On-Page SEO means all the optimizations you can make on your page to improve your organic positioning. This means everything that depends on only you. Thus, you’re the one who controls your website.

 

We know you are looking forward to knowing what is “On-Page SEO”, but first you have to understand what it’s and why it’s necessary. 

 

What is On-Page SEO?

 

Within SEO, there are two types: Off-Page and On-Page. 

 

On-Page SEO is all the SEO actions that you do within a web page to help its positioning in the search engines.

 

It’s a cool, almost endless discipline that encompasses a ton of strategies.

 

It has a lot to do with analytics, optimization, testing.

     

So, in general, it helps you to improve the user experience when they enter your website.

 

We associate On-Page SEO with SEO that Google likes and doesn’t penalize.

 

This means SEO that achieves results that last over time and that won’t make you sink overnight.

 

We already explained what On-Page SEO is, now we will explain its aim.

   

What is “On-Page SEO” for?

 

On-Page SEO aims to be useful to Google.

 

This way, it will index your pages as quickly as possible and classify them according to interests. 

 

To understand this, we could say that, using SEO “On-Page”.

 

You are going to try to explain to Google what the purpose of your page is.

   

What is On-Page SEO: General tips to do it well

 

To carry out a good “On-Page SEO” optimization, you must carry out a series of activities, all of them important. However, some are more necessary than others.

 

This creates debates about the importance of one element or another. It also raises the question about whether Google takes it more or less into account.

 

You can position yourself well without having to publish hundreds of articles.

 

The only thing you have to do is to provide good quality and useful content.

 

We invite you to continue reading and optimize your website in the best way. 

 

What is On-Page SEO: Use of Keywords

 

Keywords are very important, and you must use them sparingly.

 

Your keywords should appear in the content.

 

This way you will help Google understand the theme of your pages. However, they must appear in the most natural way possible.

 

Surely at some point, you have read an article where the keywords were everywhere “just because”. Don’t do that.

 

It’s possible to rank a page by not using keywords. However, this isn’t a long-term strategy, and your visitors won’t like it.

 

• Never over-optimize a page with keywords. 

 

Google will find out eventually.

 

And it has been doing it pretty quickly lately.

 

• Learn to use synonyms and terms related to your keywords. 

 

This way you will avoid repeating them frequently, and you will rank for more secondary keywords.

 

• Don’t pay too much attention to “Keyword density”. This is because there is no magic formula that tells you how many times or how often to use your keywords.
• Don’t obsess over placing your Keywords in every possible place. If you do it, you risk getting a penalty from Google.

 

After reading how keywords favor On-Page SEO.

 

The question arises of knowing if a good SEO is being carried out or not.

 

Next, we will explain what On-Page SEO is and how tags and Meta tags are used within it. 

 

What is On-Page SEO? Tags and Meta Tags that we use in On-Page SEO

 

If you know what a tag or Meta tag is, you can highlight its theoretical part. This way you can start improving your On-Page SEO below.

 

You can verify this by clicking the right button on a page and selecting “view source code” in the menu, or the equivalent option in your browser. 

 

For example the browser can interpret the same phrase in different ways if we assign it the title (“title”) or paragraph (“p”) tag. 

 

It doesn’t even display the text in the browser if we identify it as a Meta tag. The browser interprets certain special parts of the code to “mark” and structures the information.

 

On the other hand, the interesting thing is that Google and other search engines use some of these tags to determine the importance of the theme of the pages and try to place them in the right place in searches.

 

Tags visible in Search Results

 

The tags to be examined are displayed directly in the results:

 

Title, URL, and Meta Description.

 

The reason we are going to examine these labels first is twofold:

 

• In the first place, because they influence positioning. Among them are two of the most important for Google.
• And secondly, because they are the “base” of your page. So if it’s strong enough, the user will click on its result earlier than on another on the same page.

What is On-Page SEO? Page title

 

The title is the most important element to optimize On-Page SEO.

 

Most people who practice SEO agree that Google considers the title as one of the most prominent factors to “know” the theme of its pages.

 

The title is only displayed in the browser window, and as you already expect, in the search results.

 

You can see it in the HTML of any page.

 

The title of a page is how its essence defines it.

 

Thus, it must relate to the content and be consistent with it.

 

Remember this if you want Google to take it into account.

 

In short, if your website sells sneakers, you shouldn’t include “free sneakers” in your title to attract visitors.

 

This, unless you are offering free sneakers.

 

If it’s not true, your visitors will quickly realize that your title does not correspond to your content.

 

Tips to Optimize the Title Tag for On-Page SEO

 

• Include your main keyword in the title. 

 

• The title must be attractive. This is because it’s the key factor in whether a user chooses you over the other results.

 

• The title should contain a maximum of 70 characters or 600 pixels. This way you will ensure that Google displays it in full on its results. 

 

Studies have shown that there are generally fewer hits on results whose title is cut off compared to showing the full title.

 

• You must naturally form your titles. It must always contain the main keyword phrase you have chosen for each page. Besides, if possible, limit the number of words that don’t provide important information. 

 

• The title must be unique for each page, do not duplicate them.

 

• If you have a recognized brand, it’s a good idea to place it at the end of the title. This way you will capture the user’s attention in case they already know your brand.

 

What is On-Page SEO? Rich Snippets

 

You have likely found outstanding results with a type of rich snippet: prices, stars, opinions, etc.

 

One of the ways to show this prominent information in the results is to “mark” your content with tags designed for search engines, which we call rich snippets.

       

Why should you use rich snippets?

 

First, because it helps search engines better understand your content.

 

Second, because this information will help you highlight your results and potentially get more clicks.

 

There are several systems to mark content, but the one that is used most frequently is Schema.

       

Thanks to this markup you can get Google to display rich snippets for a variety of specific results, including:

 

• Articles.
• Local businesses.
• Recipes.
• Events.
• Products.
• Videos.
• Apps.

 

Use Rich Snippets whenever convenient. This is because they tend to help improve your CTR.

 

However, be careful, because you may risk a penalty if you don’t use them correctly.

 

What is On-Page SEO? Tips for using rich snippets within On-Page SEO

 

• Make sure the data you bookmark matches the content, products, or events that appear on the page. 

 

If you mark a fragment (for example, a recipe) that is later not available on the page, you risk being penalized. 

 

• Rich snippets must be visible to visitors. Don’t use CSS or any other means to hide them, even if they are not visibly “attractive” in design. 

 

Google may think you are spamming.

 

• Use Google’s structured data tool to make sure you are using the dialing codes correctly.
• Check the statistics for your rich snippets in Search Console, “Search Appearance”> “Structured Data”, and make sure there are no errors or glitches.

Meta Keywords

 

This tag isn’t recommended to use.

 

This is because, according to Google.

 

Meta Keywords stopped being useful a long time ago and most recognized SEO professionals do not use them.

       

Tags visible in the Page Content

 

Search engines distinguish all the content on their pages.

 

Paying attention to some tags (tags) that are discussed below.

     

Header Tags

 

Headings are one of how Google, and its visitors, are informed about the content and theme of your pages.

 

This is a great tool for organizing and structuring information into sections.

 

With it, you will make your articles easier to read and help your users to better understand it.

 

Although most browsers recognize up to 6 levels of Header Tags, the usual is to use the first three or four: h1, h2, h3, and sometimes h4.

 

Main header (h1)

 

Header h1 is the most important for Google, and it should be unique for each page. Don’t confuse the h1 header with the page title: they are two different elements:

 

• Title 

 

It’s the identification of the page, which appears in searches. It should be optimized more for search engines than for the user.

 

• The h1 

 

It’s the summary of the article. It may perhaps be a longer and more descriptive variant of the title, but never identical. So, this way the user will know what to expect when visiting your page and is encouraged to click it.

 

Can or should the title and h1 be identical?

 

Yes, they can be, and it can be positioned without problems and has no negative effects.

 

You have probably already seen pages that rank well this way.

 

However, depending on the niche, this can be considered as an “over-optimization” intended to improve the rankings in an “unnatural” way.

 

Most likely it will and nothing will happen.

