What is SEO?
We love this question - and yes it’s a big one, but it’s one we’re proud to answer without bamboozling you. Search Engine Optimisation is a set of activities that take place on and off your website aiming to improve your visibility when people search for you on Google (other search engines do exist but the number of user are very low). A website utilising SEO correctly will appear higher in search results relevant to what they offer, so that users find them more easily.
Or to put it another way “SEO is the practice of trying to create the most relevant page or website on the internet for any given search term or group of search terms”.
Good SEO is rooted in a positive user journey; it takes place on your web pages, and in the backend of your website as well as off site on your Google Business Profile and backlinks from other websites. The activities themselves consist of creating relevant and helpful on-page content, knowledgeable technical input, and keeping abreast of the latest best-practice.
Why is SEO important?
The aim of SEO is to get people onto your website organically - those people are already searching for what you offer. Neglecting SEO is a trick well and truly missed; the higher you are on a search results page, the more traffic your website will get. Position 1 on Google for keywords that match what you offer your users can get 10 times more clicks than position 10. You can’t argue with that!
What are the benefits of SEO?
If, like us, your website is your online shop window, then consider good SEO a door to the prime position on the high street. This means more people spotting you, and coming in to take a look around, and ultimately an increase in those all-important conversions.
This could be in the form of online sales, leads and enquiries, or sign-ups to your marketing materials so that you can sell to interested parties in the future. Whatever the conversion is, it means good business for you.
How long does it take to see results of SEO?
In general, SEO is a long game, but an easily analysed one; whilst on-page and technical optimisation can both take a while to get noticed by Google, the data can be tracked to make sure that they’re causing rankings to go in the right direction.
You could start to see results of good SEO in as little as 3 months, but by 12 months your rankings could be soaring - the key is to keep on top of your SEO activities, and be patient.
Good things come to those who wait; SEO is an extremely powerful marketing tool, and there’s every chance of fantastic ROI with the right budget, and the right team.
Our approach to SEO
We’ve assembled a very cool bunch of SEO experts, skilled in different parts of optimising web pages for search engines so that we can bring you the full package. Here’s what we handle for our clients:
Onpage optimisation
Users love structure, and so does Google. When things are easy to find in places that make sense on a website, the user journey is shorter and more successful. By taking the time to input or improving headings (also known as H tags), and internally linking throughout the site to other relevant pages on the same domain, our local SEO consultants can lead the user and Google through your online home. This is so that the former can get what they need, and the latter can make sense of your site to rank it.
User Orientated Helpful content
What your site says to your user plays a big part in successful SEO, so your on-page content, as well as your blog articles can make or break your rankings. Ultimately, Google rewards sites that answer their users’ questions and satisfies their needs, so your content should be as helpful as possible.
We let our talented content writers discover what content your users are looking for, collaborate with your team to gain original insight, and write well-researched content that captivates your audience.
Keyword research
If you want your website to be found online, keyword research is essential. If people are searching for anything that’s relevant to your business, we want you to be found for those keywords. Keyword research involves identifying the terms your audience is searching for and providing content that satisfies their needs. By targeting keywords that are relevant to your business, we can drive relevant traffic to your site.
Many agencies only allow clients 10 keywords, we research them all and work our way through as many as the client needs to get results.
Benefits of keyword research
- Targeting SEO efforts towards terms that people actually use
- Generating meaningful traffic not just rankings for the sake of it
- Learn more about your business and how people look for what you offer
Technical SEO
We do like a cold hard stat; our technical SEO team especially. An initial website audit shows us what we’re working with to indicate where improvements are needed, and benchmark them as they happen. This is supported by keyword research to find what users are searching for, schema to tell Google what you’re all about, redirects to ensure no user is lost, and image alt tags that give Google bots a helping hand.
Working with web developers is an integral part of successful SEO, and none are more happy to do so than our technical Search Engine Optimisers.
Off-page SEO
In the wings of your website are some impressive supporting actors, but they could easily be the stars of the show. For example, we take the local SEO goldmine that is Google Business very seriously, and the power of generating backlinks is not to be underestimated; our outreach team works hard to harness it.
Not only this, but we keep a beady eye on competitors too, identifying areas in which they’re ranking ahead of you, and doing our best to change that.
Why should you focus on SEO?
To build relevance
Google wants to show its users the results most relevant to their search term. SEO should mark your website out as a relevant contender for the words and phrases that best describe what you do - and that are actually used in searches.
A combination of helpful content and behind-the-scenes technical changes, like the ones we’ve mentioned above, unite to raise rankings in the areas where users are actually looking for you.
To build authority
SEO works to establish your website as an authority in your field - basically, you know what you’re talking about! Being seen as an authoritative site gives you credibility in Google’s eyes, and therefore it’s something of a no-brainer to raise your profile on the search results page.
Google’s Quality Raters, who are real people that measure the success of Google’s algorithm updates, use E-E-A-T as guidelines for content - and so should you. E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, showing that creating reliable content that is of value is essential in building authority.
Authority is also taken into consideration alongside any content on your site that could influence users in a big life decision - there’s a whole set of rules around what’s known as Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) content, something we also help manage for our clients.
Who are 427?
We are an SEO agency based in Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. From our humble beginnings working with local Sussex businesses across Lewes, Brighton, Shoreham, Pulborough and Haywards Heath, we now work with business across the UK and globally. Our years of expertise and genuine enthusiasm for not only putting what we know into action with professional SEO services, but learning new best practices as things evolve tangibly benefits the businesses we work with.
That being said our heart is in Sussex and we still work with a great deal of companies in the county as well as agency partners. Our clients span a range of industries, and we’re proud to act as an arm of their team, working hard online to ensure their site is found through search engines. We thoroughly research your market, quickly identify where there are gains to be pursued, and keep you informed of the progress each and every month.
We do all of this without a baffling, over-your-head approach. Honesty, transparent reporting, and responsive, reactive SEO services are much more our style. Whether you are a startup or a large established business we can help generate more traffic from Google search for you, it’s that simple.
Frequently Asked SEO Questions
Is local SEO still important?
It’s more important than ever! If you offer products or services within a certain area, conquering local SEO marketing and remaining in the top spots for relevant search terms in your location is something we know how to handle, utilising Google Business as well as optimising your website.
Do you offer SEO training?
We do - whether you’re a startup that wants to get to grips with the fundamentals of SEO without the expense of an ongoing retainer, or you’re a bigger organisation keen to train up a new member of marketing, we can help. Our SEO training could be more affordable than you think.
We’re also an agency - can you work with us?
We’re an SEO agency in Sussex that loves to work with other agencies; together, your clients can thrive. We’re happy to white label as your SEO team, adapting to the way you work as a seamless integration into your business.
Is link building good for SEO?
Link building is a fantastic way to increase your domain authority - but it has to be done properly. We only work with sites that we’ve thoroughly vetted, and carefully monitor the rate of link acquisition, anchor text, and relevancy. We’ll also create that winning content that earns that all-important backlink whilst remaining helpful.
What happens if my site is affected by a Google update?
We’re constantly keeping an eye on the rankings of the sites we look after, but particularly around Google updates. The benefit of our experience allows us to understand what the update actually means, and swiftly working on anything within it that’s caused your rankings to drop.
Can you do an SEO audit?
This is the first hands-on part of our process! Before getting started, we take a look at your current activity, and find out how your customers are landing on your site. This information then marries up to the competitor analysis we carryout to help us build a strategy with which we can work to improve your rankings.