BEST LOCAL CONSULTANTS

So, the first port of call is to check to see how many backlinks (this is the name for links that go back to a site) Best SEO in Essex has. We do this by using a free backlink checker like https://ahrefs.com/backlink-checker and using this tool tells us they currently have 27 backlinks going back to that particular page (they have about 250 for the whole site). Not as many as you though hey?! One can only assume they must have some quality backlinks?

Looking at the backlinks which go back to their homepage most of the links are a mixture of blog sites and directory sites! Some directory sites are held in high regard by Google, lucky for us they are not using some of the super powerful ones we intend to use in addition to theirs. Blog links again this is something we are again very picky on so we may need to investigate the source of these at a later date as Google can and do take people off the top eventually if their links are not 100% clean! So, if you cheat Google and still rank your site well you may get away with it for a while but when Google does a big update that is when you eventually get punished so all our links will be 100% clean so we never encounter that issue.

Next, we look at the internal link structure of this website – it's not bad but not brilliant either. Some pages are hidden which means they are not on the site's navigation bar or menu but they do link up to other pages on the site through anchor text links e.g. SEO agency is an anchor text link – it is a keyword which if you click on it sends you to our homepage. Google then can tell that particular site is ranking for that keyword/s. These are great but use them sparingly in an article unless you want to get ignored or worst still punished by Google.

So, every page links back to at least one other page which is good as it can show relevancy and help a user navigate a site. The sites structure when it comes to finding pages is ok but has too many pages away from the navigation menu. To get a better user experience and help users stay on the site longer we put all our sites pages in the navigation menu and any additional ones not on the navigational menu would be found on the footer (the bottom) of the site.

Next, we looked at content. The first thing we like to do is to see how much content has been written by the best local company in the area according to Google rankings and it was about 1500 words – not too shabby but what shocked me most was the amount of content that every other SEO agency had on the first page – it ranged from about 100 words to 1000 words! So even though having more content than anyone else is a good start it is not what actually makes a site number one on the rankings alone it is all the other factors mainly the on-page SEO of the site and the quality and relevancy of the backlinks.

The next thing which shocked me was the content Best SEO in Essex used. They rank number one for “SEO Southend,” SEO Basildon” and “SEO Colchester.” but the content they use is all duplicate content and all that changes is the town name in each piece of content! Now this is a very contentious topic some experts say you can get away with it while others think it is only a matter of time before you get punished for it. So, we will not do the same we will stick which original content to avoid any possible future Google penalties.

The content as well as having at least 1000+ words should always remain relevant to the reader and be engaging. If it isn’t the reader will soon click away from your site and that too can affect rankings on Google over time.

So, first we try and get our keywords in the first title and the first and second paragraphs to make it easy for Google to pick up what we are trying to rank for. Next, we write a nice long article which we try to break up with pictures and sometimes the odd video so it is easier on the eye for the reader and keeps them on the site for longer. At this stage we are also conscious that we add our keyword/s into the article as naturally as possible so it is readable and relevant. We don’t want to stuff or our articles full of keywords as that looks like spam and Google hates spam!

Sometimes if your content starts to get really huge and you are worried it makes your site look cluttered like this article could well end up doing to our site then we hide some of the content from the viewer and if they want to read more they have to click on the “read more” button so that the content expands out. Do not worry despite part of the content being initially hidden from the reader Google knows it is there. So, you get the best of both worlds – plenty of content and you still get to keep the site looking clean and easy to navigate.

I think we have almost come to the end of this article which briefly covers how we are going to get that number one slot for the main keyword SEO Southend. If we are honest due to the competition it is going to take at least 3 to 6 months for us but that is okay because the benefits to both us at Local Web Direct and you the reader will be enormous as you will read this article months or even years later and be amazed that any consultant or agency has gone into such detail about how they rank not just clients sites but their own. Others are welcome to copy us but if you haven’t got the drive and consistency to work on your site or on others day in day out for weeks or months at a time before seeing any real results which most companies in Southend do not do for their clients then your business will ultimately suffer! That is why we, “Work hard and Work smart!” That is our motto when it comes to success!