Front End SEO

Full Training for Local Service Businesses

Approximate time to implement (for beginners): 4-6 weeks

Note 1: To get the point across easier, I will use a fictitious business called ''ABC Company'' when showing examples.

Note 2: These tips can apply to any service business, large or small or in any industry (construction, beauty, restaurant, finance, etc)

Having better Front End SEO can lead to more clients

Better Front End SEO = more visitors on site, more visitors = more leads, more leads = more revenue

What is Front End SEO?

Front End SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves enhancing the visible parts of your website and business that appear on Google. This includes optimizing elements like URLs, meta descriptions, title tags, and on-page content to improve search engine rankings and visibility.

Why bother optimizing it?

Optimizing has two main benefits. The first one being that it will help you rank higher on search engines (Google, Bing, etc), and secondly, it will help you convert more visitors into actual customers.

• Increase search volume to site

• Improve CTR to site

• Improve quality of visitors to site (improve lead quality)

Here's how the math behind it can look like:

By improving the amount of people that visit your site by 25% (from 20 000 to 25 000) and a sites click through rate by 25% (from 4% to 5%), you can achieve amazing returns from your site.

Although this might seem farfetched, it is not uncommon to see businesses with poor websites and SEO, completely transform their businesses by applying strategies such as those discussed in this document.

Part 1: Introduction to Front End SEO

What is Front End SEO

Front-end SEO, also referred to as on-page SEO, involves optimizing the visible parts of a website that interact directly with users and search engines. This is different than back-end SEO, which focuses on server-side and technical optimizations

Why Should you Optimize Front End SEO

Great, free, organic way to get more traffic to your site as well as help convert more clients.

• Can help you rank higher on search engines for all your different services and regions you serve

• Can help convert clients in a way that competitors aren't doing

• Can be done rapidly and can show great results in the same week. Very good ROI strategy.

Part 2: Keyword Research

Everything starts with keywords

Trying to do Front End SEO without knowing the right keywords is like trying to hit a target while blind. Having a detailed list of all exact, phrase and broad keywords people use to find your service is the foundation on which the rest is built.

The best keywords have a balance between these 3 aspects:

1. Search Volume

How many people are typing that keyword in the search results. More search, more people on website, more potential sales

2. Intent Match

What is the intent of the keywords, and how close is that intent related to your offer. Someone searching for ''business that repairs roofs'' is more likely to buy then someone searching for ''how are roofs made''. Both mention roofs, both have very different meanings

3. Competition Difficulty

How hard is to compete for, how many competitors are ranking for that keyword? More competitive, more difficult to rank for, less likely to appear no.1

Having the perfect combination of all three of these aspects is what allows you to have the keywords that are most likely to rank your website at the top of Google searches.

How to find the keywords

1. Manual Labor: A free way to find keywords is to think of them of manually search for them. Using platforms like Wikipedia, Google ''searches related to'', Reddit and Forums, Google suggest

2. Looking up Competitors: Looking up competitors websites and seeing which keywords they are using to rank on Google. Copying their title tags, meta descriptions and keywords on site and adding them to your list.

3. Using Tools: Using tools that will search all competitors websites and find their most relevant keywords, as well a generate new ideas for keywords by searching the internet.

How to rank keywords from best to worse

To get the most appointments booked/calls to your service website through search engines (Google, Bing, etc.), you want to have the keywords that have a combination between the most amount of search volume and that are easiest to rank no.1 on Google for.

Simple formula to calculate best keywords:

Value of Keyword Score = (Search Volume)×(Intent to Buy)/(Competition Score)

Search Volume = Amount of searches made to that keyword.

Can be searched in bulk using a tool like SemRush (link)

Intent to Buy: Scaled on 0.01 to 1 (1 being very intent to buy)

Can be qualified in bulk using a tool like chat GPT. Modify this prompt to your industry to get proper results (link)

Competition Score (Competitive Difficulty): Scaled on 0.01 to 1 (1 being hyper competitive)

Can be searched in bulk using a tool like SemRush (link). Divide the scores given to match the scale of 0.01-1

*To fit formula, take scores (1-100) and turn them into a decimal (0.01-1.00)

Example of Value Scoring

Example 1: Roof design

• High in search volume (many people are searching for it) = 12 450 searches/month

• Low intent to buy (someone typing this might not be looking to replace a roof, they might just be curious about roofing designs) = 0.05/1.00 intent to buy