   

But, it’s much better if the two labels are similar, but not identical.

 

With this you run less risk, and also your labels are more optimized.

 

Such a tag is a good place to include a secondary keyword or some semantic variation of your main keywords.

 

If you work with HTML5 you will know that this allows several Header h1s per page.

   

Tips to Optimize the h1 Tag for On-Page SEO

 

• It should summarize the content of the page in a simple sentence to read.

 

• The font size should be larger than the smaller headings (h2, h3) to better identify it. 

 

• Use only one h1 header per page.

 

• This tag is a good place to include a secondary keyword.

 

• Whenever you include Keywords remember that it must appear natural and never forced.

Secondary headers (h2 through h6)

 

The secondary Header tags are those that go from the second level (h2) to the sixth (h6).

 

To contribute little or no value to the positioning.

 

The truth is that they are useful to create a better reading experience for visitors by structuring the content, and incidentally.

 

It helps search engines better understand the theme of your pages.

   

Tips to Optimize Your Secondary Header Tags

 

• Respect the order of importance of the tags.

 

• You can use as many secondary headings as necessary to properly structure your articles.

 

• Use tags to divide your content into sections.

 

• Don’t force keywords into these tags unless it makes sense for them to be there.

 

• Remember not to put headers for no reason. Its main function is to semantically structure the contents in sections and subsections.

Url address

 

The URL of your pages plays an important role in On-Page SEO.

 

In the same way, it’s a reinforcement to continue informed about the theme on your page.

 

But more and more users are also looking at URLs to make decisions.

 

If an address gives the impression of being “suspicious”, or what is mentioned in the title is not adequately described, you have a high chance of missing clicks.

 

 

For example:

 

If you sell the Nike Vomero 10 shoes on a page whose URL is “yourdomain.com/promo-35” you are not helping the user or Google to understand that on this page they will find what they are looking for.

 

In this example, it would be much better if the URL was “yourdomain / nike-vomero-10”.

     

Images

 

The images are a good practice to distract the reading flow with an illustrative image that helps to rest the eyes, or also that helps to better understand the text. Publishing a page, where there is only text, is not a good idea.

 

Imagine that on this page you are reading, which is a dense topic, there were only text and no images.

 

The user reading experience would probably be far less satisfying, and you certainly wouldn’t have many readers reaching the bottom of the page.

 

Pages with multimedia elements, be it images or videos, help reduce the bounce rate and increase page time, two important metrics for both positioning and your users.

 

Tips to optimize images for On-Page SEO

 

• Include keywords or phrases in the file name, but only if the article deals with those keywords.
• Rename the image before uploading it. For example, “DS0014.pgn” and “logo-web-ninjaseo.png” would be wrong.
• Make sure your images can be accessed by Google, don’t block them by mistake with the robots.txt file
• Use your words in the “alt” tag so that they describe the content of the image, not just “targets” a list of Keywords.
• Optimize the size to avoid slowing down the loading speed of your pages. This is because a slow website can have a negative effect On-Page SEO and the experience of your visitors. 
• Google analyzes the text around the image to better understand the context, so it’s a good idea to include secondary keywords related to the image in it so that you can index it correctly.
• Optimize the EXIF ​​metadata of your images if you have time or if your positioning strategy depends on most of them. 

 

If you have saved the image in a format that allows it (such as .JPG) you can add meta-data.

 

Some of it can be the title (title), subject (subject), tags (tags), or comments (comments) by inserting your keywords.

 

• Build a specific system for images if indexing is critical, and you are not.

Conclusion

 

In this blog, we told what on-page SEO is.

 

As you know, it’s the optimization over which you have more control.

 

That’s why you should strive to know it and practice it as much as possible.

 

Don’t be afraid to try new things, don’t just repeat someone else’s strategy, and experiment as much as you want, as long as the strategy is yours.

 

The truth is that there is no magic formula, we only recommend following our advice.

 

If you have any doubts or questions, don’t hesitate to tell us in the comments.

 

Share and show our blog if it was interesting and inform your friends and family.

 

Don’t forget to subscribe to our daily newsletter to be up to date with the world of Digital Marketing. 

 

Did you like this blog? We would like to know your opinion!

   

If you aren’t new to the world of Marketing, you might have heard the term SEO. Today we will show you what SEO and ASO are all about. We will tell you what it is, its advantages, differences, and more. Learn about ASO vs SEO.

 

What is ASO?

 

ASO stands for App Store Optimization, which is the mobile application optimization process. Its aim is to improve the positioning of your Apps in the searches of the application stores.

 

A better position can ensure that more users find your application. It can give you more exposure, which will then increase its use.

 

The main purpose of ASO allowing users to find the content they are looking for faster within the application store. So, it makes users do what they want most: download your App.

 

To do this, the App Store Optimization process requires you to understand users.

 

They are the ones who use the keywords to find similar apps.

 

When you know which words people use the most, the chances of your potential users finding you turn greater.

 

In conclusion, ASO is a digital marketing technique that aims to optimize applications so they have a better chance of being found in the play store.

 

It also includes the AppStore (iOS), and MicrosoftStore (Windows), among other stores’ virtual applications and media.

 

The final objective of ASO is obvious, it focuses on enhancing the download rate, either to generate income or work on branding.

 

After all, we develop our applications so people can download them, and this way it becomes important, right?

 

Now, ASO is considered as the “son” of SEO, since the function of both is the same: to position your mobile apps or websites.

 

ASO vs SEO. Factors for an ASO positioning

 

To implement an ASO strategy, brands must take into account the key factors that every application should include to achieve the proposed objectives:

 

Title:

 

• We recommend that the title of the application is short so that neither the search engine nor the user takes a long time to find it.

 

• It must contain at least one keyword of interest to the user.

     

ASO vs SEO, Description:

 

• In summary, it should be clear what your application is and what it is for.

 

• The description limit is 4000 characters. However, the text must be short for clarity and not clutter.

 

• It must be attractive to motivate the user to generate a lead in favor.

 

Icon:

 

• It must be original and creative.

 

• Avoid white backgrounds because they can be mixed up with other applications.

       

Screenshots:

 

• The screenshots should show the attractive landscapes of the application.

 

• The reason is simple, and it is that with the screenshots it’s more likely to attract users since they are being shown how the APP is inside.

       

ASO vs SEO, Categories:

 

• Choose the one that is most suitable for the application.

 

• Users also make searches by category.

       

Review:

 

• The more reviews and positive feedback, the higher the popularity of the application.

 

• It also means that it is of good quality.

         

ASO vs SEO, Keywords:

 

• Use all the application’s related keywords.

 

• However, do not fill in the entire title or description with these, as it can be counterproductive.

         

Tips for an ASO positioning

 

Here are some tips so you know how ASO positioning works:

 

Audience:

 

To know the traffic that your application is generating not only in the virtual stores but also in the application’s web page.

 

We recommend using Google Analytics to analyze them separately.

   

ASO vs SEO, Keywords: 

 

It is important to research the consumer so that the keywords used are correct and generate leads.

 

Later, use the analysis tools to measure if they work and the level of competition that exists on these popular terms.

       

Online Marketing:

 

If we don’t promote an application, what do you think will be the result? Well, nobody will know it.

 

For this reason, it is important to use platforms such as social media.

 

They will help to spread the word about the new release and explain what it is about.

     

Help tools for ASO

 

Some tools can facilitate the development of an ASO strategy to achieve adequate positioning.

 

Here are three of them.

 

Google AdWords: 

 

One of them is the Google AdWords platform.

 

This shows us what are the most relevant keywords for users.

 

Thus, it will help us to position apps in virtual stores.

 

ASO vs SEO, Sensor Tower: 

 

This platform allows us to know the number of downloads that the application has.

 

It considers the income that we get in a period and shows the trends in the application market.

 

It also provides information on the range of difficulty that an app has to position itself, the historical ranking of the keywords used, and some more data.

 

Snippet Preview App: 

 

One advantage of App Snippet Preview is that it allows you to see how an application would look before being launched in the different virtual stores.

