Search engine optimisation for dummies

Good day ladies and gents!

I have a website bluebayremovals and dont have a clue what I am doing with regards to seo.

I previously used Adwords with little result and I have run out of budget, Leads from removal indexing sites work at at around £8 per each and you get a lot of crap with them (some are good)

Is it possible to learn seo myself so I can generate new business as people cant find me on Google by typing in "Removal company cornwall" and I am skint!

I would welcome your advice

Thanks

 

Somehow I have increased SEO with facebook adverts. Only with a budget of £50 per month.

Got to 1st page with 'GDPR Help Northampton' somehow.. unsure of how really other than facebook ads.

Interesting to know any other advice

 

Here we go , from an expert in SEO :- https://www.freshbananas.co.uk/

Written in language that makes sense.

 

Look at it from a common sense point of view. There are plenty of removal firms throwing quite a bit of money at dominating the serps for your search terms. What makes you think that you can outrank those spending reasonable sums on it if you are, by your own confession, skint?

 

Yes.
Appropriate info is readily available, and at no cost... from a variety of online sources, including the sites of those in the SEO-business.

Finding/learning what's effective (and what's not) is likely to be time-consuming... to a degree where it's probably an inefficient use of your time. But, as you've no money to spend, that's perhaps a relatively minor consideration.

Remember... every 'expert' once wasn't - they had to learn. And for many things, including SEO, much of that learning was/is experiential... read something, think about and try it, repeat if it's effective.

 

It is always possible to have self study on SEO and take some advice from the well experienced members here. However, it doesn't mean that your site is visible in Google it will convert, no, because there is always competition so you need to study and analyze your competitors.

 

We have a client in this market in Brighton and we have them ranking top...so I know what it takes to get there.

It's tough! There is generally a lot of competition and it takes quite a bit of work. We've had to use a slightly different technique to get our client ranking due to the level of competition and available budget.

It doesn't mean you can't do it but it takes time (months) and...is it the best use of your time?

If you don't have any money then you need to look at alternative ways to generate leads. What about aligning yourself with estate agents to recommend you to their buyers? Same with lettings agencies. You can pay them a commission on referrals.

By the way, you have quite a negative review on your Google My Business listing. You should probably respond to that as it can defintely impact you as it currently stands.

 

concentrate on local search to start with that won't cost you anything- get your business listing in Google better than your competitions - try and get some reviews from your past customers. Also have you ever tried one of the big trade websites for work - Anyvan that sort of thing, you'd probably get just as much work there.

 

I wonder if this is what people in Cornwall search for? Maybe it is 'removal company in Redruth' or something else. Maybe work on your targeting?

 

tips of the day!!!

why are you even using an 0800

that's the first thing Google will look at,

use a local cornwall or penzance telephone number.

enter cornwall in your address, in google my business,

So for example

4 Morrab Road
Penzance
Cornwall
TR18 4EL

and get loads more reviews.

add category in google my business "removals service" along with related functions

the above should give you a boost of 20-25% than your currently getting in about 6 weeks or sooner

 

Anyone can learn seo, or at least the basics. For anyone just starting out in it, I'd always recommend writing tonnes of good and useful content for your own website and perhaps for other websites where your input would be valued. This way your showing your expert knowledge in your field. Which will attract traffic itself.

It is a long process though and you will not get quick results. But as part of a long term investment in your marketing strategy, it can work wonders. My advice would be to focus less on the SEO element and more on the quality of content.

I would strongly advise against running your own backlink campaigns though, as this can cause a lot of damage if not done right.

 

ranking removal firms is not too difficult!
Why...because most of your competitors are skint as well.
I would recommend you get someone to do the seo for you, but these are my top recommendations.


ONPAGE SEO
1. get a free trial of AHREFS and see who searches for what. You want to to rank for "house removals in town" and realise no one searches for it; so whats the point in that?

2. create one page for every keyword such as "home removals in brighton" but use a mixture of partial and exact matches on that page within headlines and text, for example "best home removals in brighton" and "cheap home removals in brighton"

3. make sure you have some decent content on your page, im guessing here but Im thinking you will need 400 words plus per page.

4. interlink the pages, so your page on "home removals in brighton" links to "man with a van" and that links to "removal vans near me"

5. list your site with google and use their tools such as control panel, analytics, data highlighter, sitemap

6. put your social media buttons on the site along with your address (written as Google would, so Road could become Rd) and add in a google map


OFFPAGE SEO
you need to start to build backlinks, this is much harder then you think and this is where the SEO person earns their corn. Im not gonig into this as I dont have time to write a book.
However int he first instance make sure all of your social media sites link to your website and you register your business on UK directories

RECORDING
Check your rankings today
follow my advice
and re check again.

 

It takes a long time to learn... and if you don't have that time then definitely outsource it to someone who does and comes highly recommended with white hat techniques.

 

Very important to be careful of Google's policies. It's best to do SEO as naturally as possible. Bad SEO can do more harm to your website than not doing anything at all.

 

Doing your own SEO is very much possible, however it is time-consuming. Google's constant algorithm changes doesn't help! Adwords are great to target specific audience. Do you generate content using keywords, would work positive for your SEO. You can utilise free SEO business listing services to start with. Create business page on social media sites like FB, Twitter, inLinx and be active on them.

 

SEO is a big ocean and plenty of good suggestions above doing it all will certainly boost your ranking however remember that may it be Google or facebook they need to see you are spending with them before they start giving you space on first page. You do need a monthly budget to spend on Google each and all social networking sites will bring some good for your business try that facebook is cheap right now and put up nicely designed graphics on marketplace in facebook join few local groups put up your text advert there, twitter helps too even if it's personal tweet your keywords or phrases it would certainly boost your ranking be consistent though as pointed above changes in algorithms do not consider or prefer listing too old stuff on first few pages.

 

Does Google have a problem with 0800 numbers ?

Why? And how do you know that ?

 

Learning and then implementing on your website really takes time. If experts are available on fiverr and peopleperhour like platforms, then why not hire someone with as low as $100 budget and give it a try for at least 2 months.

You have to target Google maps and Local business listings because you are dealing locally. So chances are, if you can get a good SEO Freelancer, you can really do good in business.

 

Hi,

Im in the same boat, just trying to get abit more traffic to my website on a very tight budget. I am reasonably technical so thats not an issue but understanding more about SEO is something ive neglected in the past and now im working towards, hopefully with an eye to saving costs by plugging away at it myself in the future.

Im going through an SEO course on Udemy by Peter Kent (Who wrote a book of the same name as your Thread title Ironically) and im finding it very useful and getting lots of ideas about how to boost rankings as well as how not to do it.

Also he makes no promises which I like....basically do most of what he says and you should see improvement over afew months (not days) and makes no promises like others about 'getting to number one on google' which I think is a false hope most of the time anyway, particularly in competitive markets.

I can't post links - but if you go search google for Udemy then once at Udemy.com search SEO it will be one of the first things that come sup....also its only £11.99 (as opposed to £200) for the next couple of days.

Good luck.

John