• High competition difficulty (a lot of businesses are trying to rank for it, companies selling roofing supplies, architects, blogs on roofs, etc) = 0.85/1.00 difficulty of competition

Value of keyword to business= (12 450) x (0.05)/0.85= 732

Example 2: Metal roof repair in 7 days for residential roof

• Low in search volume (such a specific search that maybe 50 people will search it in a year) = 20 searches/month

• High intent to buy (person searching this is highly motivated to change their roof) = 0.99/1 intent to buy

• Low competition (only other businesses offering that exact service would rank for it) = 0.02/1 difficulty of competition

Value of keyword to business= (20) x (0.99)/(0.02) = 990

Example 3: Roof repair Montreal

• Medium in search volume (Only people in area of Montreal are searching this) = 560 searches/month

• High intent to buy (the searcher is looking to repair their roof) = 0.85/1

• Low competition (only other roofing companies in Montreal will compete for it) = 0.08

Value of keyword to business: (560) x (0.85)/(0.08)= 5950

Example:

Since you only have limited space on your site to include keywords, you want to discriminate the keywords by deciding which ones can generate the most sales. Knowing this, you benefit from creating a list of all the keywords people would use to find you, from highest value to lowest.

Now that we know which ones to choose, where/how do we use them?

1. Keywords that show on search results (Google, Bing, etc)

Refers to keywords that show up in URL, meta title and description, snippets and whatever else when a person searches for your service on search engines (Google, Bing, etc.)

2. Keywords that show on website

Refers to the keywords that visitors see on your website, in your blog, in your menu, etc.

Part 3.1: How to Optimize Search Result Keywords (Google, Bing, etc)

Here are a few tips on how to optimize every aspect visible to potential clients on the search results (Google, Bing, etc.)

Title Tags

What Are Title Tags? Title tags are displayed on search engine results pages as the clickable headline for a given result. The title that shows up on Google search.

Why Are Title Tags Important? Title Tags not only affect how Google will decide to rank you, but they will also help with conversion rates. As well written title tags can entice visitors to click your site instead of your competitors. Both these factors need to be kept in mind.

Best Practices for Writing SEO-Friendly Title Tags:

1. Be Concise and Descriptive:

   • Keep your title tags concise and descriptive. An optimal length is typically between 50-60 characters to ensure that they are not cut off in SERPs.

2. Long Tail Keyword Inclusion and Front Loading:

   • Mention your best/highest ranked target keywords in your Title Tag. Use these keywords at the front of the title as it gives a small boost in conversions.

     • Ex: ''Roofing Montreal ABC Company'' instead of ''ABC Company Roofing Montreal'' if you are looking to rank for ''roofing''

3. Brand Positioning:

   • If your brand is a well-known entity, you may benefit from including it in your title tags. For less well-known brands, it may be more strategic to not include it. Will allow you to rank for more keywords.

     • Ex: ''ABC Company Roofing Repair Montreal'' vs ''Roofing Repair and Roof Installation Montreal''

4. Unique Titles for Each Page:

   • Each page on your website should have a unique title tag to help search engines understand how the page is distinct from the others on your site. Different for every service and region. As well as written in different languages for multilingual site pages. And so, you need to use the keywords that are most favorable for that type of page to rank highest for each.

5. Using Dates

   • If you have a service that is on the cutting edge, consider writing the year inside your title tag

     • Ex: ''Solar Panel Roofing 2024'' and test to see results. Do not front load the year as it might affect title tags negatively.

6. Avoid Keyword Stuffing:

   • Overusing keywords in your title can lead to a spammy appearance and can penalize your rankings. Use your keywords smartly and sparingly. As long as the sentences flow, you should be okay in Google's eyes.

Testing and Optimization (Top priority to test title tags as they have large effects on rankings):

• Continuously test different titles to find the best-performing ones in terms of click-through rates and rankings.

• Monitor the performance of your title tags with SEO tools and Google Search Console (link) to understand how they are contributing to your SEO goals.

Meta Description

What Are Meta Descriptions? It appears under the page title in search engine results pages (SERPs) and is crucial for user engagement.

Why Are Meta Descriptions Important? Though not a ranking signal for search engines like Google and Bing, meta descriptions influence organic CTR, which is a critical metric for SEO performance. Making meta description smore about convincing people to click you website then it is enticing Google to rank you higher.

