SEO FAQs

To help you better understand the active elements of Search Engine Optimisation (without requiring a degree in NeuroPhysics!), here is a brief overview of Google, from evolution to revolution.

The first search engines appeared in the mid-1990s. They scanned the Internet, stored web pages, and catalogued them. These early engines assigned relevancy based on how many times a specific term appeared on a page. If a website homepage mentioned ‘Dentist in St Albans’ 15 times, it would appear higher in the search results than a site that mentioned it once or twice.

This ranking formula was quickly understood and exploited. Webmasters ‘stuffed’ their chosen key-phrase into their site’s meta tags, content, and even design: a popular trick was to add ‘invisible text,’ or key-phrase the same colour as the site’s background. People couldn’t see them, but search engine robots did. Over time, the situation became chaotic. Internet users were frustrated by the number of irrelevant websites that dominated search results due to keyword stuffing and meta tag manipulation. To improve the process it needed to change, and in 1997 two Stanford University graduates developed a new ranking system they named Google.

Algorithms tell a search engine precisely how to sift through Internet data in order to return the most relevant results for a given keyword or query. Google and its competitors probe websites on several levels and prioritise relevancy in a cumulative ranking that could send you to the top or hide you on page 10.

The ‘Algorithm Advantage’ can be a roadblock for business owners. Have you ever gone to Google, searched for a keyword important to your business, and found an inferior competitor outperforming your website? You probably have, and it’s a frustrating experience.

Here’s the good news: Google is a robot, and when prompted in a language it understands, it can give your website the higher ranking it deserves. This is when ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ becomes important.

When a website is optimised for search engines like Google, proven principles are expertly applied to the site’s design and content so predictable results can be achieved. In this instance ‘results’ equal high placement in the Google search result pages (SERPS).

Appearing on page one of the Google SERPS should be the goal of every business that has a website. It’s easy to see why: Google is the search engine of choice for more than 80% of Internet users globally.

Google’s popularity can be attributed to two user-centric features:
• Accurate search results
• Relevant search results

Accuracy and relevancy have enabled this hugely popular search engine to eliminate the competition, and Google keeps evolving and improving.

The secret ingredient is the perfected algorithms that dictate what sites appear on page one for a given key-phrase and which ones are relegated to page 20 and beyond.

If your practice’s website appears on the first page of relevant Google search results, the payoff can be tremendous. Increased exposure can translate into more customers, enhanced credibility, and ultimately more business.

With smartphone and tablet sales skyrocketing and technology deeply ingrained in consumer lives, Google is the first place people look to find a service or product. Google conducted a study to better understand how mobile device owners use its local search features.

The results indicated the following:
• 59% of people search for trustworthy local businesses on Google
• Half of all mobile searches are for local results
• 50% visit a business within 24 hours of conducting a local search
• 61% buy something after a successful local search

Yes, and it continues to do so! The Google search algorithms took giant leaps past meta tags and key-phrases. Instead, they incorporated complex yet flexible ranking elements that take ‘off-site’ as well as ‘on-site’ factors into account.

Off-site relevancies focus on how many quality sites are linking to a page or recommending it, which suggests the site is an authority on a given search term. Users responded enthusiastically.

Faced with search results that contain high-relevancy websites instead of substandard pages elevated by keyword spam, this made Google the world’s most popular search engine. Google also impacted other search engine algorithms. By 2005, meta tag manipulation and keyword stuffing were no longer tickets to top rankings. On the contrary, search engine processes evolved to the point that such tricks could potentially harm a page’s visibility. At present, Google utilises over 200 ‘signals’ to establish a web page’s ranking. In addition to traditional elements such as key-phrases in headers and page content, the algorithm looks at off-web factors such as:
• Quality and number of links pointing to the website
• How long visitors spend on the website
• Relevancy of the linked web page
• Age of the domain name
• Location of the website server
• Site visitor search histories

The principle aim of Google and other search engines is to produce the most relevant search results possible for every Internet user.

“Intuitive” is the watchword for search engine algorithm designers. The ultimate goal is to create a system that ‘understands’ a web user’s needs even better than the person themselves.

To make your website work for your business – our professionals:
• Are highly aware of current and emerging trends in SEO
• Can use that knowledge to encourage improved search rankings

Google’s algorithms are continually changing and evolving as the search engine giant strives to retain its market share by creating the best search relevancy retrieval system possible for Internet users. The parameters that make up the algorithms are a closely guarded secret, but it is estimated that Google takes over 200 factors into account when deciding how to rank a website.

Our Digimax SEO experts monitor Google results closely, keep up-to-date on ranking trends, and incorporate their knowledge into customised SEO campaigns for our dental practices.

Please see this video to learn how we always have our Finger on the Pulse.

Your new website will be ‘search engine friendly’ – what this means is that Google can easily ‘crawl’ your site and read your content in a manner that helps your listing in the Google index. What this will not do is automatically rank you higher in Google. We have ongoing SEO packages for this; you can see the high Google rankings we have achieved for clients here.

