To answer the question put forward in the title, quite simply SEO (search engine optimisation) companies help businesses create a powerful online scent. This scent then attracts consumers to the business using search networks such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.

While a rather simple analogy, the steps an SEO company takes to match prospects with businesses are a lot more complex, and include tasks such as:

A complete SEO audit

Before any work takes place, any reputable SEO company will run a full audit on your business. The goal of the audit is to find current SEO issues with your website both onsite and offsite.

An SEO audit should be the first task any SEO company carries out as the work thereafter will be based on its findings.

Onsite and offsite optimisation

Once an audit is complete, the next step is to fix any SEO-related issues. Search engine optimisation is broken down into two core parts:

Onsite SEO – these are issues on your website which you have complete control over. Onsite SEO includes things like creating keyword-rich pages, correcting title tags and URLs, and optimising your website for mobile devices.

Offsite SEO –  these are things that are external to your website which you may not have total control over.  These include your social media profiles, the amount of backlinks pointing to your website and your website’s review listings on sites such as Yelp and Yahoo Local.

Keyword research

Keywords are about the type of “scent” you want to create for your business, based on what kind of traffic you want to attract. For example, if you’re a property agent in Sydney, your ideal customer may be searching for the following phrases in Google:

• Property agent Sydney
• How to secure a good mortgage in Sydney
• Buy to let options in Sydney

By doing keyword research your SEO agency will identify the key search terms your prospects are looking for, and optimise the content on your website, allowing you to connect with them.

A simple Google search of  property agent Sydney returns a match for several businesses who are using search engine optimisation to draw in more customers:

What an SEO company doesn’t do

Chances are you’ve been contacted by a number of SEO companies in the past via email if you have a contact form on your website. We receive daily emails from SEO companies making bold claims which we know are impossible.

While there are many things an SEO company can do for your business, there’s also a number of things they can’t do, which include:

• Doubling your website traffic overnight
• Instant leads and sales
• Ranking organically on Google instantly
• Any type of ROI projections

Unlike pay per click marketing which can achieve some of the above, SEO is a long-term marketing strategy. The longer a business has been around on the Internet the more value search engines allocate to a website.

Think of SEO like building a snowball, you start with a single snowflake which you combine with other snowflakes until it becomes a small ball. Once the ball is formed you simply roll it and it grows bigger and bigger.

SEO works in just the same way and the power is in the compound effect. The more energy you put into SEO the more you get out of it.

For further information on SEO and how it can grow your business, click here to learn more.