Directive Blogs

Search engine optimization can be a relatively simple concept while simultaneously being complex and nuanced. On the surface, Google advises us to focus on having a quality website and content to match, while behind the scenes, hundreds of secret metrics are weighed and balanced to deliver your ranking. Then there are the experts who have purportedly cracked the code or figured out the “one easy fix that brings instant success.”

There is no denying that SEO can seem to be a little... nebulous at times. However, there are many ways to measure if SEO is working for your business: your analytics, search position, and of course conversions. Despite these tangible measurements, many businesses don’t feel their SEO is working. Before you call it quits, here are some questions to answer before you give up on your SEO.

Have you been running those free online SEO audits, and have been disappointed with the results? Instead of fearing your website is trash, take a moment to understand the pros and cons of a free online SEO audit.

There are a lot of reasons that website traffic can fluctuate. Sometimes, it has little to do with your actual website, and more to do with outside forces. Let’s take a look at some of the things that can cause major ebbs and flows in your website traffic and analytic reports.

Many businesses believe that, as long as they have some keywords, they have an SEO plan in place. Moreover, they feel that once they have an SEO plan in place, they are done and if they don’t rise in placement then SEO doesn’t work. The reality is SEO isn’t a strategy, it’s a tactic, and SEO requires the support of other tactics in order to be successful. Here are three reasons why SEO might not be working for your business.

While SEO is critical in helping your website rank higher in the search results, long gone are the days where you focus solely on your keywords. Backlinks are one of the numerous SEO tactics you should explore to drive traffic to your site. Take a moment to learn why backlinks should be a part of your SEO marketing strategy. 

Is your business website not generating as many leads as you hoped? Chances are your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is focused on what keywords are and not what they do. Keywords are a starting point for SEO, not the end, and certainly not the only factor in making SEO work for your business. Here are four tips to help you better understand how to use SEO as part of your business Marketing Plan.

When it comes to search results, all search is local. The more connected you are to your community, the better your chances are to rank higher in local search results. While there are a variety of steps to increase your local search marketing, the most basic, but critically important, is to ensure that Google knows where your business is. If your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) isn’t consistent throughout your presence on the internet, there is a chance that you may not appear in your localized search results.

The goal of SEO and marketing is to drive traffic to your website for you to introduce them to your services and convince them to take a chance with you. However, while SEO can drive traffic to your site, it can’t make visitors stay if your website is out of touch with user intent.

Looking to rank your website higher, but not sure where to start? Here are fourteen frequently asked questions that should better help you understand what SEO is and how it can help your business attract traffic to your website, increase your rank, and ultimately generate leads.

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a critical consideration when building a website. After all, higher search rankings bring in traffic, which is exactly what you want your website to receive - otherwise, what's the point? There are, of course, different tactics one may implement to improve their position in rankings, with varying degrees of moral standing. These practices are divided into two subsets, white hat and black hat tactics.

When we think of SEO strategy, we usually focus on developing great content to drive visitors to our website in order to collect data, which will be used to optimize our SEO strategy to drive visitors to our website and rinse and repeat. However, what is often forgotten in our desire to drive traffic is the reason why we’re doing all of this in the first place: Sales.

You’ve probably noticed that when you search for a particular business using words like or similar to “near me,” Google will display three business options at the top of your search results, and then will load additional businesses once you click “More places.” Remember - people in your area that are looking for a business like yours will probably be doing exactly that. How can you make sure you are in those top three results?