Local NC Based SEO Agency
NC SEO experts
z5 Marketing specializes in providing North Carolina seo services to small and mid-sized businesses throughout the state.
Through the application of advanced search engine optimization techniques we help local businesses become unavoidable on the internet.
We are proud to be a North Carolina based digital marketing agency and take great pride in helping fellow North Carolina business owners dominate their online markets.
While we do offer many other NC digital marketing services, SEO is a uniquely powerful form of marketing because of its ability to turn your website into an income producing digital asset for your business.
Partnering with a marketing agency that can help you rank on page #1 for strategic keywords is a game changer for most businesses.
Why Choose SEO Over Other Marketing Methods
Search engine optimization services
SEO (search engine optimization) is by far the best choice for those seeking long lasting results from their marketing dollars.
There is no other form of marketing quite like search engine optimization. When done correctly your investment can provide you with new customers for years to come.
If you are wanting to get your business website to the top of online search results you came to the right place.
At z5 Marketing, we help small business owners turn their websites into digital assets for their businesses.
If you are a local North Carolina business owner we would love to talk with you about ways we can help you turn your website into well-oiled marketing machine.
We specialize in both organic search results (see image below) and local business maps ranking for small businesses.
What Is Search Engine Optimization
Example Of Search Engine Optimization In Charlotte NC
Search engine optimization is the process of optimizing your website in an effort to help it better communicate with search engines.
The end goal of SEO is to 1st get your website on page #1 of search results for a specific keyword and then to rank it in the #1 position at the top of the page (as seen in the example above).
If your website ranks for both of the top position above (maps and organic) your business can expect about 40 – 50% of the traffic and phone calls from that search!
However, if your website ranks below the first page then it will be lucky to receive any free traffic from these exact same search. In this scenario, a business owner would have to rely on paid advertising, social media marketing and other sources if they ever want to see much traffic on their website.
In short search engine optimization is free traffic (after the initial investment to rank your site) from motivated buyers .
While SEO is not always a quick process to get results put when you do start getting the results they are a long-term solution. This makes it the most cost-effective way to consistently generate more quality leads and phone calls for your business.
How Does It Work (short and quick)
There are many aspects to SEO and it is something that is continually evolving. So to understand SEO you must first understand the goal of search engines.
The end goal for search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc) is to return the most relevant content for their user’s searches. This is what keeps them coming back over and over again to their site. So it is in the search engines best interest to provide the best answers to their user’s searches.
A major misconception is that many people view SEO as a way of manipulating the search engines to “game the system”, but that’s not really the case “anymore“.
True search engine optimization is more of a scientific calculation of knowing what search engines are looking for and making your site fit into that criteria.
A good SEO may invest years studying and testing, trying to better understand and crack search engine algorithms (this is why it can be expensive depending on the quality of the person or team you are hiring).
In recent years search engines have begun to use user interaction data from your website as an important ranking factor of a “quality website”.
So unlike the spammy SEO of the past where you could basically just stuff a bunch of keywords into your page to manipulate search engine results, search engines have wised up to that game.
While strategic keywords are still very important, it’s now becoming vital that you do things right and also provide useful content to help increase visitor engagement and dwell time on your website.
This creates a win/win scenario for everyone involved when you are delivering quality content that users are searching for.
In fact, Google even publishes basic SEO guidelines of what they are looking for and how to improve a sites search rankings.
Of course, there is a lot more to it than this but we don’t want to bore you with the techy details.
Top 4 Ways To Increase Your Websites Search Engine Rankings
- Optimize your entire website – Website optimization has many aspects but in a nutshell, it is optimizing your website so that search engine computers that crawl your site are better able to understand what your site is about. Search engines want to provide the most relevant search results to their users. In order to do this, you must make sure the search engines know what your site is about and provide a good user experience for your visitors. For more information on search engine optimization, Google publishes a basic search engine optimization guide for those that want to learn more details about what their algorithms are looking for.
