SEO Pricing Guide for 2024: How Much to Invest for Results

Vibhu Satpaul

Sep 27, 2023

10 min read

Why Do You Need SEO Services?
What Consists of SEO Services?
How Much Does SEO Cost?
Factors Determining SEO Costing: What Impacts the Costing?
What Are The SEO Pricing Models?
What Saffron Edge Can Offer You?

With the significant expansion of digital marketing, establishing a robust online presence is crucial for companies. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the most critical dot that connects your business with its most significant asset – your customers. Every year, trends in SEO change, and 2023, the significance of SEO has only intensified. With time, SEO emerged as one of the most effective channels for acquiring new customers, and with nearly half of all marketing teams increasing their digital marketing budgets for this year, the spotlight on SEO costs in 2023 is brighter than ever.

According to the Pew Research Center, 93% of adults in the US surf the internet, which makes it an opportunity for companies to reach out to this massive base for their business. If you are among the savvy marketers seeking to boost your SEO game, you will likely do extensive research on SEO costs in the year ahead. This blog will help you gain a clear understanding of what to anticipate. Regardless of the size of your budget, substantial or modest, we offer guidance to help you make informed decisions about the right paid SEO services for your unique needs. So, keep on reading this for better SEO pricing insights.

Why Do You Need SEO Services?

Before we dive into the SEO pricing trends, we need to know why SEO services are essential with our SEO guide. The need for SEO services can be summed up in one answer: visibility. This visibility is the most critical aspect for a company to profit from its digital strategy. Approximately 75% of users only scroll up to the first page of search results. In practical terms, if you want to expand your business's online presence and attract potential customers, securing a prominent position among the top search results for relevant keywords and phrases is a ‘must-have.’

The equation is simple: the higher your website ranks in search results, the greater the number of users who will discover and explore your online platform. This will further contribute to a broader customer base and increased revenue potential for your business. In essence, SEO services are the key that unlocks the door to enhanced visibility, expanded reach, and improved profitability in the digital world.

What Consists of SEO Services?

SEO services comprise a comprehensive approach to enhancing your online presence and search engine visibility. These services encompass two fundamental components: on-page and off-page optimization, along with crucial elements like SEO audits, keyword research, link building, and reporting:

On-Page Optimization: This aspect focuses on optimizing your website's pages to align with user search intent. It involves strategically incorporating target keywords into critical areas of your page, such as headings, meta tags, and content. On-page optimization ensures that your website provides valuable and relevant information to your target audience, making it more search-engine friendly. However, it's essential to recognize that on-page optimization alone can only take your SEO efforts so far.
Off-Page Optimization: A significant portion of SEO services is about off-page optimization, involving activities apart from your website to build its authority and credibility. Approximately 75% of the SEO is about off-page, and only 25% is about on-page only. A critical aspect of off-page SEO is attracting high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites. Search engines perceive these links as votes of confidence, which helps a site with valuable content and information. This means that off-page optimization demonstrates to search engines that your website is a valuable resource for individuals seeking answers or solutions.
SEO Audit: An SEO audit comprehensively evaluates your website's current SEO performance. It involves analyzing factors such as site structure, content quality , on-page optimization, backlink profile, and technical SEO elements. The audit identifies strengths and weaknesses, helping formulate an effective SEO strategy.
Reporting: Regular reporting is a fundamental part of SEO services. It includes the monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) and the measurement of progress. SEO professionals track your website's rankings, organic traffic, and other relevant factors to help you understand the current situation. These reports help you understand the level of your SEO efforts and how to make better-informed decisions for ongoing optimization.
Keyword Research: Keyword research involves comprehensive market analysis and competitor research to pinpoint potential customers' terms and queries when searching online. These identified keywords form the bedrock of your SEO strategy, ensuring that your website's content contains what your target audience is actively seeking. By using these keywords in your web content, including headings, meta descriptions, and body text, SEO professionals aim to optimize your website for search engine ranking success.
Link Building: Link building is a significant part of SEO that cannot be overstated. Search engines regard high-quality backlinks from authoritative and reputable websites to check your website's credibility and relevance. SEO gives a different approach to building such backlinks. This includes establishing connections with other industry-specific websites, online directories, and credible sources to secure valuable links to your site. Effective link building is vital in building bridges between your website and the vast digital landscape, ultimately bolstering your online presence.
Content Creation and Optimization: Quality content engages and informs your audience and contributes to SEO success. SEO services often encompass creating and optimizing content that is engaging, informative, and strategically rich in keywords. This content is carefully generated to resonate with your target audience, addressing their needs, questions, and pain points. SEO professionals ensure that every piece of content aligns with your SEO strategy, incorporating relevant keywords seamlessly while maintaining the highest standards of readability and user-friendliness. Content optimization also extends to ensuring that the structure and format of your content are SEO-friendly, enhancing its visibility and rank in search engine results.

