SEO services are confusing

bikegremlin

TL/DR:
Has anyone used SEO services/companies they would recommend?

Here's the "problem:"

An acquaintance I'd like to help has a super-niche webshop. They make a living out of it.

They contacted me complaining their sales and website visits have dropped.

Right now, the website is very small and basic. Great visual design and OK performance (I'd see about improving this), but only a few pages: about us, contact, prices, and product description.

Now, I'm not an SEO expert. With that disclaimer in mind, the first thing I could think of was for them to investigate what their typical client is googling for (search phrases and the intended results - i.e. search intent).

Then, make a "blog" section, providing answers, explanations etc. based on those queries and interests.

The logical question I got was:
"Who can do that analysis and help create the needed content?"

And I have no idea who to recommend. Requiring a long time to show any results, I find SEO services to be shadier than your usual hosting offer. I also have no idea what the reasonable prices for that kind of service are.

P.S.
It appears that their Google Analytics account is not connected to their search console. I suppose that is a good idea to get any keyword analysis (please correct me if I'm wrong)?

Ympker

Aside from classic Google Trends, WordTracker is a good way to see what your potential customers might be googling and at what time of the year they are more likely to do so. Then you can schedule your ads/campaigns according to these tendencies:

https://www.wordtracker.com/search?query=bike

The Pro version gives even more insights.

There's also https://keywordtool.io/ which I never ended up using, though.

bikegremlin

@Ympker said:
Aside from classic Google Trends, WordTracker is a good way to see what your potential customers might be googling and at what time of the year they are more likely to do so. Then you can schedule your ads/campaigns according to these tendencies:

https://www.wordtracker.com/search?query=bike

The Pro version gives even more insights.

There's also https://keywordtool.io/ which I never ended up using, though.

I'm happy to do that myself, even for free, but since it's a basic means of making a living, I'm leaning towards recommending a pro with a proven track record.

I have experience with the technical stuff (site speed, mobile friendliness, alt-tags etc.). But wouldn't bet my (nor anyone else's) living on providing the optimal list of blog article topics (nor, for that matter, on being certain that blog is the way to go in this case, though I'm pretty certain it would help at least a bit).

Ympker

@bikegremlin said:

@Ympker said:
Aside from classic Google Trends, WordTracker is a good way to see what your potential customers might be googling and at what time of the year they are more likely to do so. Then you can schedule your ads/campaigns according to these tendencies:

https://www.wordtracker.com/search?query=bike

The Pro version gives even more insights.

There's also https://keywordtool.io/ which I never ended up using, though.

I'm happy to do that myself, even for free, but since it's a basic means of making a living, I'm leaning towards recommending a pro with a proven track record.

I have experience with the technical stuff (site speed, mobile friendliness, alt-tags etc.). But wouldn't bet my (nor anyone else's) living on providing the optimal list of blog article topics (nor, for that matter, on being certain that blog is the way to go in this case, though I'm pretty certain it would help at least a bit).

Fiverr then, perhaps Or someone else from the community.

Fwiw, this month I enrolled in a long-term educational program focused on Digital Marketing (including seo), but especially SEO is something I wouldn't call myself an expert in just yet. Ask me in a year perhaps, and I'll hopefully be able to provide you with a more satisfactory answer

bikegremlin

@Ympker said:

@bikegremlin said:

@Ympker said:
Aside from classic Google Trends, WordTracker is a good way to see what your potential customers might be googling and at what time of the year they are more likely to do so. Then you can schedule your ads/campaigns according to these tendencies:

https://www.wordtracker.com/search?query=bike

The Pro version gives even more insights.

There's also https://keywordtool.io/ which I never ended up using, though.

I'm happy to do that myself, even for free, but since it's a basic means of making a living, I'm leaning towards recommending a pro with a proven track record.

I have experience with the technical stuff (site speed, mobile friendliness, alt-tags etc.). But wouldn't bet my (nor anyone else's) living on providing the optimal list of blog article topics (nor, for that matter, on being certain that blog is the way to go in this case, though I'm pretty certain it would help at least a bit).

Fiverr then, perhaps Or someone else from the community.

Fwiw, this month I enrolled in a long-term educational program focused on Digital Marketing (including seo), but especially SEO is something I wouldn't call myself an expert in just yet. Ask me in a year perhaps, and I'll hopefully be able to provide you with a more satisfactory answer

If you put in enough hours studying and experimenting, you should be decent in a years' time, and an expert in a few years - you're smart... for a German. :P

bikegremlin

Damn! Our anti-hate-speech bot is still not working!

Dazzle

@bikegremlin I will help you. I'm an SEO Specialist and a sysadmin hobbyist, working professionally on a Digital Agency as Head of SEO. I'm not offering you any service, but eager to help and answer any question you might have.

First, based on your description, the site might be hit by Helpful Content Update (HCU) or product review update. If you can provide exact date when the traffic start to drop, then we can analyze it deeper.

Regarding what keywords used to find the site, its an easy one if I know the domain.

bikegremlin

@Dazzle said:
@bikegremlin I will help you. I'm an SEO Specialist and a sysadmin hobbyist, working professionally on a Digital Agency as Head of SEO. I'm not offering you any service, but eager to help and answer any question you might have.

First, based on your description, the site might be hit by Helpful Content Update (HCU) or product review update. If you can provide exact date when the traffic start to drop, then we can analyze it deeper.

Regarding what keywords used to find the site, its an easy one if I know the domain.

This sounds very interesting. I'm eager to learn and hear more (no sarcasm).

Can I give myself the liberty to PM you - as it's not my site?

Edit:
This part can go publicly, as I consider it to be educational:

As far as I could tell from the GA, the decline is very slow and gradual, over more than a year.
That's why I don't think the site hit any penalties or similar - just... stale, no big marketing, or SEO efforts (again, as far as I can tell, not an expert). Does that make sense?

Dazzle

@bikegremlin said:

This sounds very interesting. I'm eager to learn and hear more (no sarcasm).

Can I give myself the liberty to PM you - as it's not my site?

Edit:
This part can go publicly, as I consider it to be educational:

As far as I could tell from the GA, the decline is very slow and gradual, over more than a year.
That's why I don't think the site hit any penalties or similar - just... stale, no big marketing, or SEO efforts (again, as far as I can tell, not an expert). Does that make sense?

Sure, you can PM me the domain. I prefer we discuss it publicly about the SEO things.

bikegremlin

@Dazzle said:

@bikegremlin said:

This sounds very interesting. I'm eager to learn and hear more (no sarcasm).

Can I give myself the liberty to PM you - as it's not my site?

Edit:
This part can go publicly, as I consider it to be educational:

As far as I could tell from the GA, the decline is very slow and gradual, over more than a year.
That's why I don't think the site hit any penalties or similar - just... stale, no big marketing, or SEO efforts (again, as far as I can tell, not an expert). Does that make sense?

Sure, you can PM me the domain. I prefer we discuss it publicly about the SEO things.

My thoughts exactly - as any sharing of knowledge and info can only help!