 

This way, it becomes possible to edit any error before we launch it.

 

Besides, it is a free tool, easy to use, and we can apply it to both Android and Apple.

   

What is SEO? ASO vs SEO 

 

We know that SEO stands for search engine optimization and that it improves the visibility of a website in the organic results of the different search engines.

 

To talk a little more about this topic, we can highlight that SEO is one of the “disciplines” that has changed the most in recent years.

 

Just look at how many updates there have been to Penguin and Panda, and how they have turned the meaning of SEO by 180 degrees.

 

Now with SEO, what Matt Cutts himself describes as “Search Experience Optimization” is tracked.

 

SEO factors

 

Although there are thousands of factors that a search engine relies on to position one page or another, we could say that there are two basic factors:

 

authority and relevance

 

• ASO vs SEO, Authority is basically the popularity of a website.

 

The more popular it is, the more valuable the information it contains, isn’t it?

 

 

This factor is the one that a search engine takes more into account since it’s based on the user’s own experience.

 

The more content they share, the more users find it useful.

 

• Relevance is the relation a page has to a search.

 

This doesn’t mean that a page has to contain the search term many times, but that a search engine relies on hundreds of on-site factors to determine this.

 

SEO Division

 

We can divide SEO into two large groups:

 

• ASO vs SEO, On-site: 

 

On-site SEO is one that cares about relevance.

 

It ensures that the web is optimized so that the search engine understands the content of it.

 

The SEO On-site includes the optimization of keywords, loading time, user experience, optimization of the code, and format of the URLs.

 

• Off-site: 

 

Off-site SEO is the part of SEO work that focuses on factors external to the web page in which you work.

 

The most important factors in off-site SEO are the number and quality of the links.

 

Likewise, the presence in social media, mentions in local media, brand authority, and performance in search results is also important. Last but not least, another factor is the CTR that has our results in a search engine.

 

You may think the whole topic is great and very interesting. But you are here to understand what SEO is about and why you need it. This way you can learn to use it in the best way within your website.

 

Also, later on, you will know what benefits you will get if you integrate it into your online strategy.

 

The difference between types of SEO

 

We already know what SEO is, what it consists of, its factors, and how it is divided. To know a little more about this search optimizer you also have to know what types of SEO exist:

 

ASO vs SEO, Black Hat SEO:

 

It’s called like this because it attempts to improve the search engine positioning of a web page through unethical techniques and because it contradicts the search engine guidelines. Some examples of Black Hat SEO are Cloaking, Spinning, SPAM in forums and blog comments, or Keyword Stuffing.

 

The use of Black Hat can provide benefits in the short term, but in general, it is a risky strategy. Likewise, it’s not reliable since it doesn’t last long and doesn’t add value.

 

White Hat SEO: 

 

It consists of all those ethically correct actions that comply with the search engine guidelines to position a web page in search results.

 

This is because search engines give greater importance to the pages that best respond to a user’s search.

 

The White Hat SEO understands the techniques that seek to give or make a page more important for search engines by adding value to its users.

 

Advantages of SEO

 

ASO vs SEO. Here are the main advantages:

 

• Long-term brand positioning: To do this, it is important to upload optimized content constantly and take care of it.

 

• Increase in sales or conversions: The quality of a website depends on SEO actions and will optimize the conversion rate of the page.

 

• Best loading time: An optimized page and a good quality SEO On page will reduce the size and weight of the images. It will optimize the server to work quickly and efficiently.

 

• Higher target traffic: When it comes to a page positioned based on keyword research or keyword study. You can ensure that your traffic is of good quality, as it offers what your potential customers are looking for.

 

• Promotion of good quality content: They add value to the user.

 

• Increased visibility of the brand in search engines: You could rank high in Google results.

 

• Improve web usability: Make it easy for users to navigate.

 

• Greater confidence: Users know that the content presented in the first positions is of good quality, and that gives them greater confidence.

Differences between SEO and ASO

 

Classification factors

 

The main difference between ASO and SEO has to do with the ranking factors.

 

Google considers over 200 ranking factors to determine in which rank a page should be, for what, and in what position, while the ASO ranking factors don’t reach 200.

 

The list of ASO ranking factors is much shorter.

 

Next, we will show you the main ones:

 

• App title: This is one of the most important parts of ASO. The correct title should have prominent and well-researched keywords.
• App Keywords: Words cover a very important field in the Apple App Store. It’s like the Meta keyword tag, which is now unused. But it really has a huge impact on the App Store rankings.
• Description of the application: This is where you explain what the application is about and motivate people to download it.
• App downloads: The number of app downloads is one of the key factors. Popular apps rank higher.
• Backlinks: This doesn’t really impact the app’s ranking in the Apple App Store.

 

However, some people believe that backlinks can influence your ranking on Google Play. This makes sense, given that Google already has a similar algorithm for its search engine.

 

ASO vs SEO, App ratings and user comments:

 

This is another big difference between ASO and SEO.

 

In the App Store, each application has its own rating.

 

Such ratings come as a kind of social proof for the app – people are much more likely to click and download an app when they see that it has a good rating.

 

Comments play a very similar role.

 

The feedback from other users about an app influences the way people decide if they’re going to download it or not.

 

Do you see the importance when rating an app?

 

Although the action of rating can often bore us, it is of the utmost importance to do it.

 

This is because in this way we help other people to know if it interests them or not.

   

Keyword Research:

 

Keyword Research is a crucial part of SEO.

 

It is also important for anyone who works at ASO.

 

However, there is a big difference: With Google, we can enter accurate data with monthly keyword search volumes using the AdWords keyword planner.

 

However, there is no way to get the required keyword data for the searched keywords in the app store. Some ASO tools can help you.

 

However, none of them will give you the data SEO professionals take for granted for search engines.

 

ASO vs SEO, Positioning place:

 

This is another of the differences between SEO and ASO.

 

With SEO, we seek that a website or blog appears in the first results of the main search engines:

 

Google, Bing, Yahoo, or even YouTube.

 

On the other hand, the purpose of ASO is to position an app in application stores such as Google Play and AppStore.

 

Conclusion of ASO vs SEO

 

Finally, you know what SEO and ASO are all about.

 

They are two very interesting aspects that can be complemented.

 

However, one is not better than the other, but their functions go in different directions.

 

Whether you start from scratch or have a website, you can let us know and we will be happy to help you.

 

I hope our article has been to your liking and can help you with your future strategies.

 

At BluCactus we have a team of specialists in digital marketing that is highly qualified in carrying out strategies in different web portals.

 

Count on us!

 

If you are interested in establishing your Social Media strategy to help you increase your profits and increase visits and sales within your website, don’t hesitate and contact us.

 

Likewise, we invite you to follow us on our social media and subscribe to our daily newsletter.

   

Today, most people have a smartphone, which implies that the era of smartphones is here to stay. For this reason, technology experts have focused their efforts on aiding our Internet searches both in writing and orally. Next, we’ll dig deeper into optimizing your website for Voice Search.

 

You may already know what Voice Search is, however, we’ll remind you:

 

It refers to the option to make queries on the Internet through search engines. It represents an alternative to writing our search queries.

 

Instead of typing a question, phrase, or doubt in the search bar, we use the microphone to ask with our voice, and then we’ll get the answers in the same way as when we wrote our query.

 

We use this feature through virtual assistants such as Google Voice Search, also known as Google’s Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Amazon’s Alexa.

 

However, Voice Search wasn’t always so popular. In the beginning, many users used to complain about the incongruence of the answers. They mocked this initiative by asking Siri questions like: “Siri, how are you feeling today?”

 

We should note that when using Voice Search the best thing to do is to speak clearly and avoid ambiguities because the intelligence system of mobile devices interprets the terms literally.

 

The Future of Voice Search systems

 

Systems like Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, or Cortana don’t yet have an optimal level of semantic interpretation. This is why we rarely like their answers or understand how they work. You may need to optimize your searches for Voice Search.

 

Today, over 30% of young people around the world use this search alternative, noting that they obtain the results much faster than when they type what they want to search for.