How Much Does SEO Cost?

Many factors determine the cost of SEO services. Some research indicates that SEO costs range from approximately $3,000 to $7,500 per month. However, this cost range is flexible since it can change with time, region, and requirements. For instance, if you focus on local SEO efforts, the monthly average can be notably lower, hovering around $1,400.

Factors Determining SEO Costing: What Impacts the Costing?

Below are the critical factors on which the SEO cost depends and which help companies determine a comprehensive evaluation:

Technical Aptitude of Your Website: The foundation of your website's technical infrastructure plays a significant role in SEO costing. Websites designed with SEO and eCommerce best practices current SEO trends in mind are more cost-effective to optimize. On the other hand, websites that are developed on content management systems (CMS) lacking SEO optimization capabilities may require more resources and effort.
Existing Visibility in Organic Search: If your website is brand new, with zero domain authority and no existing rankings, you may need to invest more in SEO or be prepared for a longer timeline to see tangible results.
Brand Awareness and Exposure: Your current level of brand recognition can influence SEO costs. Brands with higher visibility often enjoy certain advantages in SEO optimization.
Business Goals and Objectives: Your specific business objectives and the role you envision organic search traffic playing in achieving those goals will impact the cost of SEO services.
Competition: The level of competitiveness within your industry and the specific keywords you wish to target can affect SEO pricing. Highly competitive niches may require more resources and a more robust strategy.
Urgency: SEO is a long-term strategy, and quicker results often necessitate increased investment in time and resources.
Target Audience and Demographic: Whether you are targeting a local, national, or global audience can influence the overall cost of your SEO campaign.
Expertise Level of the SEO Provider: The experience and expertise of the SEO agency you choose can also impact costs. Companies with more experience and a huge portfolio may charge higher rates due to their consistent results claims.
Location of the SEO Agency: The geographic location of the SEO agency can have cost implications. Agencies in areas with higher living costs and other miscellaneous expenses may charge more for their services.
Competency in Your Target Language: If your target audience primarily speaks a specific language, ensure your SEO provider has a firm grasp of that language. Language proficiency can influence pricing and the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.
Level of Expertise in Your Niche: SEO agencies with experience in your industry may charge higher rates due to their specialized knowledge and ability to tailor strategies to your specific niche.

What Are The SEO Pricing Models?

There are different kinds of pricing models that you can see in the SEO field. These models are essential for businesses investing in effective digital marketing strategies. SEO pricing can differ based on how services are structured. Here are the primary SEO pricing models explained in simple terms:

Retainer-Based SEO Pricing & Monthly Plans: Many SEO companies offer retainer-based pricing, which involves signing monthly or annual contracts based on a calendar month. These contracts typically include ongoing SEO services. Effective communication between the SEO agency and the client is crucial to achieving the best results.
While monthly plans are standard, there may be more effective approaches than one-size-fits-all monthly packages. Some SEO agencies offer packages with a fixed number of services, such as articles written, backlinks gained, or pages optimized. However, these pre-packaged offerings may only consider some clients' unique needs.
SEO Hourly Rates: SEO pricing can be available at hourly rates. The cost of SEO services can vary significantly, ranging from approximately $50 per hour to over $250 per hour, depending on the SEO agency's reputation and expertise. For instance, renowned SEO experts like Neil Patel may charge considerably higher rates. It's worth noting that while some individuals or small providers may offer lower rates, the quality of their services can vary widely. When considering hourly rates, assessing the provider's qualifications and track record is essential to ensure you receive value for your investment.
One-Time SEO Costs: Businesses may also encounter one-time SEO costs, particularly if they require specific SEO services without committing to ongoing contracts. One typical example is an SEO audit, which is like a health check for your website. Just as a doctor evaluates your physical health, an SEO audit assesses your website's technical structure, content quality, and visibility on search engines. The purpose is to identify any issues hindering your website's ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Once the audit is complete, you can hire an SEO company for further services or address the identified issues in-house. This flexibility allows you to tailor your SEO investment to your specific needs.

