Amanda Natividad on 3 Types of SEO Services & When to Invest in Them

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial to modern business growth. Close to 90% of adults use search engines to answer their inquiries, and most of those searchers click on sites at the top of the page.

According to updated data, the top non-ad result on a Google search engine results page (SERP) gets 27% of all clicks, ten times more than the site in the number 10 slot. Overall, that first page gets more than 99% of clicks, making high ranking a must for any business. Successfully securing those high rankings has become increasingly challenging, thanks to the increasing frequency of Google updates and higher competition for traffic.

SEO services let you hand some of that work over to the experts, making you more competitive. 

Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro, breaks down the top SEO services she sees for companies. 

With several types of SEO services on the market, knowing where to channel your resources is important.

3 Types of SEO Services and When to Invest in Them

Regardless of what stage your website is in — whether you’re just launching it or it’s been up for months, the first step is determining which options address your website's pain points.

“I think of SEO services in three categories: content audit, technical audit, and implementation,” Natividad said. “Agencies might offer all or some of these services, and some may cater to specific business types like B2C, e-commerce, or B2B.”

Here are the 3 types of SEO services you may need:

• Content Audit
• Technical Audit
• Implementation

Content Audit

A content audit methodically reviews your website's visual and written content, focusing on its alignment with Google's SEO best practices. Those include:

• Originality
• Readability
• Organization
• Timeliness
• Usefulness to the target audience

Content audits also examine how well your content integrates target keywords and links to authoritative external and internal sites. You receive a report on what's working well and where you need to improve.

Running a content audit gives you a valuable top-down view of your content assets, including what's performing well and what issues you need to address. This information lets you prioritize content development and create material with a better chance of ranking highly.

The best times to run a content audit are:

• During a major site redesign: Learn what you should keep, discard, or optimize going forward.
• Before launching a new or updated website: Apply best practices in advance to improve your site's rankings.
• When traffic or engagement is low: Discover where your content might not be aligned with your audience's needs.

Technical Audit

A technical SEO audit looks at your website's functionality from a search perspective. It evaluates the site's structure, speed, link setup, and overall performance. These aspects of your site tend to fly under the radar but significantly impact your SERP ranking.

Technical SEO improvements make it easier for Google's algorithms to map and understand your content, increasing your odds of a higher SERP ranking.  A better-functioning site also solves user problems like slow load times and broken links, which can damage your reputation and send visitors to other sites. Fixing those issues upgrades your user experience and helps increase engagement.

A technical SEO audit is essential any time you become aware of site issues and in the following scenarios:

• Shortly after launching your website: Assess technical SEO performance as soon as possible to attract more visitors.
• After significant SEO algorithm updates: Learn whether updates are affecting your site so you can respond with changes.
• When you see a drop in organic traffic: Identify any technical issues that might be causing you to lose ranking and visitors.
• When key performance indicators (KPIs) are declining: Pinpoint contributors to the issue and track what changes lead to improvements.

KPIs are an essential element of any technical SEO audit. They help you understand aspects of your ranking and allow you to measure improvements related to business goals.

SEO Implementation

As the name suggests, SEO implementation services help to develop an optimization strategy for a business. Depending on your organization's needs, an implementation provider may offer some to all of the following:

• Keyword research and selection
• Detailed competitor analysis
• Content planning and development
• Link-building
• Local optimization
• Technical SEO, including mobile optimization

The implementation phase ensures your strategy goes live efficiently and effectively. Having a professional activate your SEO plan ensures that everything happens according to best practices and keeps you on track going forward. SEO service providers have the technical and creative skills to set you apart from the competition, even as algorithms change and keyword competition shifts.

It's important to run SEO implementation after your audit so you can benefit from the results.  However, SEO should be an ongoing process. Google makes core algorithm updates several times a year, and your competitors are responding. Consumer needs also change how users search, requiring regular attention to your content and technical setup.

Things to Consider with SEO Services

It's important to be purposeful when choosing what SEO services your organization needs. Various types of SEO benefit a company and its website in different situations. By choosing the right service at the right time, you protect your budget while seeing the best possible results.

Discuss the following with your team before settling on an approach:

1. Business goals: Consider what you want to achieve through SEO. Technical SEO can go a long way toward improving your user experience and getting more clicks. If you’re looking to build deeper relationships with your site’s visitors, advice on content SEO may be able to help.
2. KPI trends: Analyze the data to determine which aspects of your SEO need the most help. High rankings but low engagement might indicate a content issue while declining rankings might need a tech solution.
3. Page performance: Look at where your site has high or low performance. Site-wide issues often indicate a technical SEO shortfall. Conversely, if some keywords or pages perform better than others, you'll want to focus on content.
4. Budget: Determine where SEO services fit your marketing budget and how much you can invest initially. Don't be afraid to invest in comprehensive content and technical services if you can afford them.
5. In-house skill sets: SEO services can fill in skills gaps in your current team. For example, if your development team already has technical SEO expertise, consider hiring a service specializing in content auditing.

Setting Up Success With the Right SEO Services

“When hiring an agency, consider your industry, specific SEO needs, and what job you want SEO to do for you,” Natividad advises. “For example, a local small business might focus on local SEO and setting up their Google business profile, while a startup might target high-volume keywords for their blog. Think clearly about the specific SEO service you need.”

Effective SEO can broaden awareness of your brand and drive more organic traffic to your company. Content audits, technical audits, and SEO implementation services each make your website more discoverable in their own way, and it's vital to know which to implement.

A reputable digital marketing company can advise you on the best update schedule for your company. 

About Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro

Amanda Natividad is the VP of Marketing at SparkToro, a market research and audience intelligence platform, and a respected expert in content marketing, SEO, and digital strategy. With a background in journalism and tech, Amanda is known for her insightful approach to audience research and her ability to create impactful, data-driven marketing campaigns.