 

Therefore, optimizing your website for your voice search results will be a “plus” if you don’t want to fall behind in terms of SEO for your page.

 

Experts believe that the increase in the use of Voice Search will result in smart home automation devices entering the market. These are devices capable of automating your home.

 

Examples of them are Google Home and Amazon Echo, which allow control of other electronic devices at home through voice commands. Therefore, if you like technology and automation, these devices cannot be missing in your home. In this way, you can play music, turn on the TV, know the weather data, make the shopping list, and set alarms to its weather.

 

It’s easy to understand why voice searches became a new trend. In a world as dynamic as ours, these types of searches can give us speed when making a query on the Internet. For this reason, your brand cannot stay behind regarding this trend.

 

Don’t believe us?

 

We’ll leave you some information that will impulse you to start optimizing your website in favor of this feature:

 

According to studies by voice laboratories, they have found over 30 million voice devices in operation.

 

Are you one of those 30 million?

 

Even the CEO of Google has pointed out that voice searches are in fifth place as part of Internet queries.

 

According to Thrive Analytics studies, children and teens are the first to use this feature but there are also good percentages in various age groups.

 

This alternative to Internet searches will continue to have sustained growth, and your brand must be at the forefront of technological changes in the world.

 

Stay with us, we’ll provide you with more information and answer all your questions.

 

How does voice search work?

 

We already talked a little about what this feature is and what it’s about. Now, what is the functionality of a voice search?

 

The main function of this tool is based on voice recognition technology. This means that it uses sound packages that get projected when people enunciate words. For example, if someone pronounces the word “today” the program would recognize “T”, “o”, “d”, “a” and “y” as separate sounds.

 

These sounds are individual letters associated with a mental model belonging to the human language that we know as a phoneme. Likewise, phonemes are minimal units of the phonic materiality of language that by themselves have no meaning.

 

However, when combined, they allow us to unify forms that do have meaning, such as words. Phonemes are made in speech as linguistic sounds that are known as phones.

 

Voice recognition technology combines these phonemes and interprets them as a speech and then contextualizes it.

 

Did you know that the human brain does this automatically?

 

That’s right!

 

And it does it in microseconds.

 

How is voice search different from our brain?

 

The difference is that speech recognition programs must use algorithms to perform the same understanding process. So you can tell your phone “What is the weather forecast for Tokyo today?” And the voice search program will use speech recognition to identify the words. It will then place them in its search database to provide you with the most relevant results.

 

Is for this reason that this feature is becoming increasingly important for search engine optimization, as people use their voice to search much more frequently because it’s faster than typing.

 

Perhaps a few years ago, this technology was limited. However, it has now advanced a lot and it may continue to do so. Consequently, it has reached the point where it can identify what you’re saying, and even recognize accents and uncommon speech patterns.

 

So in the past, there were days when you had to repeat something at least five times before a device could understand what you were saying.

 

Benefits of optimizing a website for voice searches

 

The increase in users using this feature should be reason enough to optimize your website. However, among the advantages that this will bring you are:

 

• Continuous interaction with your clients

 

Staying in direct and constant communication with your customers is one of the greatest advantages of optimizing your website for voice search.

 

Chatbots will soon be ready to provide immediate answers to questions your customers have.

 

This way, the user experience of your clients will be more satisfactory. This is because, all the requests that these people have, will be answered automatically. Thus, they will want to return for more and with greater confidence.

 

By optimizing your website for voice search, you will easily gain customer loyalty. For this, you will need to implement a strategy to appear in the voice search results. This way you will remain a step ahead of the competition. Lately, voice searches have grown so steadily that it promises to be the future for search engines.

 

The question is: Are you ready for the optimization of your website? voice search 

 

Remember that the more direct the communication with your clients, the more their experiences will be positive.

 

• Increased data volume, voice search

 

It’s expected that the increase in voice searches on the Internet will increase the amount of user-data. This can be used by advertisers to create more targeted advertising.

 

Likewise, you can take advantage of this information to boost your brand through the creation of specifically designed content for your target audience.

 

This will result in more and better conversions and a higher number of Internet sales for your company.

 

• More profitability for brands

 

Due to these voice bots, you will know if the prospects that visit your website are worth it for your brand.

 

In this way, it will be a favorable strategy to nurture them until they become loyal since you will have enough information about them and you will be able to assess whether they are part of the niche you are targeting.

 

Which will allow you to increase your profitability on the Internet.

   

• Statistics of interest, voice search

 

Voice searches have significantly changed the behavior of users on the Internet. They have even influenced the way searches are done. In the case of doing it by text and wanting to know the time in Paris, “Paris time” would be placed. If it’s done by voice, the person would say something like: “What time is it in Paris?”

 

Some current statistics predict that voice searches will make you think about choosing to improve your users’ experience on mobile devices:

 

According to Search Engine Watch, during 2016 voice searches were 35 times more frequent than in 2008, that growth has been continuous.

 

At least 1 in 5 adult Internet users have used this feature in the past month, according to the Global Web Index.

 

According to Comscore studies, they estimate that by 2020, 50% of voice searches will be extended globally.

 

Likewise, according to Activate, by 2021, they expect that 21.4 million users will increase by 100% the number of their voice searches on their devices in the United States of America alone.

 

30% of searches will be done without a screen, according to the giant Google.

 

These statistics go hand in hand with the evolution of technology and smartphones. Users don’t just use this feature because it fashionable anymore. Now, they use it to optimize their time, either in their work-life or outside of it.

 

Children already do this; the percentage of children under the age of 10, using this feature technology, prefer it because it allows them to get answers quickly and efficiently.

 

What you need to know to optimize your website for voice search

 

Google Voice Search is a Google function that you shouldn’t overlook as mentioned earlier.

 

We can use these tools on mobile devices and computers.

 

You say “O.K., Google” and you can carry out your searches and get immediate results.

 

Therefore, you must implement SEO on your website to not fall behind with this new technology.

 

• Check the SEO of your page, voice search

 

For the optimization of your website to work correctly for voice searches, the essential thing is that you check your Google My Business to have your local SEO in optimal conditions.

 

Therefore, if a person asks by voice about businesses in your geographical location. By having your information updated in Google, you can appear in a higher position each time a user makes a query.

 

In the same way, take into account the update of your phone and the customer service hours, so that your potential buyers don’t have doubts about the availability of your business.

 

• Take care of your snippets

 

Both Google Home and Google Assistant take into account the most prominent snippets to give answers to queries made by voice. This is why you must take care of them.

 

There are several effective techniques to reach the best positions with voice searches:

 

Give answers to specific questions: it’s favorable that you put the question in H2 format and give the answer directly in the body of your article.

 

Give simple and accurate answers: Google will always prioritize the answers given in the form of lists in snippets. However, you must use language geared towards reaching your target audience.

 

Create attractive titles: you must optimize everything on your page, from your title to your meta descriptions.

 

Keep in mind that voice searches are more conversational than anything else. Try giving answers this way, too. You can be informal but always respect your users.

 

• Use natural language, voice search

 

When using the computer or cellphone to inquire, users use short phrases to save physical effort. With voice searches, this changes a bit and the queries tend to be conversational.

 

Artificial Intelligence has made Google learn more and more about searches with every conversation it has with its users. The way you write is one of the most important things. Your client can give an opinion about you, solely from the way you write.

 

Voice search queries are very different in search engines. For example, if we would commonly write “restaurants in New York,” we would likely do a voice search saying “What are the most luxurious restaurants in New York?”

 

For this reason, we recommend using natural language on your website, as well as, long-tail keywords so that search engines can match your content with what your target customers are looking for.

 

It’s good to use tools like “Answer the public” to know what questions your target audience might ask.

 

Before writing your content, think about your potential customers and how they would ask questions about your business, services, and products.

 

• Make use of the inverted pyramid formula, voice search

 

You must make Google remember the number of responses your site provides in the most natural way possible.

 

You must use the inverted pyramid formula in your content.

 

Start with the information that directly answers the questions your users are asking.

 

Next, add more details to complement the answers given, and don’t forget to add images and audiovisual content.