What Saffron Edge Can Offer You?

At Saffron Edge, we understand that every business has unique goals and budgets. We offer highly customized SEO solutions and flexible pricing models to meet your needs. Here's what sets us apart:

Tailored Solutions: We create customized SEO packages to address your unique requirements like local SEO, link building, ecommerce SEO, and others, ensuring your strategy aligns with your goals.
Flexible Pricing Models: Whether you prefer monthly plans, hourly rates, or one-time projects, we have options to suit your budget and preferences.
Proven Expertise: Our experienced team stays up-to-date with industry trends and search engine algorithms to deliver effective SEO strategies.
Measurable Results: Our team provides transparent, data-driven strategies that allow you to track your SEO campaign's progress and see tangible results.
Dedicated Support: With Saffron Edge, you have a dedicated team that values open communication and collaboration throughout your SEO journey.

Choose Saffron Edge as your SEO partner to navigate the complexities of SEO pricing and achieve online success tailored to your unique business goals. Wrapping Up With intensive knowledge about how the SEO field works and what costs you need to incur while opting for SEO services, you can make better and more informed decisions for the business budget. These services help you gain more profits and reach more customers in the long run.

At Saffron Edge, we help businesses to gain a competitive edge over the other players in their respective markets. We offer the best SEO services that drive organic traffic, boost visibility, and enhance online presence. If you want to hire an SEO expert to help you with your digital requirements, contact Saffron Edge.

Whether you seek monthly plans, hourly rate services, or one-time SEO projects, Saffron Edge is the right place for you. So, why wait? Get a free quote and free website audit from us!

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How Outsourcing Your Inbound Marketing Can Make Your Brand More Customer-Centric

Being a VP or Business Development Director leaves you in the cold hands of worry about the upgrowth of your business empire. Collaboration sometimes plays a very important role, mostly helping you get connected to your colleagues in the industry who may render any useful assistance. Outsourcing, on the other hand, is another advantage you’re assumed to profit from mutual relationship with businesses of like mind. Inbound marketing is an element of constant change, hence, observing ideas and strategies from multifarious channels and incorporating them into your plan is a noteworthy idea. Great benefits lies in outsourced inbound marketing, as this can make your brand more customer-centric, as well as increasing conversion ratio. Specialization Prevails Do you know that inbound marketing requires a wide spectrum of specialized skills and acquisition? Its sure that you would find a chain of professionals who focuses on different specialization in the process. Some of them includes the Content Writers/developers SEO/SMO specialists CRO Professionals PPC Managers Web Designers/Developers Graphics Designers Nurturing/Automation etc In addition, services of similar agencies can also be employed to ascertain projects in order to ensure a successful outcome. Marketing Automation Regardless of the type of business you manage, handle or run, the need of modern day automation in your business is 98% required to help things get better. This is where the role of marketing automation comes into play. The marketing automation tools are software that helps to make the job process easier and performable. Series of software that is designed to assist you in prioritizing and executing the marketing tasks ahead of you. What makes the whole process very interesting is that these software operates in an efficient and more streamlined way. Engage an entire team of marketing professionals at one place Only professional marketers think like this, it takes a deal of time and effort, plus more expenses to hire the services of professionals of different calibers. With regard to their specializations and skills, but with inbound marketing outsourcing, you’re sure to save more resources (Money, time, energy etc). For example, managing a medical organization would be a lot more profitable if web maintenance services are outsourced from one particular place (company, etc). This strategy decreases the expenses and time invested in employing specialists individually. Efficiency and Performance – It is certain that the marketing guru you contracted will have different obligations and outside responsibilities besides the job which you have assigned him/her to do for your company. This implies they won't be able to be as gainful and commit the time required to deal with inbound marketing processes. As to when compared to a well outsourced reputed company well supplied with skilful specialists. An inbound digital marketing colleague can mitigate the pitfalls connected with selecting the wrong framework or poor usage of the systems that will yield dull results. Grab the Competition by the horn Your competitors are not asleep, they are forever watching out for loopholes as to take advantage of it. With an outsourced team of inbound marketing professionals from your end. It is definitely going to be difficult for your competitors to find any breathing space to attack. ...