Key Points on Meta Descriptions:

• Pages with a meta description tend to see higher CTRs compared to those without (Google will fill out it's own meta description if you don't provide one)

• Social media platforms may display the meta description when a page is shared.

• Meta descriptions are visible to user, if not written in readable format (stuffed with keywords), it can leave a bad impression on visitors.

Best Practices for Writing SEO-Friendly Meta Descriptions:

1. Benefit-Driven Copy:

   • Clearly state the benefit of the page. For instance, if the page is a description of your roofing service, highlight how your service can help customers with the issues of their roof.

2. Character Limit:

   • Keep under 155 characters to ensure the entire description is visible in SERPs and avoid being cut off.

3. Incorporate High CTR Phrases from Google Ads:

   • Analyze Google Ads for your target keywords to identify high CTR copy that could enhance your meta description's effectiveness.

4. Include Current Year or Month:

   • For time-sensitive content/pages, including the current year or month can signal to users that the information is up-to-date, potentially increasing CTR.

5. Keyword Inclusion and Front Loading:

   • Mention the target keyword in your meta description. Google will bold keywords that match the user’s query, making your result stand out more. Use these keywords at the front of the description as it gives a small boost in conversions.

     • Ex: ''Roofing Montreal ABC Company'' instead of ''ABC Company Roofing Montreal'' if you are looking to rank for ''roofing''

6. Uniqueness:

   • Each page should have a unique meta description to avoid duplicate content issues and tailor the description to the page’s content.

7. Long Tail Keywords:

   • Use long tail keywords exactly as they are typed by visitors

     • Ex: ''Roofing repair Montreal'' instead of ''We repair roofs in Montreal''

Implementation Tips:

• Update descriptions whenever site changes or new information is needed to be added.

• Use a tester like Mangools (link) to test how the meta description will look on Google

URL's

Why are URLs important for SEO? URLs are a critical component in SEO as they help search engines understand what the page is about. They play a significant role along with the title tag, link anchor text, and page content in influencing page rankings. As well as influence people to click, as it is visible on search results or even as naked links on your social media or when shared by people.

Best Practices for Creating SEO-friendly URLs:

1. User Friendly:

   • Consider making a URL easy to type. Making easier by using simple, short words that don't cause confusion when reading.

     • Ex: ''abcroofing.com/roofing-restoration-montreal'' vs ''abcroofing.com/roofingrestorationmontreal''

2. Use a Keyword:

   • Incorporate a target keyword in your URL. This helps tell Google the primary focus of your page, aiding in content relevance and search ranking.

     • Ex: ''abcroofing.com/roofing'' instead of ''abcroofing.com/home''

3. Use Hyphens to Separate Words:

   • Use hyphens instead of underscores or spaces to separate words, as this is the standard recognized by search engines for clear word definition within URLs.

     • ''abcroofing.com/roof-repair'' instead of ''abcroofing.com/roof_ repair''

4. Use Lowercase Letters:

   • Stick to lowercase letters to avoid confusion since some servers treat uppercase and lowercase URLs differently.

5. Avoid Using Dates:

   • Dates in URLs can make them unnecessarily long and restrict content updates, making URLs confusing if content remains relevant beyond the dated year.

6. Prefer Subfolders Over Subdomains:

   • Use subfolders rather than subdomains to maintain the SEO strength of your primary domain as search engines may treat subdomains as separate entities.

     • Ex: Can be better to use ''abccompany.com/roofrepair'' vs ''roofrepair.abccompany.com''

7. Open Graph images:

   • Can create open graph images with measurements of 1,200 x 630 pixels. This is the image that shows up when your URL is shared. Great way to show brand properly and make your link stand out.

Featured Snippets (Google Optimized)

Importance of Featured Snippets in SEOFeatured Snippets are crucial for two main reasons:

1. They can increase traffic without the need for high search rankings since they capture about 8% of all clicks.

2. They can give visitors more information about your business before they click on your site. Increasing the amount of eyes you will have on your content.

Although you cannot ask Google to use your snippets in search results, you can make it as tempting as possible for them to use your content for it. Here are the 4 main snippets and how to feature for them.

Optimizing for Featured Snippets

1. Definition Box: Answers "what is" queries with a concise definition.

• Objective: Provide a direct, concise definition or description answering "what is" queries.