 

It ends with examples and case studies.

 

If you want your business to reach its full potential, hire a website optimization services for voice searches from an experienced Digital Marketing Agency like BluCactus. 

 

Contact us now and request your free quote!

   

When you want to have a website for your business, the first question you could ask yourself is: which SEO agency will I choose? This is the moment where we ask friends or family if they know of any and generally, their answers don’t satisfy us. Learn the 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency.

 

Don’t worry though, today we will dig into some questions you should know before hiring an SEO marketing agency.

 

One of the marketing strategies that work best for companies that want to improve their online visibility continues to be SEO. We will review several types below before starting with the questions that you could ask about this helpful strategy.

 

SEO Types

 

• Independent SEO Consultants: These are freelance professionals who offer SEO services.
• SEO companies or agencies: These companies have mostly standardized SEO teams and processes.
• Internal SEO: You use this SEO type when your business or company is very large or is growing rapidly.

 

You can hire an SEO consultant to help you put things in place and come up with an initial strategy to get your website off to a good start.

 

Today many variants exist between freelancers and SEO agencies. However, if there is something they have in common, it’s that their SEO services will not be cheap. We recommend you be careful when hiring. Discounts of these services often mean that the agency or SEO “specialist” you hired is using troublesome strategies. This, in the long term, could damage your website.

 

However, it’s good to find a balance, because an outrageous price does not guarantee quality work. Many agencies absurdly increase the prices of creating the website. However, these SEO companies can get away with it since most website owners don’t know how to test SEO work. To avoid this abuse, you must know some useful questions before hiring an SEO agency.

 

By now, you must have a certain notion about what SEO is and by visiting our blog you have shown your initiative to learn what questions you should ask before hiring an SEO agency.

 

As long as you ask the right questions and pay attention to the answers (we’ll show you how to do that later), you should be able to find SEO that will positively impact your business.

 

How to hire an SEO company?

 

We know that when the time comes to hire an SEO agency, many questions can arise. It’s normal to feel a little scared since it’s an investment that depends on the growth of your company.

 

Today there is a great offer of web positioning services for companies and individuals. If chosen incorrectly it could have serious consequences for the visibility and positioning of your brand in search engines.

 

The best thing is that you hire a professional who carries out the SEO service perfectly. This way you can be very successful, gain position, and organic search traffic without advertising. Therefore, you must choose carefully. If you are considering hiring an SEO service, the best thing to do is to ask yourself key questions to feel safe.

 

Out of all the questions, we’ll propose below, choose only those that adapt to the aim you want to achieve.

 

Let us begin!

 

39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

Can you detail the services you would provide me as part of the SEO strategy?

 

This is one of the main questions. If the SEO agency representative is reluctant to detail the work they intend to do for you, be careful: some SEO companies use unethical web positioning techniques and they hide what they do with the money you pay them.

 

In contrast, a good agency will be transparent with you and won’t be afraid to expose the services they claim to provide as part of the SEO strategy. The services they provide should develop throughout your contract, so remember this when asking these questions before hiring an SEO agency.

 

Don’t be afraid to ask them for the number of hours or assets that they will provide each month depending on the strategy they propose.

 

Aside from the previous question, here are some other questions you may initially raise:

 

• What are the services you plan to deliver monthly as part of the strategy? Could you specify the amounts of these services?
• How many hours can I wait for each service monthly?
• Internal and external items will you provide per month?
• Time do you spend analyzing campaigns and reports?

 

When faced with these questions, don’t be surprised if the agency says: “This is what we will provide from the first month to the third month …” It’s common. The agency will try to find the right strategy for your business and adapt the offer as the negotiation develops.

 

Lastly, make sure they base the services they provide on research and not intuition.

 

How will you optimize our content?

 

Content is in control of any social media. If you publish good content, you will have many followers as a result.

 

Therefore, before hiring an SEO agency, make sure that it will improve its content.

 

 

Can you show us some of your writing samples? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency 

 

This is one of the key questions before hiring an SEO agency.

 

When we ask this question, it’s because we’re interested in knowing what the writing style of the agency is like.

 

Any agency that offers content marketing services should be able to provide you with samples of the best work of their writers.

 

If this doesn’t happen, something is wrong.

 

How do your writers adapt to a new business or industry?

 

The agency should discuss its best copywriters and how prepared they’re to develop content for their business regardless of the sector.

 

If you ask this question before hiring an SEO agency, you’ll know if they will carry out the amount of research necessary to produce quality content.

 

If the agency’s response isn’t to your liking, you have two options:

 

• Test their writing style to see if it works for you.
• Decline in the company’s offer.

 

How will you optimize content for our readers and search engines? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency 

 

When referring to search engines, which are vital to position content, we highlight that this is a key question.

 

Through it, you could know the process of the content team to target your target audience.

 

You could see how they work with the SEO team, if they optimize their content with keywords and if they have tools like Google Trends.

 

This is used to know which keywords are the best for certain content.

 

What types of content do you produce?

 

Using this question, you will discover if the agency has experience producing texts, blog posts, infographics, video scripts, and short animations, among other types of content.

 

Take all of this into consideration to find out what type of content you want for your business before hiring an SEO agency.

 

 

How many internal and external content posts will you create per month? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency 

 

You must have a clear idea about what you want on your website and expose it when you ask these types of questions before hiring an SEO agency.

 

You could specify if you want to increase your content or just keep a certain number of visits.

 

Make sure that the agency has a good strategy and that it can guarantee compliance.

 

Will new content be published on the website?

 

Find out if the agency will add images, edit content to engage its online readers, and publish the final product on its site.

 

If the agency doesn’t handle the administration of the publications, it can advise you to hire an additional professional on the internal team which may also be part of the agency contract you will sign.

 

What metrics (statistics) will you inform me of? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency 

 

This is a crucial question before hiring an SEO agency, how well will you follow up on the agency’s work? Fortunately, metrics or statistics always speak for themselves.

 

Don’t forget it. The agency should always go beyond web traffic, social media, and the number of comments.

 

It should measure how its content helps those followers or fixed clients who ask questions.

 

By interpreting these, you can increase the engagement of your customers or followers.

 

How much do they know about link building?

 

Did you know that external links that redirect the user to your website are key to any online marketing effort? Well, they are, so take this question seriously before hiring an SEO agency.

 

If there aren’t good links leading to your website, it may be difficult for you to rank higher than the competition in search engines. You won’t be well-positioned if you have a small number of visits.

 

However, not all links are good. Some of them may classify as spam. Therefore, if you choose the wrong SEO agency, which doesn’t follow Google’s guidelines and creates spam links, your website could get a penalty, causing you to never achieve your goals.

 

Here are some questions you can ask:

 

• What type of links will you create? How will you do it?
• How many new links will you produce per month? Expect an estimate.

 

What experience do you have working with companies in my industry? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency 

 

With this question, you can know if they are capable or have some kind of experience with other companies in your industry.

 

This last aspect isn’t necessarily a decisive factor.

 

Also, you could ask what steps the agency will take to specialize in your industry.

 

Does your agency have a Google Partners Badge?

 

It’s not a very common question, but it works to verify if the agency can carry out the daily tasks and meet the objectives you have in mind.

 

If the agency has a Google Partners Badge, it means that it has Google AdWords certified employees.

 

Therefore, it has access to its team of Google agencies and is up to date with the latest AdWords innovations.

 

This is important because it shows that they’re employees committed to their work.

 

How will we communicate? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency 

 

Without a doubt, you will need to be very aware of the work regarding SEO. This is one of the basic questions before hiring an SEO agency. We recommend that you ask the SEO agency, who will be in charge of communicating with your company and how often can you speak to them.

 

You can suggest communicating as many times as necessary during the week or from time to time to find out if the hired service is succeeding.

 

How will you inform us of our monthly progress?

 

Here, the agency can deliver a report and an easy-to-read summary with the statistics about the progress of its website.

 

Another question that may arise before hiring an SEO agency is if they will explain the report to you.

 

However, you can also schedule meetings from time to time to control the growth of your business through the website.

