Get Top Kent Rankings, Traffic, Enquiries, and Sales
Many people who use search engines include place names to find exactly what they are looking for, such as "surveyor in Sevenoaks", "solicitor in Tonbridge" or even "SEO agency in Kent".
We can help your website to be found for searches relevant to your business.
Top Natural Rankings
97 percent of consumers will search online before buying, and most will start with Google. Is your website currently found at the top of Google?
Top Maps Rankings
Google Maps listings appear in the top spot in 93% of searches with local intent. Does your Google My Business listing have top rankings for your most important local keywords?
Top ‘other’ Rankings
Does your business have listings on other sites like TripAdvisor or FourSquare? Did you know that these listings can be optimised? Would you like top rankings for these also?
Business Locations
Does your website clearly tell the search engines where your premises are located? With a consistent name, address, and local phone number, and the use of Schema mark-up?
Online Reviews
97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2020, with 12% looking every day. Is Google showing online customer reviews for your business?
Local Links
Local links have seen a 16% increase in importance for local rankings since 2019. Does your website have numerous links from other local companies and organisations websites?
Frequently asked questions
We do understand that employing a web marketing company can be daunting. It is a discipline where typically jargon is overused, and many agencies over promise and under deliver.
The three steps are:
- Conduct an interview for all candidate
A good SEO agency should not only focus on your search engine rankings, but also on how they can help your business.
- Check references of past clients
Ask for references from past clients to whom the agency has provided useful help and guidance. Also check they worked effectively with other web developers, designers, and marketers.
- Commission a technical and search audit
Get a prioritised list of what SEO items they think should be improved. Plus, an audit of your branded search query performance, and identify the types of queries that it makes sense for your business to rank for.
To book a technical and search audit, see our SEO Audit page.
We cannot give you an answer until we know what work will best serve your business, whether that be SEO, local SEO, pay per click advertising, social media marketing, email marketing, or something else.
Local SEO is the discipline of achieving top Google rankings for searches where there is a local intent, such as:
- Example 1: the searcher is in Dartford and types into Google “coffee shops” on their mobile, so is expecting to see relevant nearby maps results.
- Example 2: the searcher is on their PC, and looking for a hotel for their stay in Royal Tunbridge Wells next week, so types into Google “hotels in Tunbridge Wells”, so will expect to see both maps and natural results in Google with relevant results.
- Example 3: the searcher lives in Kent and needs to market their business online, and types into Google “seo services kent”, and “kent seo” to find the best results.
SEO is the discipline of achieving top Google rankings for searches where there is no local intent, such as:
- Example 1: the searcher is looking for a loan, and types into Google “cheap car loans”, they are not interested if the company is local or not.
- Example 2: the searcher is looking for the cheapest fittings they can find for their new bathroom and may type into Google “cheap bathroom accessories” or “modern bathroom fittings”.
There are businesses like ourselves who need both ‘Local SEO’ and ‘SEO’, as we target in the search engines queries such as “seo company kent” and “local seo services”.
Depending on many factors, SEO campaigns typically take between 4 months and a year; though that is not to say that you will not get results before then.
Especially with established websites, we have achieved very positive increases in rankings and visitors within weeks.
You need to remember that SEO is like laying a pipeline, once down the leads will flow even if you have not done specific work that week. Though maintenance is typically required; plus, if a competitor builds a bigger pipeline right next to yours, you may need to upgrade.
We are very experienced at optimising multiple locations for businesses; this process is just a matter of repeating the work carried out for one location.
Though sometimes things start to fail when the quality of the listings and web pages decline; human nature kicks in and some people get bored and lazy when setting up multiple locations, using the same photos and text.
It is very important for businesses with multiple locations that their Google My Business Listings and associated local web pages, are well set up, with relevant local photos, local names, addresses and phone numbers, with good relevant local information.
This will of course depend on your business and its goals, but we can provide you the following marketing options:
Social Media Marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. This can be extremely effective for some local businesses.
Pay Per Click is a type of web advertising in which a fee is paid each time an ad is clicked; essentially, it’s a way of buying visitors to your website much quicker than the 4 months to a year it takes for SEO.
Email Marketing could be simply described as using email to promote products and /or services; though a better definition would be the use of email to develop relationships with potential customers. Develop relationships is highly relevant to most types of business.
Top Rankings to Drive More Enquiries
For most businesses, local search engine marketing should deliver more enquiries and customers.
Top Natural Rankings
61% of search engine users click on the top 3 positions in Google. Do you enjoy top 3 Google positions for your local keywords?
For most local businesses, topping Google’s rankings for their most profitable keywords is extremely effective for driving new customers.
Google is still hugely dominant in the UK with 83.4% market share compared to Bing’s 11.06%.
We will work with you to:
- Determine the keywords that will drive the best enquiries.
- Determine a strategy for getting to the ‘top’.
There is a huge difference in the level of competition for different keywords. For example, achieving top rankings for “plumber in Westerham” would be much easier than “plumber in Kent”.
So, part of the process of selecting keywords is to bear in mind the ‘ranking difficulty’ and plan accordingly.
