How to find SEO services on the Gold Coast that really work!

Finding the right firm to handle your SEO is no easy task. There is often a lot of “smoke and mirrors” in SEO. Moreover, with so many scammers around who promise the world, take your money and provide you with nothing, often the only way to know if a firm is working for you lies in measuring results.

While past bad experiences may have put you off looking for reliable SEO services on the Gold Coast, SEO is a necessity for the success of any website. According to biznology.com, 89% of customers begin their buying process with a search engine. So, if your website isn’t ranking well on Google, you’re missing out on a gold mine of potential customers. As such, you simply cannot ignore the importance of SEO, whether you’re just starting out with a business or you already have a small to medium-sized business in place.

To ensure you have the best chance of capturing new customers online, SEO is essential. In order to help you find SEO services on the Gold Coast that really work, continue reading this article as I share some tips from my 14 years’ experience as an SEO working on the Gold Coast.

1. Consider pricing packages carefully

Many make the mistake of assuming that SEO is simply the act of optimising the pages of a website. However, this is not true. Reputable professionals, including myself, will tell you that SEO is a strategic approach that can leverage the unique offerings of a site. As a rule of thumb, you must stay away from SEO services on the Gold Coast that offer pricing on a per-page basis. At Ignition Media, we do not follow such pricing – rather we offer a complete suite of SEO packages for you to choose from. Make sure to stay away from companies with per-page pricing as they usually use a short-sighted approach and their best interests may not be in line with yours.

2. Find out what SEO techniques a company uses

SEO strategies can broadly be classified into two types – white hat and black hat. White hat SEO refers to ethical practices that follow the rules and guidelines of search engines. By engaging in white hat SEO, you will not run into any risk and you will never be penalised by search engines. On the other hand, black hat SEO refers to unethical practices that may offer you benefits in the short term, but you will definitely be found out and penalised over time. Here, at Ignition Media, only white hat strategies are used in our SEO services – we do not indulge in any black hat activities whatsoever. When searching for SEO services on the Gold Coast, you must steer clear of any companies that rely on black hat SEO techniques to gain rankings. Such techniques include stealing content, buying links and cloaking with intent to deceive users and search engines – these practices will only see your site get penalised.

3. Decide on what you need

Most Gold Coast SEO firms, Ignition Media included, offer a number of SEO services such as reputation management, link building and removal, auditing, ongoing SEO, retargeting, PPC management, content marketing and much more. You may not want all of these services, so you must first decide which will serve you the best. Having a goal in mind will tell you what engagement level you need from your SEO partner and this goal should be the centre of all communication you make. At Ignition Media, we offer various SEO packages depending on your budget and specific requirements.

4. Be cautious of firms that use PPC advertising

Many Gold Coast SEO firms make use of PPC advertising to get a website on the first page of Google. This is not SEO, rather Pay Per Click advertising. While we offer both these services at Ignition Media, we categorise our PPC advertising separate from our SEO services. Understand that when you use PPC, you will be paying Google for each user that visits your website. With SEO, you establish organic rankings based on your own merits and don’t have to pay for any users that visit your website. Understand the difference between PPC and SEO and make sure to communicate this clearly – you don’t want to stop paying for “online promotion” only to see your website drop completely off Google, this will happen with PPC.

5. Be wary of guarantees

Time and again, I’ve seen Gold Coast SEO firms offering guarantees on their services. Typically, such firms will tell you that they will rank you for a specific set of keywords in 3 months, for another set in the next six months and so on. However, these firms will never tell you which keywords are the most relevant to your business and if anyone is actually searching for these keywords. At Ignition Media, we do not indulge in such schemes – through the aid of keyword research, we advise clients which keywords we believe should be targeted based on their business and a keywords search volume. Stay away from firms that offer stupid guarantees on SEO services.

Also see: Top 6 Google ranking factors for SEO

Conclusion:

When looking for SEO services on the Gold Coast, there are a few things that you must consider. First of all, you must consider the pricing packages carefully. You must also ensure that you hire a firm which only indulges in white hat SEO strategies. Decide on your personal needs and requirements and be cautious of firms that include PPC campaigns under SEO services. Also, stay clear from firms that offer you guarantees on their services.

At Ignition Media, we offer a comprehensive suite of internet marketing services, which includes SEO, SEM, copywriting, social media marketing and local business citations. For a reliable firm that offer SEO services that really do work, contact me today.