 

Who makes up the technical team? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency 

 

Before hiring an SEO agency, make sure you know who makes up the technical team and who will be responsible for each task. Some agencies aren’t clear about this when offering their services.

 

This can lead to conflict when you need an additional professional to implement the changes they recommend.

 

Find out if they will need help from another professional at some point.

 

Can you show us some websites you have designed?

 

This is an important question. Because through it, the agency can show you everything it has done. However, remember that you may not find what you’ve been waiting for. Everything depends on which agency will you hire.

 

There are SEO agencies that specialize in certain areas. It’s advisable to consider the site that the agency shows you to see if it has any similarity to your business idea.

 

 

Do you design custom websites or use templates? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency 

 

Your business doesn’t need a very elaborate page layout, that is, a more demonstrative layout to make yourself known, a simple template might suffice.

 

If you need a unique website that generates leads or sales, speak to agencies that offer custom design services.

 

   

How much participation will I have in the design?

 

A useful question before hiring an SEO agency is to find out to what degree you will take part in the design of your website.

 

However, remember that sometimes you will give your opinion on a design, while at other times the agency will provide you with ideas that they think are best for your business, even if no one knows you better than yourself.

 

Also, find out if you will see the website and provide information as they create it. Be sure to give your point of view. You can also find out what the agency design process will be.

 

What type of design will they use? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

Any agency you hire will want to look good in your eyes, so the proposed design for your website should be appreciated in all screen sizes and resolutions.

 

Consider that the design provided by the agency responds to any device.

 

Be it on smartphones, tablets, and monitors, among others.

 

Could my website grow as my business grows?

 

The agency you have in mind should explain how you will handle each design of your website. Like, for example, where you will place your company’s products or services, the way to contact it, and where it’s located, among others. Don’t miss this ask before hiring an SEO agency.

 

Remember, that the agency should edit the website as your business grows and is recognized by its clients or followers. If, on the contrary, the agency has not thought about this aspect, you must restructure all the ideas you had of your website from the beginning.

 

Do you offer e-commerce services? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

If your business generates sales, clarify all your doubts regarding them before hiring an SEO agency. If the company doesn’t answer you for sure, it’s better to think twice before hiring.

 

The agency should easily understand what you mean by electronic commerce.

 

A specialist in this area can suggest that within its website, add a button for the shopping cart, support for multiple currencies, and update prices to reflect discounts, among other elements.

 

What social media should my company compete in?

 

Today social media is synonymous with sales and audience, so don’t forget this question before hiring an SEO agency. When you do it, the agency should already have a strategy prepared to know in which social media you can view your business the best.

 

  That way it can recommend the networks that are most relevant to you based on your audience and your objectives. Everything will depend on your type of business and what products and/or services it offers to the public.

 

How prepared is your team for managing social media? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

They should have a good social media team to respond to comments, encourage conversations on all social media, and connect with customers through these channels.

 

Therefore, one question before hiring an SEO agency must aim to know if the agency has an adequate team to meet the management objectives so that your business can enter the different social media platforms.

 

 

How will you ensure that our presence on social media reflects our brand image?

 

The agency you have in mind for your hiring should think of social media strategies consistent with their brand image.

 

They shouldn’t employ tactics they have already used for other clients because they may not perform well for you.

 

It’s about your brand image, include this question in your top 10 questions before hiring an SEO agency.

 

Do you offer ongoing maintenance once the website is active? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

Maintenance is another important point since it relates to virus removal, updates, the verification that all links are working correctly, and the status of the central website.

 

Will the contracted agency be able to handle post-launch troubleshooting, or will you have to find another provider to maintain your website?

 

While there are agencies that specialize in some objectives more than others, the idea is to get all the benefits in a single agency.

 

What role does SEO play in site design?

 

This is another of the essential questions before hiring an SEO agency because it’s the key element of this matter: SEO.

 

We suggest that the website is in harmony with the theme or business that you are launching on the market because even if you don’t believe it, your future clients and followers will notice this detail.

 

Therefore, if your website is not following what it offers, I assure you will not get many clients. We have been mentioning how SEO is so important when creating the website and how it has to be in tune with your business.

 

 Ask these two questions before hiring an SEO agency:

 

• Does your agency produce content optimization for keywords, titles, and meta-descriptions?
• Will you be able to implement a crawlable link structure and use other strategies to make the site SEO friendly from the start?

 

What kind of security features do they offer? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

Have you thought about securing your website? With this question, we can be sure if the agency has knowledge in this area and if it can configure a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate to establish an impenetrable connection for traffic between the web browser and the server.

 

This is of vital importance because you don’t want your website to be hacked or easily accessible to unauthorized third parties. Now, do you understand why this question is crucial before hiring an SEO agency?

 

Lastly, given the importance of the secure connection layer, ask your prospective agency for checks to verify that you can configure this security measure.

 

Are they updated with the latest algorithm changes?

 

Google creates approximately 500 algorithm changes per year, although not all are significant. Most of these changes have a little impact anywhere.

 

However, if there’s a select group of algorithm updates that are significant enough to warrant naming, then all SEOs should be familiar with such updates. Be sure to ask the SEO to describe some of the latest updates to check if this person knows what you are talking about.

 

You will know if the SEO agency you are thinking of hiring is an inexperienced person who only wants to make quick money or if they know about the subject and are trained to take care of your business. Remember this question before hiring an SEO agency.

 

If the agency is up to date with updates, it could also be active in forums and on some SEO community.

 

Finally, if you don’t know where you can see this list of updates, we provide you with the website where you can see them, this is SearchEngine Land.

 

Can you guarantee that the site will rank # 1 for an important search term? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

Next, you will know how to eliminate or deny false SEOs and their illegal techniques. One of the most relevant questions before hiring an SEO agency.

 

If an SEO professional or agency is trying to make a sale, they will usually be happy to say that it guarantees the number one ranking in Google’s search results.

 

However, here is the dilemma: no one can guarantee ranking number one and much less in a specific time period.

 

Here are some reasons you can’t believe those promises:

 

No SEO knows the exact algorithm of Google.

 

If any SEO claims to know the exact algorithm, it’s lying. We can assure you that if you knew the algorithm, you could earn much more than what you would charge as a typical SEO consultant.

 

This is because it’s very complex to guess the sequence of a series of operations besides its use on the web.

 

Google drives more than one algorithm change per day on average, so unless you’re working on this algorithm with Google, you can’t know when or how it will change.

 

 

Penalties can appear at any time. 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

Google rarely says when certain algorithms will run. Its penalties can be algorithmic or manual. With algorithmics, they can be run weekly, monthly, or annually. In contrast, manual fines, reviews, and penalties can appear at any time.

 

Therefore, these two points mean that although SEOs can consistently increase their search traffic over time, they cannot guarantee the positioning of specific keywords.

 

However, there is one important caveat: some SEOs may ask you what keyword you are considering or suggest one. If you are targeting a very easy keyword, they can offer you a guarantee.

 

Take into account before hiring an SEO agency that offering a guarantee and guaranteeing a number one ranking are two unique aspects. Providing a guarantee usually means they expect you to rank at number one for an easy term, but if they can’t help you do that, they’ll give you some kind of refund. This guarantee is good, although you should be cautious because it could lead to them being too aggressive to get short-term results, which could be dangerous or illegal.

 

Instead, guaranteeing you a number one ranking means that, even with a difficult term, the agency guarantees you a number one ranking in search results.

 

What tools do they use?

 

When we use the word “tool” it usually describes a wide variety of SEO applications that allow you to process a lot of information in a short time and save a lot of money.

 

Here are some of them:

 

• Reporting Tools: Although we know that reports can be created manually, it’s much easier to create a custom, computerized report that combines analytics, keyword rankings, and other SEO metrics.
• Link building tools: these are tools that allow creating hundreds or thousands of links with the click of a button.
• Technical tools: do you know tools like ScreamingFrog? This allows SEOs to quickly track large sites when there is a technical problem.
• Research tools: These are the tools that allow you to collect contact information for numerous people in minutes. An example of them is BuzzStream. These types of tools help to group potential clients and carry out keyword research.

