Suggestions on how to kick off my SEO campaign.

[sepoto]

I have a web site I just set up for a service based company. There is an active PPC campaign on Google AdWords right now. Analytics and Webmaster tools are installed. I have measured the load time of the site with Google Developer Tools and am working to optimize the load time as it takes about 1.5s right now to load. Other than those items what should I be doing right now in order to obtain more organic leads as opposed to PPC traffic from the AdWords? I have a lot of my own ideas in mind but I want to hear some other opinions.

Thank You!

[SEO_AM]

BACKLINKS!!!

Any other questions?

[Test-ok]

Backlinks is just one part of gaining organic traffic.
Make sure the site and pages are optimized. You may not even need backlinks depending on your niche and competition...but they do help. For some reason so many people think backlinks is the one and only answer..and it's not.

[SEO_AM]

Test... He is looking for success in the organic SERPS. How is this done without backlinks? I would really like to know.

[KernelPanic]

KW Research, then on site SEO.

In some geo targets and some industries you can rank the site with just that.

If you need more then work on BACKLINKS!

[Test-ok]

Your 'any more questions' answer suggests thats all that needs to be done for success and it does depending on how you look at it. To be truly successful in gaining organic leads you also need to capture the organic click to get that lead, a poor title and or description could severely diminish that successful lead.
I'm not implying your answer is wrong, but rather incomplete.


Same thing applies to PPC, you can pay a small fortune to be seen, but to be successful you need to capture that traffic and get the return on your investment. Otherwise it's not really a success now is it.

[SEO_AM]

You may not even need backlinks

You said: "You may not even need backlinks... You did not answer my question... How do you get good SERP results without backlinks? Note: Good onpage is a given... It comes down to a superior backlink profile to dominate the SERPs and you know that. After that comes clicks and conversions.

Edit: You also know my whole thing is content and onpage. That is why I say the onpage is a given.

[SEO_AM]

"Test-ok agrees: It's a given for me and you, however we didn't ask the question." Touche. I hate being admonished.

[Test-ok]

You said: "You may not even need backlinks... You did not answer my question... How do you get good SERP results without backlinks?

It's done all the time, depending on the niche and the competition.

Maybe not in your niche, but the OP didn't mention anything but that it's a service web site. An example would be an emergency bee capture service in the Salt Lake City area. I could rank that site without any links. Or a marijuana caregiver in Colorado.

[KernelPanic]

The title of the thread is Suggestions on how to kick off my SEO campaign.

so many people (present company excluded of course) neglect proper KW research so I beat that drum every chance I get.

[Test-ok]

SEO_AM
Sorry...It was the big red bold thingie that did it.
otherwise I wouldn't have said anything.

KP
That's a good drum to beat on.

[SEO_AM]

KP and Test... You professional SEOs continue to pi$$ me off. But, I learned something...

Of course where there is little to no competition backlinks would become secondary. I am so used to working in the tens of millions of pages in the super competitive SERPs world that I could not see the forest through the trees.

Thanks guys. I learned or was reminded of something.

[KernelPanic]

KP and Test... You professional SEOs continue to pi$$ me off. But, I learned something...

Of course where there is little to no competition backlinks would become secondary. I am so used to working in the tens of millions of pages in the super competitive SERPs world that I could not see the forest through the trees.

Thanks guys. I learned or was reminded of something.

We're just in different worlds. Working on 1 site for 50 hours a week is a different planet than the one I am on where I often get less than 12 hours a month on a site.

I understand spending money to get awesome best-of-the-web content. Photographers, air travel to get an interview, proper NY Times style content writing. But try telling an attorney in a 100k city that you need 3k to develop a proper page of content so you can attract links naturally... it won't be pretty, at least in most cases.

[SEO_AM]

...try telling an attorney in a 100k city that you need 3k to develop a proper page of content so you can attract links naturally... it won't be pretty, at least in most cases.

I live in a 100K town and am friends with the dominant site designer/developer company. They have around 25 real estate company sites that want to be #1 on a $25/month SEO budget. Tough.

[Test-ok]

I live in a 100K town and am friends with the dominant site designer/developer company. They have around 25 real estate company sites that want to be #1 on a $25/month SEO budget. Tough.

I wouldn't mind having my #1 choice of a house for $ 25 a month either.