Like any marketing effort, establishing a high Google ranking depends on a successful combination of many elements:
• Appealing to Google’s primary ranking factors
• Favourable market competition
• Expert link building
• Expert key-phrase research
• Expertly written web page content

Some business websites can see ranking improvements in as little as 30 days, while those in more competitive industries may need 12 months to achieve improved rankings. Our monthly SEO reports keep you posted with transparent results.

No! No honest provider can give you a guarantee as ultimately, we do not control Google or its changing algorithms, but we can do our best to predict them. One of the most prevalent and persistent marketing myths is that there is a guaranteed way to make your business website number one in the Google search engine rankings. In reality, this is impossible for any individual or company to promise. Google utilises hundreds of ranking factors that are both strictly confidential and continually being re-evaluated and upgraded to enable even higher levels of relevancy. The highly complex computations used to assign search result rankings are not publicly known so that no SEO specialist can guarantee a number one placement. Any SEO firms making such promises might be bending the truth.

A similar SEO myth is that there are ways to keep your site in the number one spot permanently. Again, this is impossible due to the secrecy of search engine algorithms.

A skilled, and honourable SEO specialist can produce very competitive search results on a consistent basis by doing the following:
• Using flexible strategies
• Applying leading-edge knowledge of search engine ranking trends
• Building high-quality links
• Regularly analysing your website to fine-tune effective strategies
• Providing clear, easy to understand monthly reports that keep you informed about the results

After keyword selection, the first step is for our team to produce an onsite website changes report. This report is extremely indepth and reports all the changes we need to make to your website. These changes are mainly behind the scenes and content related, and are directly in line with the keywords chosen. The changes include website title changes, meta keywords, meta descriptions and titles as well as keyword density on the pages, site structure, sitemaps and more. This is the first major piece of work we do on-site to receive maximum impact from our off-site work. This report is not sent to you as it is a technical report, but is available on request.

The goal is to select key-phrases that are:
• Relevant to your practice
• Used by your target audience
• Supported by keyword database statistics

To stand out, strategic keyword selection is ‘key.’ See below.
• Keyword: Dentist (very competitive due to the broad search field)
• Key-phrase: Dentist St Albans (not as competitive due to narrower search field)

To further support your keyword strategy, the links within your site – from one internal page to another can be formatted to include your highly positioned key-phrases. Links tell search engine robots that specific web pages are:
• Relevant for a particular search term
• Relevant to one another

This linked relevance is what causes search engines to give a site top ranking for a given search term. With expert key-phrase research, key-phrase placement, and link networks, your website can achieve and maintain a favourable search engine ranking. This requires regular and consistent maintenance by a professional.

When you are ranking high for a few months in a row for a particular keyword, you can change the phrase to a different term.

We measure our SEO service purely on how well your keywords are performing – here are some of our results achieved for some of our clients.

We measure success by how much a site’s ranking has increased in Google. You typically see improvements each month, but some months will vary.

We find it hard to measure in any other way – as the conversion is down to a lot of factors, including the website, prices, geography, how a patient feels about a practice, etc.

We have clients who rank at the top of search results. However, we can say that higher up on the first page is a realistic achievement (top 5) usually.

Note – We give no guarantees – because we cannot!
No honest provider can give you a guarantee as ultimately, we do not control Google or its changing algorithms, BUT we see predictable ranking improvement using formulas and online PR outlets that consistently deliver exceptional results for our clients.

Our team Google each key term using an incognito browser and sometimes a VPN service. You can also Google the keywords to verify the rank.

SEO is about a long-term strategy, and you shouldn’t simply try SEO for a month or two because that is not enough time to produce results. Our results are measured each month based on the ranking improvement (or decreases which can happen – as this is organic).

We work on a 12-month contract. After 12 months, you will be on a rolling contract, and can give us 1 month’s notice to cancel.

We suggest not relying on one marketing activity. Social Media / PPC / Email Marketing / Leaflets / PR all play a big part in practice growth. Building a vast bank of Google Reviews is also a powerful marketing activity.

SEO is a long-term marketing strategy which has yielded results for a large number of our clients. Over the long-term, our clients continue to use us for SEO as it helps keep them ranking high and attracting patients through organic searches.

SEO is a long-term marketing strategy which has yielded results for a large number of our clients. Over the long-term, our clients continue to use us for SEO as it helps keep them ranking high and attracting patients through organic searches. We define long term as 12-18 months +.

Carrying out SEO will not mean you rank number 1 for your local term. Also carrying out SEO does not mean you will be flooded with new enquiries. However, both are possible and do occur but going in with these expectations is a recipe for disappointment.

Google AdWords is an advertising service for businesses that want to display their ads on Google and its advertising network.