 

They design these tools to comment on hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs, forums, or 2.0 websites, as it automates them. However, if the SEO company names tools like Xrumer, SE Nuke, or Bookmarking Demon, stay away – it’s not a suitable option.

 

Therefore, it might be helpful to ask questions before hiring an SEO agency regarding these tools.

 

Likewise, another application that is partially inadvisable is Scrapebox, since they can use it for spam comments on blogs, but they can also use it for legitimate investigation and reporting activities. If your SEO Company specifically mentions Scrapebox, ask for more details about how they use it.

 

Could you specify what SEO tasks you will do in my business? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

This question is of great importance before hiring an SEO agency. This is because the person in charge of answering this question should have developed at least a basic technical SEO audit and once they hire the agency, they should show said audit.

 

If, on the contrary, this isn’t part of their process, they are probably not very good SEO and we recommend that you be careful, as technical SEO involves all the in-depth aspects of SEO that search engines are still interested in.

 

These are things like finding and addressing web crawler errors, 404 pages, redirect issues, and testing site navigation, meaning, tasks any SEO agency should know about. Don’t let them fool you.

 

Do you always follow Google’s best practices?

 

It may be true that following Google’s best practices is important for long-term traffic growth, but let’s not forget that Google uses approximately 500 algorithm updates per year.

 

All these updates have a single purpose: to facilitate the best results for search engines. Each of them publishes the search engine rules, known as the “golden rules”.

 

So when you break the rules, Google doesn’t end up happy. For this reason, they have created certain algorithms that have penalized many sites with easy access for being hacked.

 

When you get a penalty, your web traffic is the most affected and it may take months or even years of recovery work to correct it. You can also lose tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue during this time. We recommend that you think long-term. Don’t forget that quality SEO takes time.

 

Do you offer an out clause? 39 questions to ask before hiring an SEO agency

 

This wise question before hiring an SEO agency will ensure that there is an exclusion clause in the contract. Thirty days in advance can be a good starting point.

 

This clause will prevent you from losing your earnings.

 

Once you find the right agency, give the agency six to nine months before making any rash decisions.

 

Why should we hire them over other SEOs?

 

Perhaps this is the last question before hiring an SEO agency. This question can help you know what you are looking for in your company. Because it’s a fairly open question, it doesn’t have a correct answer, but it can give you some idea of what the agency can expect.

 

However, here are some answers that could alert you to a poor SEO agency. Be careful if they respond by expressing something related to:

 

• “We are the cheapest option.”
• “Build you more backlinks (external links)”.
• “Don’t know.”
• “Get excellent results in a short time.”

 

Given these answers, act smart and know what the work of this agency will be like. Without a good SEO job, you cannot add tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to your corporate account. The SEO service is an investment that takes at least a few months before you see significant results.

 

If the SEO professional recommends you to take shortcuts or be extremely aggressive with link building, it’s best to move on to the next candidate with the key questions before hiring an SEO agency.

 

Ideally, when you ask this question they will respond by referring to their experience that should include their successes, their satisfied clients, and the prestige the agency has in the industry.

 

Are you starting your business and don’t know who to hire to drive your business?

 

Then write to us and we will gladly assist you. We have a specialized team to support you at all times.

 

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Marketing lovers may know the answer to this question but, for beginners, and it’s a pleasure to expand their knowledge. Today we will detail important information about Black Hat SEO. Are you ready?

 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it’s a technique used to high position a website on Google’s search results.

 

You understand, right? Very good!

 

What is Black Hat SEO then?

 

You may or may not know, but we are here to help you learn everything there’s to know about the Marketing World.

 

We call Black Hat SEO; the web positioning techniques that seek to achieve fast results by avoiding Google standards. They base this deception on confusing the search engine to move up the ranking results.

 

Even though Black Hat SEO can get some immediate results, in the long run, it’s never worth it. Once the search engine discovers any attempt to cheat its algorithm, the penalties are very serious. For this reason, when implementing Black Hat SEO, the opposite desired effect is the only thing achieved. Surely that’s not the idea, right?

 

Likewise, Black Hat SEO has another problem, which is that it doesn’t have any tolerance towards end-users. And while it may be effective in the short term, it usually ends up being detrimental to a company’s marketing objectives.

 

For this reason, we always recommend following the ethical standards of SEO or White Hat SEO, step by step. That way, you will be able to build a solid foundation on which to base your campaigns.

   

Black Hat SEO characteristics

Some characteristics of the Black Hat SEO technique are:  

1. They defy the norms and rules proposed by search engines
2. They interrupt user navigation due to the techniques used.
3. Messy pages with inconsistent texts.
4. Possibility of malware on the website to which they implemented this technique.

 

You will ask yourself, what is malware? What is Black Hat SEO?

 

Malware means malicious software.

 

It’s a malicious program or software that performs harmful actions on a computer system intentionally and without the user’s knowledge.

 

What do you think? Amazing, right?

 

Search engines, on the other hand, notice when the web developer implements improper techniques on a web page.

 

However, some practices have not yet been determined if they are Black Hat SEO or not.

 

SEO is an essential element of the preparation, correction, and maintenance of advertising campaigns on the Internet and web pages.

 

It’s a technique that works both to improve content dissemination and to make itself known.

 

A properly implemented SEO will make it easier for different search engines to get the data from your page.

 

This set of measures not only contemplates positioning techniques but content optimization is also relevant.

 

A high-quality technical SEO campaign will not make any sense if the website’s text is inconsistent.

 

There are companies that in the past incorporated meaningless texts on their pages and so, they got a penalty. 

 

Black Hat SEO is illegal?

 

Black Hat SEO isn’t an illegal practice unless you attack another website.

 

If you do, this will cause Google to reject you from its services.

 

However, those experts in Black Hat SEO, deceive search engines to keep profiting from this questionable strategy.

 

Not getting caught by search engines is not an easy task.

 

For this, they have to believe that you have a 100% natural SEO positioning.

 

What does a Black Hat SEO specialist do?

 

We previously explained what Black Hat SEO is. Now, a specialist in this technique is an expert in both Search Engine Optimization and web programming.

 

This professional has extensive knowledge and experience in the techniques that benefit webpage positioning concerning a certain keyword.

 

We divided the functions of a specialist into two types: one from SEO1 and the other from the SEO2 consultant.

 

The SEO consultant profile classifications are:

 

• Technical SEO.
• Creative SEO or content. 
• Analyst.
• Strategic.

 

It takes a lot of practice and effort to get this profile.

 

It’s not only about studying web positioning techniques but also testing the potential of a website.

 

Among the principal functions of a SEO2 Consultant are:

 

• Plan a company’s web positioning strategy.
• Keyword analysis.
• Successfully plan and implement On-Page and Off-Page optimization of a website.

 

What is On-Page Optimization? What is Black Hat SEO?

 

On-Page Optimization applies to all the changes that take place on a website.

 

Such as measures related to the content and structure of the website.

 

It all starts with the selection of keywords to achieve a good ranking in the SERPs.

 

This stands for Search Engine Result Pages, or in other words, the pages of results of the search engines.

   

So Off-Page Optimization is the opposite, right?

 

Off-Page optimization are techniques focused on obtaining external links leading a website to improve its organic positioning on search engines.

 

While SEO On-Page optimizes the internal elements of a web page: structure, improvement of texts, use of keywords, etc. SEO Off-Page implements strategies outside of it.

 

Surely, there are no more doubts, are there?

 

Let’s continue!

 

What is Black Hat SEO? SEO2 Functions:

 

•  Identify the principal sources of traffic and get relevant information from them.
•  Design of dashboards.

 

The dashboard is the instrument panel, it’s like a graph that shows the most important indicators when achieving specific objectives in a business.

 

• Crisis management and negative SEO

 

An SEO consultant is also responsible for preventing a website from being manipulated by Black Hat SEO techniques. It’s also responsible for managing crises that may affect a company’s website.

 

When we mention negative SEO, we’re talking about Black Hat SEO, which aims to sabotage the organic ranking and positioning of a competitor in the search results.

