTrust (DmR/DmT): Scores for the entire domain, not just individual pages, offering insights into overall domain authority.
Page Authority (PA)
- Scale: 0 – 100 (integer numbers)
- Calculated by: SEOmoz
- Analysis: Indicates the potential for high rankings by aggregating link metrics, though not perfectly correlated with search result positions.
Domain Authority (DA)
- Scale: 0 – 100 (integer numbers)
- Calculated by: SEOmoz
- Analysis: Useful for competitive analysis and partnership evaluations, providing a broader picture of entire domain strength.
Is SEO ongoing, or is it a one-off project?
SEO is best as an ongoing process, not a one-off project. Search engines frequently update their algorithms, and competitors continuously optimise, so regular adjustments are essential. Ongoing SEO involves content updates, link building, and performance monitoring to maintain and improve rankings. Stopping SEO can lead to a decline in visibility over time.
Google penalties can significantly impact your website’s visibility and traffic. These penalties are often the result of outdated or unethical SEO practices, such as keyword stuffing or acquiring low-quality backlinks. If you’ve received a penalty, it’s essential to address it promptly to minimise long-term damage.
At Alloy Marketing, we specialise in white-hat SEO techniques that comply with Google’s guidelines, reducing the risk of penalties. If your site has been penalised, we’ll perform a thorough analysis to identify and rectify the issues, helping you regain your rankings and rebuild your online presence.
How Many Times Does Google Update Its Algorithm?
There is no set frequency with which Google updates its algorithm. Small updates happen all the time, major updates are also fairly frequent. Google does not always make the information public. Updates can affect the ranking of a website, but generally, if a website is well-optimised and follows best-practice guidelines, any negative impact will be temporary. Our team constantly monitors and adapts to changes to ensure the sites we optimised continue to perform at their best.
How long does it take for SEO to work?
We typically advise 6-8 weeks to start seeing ranking improvements. Some websites see quicker improvements, but we can’t guarantee anything. As long as you stick with your campaign,n you will start to see progress. Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint, and the benefits last a long time too. Anyone promising fast SEO results is likely using methods that go against Google’s guidelines.
How does Alloy Marketing report on performance?
To report on SEO performance, we generate monthly reports for your tracked keywords and overall site performance. Some of the information can be quite technical, but your account manager will be happy to discuss the results with you.
How to write SEO content for a website?
We create SEO content for websites by meticulously researching keywords to target and using them in well-written content. The content should genuinely address the concerns of the target audience and be well structured with clear headings, optimised meta content and direct calls to action.
How do you write meta descriptions for SEO?
Effective meta descriptions use the target keyword and compelling copy to encourage link clicks. The copy should relate to the intention of the person searching, making them want to visit the website to find out more. It also needs to be short and punchy as Google limits the number of characters that show in the search results.
How do I improve the page load speed of my website?
There are many things that can be done to improve page load speed, all of which we’ll look at as part of an SEO campaign. To identify just a few; optimising image files sizes. Compressing scripts and files, caching, server optimisation and hosting upgrades. There are many more things we can do to help if your website is struggling from slow loading speeds.
How can there be different results for the same search?
Google personalises search results, so it’s common to get different results from the same search. This is why we often advise clients that Googling their own business may not be the best way to understand your website’s search performance. Google considers location, search history and your device when choosing what to show you. This is why we use specialist software that simulates different environments to create a more objective assessment of your website’s search performance.
Do landing pages help with SEO?
Landing pages can be great for SEO. We can use them to target specific keywords that aren’t used elsewhere on the website. Optimised landing pages can improve your website’s search performance as the content will be specifically optimised for searches where the data tells us there is a high amount of demand.
Do I get the option to approve content before it is posted on my website?
Absolutely, we want to make sure we get the tone of voice properly matched to your brand identity, so we’ll work with you to get sign-off before publishing anything. With most clients, we find they’re really happy with the way our copywriters write and, after a while, they are happy for us to take the lead on this. It’s entirely down to your preferences.
Does Google Ads affect SEO?
No Google Ads doesn’t have any direct effect on SEO. Google Ads will increase the number of people that find your business on Google, but only in the sponsored links area of Google’s search results. For best results, an SEO campaign should run alongside a Google Ads campaign to ensure that a) your website can still be found when your daily ad budget runs out or when your ads are paused and b) users who don’t click ads still see your business c) your online visibility doesn’t fall behind that of your competitors.
Can Social Media help with SEO?
Social media doesn’t directly help with SEO and has no effect on your website’s rankings. There are other benefits of social media that can help your online visibility though. Regular posts will increase your visibility, which can help send some extra traffic to your website. Social engagement can also boost brand awareness.
Can I pay Google to rank higher?
No, this is not possible and anyone promising this will use tactics that Google will ultimately penalise the website for, which will ruin its search performance. You can pay for Google Ads, which will mean your website shows at the top of search results pages for at least some of the day, but that is very different to ranking at the top of Google for organic searches.
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