Successful SaaS marketing case study examples

Success stories emerge via the captivating lens of case studies in the changing environment of Saas marketing. 57% of SaaS companies consider content creation as a key marketing strategy. Success stories in B2B SaaS marketing are told through captivating case studies. The revolutionary impact of Software as a Service (SaaS) takes the front stage as the business ecosystem changes, transforming how organizations access and exploit software solutions.  This in-depth examination of SaaS marketing takes readers on a detailed trip through many case studies, providing a nuanced grasp of the nuances inherent in this creative business.SaaS has evolved into a driver of efficiency and agility, allowing organizations to adapt to fast-changing technology landscapes. Amidst this evolution, the strategic importance of saas ltv calculation and SaaS branding comes to the forefront, shaping the success stories that unfold within this creative business realm. Within the vast field, Saas Marketing case studies are essential lenses through which we may get insights into effective methods, navigate hurdles, and see the victories of forward-thinking businesses. According to almost 40% of SaaS marketers, case studies are highly effective in boosting sales. Understanding SaaS: A Primer SaaS is a paradigm change in software distribution that operates on a subscription-based approach. In contrast to traditional techniques, SaaS provides online access to applications, allowing users to obtain data from any internet-connected device. This novel technique prioritizes simplicity of deployment above scalability, a break from the complexity involved with standard software installation. Additionally, a SaaS marketing agency can help businesses effectively promote their software-as-a-service solutions to a broader audience.  SaaS's subscription-based strategy corresponds with modern business models and provides a cost-effective option, removing the need for large upfront expenditures. The dynamic character accommodates consumers' changing demands by providing a smooth, adaptable experience that adjusts to quick technological advancements. With its subscription-driven, accessible, and cost-effective architecture, SaaS emerges as a transformational force, altering the landscape of software use. T he integration of SaaS lead gen techniques further enhances its reach and impact, allowing businesses to efficiently generate leads in a market where the demand for popular saas products continues to grow. The SaaS Content Marketing Flywheel The SaaS content marketing flywheel, a dynamic cycle consisting of four critical stages: Adopt, Adore, Advocate, and Activate, is at the heart of efficient SaaS marketing. This strategy framework accelerates success by employing rich content at each stage of the buyer's journey, carefully optimizing the buyer's journey. Incorporating SaaS marketing SEO practices into this approach can enhance visibility and drive targeted traffic to your offerings.  The process starts with customer adoption, then moves on to cultivating devotion through compelling content, then to customer advocacy, and last to activation, which encourages continued connection. This cyclical strategy improves client retention and drives long-term growth, establishing a symbiotic link between content development and consumer involvement. Consequently, the SaaS content marketing flywheel emerges as a potent force, steering the continuous innovation and triumph of SaaS marketing tactics, emphasizing SaaS reporting and SaaS dashboard elements. SaaS Case Studies: Real-World Success DirectIQ: Reducing Customer Support Tickets DirectIQ's success story underscores the effectiveness of employing 'how-to' videos as a growth strategy in SaaS marketing. By prioritizing hands-on customer education and delivering personalized experiences, DirectIQ successfully reduced customer support tickets. This approach proactively addresses user queries and fosters a sense of customer self-sufficiency, contributing to increased user satisfaction and efficient problem resolution. SendOwl: Growing the User Base with Content Marketing SendOwl's triumph in growing its user base is attributed to a robust content marketing and SEO strategy. The company's success lies in adopting a customer-centric approach, focusing on strategic content creation to engage and educate its audience. By consistently delivering valuable content, SendOwl attracts new users through optimized search visibility and cultivates a loyal customer base. This underscores the significance of aligning content marketing efforts with user needs, demonstrating that a well-executed content strategy can drive substantial business growth. ChiroTouch: Transforming Zoom Training Videos for Onboarding ChiroTouch's innovative use of videos for customer onboarding showcases the power of clear communication and a straightforward tagline, "Power your practice with ChiroTouch." The company enhances user understanding and adoption by transforming Zoom training videos into a tool for effective onboarding. This strategy emphasizes the importance of leveraging existing technologies creatively to streamline onboarding processes, ensuring that users can maximize the benefits of the software without encountering barriers to entry. Drift: Building a Multi-Million Dollar Brand through Content Marketing Drift's ascent to a multi-million dollar