 

So when a search engine algorithm detects this malpractice, it penalizes the websites that are performing them. Thus reducing their organic ranking and positioning, or worse, deleting them from the search results.

 

It should be clear by now, right? What is Black Hat SEO?

 

• Planning link building strategies

 

Link building is an outstanding marketing practice aimed at optimizing a search engine positioning.

 

Likewise, it’s all the actions it carries out to ensure the linking of a website to increase its popularity.

 

• Monitor and measure the performance of a web page, What is Black Hat SEO?

 

What do we mean by this?

 

An SEO specialist measures and tracks the number of visits, users, page views, views per page, and the bounce rate.

 

• Continuous On-Page Optimization

 

Previously, we specified what On-Page Optimization was, and how regularly we should do it. This ensures that both potential customers and search engine robots can correctly interpret the content of a website.

 

Likewise, with a good SEO On-Page setup, search engines can easily index web pages and easily understand the website’s structure. Finally, an SEO specialist with a Black Hat focus has an advanced knowledge on all the profiles described above.

 

SEO as teaching

 

SEO is a discipline that has changed a lot in recent years. Why is that?

 

Let’s look at the many updates that Google has implemented and how these gave a 180-degree turn to SEO’s understanding. Marketing and everything it entails, is developing more and more.

 

Always remember to monitor Google updates and how they are used!

 

SEO is a growing activity. This is because companies are convinced of the strategic importance that being on the first page of search engine results entails. We should keep in mind that SEO is integrated into what makes up your business strategy, and your company’s communication policy. 

 

Additionally, it’s essential to remember that the good positioning of websites is due to the work of an SEO Optimization specialized team. Its results, although not immediate, are effective. Therefore, it’s an investment that offers a glorious return, being a marketing tool whose results are lasting.

 

What are Black Hat SEO techniques?

 

Before, we mentioned and explained what we mean by that term and what it consists of.

 

Next, we will explain what their employment techniques are:

 

• Keyword Stuffing, What is Black Hat SEO?

 

This technique consists of frequently repeating the keyword within the text of the website with the intention of positioning it. 

 

• The spinning of Contents (Or Spinning)

 

Here, unlike the previous one. With the use of an automatic software, it modifies pre-existing articles in the network to later change them with synonyms.

 

• Hidden Text, What is Black Hat SEO?

 

This is one of the oldest techniques.

 

It’s used to hide text or keywords with the same background color, with a size small enough that the user won’t perceive it.

       

• Spam Comments on Blogs

It places worthless comments on blogs with the sole intention of getting visits to the website.

           

• Cloaking, What is Black Hat SEO?

 

This technique shows one content to search engines and another to users.

 

The page that search engines observe is over-optimized with the keywords it tries to position.

         

• Buying expired domains

 

It’s about buying domains that expired but still maintain the influence authority to position new websites or redirect users to where it wants them.

       

• Link Spam, What is Black Hat SEO?

 

It creates hundreds of inferior quality blogs and websites to implement link building on other websites.

 

To improve their indexing and positioning, thus creating a great pyramid of links.

 

How awful!

   

• Buy-Sell links

 

It’s about buying and selling links on websites with top domain authority to gain notoriety and improve ranking position.

 

Such practices will never stop as long as the algorithm keeps giving importance to these websites.

 

• Page Hijacking, What is Black Hat SEO?

 

It consists of hijacking a page to create a very similar copy. That way, the search engine believes that the copy is the original.

 

Don’t fall for copies!

 

• Negative SEO

   

It’s about the use of various techniques to harm the competition.

 

Either by speaking ill, sending bulk backlinks of poor quality, or sending them SPAM.

 

This only results in the loss of position in the long term.

 

It ends up losing its favorable position in the search engine results for a short term benefit.

   

• Mass mailing (SPAM), What is Black Hat SEO?

 

We certainly have fallen for this technique. It refers to massive SPAM towards emails consented by users.

 

It’s not bad. But if you use lists with thousands of emails to send mass mailings commercially, then it is.

 

Mass mailing aims to capture a part of these users to get commercial benefits, don’t abuse it.

 

Always delete SPAM!

 

• Abuse guest posts

Guess what this technique is about!

 

It produces quality backlinks, which is a process that should be built organically.

 

Posting articles on other blogs can be useful to make yourself known. Although, It’s recommended to not base your website on guest posts since Google will doubt whether you generate content.

 

You must generate backlinks from unique sources because, otherwise, you will get a penalty.

   

• Send products for a link. What is Black Hat SEO?

 

It’s a hidden way to buy links. You offer a product or service for an external link to your website.

           

• Agreed backlink exchanges.

 

Link swapping between blogs was a heavily used technique 10 years ago, and it worked until Google stopped it.

 

Web developers used to base their link building strategy on this practice.

         

• Create automatic websites. What is Black Hat SEO?

 

This practice is still used, but Google has improved its algorithm to the point of penalizing these websites. 

     

• Buy featured positions in directories.

 

It may seem ironic to you, but some directories offer to put your home page on some prominent website.

 

It’s a way to get a backlink from the website’s home page.

 

However, Google knows very well that you pay for these locations.

       

• Misleading clickbait. What is Black Hat SEO?

 

Clickbait refers to the creation of sensational titles.

 

For example: “You will not believe what happened to this woman when she called a locksmith.”

 

This feature became very fashionable 7 years ago and worked very well, especially on Facebook.

 

However, Google and its users grew tired of this practice.

   

• Creation of PBNs or Private Blog Networks.

 

Did you know that PBNs became popular 4 years ago?

 

The same web developer created blogs in different IPs and hostings and then linked the websites they wanted to position from their network.

 

Google, our faithful friend who does not fail, refined its algorithm to detect these patterns and penalized them all.

       

• Abuse of links in the footer of a web. What is Black Hat SEO?

 

Some web developers use the footer of their website to link to other websites.

 

For example:

 

“Web positioning in Mallorca” and repeat that link with all the Spanish provinces.

 

These links only change the province and then redirect to very poor websites with poor quality text.

 

• Tools that leave automatic comments.

 

These are tools that because of their use of proxies, leave thousands of spam comments on WordPress websites.

 

Surely you have received comments of this type.

 

Therefore, it’s necessary to put an anti-spam plugin on the website.

 

What are proxies?

 

They are servers that act as mediators in requests for resources made by a client to another server.

 

• Changing the content of the post once you have reached a good ranking.

 

This is another technique that is old and used.

 

It creates a spectacular post that ends up positioning itself in the first positions.

 

Then, it changes the content of the article to commercial content to make money with affiliates.

 

Over time, the user changes and the post ends up disappearing.

 

• 301 redirects to sell traffic. What is Black Hat SEO?

 

Although it may not seem like it, it’s a heavily used tactic on movie download sites that have hundreds of thousands of visits daily.

 

They sell traffic to other web developers because of a 301 redirect that they implement somewhere on their website. 

 

They also place links to their customers’ websites on the “Download” buttons. This leads to a monumental waste of time and an unpleasant user experience. Surely you have fallen into these tricks.

 

• Overuse of keywords

 

Some people make gigantic spam from the moment of purchasing the domain. For example, plumberensalamanca.es. 

 

After this, they buy backlinks and all the anchor texts are like “Plumber in Salamanca”, which leads to a certain penalty.

 

Backlinks are the links that a web page receives from other websites.

 

Anchor text is the visible text on a link or hyperlink that provides information about content to which we want to direct the user and search engines.

 

• Negative SEO towards competition.What is Black Hat SEO?

 

Such a technique is disastrous and almost illegal. It consists of creating links from penalized websites to your competition.

 

Some of them carry these practices in the competition’s name. Google has stated many times that its algorithm knows how to detect this practice.

 

Would you like to improve the SEO of your page?

 

What is Black Hat SEO? Contact us, we are just a click away!

 

We are a company specialized in SEO with a team of talented experts who will provide you with the solution to your problems. We are grateful to be one of your options when informing you.

 

If you have any doubt or question, you can leave it in the comments.

 

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