Simply Clicks is an SEO agency based in Ashford in Kent. We have been providing SEO services to help Kent businesses find customers via organic search since 2003.

The fist reason you need Search Engine Optimisation for your website is for growth. Organic search traffic from Google, Bing and other search engines is key for your growth. All successful websites have a large and growing proportion of their visitors generated by organic search. This remains the case whether your ambitions are restricted to Kent, adjacent areas such as Sussex, Surrey and South East London, or whether you are attempting to attract customers from throughout the UK.

 

The second reason you need SEO and organic search is to maximise the share of free traffic and therefore reduce the overall, or average, cost of each visitor. This in turn leads to lower costs of customer acquisition. A website that relies purely on paid search or paid display advertising will have a much higher cost per visitor and ultimately cost per conversion.

In many respects local SEO is similar to national SEO. There are, however, several differences. Depending on your market category different local search factors may play a key role. Perhaps the most important is the role of Google My Business. The Google My Business system (Now called Google Business Pages) drives local, and map based searches. If you want search visitors from the local area, then ensuring your business is properly listed on Google My business is essential. The acronym NAP – standing for Name, Address and Phone number – suggests that as a first stage each of these pieces of information is correct. If you have a physical address in Kent and are located in one of Kent’s major towns, then an accurate Google My Business listing will see you generate local search visitors.
To check how well you score with Local SEO Moz.com has a free Moz Local search tool.

Web analytics can be used to inform you who, when, where and how potential visitors search for your website and the products and services you provide. Find what keywords are used and what landing pages perform best at engaging and converting visitors into customers or clients. 

Ultimately the objective is to find where your most important customers are located. Those visitors that have the highest propensity to convert into customers. Then to target that area with relevant keywords. Depending on your market category and scale of business, these visitors may be very local or could come from outside Kent. Within Kent, Medway, Maidstone and Canterbury generate the most searches. However, there is also a broad north west to south east axis of household income and wealth. This shows up in house prices in the areas nearer to London, as well higher levels of deprivation and lower credit ratings as you move south and east through the county. At the same time individual parts of Kent are stronger for activities such as tourism, restaurants and hotel stays. 

Kent is one of the strongest UK counties for travel and tourism. Whether as an ultimate destination or as a gateway via Eurotunnel, Eurostar and the ferry routes. In the opposite direction, thousands of Kent residents travel to central London for their daily commute. A Kent visitor may make a search for a Kent product or service from their home outside Kent. Meanwhile a Kent commuter may well be searching for the same product or service from their workplace in London, or elsewhere. It is therefore important, not to be too restrictive in defining where your most valuable customers are located. And to rely on analytics rather than simple judgement.