brand is grounded in a targeted content marketing strategy. The company focuses on specific audience segments, incorporates collaborative efforts, and adheres to SEO best practices. Drift's success highlights the power of a well-defined content strategy that resonates with the intended audience and leverages partnerships to amplify reach. By following industry best practices, Drift demonstrates the transformative impact of strategic content marketing on brand building and revenue generation. Outreach.io: From Startup to a $1.1 Billion SaaS Company Outreach.io's journey narrates a compelling transformation from a struggling startup to a billion-dollar SaaS giant. Key elements of their success include a commitment to metric-driven processes and strategic acquisitions. This highlights the importance of data-driven decision-making in scaling a SaaS business and the strategic significance of acquisitions in expanding product offerings and market reach. Outreach.io's trajectory showcases the potential for rapid growth when guided by a clear vision, a focus on measurable outcomes, and strategic business expansion. A How-To Guide for Writing Effective SaaS Case Studies Unlocking the full potential of SaaS case studies necessitates a methodical approach. Begin with an enticing title that piques your curiosity, followed by a succinct executive summary. Dive deep into the issues at hand, providing a complete examination that sets the scene for the answers put in place. Present the results clearly, emphasizing the influence on the client's objectives. Finish with a summary emphasizing important insights and a compelling call to action, directing readers to the next steps. Promoting SaaS Case Studies: Expanding Your Reach A diverse advertising approach is required to maximize the reach of SaaS case studies. Use social media platforms, implement targeted email marketing, including case studies in blog posts, host webinars, and podcasts to discuss success stories, engage in PR outreach, invest in paid advertising, leverage customer testimonials, and empower the sales team with these powerful stories. Adapting messaging to various channels and audience preferences allows maximum engagement, enabling broader transmission of success stories and developing market trust. Avoiding Common Mistakes in SaaS Case Studies Avoid frequent traps to ensure the usefulness of SaaS case studies. Avoid presenting ambiguous or vague results, maintain a well-organized structure, provide insights into the process rather than solely focusing on outcomes, actively promote the case studies across relevant channels, and keep content updated to avoid it becoming obsolete. Avoiding these errors increases the effect of case studies and their legitimacy, making them useful weapons in the SaaS marketing armory. 5 Successful SaaS Marketing Case Study Examples Dominating the Digital Marketing Space with Semrush Semrush's trajectory demonstrates a concentration on product development, horizontal expansion, worldwide accessibility, influencer content marketing, and a successful affiliate program. Canva: Personalisation and Influencer Marketing for Success Canva's success is highlighted by its website personalization, influencer marketing with Guy Kawasaki, effective sponsored advertisements, and clever pricing approach. HubSpot: Leading the Way in Inbound Marketing for Holistic Solutions HubSpot's transition from email marketing to a full-service solution includes inbound marketing, various content formats, newsletters, videos, and smart website design. ConvertKit: Narrowing Your Focus and Leveraging Webinars for Growth ConvertKit's success stems from narrowing its target group, targeted webinars, and a strong affiliate program, demonstrating the importance of precise targeting. Slack: Revolutionizing Workplace Communication Slack's journey involves extensive product testing, word-of-mouth marketing, influencer partnerships, effective social media content, strategic integrations, and a focus on unique features like Slack Connect. The Role of a Case Study in SaaS Marketing Case studies help best SEO SaaS companies go beyond describing features and benefits. They provide tangible evidence of how a solution solves specific problems and delivers results for actual customers. Essential roles of case studies in SaaS marketing include building credibility, establishing trust, addressing pain points, demonstrating value, nurturing leads, differentiating from competitors, empowering sales teams, and enhancing content marketing. Conclusion: In conclusion, SaaS case studies serve as beacons of inspiration, offering tangible proof of how businesses navigate challenges, leverage innovative strategies, and achieve remarkable success in the realm of SaaS marketing. These real-world narratives provide valuable insights, guiding businesses on their transformative journey toward growth and efficiency in the digital age. By studying these case studies, SaaS companies can gain valuable insights into SaaS lead gen and inspiration to create impactful marketing strategies for their businesses. These case studies shed light on how businesses incorporate technical seo for SaaS to enhance their digital presence, attract qualified leads, and ultimately drive growth and success in the digital age. If you're ready to excel in marketing, consider professional help from Web Dew to elevate your SaaS brand's story on a global stage. ...

