9 Proven Ways Agencies Can Help Their Clients Win the Google Search Game

By Tom Earnest on Oct 26, 2021

It can seem impossible to stay on top of the SEO game in today’s dynamic yet sometimes mysterious world of search engine optimization. Google constantly changes the rules but never clearly shares them with marketers who are trying to rank well in search results.

Here’s what we know for sure about Google’s rules. Leverage them to provide top tier SEO services to your clients. And don’t hesitate to get help from an agency that provides white label SEO services.

1. Don’t Miss the Forest for the Trees

Google became a powerhouse because people trust the quality of service they deliver. Search Google for information, and it quickly comes back with something of value, based on what it knows about users and the websites it monitors.

Google understands the whole thing could come crashing down if it loses user trust by providing bad service. What would happen if it started sending users to terrible digital experiences?

Search engine experts at agencies often get so into the minutiae of Google rules and lose sight of the big picture: Google is ultimately a service business.

SEO pros should advise their clients on how to deliver the best overall digital experience for their end users, not just tweak their websites to address small search issues.  When Google sees that a site delivers for its visitors, it will promote it to more people. It’s that simple.

Sure, Google rules play into this bigger picture approach. However, it’s important to step back and experience your clients’ digital properties through the eyes of their clients. It will help you see how you can improve them so they meet — and beat — expectations.

2. Check Out the Competition

Does it make you feel angry, anxious or frustrated when a competitor beats your client in Google? It shouldn’t.

It should inspire you.

Figure out what they’re getting right, then start doing it on your client’s site and do it better. Sports would get dull if it was always the same. Teams are forced to up their game when they’re beaten by a competitor.

Google is similar. Use a second or third place finish as an opportunity to coach clients on how to play the Google game better. Demonstrate your competitive spirit and ability to adapt.

3. Stay Trendy

If you focus completely on what your clients and their competitors are doing now, you’re so yesterday. Leverage tools like Google Trends to figure out what they need to be ranking for next. In a search world that’s changing non-stop, there’s limited time value in today’s search terms. Leverage them to figure out tomorrow’s trending terms and topics.

Not sure how to use Google Trends to up your SEO game? Consider white label SEO services to get the support you need.

4. Be the Best

If your client’s blog posts, videos, infographics and other content are — quite simply — the best, Google will serve them up. If you advise your clients to invest in anything, it should be awesome content. SEO can’t be effective without it.

5. Get the Back End Right

Sure, the actual on-page experience is what engages users in the end. But it’s important to get the back end stuff right as well, even though users never see it. If you don’t, the website might deliver a perfect user experience, but Google won’t know about it, understand it or be able to measure it.

We all know we should not forget the following things, but sometimes we get busy. But it’s important to always include

• Title tags: Use them to explain to Google what the content on the page is about and include the keywords for which you want to rank. Bonus points for putting your main keyword near the beginning of the tag.
• Meta descriptions: These show up in the results Google serves up. Use them to make it clear what the page is about so people will want to visit it.
• Headings: Leverage these to break your content into digestible bites (particularly important for smartphones) and provide Google with additional clues about what the page covers.
• URLs: These should be simple to read and descriptive. They should also include a keyword if possible.
• Alt tags: Add a description of each image and include a keyword if possible.
• Internal links: Include easy-to-follow links to some of your other website pages to encourage visitors to explore. This will help prevent bounces, which send a bad signal to Google.

All these things are basic, but you can’t afford to neglect them.

6. Make Backlinks a Top Priority

SEO experts know backlinks are critical for search dominance. So why do so few make it a priority to earn them for their clients?

One reason is that the outreach to top tier experts who have authoritative websites is time consuming and frustrating. There’s a lot of competition to get these links.

To make the process easier and more efficient, don’t just request a link. Offer something of value in return. Perhaps you have a superstar on your team who’s uniquely able to create a piece of content the person you’re requesting a link from will find attractive. Get creative and come up with something meaningful you can do in return for that precious backlink.

Tip: Another tactic you can use to earn more backlinks is to include original data and insights in content. Experts will be more likely to want to link to something novel.

7. Vary Content Types

A lot of SEO experts automatically revert to written content when it comes to site optimization. The truth is that visual forms of content such as infographics, maps, charts and videos can provide as much value. Many bloggers love linking to this type of content, so it’s great for generating backlinks.

8. Ensure Your Content is the “Right” Length

A great Google mystery is what length of content is more likely to garner higher rankings. One thing is for certain: content that’s too short to provide complete information won’t rank as well as material that’s viewed by Google as complete. A good benchmark is to write enough to cover a topic thoroughly, but not so much that it makes it difficult for people on mobile devices to get through it.

Tip: Using a keyword two or three times on a page is usually enough for Google to register what a piece of content is about unless it’s a particularly long piece. Instead, add more words and phrases that relate to your keyword to send richer signals to Google. These are known as LSI (latent semantic indexing) keywords and tools are available online to help you figure them out.

9. Check That Every Page Is Really Mobile Optimized

Your clients’ sites have likely been optimized for viewing on smartphones and tablets. The move to digital during the pandemic forced even the most diehard holdouts to go mobile. You may have worked with clients to upgrade their sites, but are you sure they’re 100 percent mobile friendly? Even a few less than optimal pages can harm rankings. Google offers a tool that can help you see if a site is fully mobile optimized. If the tool identifies any errors, fix them ASAP.

Tip: Site speed is another factor that impacts search rankings. Tools are available that can help you monitor and improve site performance.

Help Is at Hand

Still not feeling confident about your agency handling SEO for your clients? Set up a free consultation with Umbrella to find out how they can help by enabling you to resell SEO services provided by top tier white label SEO services.