- Make pages mobile friendly – In recent years mobile devices (phones & tablets) have overtaken computers for the most used devices to surf the internet. In an effort to provide a better user experience Google now has separate search results for mobile devices. With over 50% of searches now coming from these devices, this could have a detrimental effect on your search results if your website is not mobile friendly.
- Create Great Content – As stated before search engines want to provide a great user experience for their users (and you should too), so if your website’s content is not well written, poorly laid out or lacking structure, this will often have a huge impact on a websites search rankings.
- Get links to your website – Links are not as important as they once were but they still play an important role in how your site will rank against other websites. Look at links as a referral or vote for your site from another website telling Google that your site is a credible source of similar content.
Growing Complexity Of Search Engine Ranking Factors
Search engines have evolved and come a long way from those early internet days. In the early days it was mainly about Onsite SEO (the SEO in the content of your website) but nowadays a lot of weight is being put on user engagement and other Off-Site factors.
One of the most important ranking factors in recent years is the emphasis on users behavior once a visitor is on your site and another is how well your content is circulated on social media (liked and shared).
Both of these factors are key indicators of high-quality content that users want to engage with which should have been the goal of websites all along (or at least for long-term results).
Basically in a nutshell, if you are cutting corners and looking for shortcuts eventually your site will get smacked down by the search engines. It is only a matter of time!
However, if you want to create long-term results that will keep you ahead of your competition for years to come…
It is important that you do things the right way!
This often includes things like a
- well-planned site architecture
- solid information architecture
- good onsite SEO
- high-quality content
- good user metrics
- and more…
The point is, it’s not really that one thing that you do “anymore” but rather a combination of doing many things well over a period of time that create the lasting results that most business owners want for their website.
5 Tips To Avoid Getting Ripped Off By An SEO Agency
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for unknowing business owners to get burned by shady SEO agencies.
These so-called “SEO agencies” typically easy to spot because they make big claims of FAST unrealistic results at bargain prices.
When in all reality they usually end up delivering very little if any results at all.
So in an effort to help business owners we put together a short list of warning signs you should be aware of before hiring your next SEO agency.
- Ranking Guarantees – The reality is that search engines can change their algorithms at any moment and no SEO Agency has control over that. This should be an ethical red flag and a high likely hood of being overpromised other things as well. Be leary of those who promise things that they have no control over.
- Promised Quick Results – SEO is NOT an immediate process, it often requires a lot of consistent effort on the front end before you will begin to see results. You should typically avoid agencies who promise results in under 3 months. Even if they do deliver they are probably taking shortcuts that will more than likely get your site penalized at some point in the future.
- Low Cost – SEO is a highly valuable skillset and you will get what you pay. It is actually a very time-consuming process that requires a lot of work. When done correctly it has the power to change a business’s bottom line and should provide a very high ROI (return on investment). However, if done incorrectly by an amateur it can be very costly and even get your site penalized or removed from the search engine results completely. Avoid abnormally low priced SEO providers.
- Long-Term Contracts – If an agency does quality work why do they need to put you into a 12-24 month contract? In our opinion, you retention should be voluntary and not forced. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and this should definitely be considered a warning flag.
- Lack Of Reporting – At a minimum, you should be provided with at least monthly data showing your site’s performance and any results or lack thereof for the money you are investing. Open communication is key and you should typically start seeing noticeable results within the first 3 – 6 months depending on how broad and how competitive your market is.
Our Website Optimization Services
- SEO Website Audits – A full audit of your sites current SEO with suggestions and recommendations
- Onsite Optimization – Ranking factors within the code and content of your website
- Offsite Optimization – Ranking factors outside of your website (backlinks, social media mentions, etc)
- Local Maps Listings – Rank in Google and Bing local maps listings
- SEO Consulting – Ongoing search engine optimization guidance for your site
Our North Carolina Digital Marketing Local Service Hubs
While we service clients throughout the state of North Carolina remotely, if you are near one of our local service hubs you can schedule an in-person meeting to discuss your next SEO project.
Work With Local NC SEO Experts
To learn first hand why we are considered NC SEO experts, contact us today to discuss your next project.