So typically, whilst we may select your ultimate keyword, such as “plumber in Kent”, we’ll also see what ‘quick wins’ we can achieve, such as “plumber in Westerham”.
Our focus is always to attract you more custom as soon as possible.
Top Maps
Rankings
Google Maps listings appear above natural listings in 93% of searches with local intent. Is your Google My Business Listing at the top?
Being number one in the ‘Maps’ listings will in many cases mean you will top Google’s rankings. This is not with your website, but your Google My Business Listing.
So, a top map ranking is a key way to help potential customers find your business.
It’s interesting to note that even your existing customers will look for you on Google, as its been found that the No 1 reason for doing a local online search is to find the location of a ‘known’ business.
So, in addition to optimising your website for local searches, we will set up and optimise for you a Google My Business listing.
Ranking ‘other
listings’
Did you know it is possible for you to appear on the front page of Google multiple times for the same search; to attract even more clicks?
Many businesses have multiple websites on which they may appear. Such as Trip Advisor, Facebook, or a specialist local directory.
Also, your Google My Business listing, which helps you get found in Google Maps.
It is possible to rank in all these listings on page one of Google for the same search.
So, let’s say you are a plumbing company based in Maidstone and are looking to attract customers who are searching for “plumber in Maidstone”.
It would be possible for example to rank the:
- Website
- Google My Business Listing
- Check A Trade listing
- Yelp listing
So, in this example, your Maidstone firm of plumbers could have 4 results on the first page of Google.
Local search domination in Kent
There are no secrets to SEO, and the following are three of the top factors that will help you achieve top rankings.
Location
Businesses with locations need to tell Google, and their site visitors where the business premises are located. Do you have a consistent name, address, and telephone number?
Name – whilst this may seem obvious, but it is very common for businesses to have names that are inconsistent on their website and other listings, for example:
Hairdresser Ltd, Hairdresser (Kent)
Limited, Rochester Hairdressers
Address – again, the address should be up to date, and consistent with all other listings that your business is on.
Phone Number – Google is not keen on 0800 numbers (as are customers who use mobiles), so a unique local phone number is needed that is consistent with your other listings.
Reviews
88% of consumers consult online reviews before they purchase local services. Online reviews also help your listings to rank. Do you have plenty of good online customer reviews?
See some of the most popular reviews sites below that searcher's trust:
- Yelp: 20%
- Facebook: 20%
- Google: 16%
- TripAdvisor.com: 11%
- Yellow Pages: 10%
There are also specialist sites where it's extremely important for relevant businesses to get reviews, such as Check A Trade.
We will work with you to identify which sites should be used, and how to encourage more customer reviews.
Links
Links are still regarded as the most important factor by Google for both natural and maps rankings. Does your website have plenty of strong local links?
When we build links for your website, we ask “if Google was not around, where would it still make sense to get a link from?”
Let’s say for example you are a hotel in Ashford, some ideas of suitable links:
- Local sports teams you have sponsored
- Local newspapers website on for event you are holding
- Local business networking groups website who holds meetings at your venue
- Local outdoor activities centers website to whom your guests go.
These links will not only help your local rankings but will also feed traffic to your website.
Business & Marketing Resources
Digital marketing is certainly not the only way to market your business, in Kent there is a wealth of other marketing opportunities and resources.
Click here to see the very useful PDF put together by The Kent Foundation, listing most of the networking groups in Kent.
To learn more about digital marketing and meet other like-minded local business owners, Digital in Kent is worth attending.
We'd also recommend attending one of the Official Kent Digital Meetups that are regularly hosted across the county.
The Chamber provides Kent based businesses the opportunity for networking, business advice, training, international trade services and more. There are a number of chapters in Kent, including:
- Kent Invicta
www.kentinvictachamber.co.ukCovering the County of Kent & Medway
- West Kent Chamber of Commerce
www.wkcci.comCovering the area bounded by Sevenoaks, Edenbridge, Westerham, Tonbridge, Hadlow, Paddock Wood, Cranbrook, Staplehurst, Hawkhurst, Tunbridge Wells.
- Thanet and East Kent Chamber of Commerce
www.tekc.co.ukCovering Thanet and East Kent
They offer 0% loans between £50,000 and £500,000 to small and medium sized businesses.
In Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Gravesham, Maidstone, Medway, Sevenoaks, Shepway, Swale, Thanet, Tonbridge and Malling, and Tunbridge Wells.
For more details see: https://www.kent.gov.uk/business/business-loans-and-funding/kent-and-medway-business-fund
They help new and existing businesses find the most suitable type of business support available in their area.
For example, their team of business support advisors can help you identify relevant programmes; initiatives or funding schemes currently on offer across Kent & Medway and can help you access them.
For more details see: http://www.kentandmedwaygrowthhub.org.uk/
A charity that provides business advice and mentoring for Kent's young people; which also includes networking, resources, and business awards.
For example, their team of business support advisors can help you identify relevant programmes; initiatives or funding schemes currently on offer across Kent & Medway and can help you access them.
For more details see: www.kentfoundation.org