7 Ways to Ace Your SEO in 2019

The way search engines like Google rank websites changes everyday. Yes, you heard that right! Apart from the big algorithm changes that Google announces once in a while, certain little tweaks and optimizations are made to their algorithms everyday to provide better results to searchers which you don’t even know about. And 2019 is going to be no different! With a few new algorithms introduced this year, Google will give more importance to those websites that adhere to those algorithms for sure in some time to come. Also, Google is focusing more on providing the best search experience to their searchers and if your website doesn’t, you will lose a few rankings on the SERPs for sure in the year to come. So, what should you do exactly to stay in the good books of Google and ace your Search Engine Optimization in 2019? This post is all about that and a lot more. So, let’s dive right in - Rankbrain is going to be more prominent than ever Rankbrain is one of the most prominent algorithms Google has released in recent years. But what exactly is it? It is a Google indexing algorithm backed up with AI which promotes/demotes websites on SERPs based on a certain set of factors. It is designed in a way to make sure that the best results come first for searchers searching for a specific query. Since it’s a machine learning algorithm, it automatically adjusts websites on the SERPs and doesn’t require human intervention at all and can make changes to SERP almost instantly. But what’s it based on? The algorithm was implemented to make sure users get the best search engine experience and the websites that they click on do that as well. So, websites that focused more on providing the best UX to visitors were rewarded by gaining Google’s top real estate, which gets the most clicks. Doing all of that is handled by Rankbrain now. So, you’ll have to keep Rankbrain in mind and optimize the UX of your entire website to provide a better experience to the people who stumble on your website after searching on Google. Doing this is going to be extremely important in 2019! But to ace Rankbrain, you need to know the exact factors on the basis of which it grades websites on the SERPs, which are - 1. Dwell Time Dwell time is the time a visitor spends on your website. Obviously, a visitor won’t stay on your web page or blog if the content is irrelevant to them or is of bad quality. So, providing quality content that aligns with searchers intent is of utmost importance to excel in the Rankbrain era. 2. Click-Through-Rate Rankbrain is designed to look closely at the CTR of each and every web page on the internet to give an appropriate ranking to them. For example, if a search engine result on the 6th position is getting a higher number of clicks than a result on the 3rd position for the same query, Rankbrain would notice and bump up the rankings of the result on the 6th position. But since dwell time is a factor as well, just getting a higher number of clicks on your web pages will not be enough, you will have to provide the kind of content that makes users stay as well to improve your search engine rankings. Take care of these two factors for all your webpages & blogs and Rankbrain would do the rest. Go Mobile or go obsolete Google cares about their searchers. And apparently, a majority of them search for queries from their mobile devices. Mobile searchers have long surpassed desktop searchers and Google wants to provide them with the best user experience. For the same, Google rolled out the Mobile-first indexing algorithm in March this year which changed how the algorithm accessed websites forever. Under this new algorithm, Google crawlers would prefer a mobile website first for indexation and ranking to primarily provide better results to their mobile searchers. So, having a mobile website that properly supports your desktop website is not something you can procrastinate anymore, it has become an absolute necessity under this new algorithm. Google prefers having a mobile responsive website over other methods of going mobile because of its ease. But having a mobile website is not enough, you’ll have to provide a great user experience on your mobile website as well (remember, Rankbrain) to make an impact in 2019. Focus on working on the speed of your website According to a study performed by Google themselves, a website’s speed is the greatest factor that determines if a website’s UX is satisfactory or not. And since, Google has been lately focusing so much on providing a great user experience to all their users, they rolled out an update that ranked websites based on this sole factor. They called it the ‘Speed Update’. While the factor is not the heaviest, focusing on optimizing the speed of your website will certainly give you a advantage and it would greatly improve the UX of your website, which is always a nice thing to do under the watch of Rankbrain. To make your site load faster, you can get rid of heavy elements on your website or minify or combine scripts. Or else, you can use Google’s own tool to check and optimize the speed on your desktop and mobile website - PageSpeed Insights. This tool will tell you everything there is you can do to make your website load faster and perform better in SERPs. The increasing relevance of unlinked Brand mentions Google has long been solely dependant on backlinks for determining the authority of websites over the web. The general idea is, the more backlinks a website has, higher will be it’s authority in the eyes of Google, and higher it will be placed in SERPs. And it has been like this since the inception of Google. But all of this is going to change. The way your brand is mentioned over the web on social media conversations, blog posts, forums and any other medium is closely looked over by Google. It takes