• How to Optimize:

  • Place a definition (40-60 words) near the top of your content.

  • Include the query phrase, like "What is [keyword]," directly above your definition.

2. Table: Displays data pulled directly from a page’s table.

• Objective: Display structured data that Google can easily parse into a table format.

• How to Optimize:

  • Organize data clearly in a table format within your content.

  • Use standard HTML table tags (<table>, <tr>, <td>) to ensure Google can easily read the table.

  • Ensure the table is labeled with a relevant heading, and consider including a caption for clarity.

3. Ordered List: Lists steps or ranked items in a clear sequence.

• Objective: List items or steps in a sequence that answers procedural queries or rankings.

• How to Optimize:

  • Clearly number each step or item in the list, e.g., “Step 1:”, “Step 2:”, etc.

  • Use header tags (H2 or H3) for each step to emphasize structure.

  • Keep the formatting consistent throughout the list to help Google recognize the list sequence.

4. Unordered List: Shows items in no specific order, ideal for lists that don’t rank items.

• Objective: Present a list of items where the order does not necessarily matter.

• How to Optimize:

  • Use bullet points to list items.

  • Start each item with a bold or emphasized term if relevant.

  • Ensure each point is a concise phrase or sentence that stands on its own.

General Tips for All Snippets

• Identify SERPs with Featured Snippets: Use SEO tools to find keywords that already trigger Featured Snippets in other areas and even your own. This indicates that Google prefers to display a snippet for these queries.

• Match the Snippet Type: Tailor your content to match the type of snippet displayed for your target keywords. For example, if a keyword shows a table snippet, include a well-structured table in your content.

• Keyword-Rich Headers: Use clear, descriptive headings around your snippet-targeted content to help Google understand and extract the relevant parts.

Domain Name

What Are Domains? A domain is the address of your website that people type into the URL bar of their browser to visit your site. It is a crucial element of your site’s identity and can significantly impact user perception and SEO.

Why Are Domains Important? 

• The domain name is often the first thing a user sees and can affect their impression of your website.

• While not as directly influential as other factors, a good domain can contribute to search engine ranking performance, especially through keyword relevance and branding.

• A memorable and relevant domain name strengthens brand recognition and makes it easier for users to return to your site.

Best Practices for Choosing SEO-Friendly Domains:

1. Keep It Short and Simple:

   • Choose a domain name that is easy to type, pronounce, and remember. Shorter domains reduce the risk of user error and are easier to brand.

2. Include Relevant Keywords:

   • If possible, include relevant keywords in your domain that describe your business or the services you offer. This can help improve SEO by aligning your domain name with top search queries in your industry. Although it does not have a large effect on Google, having a main keyword in your domain is an extremely high ranking factor for Bing (fyi: 3-4% of websites are visited through Bing)

     • ex: ''abccompany.com'' changed to ''abcroofing.com''

3. Avoid Hyphens and Numbers:

   • Domains containing hyphens and numbers are often misunderstood when spoken and can be seen as spammy. They’re also harder to type and less fluent, so it’s best to avoid them to ensure clarity and credibility.

4. Choose the Right Domain Extension:

   • Can purchase all main domain extensions to cover all bases and make sure competition doesn't use them to your disadvantage.

     • Ex: Buying ''abcroofing.com'' and ''abcroofing.ca''

5. Purchasing Keyword Domains

   • Some people, when searching for a service for a region might type in the service and region as domain the the search bar. You can capitalize on that by purchasing the most common domains people are searching up.

     • Ex: People might type ''roofingmontreal.com'' or ''roofmontreal.com'', you can then purchase those domains and redirect them to your website, allowing your website to show when they search it.

6. Purchasing Typo Domains

   • If your business is large enough, you can have a subset of visitors who will type your domain improperly to try and visit your site. By buying domains of the most common ways they misspell it, you might collect traffic that would of been lost otherwise.

     • Ex: Your domain is ''abccompany.com'' and maybe the most common typo is ''abccompny.com''.

Part 3.2: How to Optimize Website for SEO

Here are a few tips on how to optimize every aspect of keywords visible to potential clients on your website.

Main Pages Content

What does SEO for Main Pages Entail? SEO for main pages involves applying specific strategies to the home, about, service, and contact page to improve their visibility and ranking in search engine results. Basically, optimizing all the main pages on your site that will get the most traffic and will be used as templates for programmatic pages (explained later on)

Why is SEO Optimization for Main Pages Important? Optimizing your main pages is crucial because:

• These pages typically capture the essence of your brand and offerings.

