Oh No! It's SEO!

SEO—like all good marketing—is about helping people find you, instead of you going out and finding people. That’s the way you should ultimately see it. And like all good marketing, SEO has changed over the years. In the beginning—way back in the early days of Google and the interwebs—SEO was largely about search terms (or keywords, in common vernacular). You’d plop keywords like “engine rebuild service in Oxnard California” on your page and you’d get people looking for…well…engine rebuild services in Oxnard, California.

You can still do that. Search terms still play a part. So does informational content. But these days, says Aki Garg, one of Dieselmatic’s SEO specialists, Google wants to make sure you have a niche. 

It also wants to make sure your site demonstrates EAT: Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This blog goes into detail about EAT, but suffice to say:  you want your shop’s website to demonstrate all three.

HOW CAN YOU GET STARTED WITH SEO?‍

The reality is that modern SEO, or search engine optimization, encompasses all the little things that make your website visible on search engines and to those looking for the services you offer. But in a nutshell, you need the following: 

1. You have pages for each service that include relevant SEO terms.
2. You’re involved with your local SEO (Google Business) and your business and service sections are filled out properly.
3. You update everything—website, Google Business, and everything else—regularly. “As a business owner, it gets very tough to keep up with how trends are changing,” Aki says, because business owners—especially shop owners—are often consumed with, y’know, the actual work of running their business. 

The above will give you a digital presence, at least, but it won’t necessarily set you apart online. It may not also get you the largest market share.

Working with SEO successfully usually involves mastering a few tools that help you measure traffic, site performance, and more. A few of the tools Dieselmatic puts to work on your behalf include: 

• SEMRush: The subscription can be around $200/month.
• Google Suite: Free!
• Hotjar: Heat mapping tool that gauges user experience. Where are people clicking on your site? Are they getting frustrated?
• BrightEdge: $100-$150/month.
• ScreamingFrog: Limited free plan, but it is not easy to learn.

You may also be looking at hiring a freelance writer and web designer to at least help you out with building and running your website. Talented professionals aren’t cheap, and you get the additional joy of wrangling their logistics. 

WHY AN UNDERSTANDING OF SEO IS HELPFUL‍

At this point, you probably expect us to say, “Forget SEO! You have better things to do! Just hire us and forego all knowledge of search engine whatchamacallit!”

And we could…but we won’t. 

While we agree that you probably have a ton to do and don’t need to add more to the pile, Aki says a working understanding of SEO and digital marketing can help you get a leg up on your competitors. It allows you to make more informed decisions—whether you’re working with us, another agency, or flying solo.

SHOULD YOU LET DIESELMATIC HANDLE THINGS?‍

When you partner with Dieselmatic, you can leave the heavy lifting to us. If you don’t have a website, we’ll build an SEO-optimized site from scratch. This includes a page for each service you provide to ensure you get traffic for that particular service. We’ll handle on-page optimizations, schema markups, and all those other important elements of a high-performing website.

If you do have a website that is performing, we can build on and around it—we won’t junk something that’s getting results. You also won’t be handling the logistics of wrangling freelancers or paying multiple marketing bills per month.

The quality of the work we do speaks for itself, but Aki shared a recent client story with us. “Three months ago, their organic traffic value—what you would pay for this traffic if it came to you via PPC—was close to $3,000 … Now, it’s more than $9,000.” 

That’s quite a jump, but many of our customers do see significant increases in their organic traffic value—along with their SEM and social marketing. Want to know more about Dieselmatic and how we can introduce you to your ideal customers? Hit us up for a free consultation!