Adwords is different to ‘Organic SEO.’ With Adwords, the key-phrases you choose will generate an ad display when those words or phrases are included in a search term. These ads appear on the top of the search result page under the heading ‘sponsored results.’

Google charges a fee for this specialised service, which is known as Pay Per Click (PPC).
Every time someone clicks your link, you pay Google a fee that is set by the competitiveness of your chosen keyword. This can be anything between 10p – £10! Usually several pounds for a competitive key-phrase.

The advantage of Pay Per Click is that it allows a business to pay for immediate placement on the first page of the SERPs. The disadvantage is that the associated costs can be high, and once the money for the campaign runs out, your ad disappears. Digimax only offers organic SEO services and can refer trusted companies to help clients who wish to try Google Adwords.

Although a useful short-term solution for search engine visibility, PPC does not raise your actual website ranking within Google’s natural (organic) search results. Only expert application of proven SEO principles can do that.

SEO usually doesn’t have a direct impact on your map listing. We have no control over this, though we have seen many of our clients rank very well for map listings.

When we go live with your new website, we have a 16 point migration process check. This is a very careful and detailed process that ensures Google understands the site has been upgraded and noticed to lose any rankings. If you look at London Smiles – they had a 10-year-old website and were concerned about losing any current Google rankings. We did a careful migration, and they still rank very high for ‘Dentist South Kensington’ on Google.

If a keyword has shot up to the first page really fast, e.g within a 1-2 month time frame, then you might find the ranking shift starts to ‘settle’ and drop a little. This is entirely normal and expected.

SEO is an ‘organic’ process. Keywords go up as well as down. It is profoundly typical for rankings to fluctuate. This type of fluctuation is well within the parameters of the expectations we establish. Whenever we see a concerning drop, we adjust our approach to improve the position.

It’s also important to note other practices might also use SEO for the same spot. Google will fluctuate rankings if another practice has achieved a high-quality backlink. It is always better to look at SEO over a holistic period.

The Google ‘grump’ rating is a good indicator of Google changes to rankings. Visit www.accuranker.com/grump to check the status for United Kingdom and see the current and recent Google behaviour.

Example:

Furious
Easy tiger! Google is fuming today as rankings fluctuate at high velocity – it’s likely an algorithm update is taking place.

We don’t promise / can’t promise a permanent top position. That’s impossible for any company to guarantee.

If you are based in Chiswick and want to come up for Croydon in search results –that’s not something we recommend. This approach isn’t fruitful since a patient is unlikely to travel the distance and Google will struggle to readily accept (will take a long time) that your site is relevant for search results in areas far from your geolocation. Ranking for areas that you are not located in, should only be considered once you dominate your own local area.

Trying to rank for local areas that you are not located in can be unpredictable. We have some successful and unsuccessful examples of this.

We believe in slow and steady growth. Any aggressive SEO activity could get you penalised by Google. For a new site or a site that has not carried out any SEO in the past, we only recommend starting with our lowest package. We cannot accept you on a higher more aggressive package because it could risk your Google rankings and we don’t want that to happen.

One of the most significant costs involved in SEO is the time it takes an SEO team to execute various important monthly tasks. At Digimax our work involves creating a ‘buzz’ about your business online, so Google notices you and in turn, improves your Google rankings.

Companies charging unrealistically low fees for SEO are unable to spend sufficient time on critical monthly tasks in order to get Google to notice you. This results in no or minimal improvement in your rankings and could potentially be a sign of unsafe SEO methods.

Digimax carefully studies over a period of 48 months, the exact amount of time it takes to rank a certain number of phrases safely and effectively and how much team resources are required for each keyword package. We keep the cost as low as possible while at the same time having as much impact as achievable to bring the most success for clients from their SEO campaigns. Using this approach has allowed us to maintain strong and trustworthy long-term client relationships.

Unfortunately, we do occasionally receive work, where a client had paid less for SEO, but there was almost no or very little activity which means the money spent was a wasted investment.

Your SEO area is yours!

Every month we send you an SEO report that has been created by our team to ensure you have a transparent view of your rankings. Our pricing structure is designed to keep our price as low as possible while providing maximum value for our service. Due to our pricing structure, telephone conferences and in-person meetings are not a standard feature of our SEO package. However, we are always happy to talk to you and meet you at our office in London Marylebone.

We truly believe we communicate well. See the below video to learn more.

We send Bottom Line SEO Reports monthly.

Sometimes, past SEO companies may have used unsafe ranking methods. This can cause you problems and result in penalties from Google. The penalties have different severity ratings and unfortunately are sometimes challenging to detect. If there is an unusual reaction to our usual SEO work in Google and we notice your Google rankings aren’t improving we may suggest you use www.linkdelete.com to remove past backlinks. We can organise it for you. We have found this method has in many cases, over time resolved ranking issues for practices which are suffering from poor rankings due to past unnatural link building work carried out. More information can be found here.