Why You Should Be Working With Portland SEO Consultants

Do you know the difference between H1 and H4? Have you identified the top five keywords that relate to your business?

Have you used these keywords in every other sentence on your website?

If you are confused by the first question and confidently proud of your writing prowess at the last question, chances are very high that your website isn’t ranking as high on a Google search as it could be, and that you need a bit of help with your SEO.

But My Website is First On Google!

One of the first things most people do is the search for their own business name on Google. They keep flicking through the pages until they find themselves, then they proudly click on the link.

Often people will do this several times. One of the wonderful things that Google, in particular, does is create personalized search results.

This means that Google, and most modern search engines, know that when you search “find plates Portland” you mean antique dealers rather than crockery shops.

They know your search history and are able to present results like things you have clicked on after a similar search previously.

This is also why they present your own webpage higher up the search rankings because that is probably a webpage that you interact with a lot.

Of course, everyone has results that are tweaked to be the most efficient for them.

For this, you will probably need a bit of good old-fashioned Portland SEO help since the big deal about SEO is not making sure that your business website shows up when you search for it, but to make sure that it is in the top rankings when everyone else searches for it.

Good SEO Practice

In order to rank well in a search engine, you need to start with a website that is geared towards the right keywords for your business.

If you have a Portland-based artisan chocolate kitchen, then this is what you want your website to focus on.

Your trip to Vancouver may have been a fantastic experience and a great way to engage your customers.

But make sure that you bring the story back to how it relates to chocolate and Portland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

On the other hand, having a website that uses your keywords in every heading, that floods the “alt” tags of every image with keyword-heavy descriptions and title tags that aren’t really related to the topic, you will find your website is quickly blacklisted.

Once your site has been blacklisted it cannot only put an obvious dent in being found online, but it can actually take a considerable amount of time and effort to prove to the search engines that you have cleaned up your act and that your website should be listed again.

During this time, you may find that people stop linking to your page and stop visiting your site, simply because they can’t find you.

What To Look For In A SEO Consultant

Not all SEO consultants are created equal. Although, of course, most will all say that they can get you to the top of Googles search results (see here), you might need to ask a few questions to find out how exactly they will do that for you.

When you sign up a consultant to look over your website

• ask them if they will be rewriting the content or suggesting changes that you could make.
• Off the bat, do they suggest changes that should be made to the layout? The menu system?
• The images (quantity or type)?
• The number of headings?
• The variety of links?
• Does the consulting company have ways of helping you build the important backlinks to your website?
• Do they offer suggestions on how they will do that or advice on how you can do that?

For many websites, particularly those that are essentially just a static business card site, the key cry is for more content.

A blog is a popular tool because it allows you to keep your customers up to date on any new developments that may be happening, but you will likely need some guidelines in order to keep it keyword relevant without becoming an overbearing sales pitch.

Hopefully, your consultant is able to help you set some topics or advice on how to obtain the services of a good SEO focused copywriter.