into account the tone, intent and context of each brand mention over the web to ascertain if it’s positive or negative and the way people talk about you over the web will certainly affect your ranking in 2019. ‘Unlinked brand mentions’ over the web are gaining relevance each day and it calls for social listening. You’ll have to jump on each and every conversation happening about your brand over the web and make sure it’s in positive light to maintain your brand reputation in the eyes of Google. Google’s Gary Illyes mentioned it himself. So, if you’re not actively monitoring your brand mentions over the web and making sure they add to the overall reputation of your brand, you will struggle to increase your search engine rankings is some time to come. To monitor your brand mentions over the web, you can make use of tools like ‘Awario’ and ‘Brand Mentions’ that would help you do just that with ease! Searchers are consuming more video content than ever People preferring to consume video content over any other type of content is nothing new and has long been a trend that’s still going strong. If you are looking to gain a lot of engagement from your audience on your website, social media or blogs, then video is certainly your best bet because people simply prefer video over anything else. Obviously, quickly watching a video about something is always easier than reading a ton of content and that’s why video is still so popular. In this world, where every brand is throwing up a lot of content on the web and is seeking attention from their audience, people have found a better way to consume content on a daily basis that quickly gives them the facts and is engaging to consume. So, if you’re not making use of Video, you're definitely missing out on a lot of engagement and additional SEO benefits. I would suggest you quickly start creating some video content for your brand and publish it on Youtube. Since, Youtube is owned by Google, you can also enjoy some obvious search engine benefits in the time to come. Target people searching for answers on Google Assistant Optimizing your content for voice searchers is currently a hot topic. And it has all the reasons to be. Voice searches globally are on a tremendous rise and you’ll be missing out if you don’t write content that targets those users head-on. But how do you target them? Here are 3 ways that would help Google Assistant pick your content over others when it comes to answering voice search queries put up by searchers - You need to be on the top 3 results for Google Assistant to even consider picking up your content. If your content appears in the featured snippet, your chances to get picked up by the Google Assistant increases by folds. Here’s how you can get featured in the featured snippet. Answer your own questions in your content. Usually, most of the voice queries start with a question and to answer that question, Google Assistant usually picks up the content that revolves around that exact question. So, try answering the most basic questions people might have around your focused keyword. To know more about what else you can do to target those voice searchers, Forbes compiled a list of best advices from 15 members of the Forbes Communications Council… do have a look at it. Quality content and backlinks are still important While the above suggested ways are vital to ace your SEO in 2019, don’t forget that content and backlinks are still the top ranking factors that matter the most to Google. With Google placing more importance on the user experience that each search engine result provides to users (Rankbrain), I think creating quality content should be your top priority for acing SEO In 2019. If your content provides real value to your target audience, they will be inclined more to read it all. And when they dwell more on your content, Google will notice via Rankbrain that you have a knack of providing quality content to all your users. Which I think is the point of SEO in general. Link building and providing quality content goes hand-in-hand as only when people love your content, they’ll want to share that content on their own blogs and within their own social circles, expanding the reach of your content and building some valuable backlinks along the way. If you continue to provide awesome content to your audience, the biggies in your industry will notice and would want to link to you too. That’s the essence of natural link building right there, and it’s not going to lose value in 2019 and beyond! If you are looking to approach your SEO in 2019 with a bang, the above mentioned ways are the perfect way to do it. But before you start implementing them, keep this in mind, Rankbrain ranks website keeping in mind the response of your audience to your content. If they bounce even before your site loads completely, Rankbrain would not even let you reach the first page of Google, let alone acing it. It’s a machine learning algorithm that does it all for Google and looks at the UX signals of your website really closely to award rankings. And it’s not easy to game Rankbrain because of it’s self-learning mechanism. You’ll have to provide quality content to your audience to get your SEO ball rolling in 2019 and there’s no escaping it now! Having said that, I hope the above mentioned ways will help you greatly in improving your website’s overall SEO potential! Being a SEO agency ourselves, we’ll rely greatly on these tactics as well to provide the best services to all our clients. If you think there are other ways (I know there are) that have helped you greatly in achieving SEO success lately and you're confident that they’ll be of equal importance in 2019 when it comes to increasing a website’s search engine rankings, do let us know about them in the comments. ...

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