SEO Professional

Organic traffic refers to visits to a website made spontaneously without the use of any type of paid advertising. Typically, this type of traffic comes from searches carried out on search engines such as Google. However, not all traffic to a website from Google is organic. Google also displays paid advertisements, which are identified as such.

Returning to organic traffic, can it be said that it is completely free?

The answer is yes and no!

• Yes, because you effectively don't have to pay for any advertising to generate traffic, or be visible online.
• No, because it requires an investment of time. This usually results in hiring the services of a professional in the field. As a rule, this type of investment usually brings many benefits in the long term, one of which is the reduction of investment in advertisements.

An SEO professional is a digital marketing professional who mainly performs tasks related to website optimization. Optimizing a website means monitoring and implementing technical aspects, content strategies and user experience in order to respond to the audience. A job well done by an SEO professional increases the chances of better placement in search results on search engines like Google, increasing visibility.

In my particular case, I can combine SEO consultancy work with building optimized websites, and also other aspects of Digital Marketing.

According to the Internet Live Stats data source, more than 3,5 billion searches daily on Google.

Given this fact, it becomes vital to be present in the digital world with a good online presence. Other interesting statistics reveal that 28% of clicks are on the first result that appears and 65% of clicks are on organic results. It should be noted that users click on organic results that appear at the top of searches, 38% more times than in ads.

Furthermore, investing in SEO means not always being dependent on paid ads to get website traffic as well as online visibility. In the long term it can mean huge budget savings.

With the reality presented, I would say that investing in SEO is a fundamental part of a successful digital marketing strategy.

Source: https://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/

Source: https://fitsmallbusiness.com/google-search-statistics/

The objective is to improve positioning in search engines. And this is possible with a well-designed SEO strategy. Executing an SEO project involves a series of steps that must be structured based on analysis of user behavior on the internet and search and content consumption trends.

For example, filling website pages with keywords without any criteria or creating content without any purpose will probably not work. Furthermore, there are a number of other very important techniques that must be considered and which are often neglected. For this same reason, it is important to always work with professionals who have some experience in SEO.

Analysis and Diagnosis
You should start by measuring the performance of your online presence. It is also important to identify who your competitors are in search engines (and they can often be who we don't expect) and make an assessment of how they are performing, in terms of SEO.

Research
Discovery of relevant keywords related to website content. Their performance must be evaluated and whether they can actually match your audience's search intent. At this stage, new opportunities are often identified, but also new competitors.

Implementation
The implementation phase includes a check-list with several tasks that must be guaranteed. This type of implementation may include the following:

• small adjustments to the website;
• complete redesign of the website in terms of structure, design and user experience in accordance with best usability practices;
• content creation and management;
• implementations related to its architecture;
• diagnosis and configuration of the website server for performance and security;
• ... among others.

Monitoring

Monitoring SEO metrics plays a critical role in the success of any online presence. Monitoring them provides very valuable information about the website's performance, helping to determine the impact of implemented optimization strategies and identify areas that require improvement. The metrics also reveal very important data about user experience.

Adjustments

According to the analysis and monitoring of metrics, changes must be made to the strategy if it does not meet the intended objectives.

SEO-optimized content is content developed to help search engine crawlers understand the same, and also, how that same content can respond to users' needs. In the long term, this measure is beneficial for a website, as it allows traffic to grow organically.

You should start by researching relevant keywords. For each page or article you intend to create, a main keyword must be identified. Additionally, additional keywords with a strong relationship with the main keyword must be identified. After this process, it is highly recommended to determine the users' search intention, so that from this point on, quality content can be developed that meets what the audience wants.

Then it's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work, which is to say, start developing well-structured content (text, images, links, buttons, forms, interactive elements, etc.) .

To carry out a large part of this process, it is almost essential to use some tools and some know-how. Therefore, it is recommended that this process is carried out by a professional who has experience working with SEO projects.

After all, what is Off Page SEO?
The name itself indicates techniques carried out outside the website domain, to improve its authority. These techniques are extremely relevant for those who want to achieve the best positioning in search engines.

Some techniques that should be considered:

Backlinks from authoritative websites
Backlinks are one of the main ranking factors in the Google algorithm. Websites with more high-quality backlinks tend to rank better.

Referral Domains, domains that refer a website
Basically, they are unique domains that can contain one or more backlinks to one or several websites.

Guest Posting
Publish content on other websites or blogs.

Social Networks
Maintain activity on social networks through the creation of content, to generate engagement with the audience.

Influencer marketing
Through working with digital influencers who promote brands through their social networks, blogs, podcasts, etc.

There are also some aspects that you should monitor regularly, such as:

• The existence of toxic or low-quality backlinks
• Copy of your content;
• Hacking attacks;

Local SEO is a very effective strategy (when it makes sense to apply) that helps any business, company or institution that has a physical location, or that operates in a specific geographic area.

46% of searches made on Google are local searches. Already 87% of consumers use Google to search for local businesses and companies. Pana concludes that 88% of local searches on Google result in a physical visit.

Local searches can be of 2 types:

• For example, search "SEO consultant in Lisbon". The results returned display a Google map with georeferenced profiles;
• Search only "SEO Consultant". The results returned display a Google map with georeferenced profiles based on the IP location of the device where the search was carried out.

Source: https://fitsmallbusiness.com /google-search-statistics/#local

An institutional website usually presents information about a company or organization. Overall, it ends up being a digital representation of the institution's identity and image in the digital world. Typically, these types of websites are associated with large companies in the industrial sector, services, non-profit organizations, government institutions, education, among others.

Investing in SEO for this type of website is also important to ensure good visibility in search engines, build authority and credibility and also improve the user experience.

Some studies that have been carried out show that e-commerce trends are increasingly linked to social networks. The innovation of these platforms offers brands the possibility of engaging customers very effectively.

The changing trend
The pandemic event that took place in 2020 created a great need for traders to adapt their businesses to the digital world. There has been an unbridled increase in Ecommerce websites. However, with the normalization of daily life things changed, consumers chose to balance online purchasing with physical purchasing. Online purchasing, in many cases, no longer takes place through brands' Ecommerce websites, but rather on other digital platforms.

Are Ecommerce websites going into decline then?
Selling and impacting customers through social media seems to be the trend that the main brands are adopting.

However...

There are still many consumers who buy from Ecommerce websites, which should not be forgotten! More than 30% of consumers start their purchasing journey through the Google search engine.

3 good reasons to continue investing in SEO for Ecommerce websites are:

• Do not depend solely and exclusively on paid advertisements;
• Increase visibility in the tab Google Search Engine Products;
• Improve the user experience within Ecommerce.

Source: https: //www.shopify.com/plus/commerce-trends
Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/ecommerce-statistics
Source: https://fitsmallbusiness.com/google-search-statistics/#ecommerce

In Portugal, hiring an SEO professional can vary between €20 and €150/hour. The price I charge at the moment is €35/hour. I can also collaborate on a retainer basis or work exclusively for a client.

However, for these two modalities I do not have a defined value. If you are interested, contact me and present your project!