• They are often the first pages visitors interact with.

• Properly optimized main pages can significantly enhance user engagement and conversion rates.

Best Practices for SEO Optimization on Main Pages:

1. Optimizing Keywords to Rank:

   • Integrate in your content the main keywords you are looking to rank for. Front load the ones you rate are of highest value (using the keyword research strategy above) and try to integrate as many as you can while keeping the text coherent and readable to visitors.

2. Optimize Images and Videos:

   • Include relevant images and videos to make your pages more engaging. Modify the alt text, file names and description, while including target keywords. It will slightly help with ranking those keywords but be careful as Google can penalize you for stuffing too many keywords in them.

3. Publishing/Editing Date

   • Write publishing date or editing date at the start of informational content as well as within content to rank for it. (ex: best way to whiten teeth in 2024). Have a reminder set at the beginning of each year to change the year. Allowing you for a competitive boost at the beginning of every new year.

4. Regular Updates:

   • Keep the content on your main pages fresh and up-to-date. Regular updates signal to search engines that your website is relevant, which can help maintain or improve your rankings. Update whenever page is loosing traffic or when content has changed. Update publishing date as well to tell Google information is fresh. Ideally you want to add content instead of removing/change content. As it will allow you to r=keep ranking for those old keywords while ranking for the new.

Programmatic SEO

What is Programmatic SEO? Programmatic SEO refers to the process of manually or by using software , generate new pages on your site automatically, in the hopes of capturing traffic more traffic to your site.

• Typical example: As a service business like a roofing company. You might offer 3 different services and serve 20 different cities. Would create a total of 60 pages (20×3), each with a title, description and content specific to the region and service

  • Ex: Montreal Roof Repair, Montreal Roof Installation, Toronto Roof Repair, etc.

• Outside of the box example: As a real estate agent, you can create a page on your website that goes through the prices and details of the houses of all celebrities in your town (very searched for subject). At the end of the page, you can include a section selling your services to people looking to buy homes. Even though it is indirect, it can get you such a large volume of people, that a percentage of them would contact you through that post.

  • Ex: ''Most expensive homes in Montreal'' ''How expensive are celebrities homes in Montreal''

Why is Programmatic SEO Important? Programmatic SEO is crucial because it:

• Allows websites to cover potentially thousands of keyword variations to get more eyeballs and sales on site.

• The creation of web pages can be automated, saving time and resources in managing large-scale SEO campaigns. With AI it is now simpler then ever.

• Effectively captures traffic from highly specific queries, which often have lower competition and higher conversion rates.

Best Practices for Implementing Programmatic SEO:

1. Template Optimization:

   • Design SEO-friendly templates for automatically generated pages. Ensure these templates are flexible enough to incorporate unique content for each page, such as titles, meta descriptions, and body content that are all aligned with specific search queries.

2. Content Uniqueness and Quality:

   • Although the pages are generated programmatically, the content on each page should be unique and provide value. Avoid duplicate content issues and strive to include unique statistics, images, or data that enhance the user experience and engagement. A good rule of thumb is to have 2/3 of your content be different from one page to the next. The structure can stay the same bu the text and images should be 2/3 different then he rest to follow the rule.

3. SEO Fundamentals:

   • Apply all traditional SEO best practices to each page, including optimized header tags, internal linking, mobile responsiveness, and fast loading times.

4. Monitor and Optimize:

   • Use analytics and SEO tools to track the performance of your programmatic pages. Look for trends in traffic and rankings, and continuously optimize based on data insights. Adjust your approach as needed to improve performance and ROI.

Conclusion - Front End SEO

What front end SEO can potentially do for your service business.

Whether you have a hair salon, construction business, restaurant, accounting firm or any other service business. These tactics can (and most likely will) help your business grow. Here is a visualization of the effects of properly optimizing Front End SEO.

If you’d like to learn more about optimizing your business online, we offer 12 free trainings on subjects ranging from SEO, Website Optimization and even Sales. 

Click the link below 👇

https://vizonsdigital.gumroad.com/l/12Trainings

If you are looking to outsource the work and get us to optimize these parts of your business, visit our site for more information, and book a discovery call with our team. 

Click the link below 👇

www.vizionsdigital.com