The SEO Journey: What to Expect from Working with Whitecap SEO
So, you are thinking about getting started with search engine optimization. As the industry expert in ecommerce SEO, we hear a lot of the same frequently asked questions from brands: How much does SEO cost? How long does SEO take to start working? How is SEO success measured? What should I look for in an SEO agency?
To provide maximum transparency about our background, our expertise, and our service offerings, we are answering these and other common questions about what to expect when embarking on an SEO journey with Whitecap.
Whitecap SEO Services: Getting Started & What’s Included
Based on our decades of experience in search marketing and search engine optimization, we have developed a two-step process for onboarding new clients:
Initial Discovery Package: Our Initial Discovery Package includes a comprehensive site audit, targeted keyword research, and a competitive analysis to determine how your site ranks compared to other brands in your industry. The Discovery takes 5-6 weeks to complete.
SEO Roadmap: The roadmap outlines your website’s journey to SEO success over the next 6-12 months. This high-impact SEO strategy outlines recommendations for technical fixes, product and category page optimizations, content creation, link-building and other SEO fundamentals to increase your site’s rankings, traffic, and sales.
The cost of this two-step kickoff process is $6,600.
After the Discovery is complete and the SEO Roadmap has been presented, most brands choose to move into a monthly consulting package. These packages begin at $3,300 per month and scale up based on need.
Please note that we currently work with retailers who generate $500,000 or more in sales per year.
Which SEO Services Are Provided Monthly?
Our monthly SEO consulting packages are fully customized based on the unique needs of your website. The Initial Discovery Package allows us to dive deep into your site and identify the low-hanging fruits, which is where we will prioritize our initial efforts.
For instance, if the comprehensive site audit reveals critical technical issues that are preventing your site from being crawled and indexed properly, we will stack our efforts towards fixing these issues before moving onto other solutions like content creation.
On the other hand, if your site is already technically sound and achieving solid rankings, we might begin with creating content such as blog posts and page content. In either case, we allocate our resources to the services that will generate the biggest impact for your site.
In general, the SEO journey for most brands follows this format:
Start by cleaning up technical issues uncovered during the site audit
Site optimization (using keywords identified in the Discovery strategically throughout the site, such as on the homepage, category pages, product pages, etc.)
Content creation (blog posts, etc.)
Finish with link-building and third-party content, which requires a solid onsite foundation in order to be successful
After the Initial Discovery Package is completed, our team of SEO experts will have a much clearer understanding of which services will offer the best return on your investment. We will present multiple SEO package options customized to the unique needs of your site.
Whitecap also offers PPC / Google Ads services, which we may recommend in addition to SEO based on what we uncover in the Initial Discovery Package. Our PPC Director used to work at Google, and brings a unique understanding of paid search to the table.
PPC pricing begins at $1,500 per month, and we typically recommend a monthly ad spend of at least $3,000.
How Long Does it Take to Start Seeing SEO Results? What Kind of Results Can I Expect?
The honest answer? There is no getting around the fact that SEO is a long-term investment.
Achieving a page-one ranking doesn’t happen overnight, but most brands see meaningful results within 6-12 months of getting started with SEO.
Unlike many SEO agencies, Whitecap doesn’t focus on “vanity metrics.” When we say results, we mean targeted traffic that results in a revenue increase.
The magnitude of impact your brand can expect to see from SEO depends on your website’s history, current search performance, previous investment in SEO, and industry.
We can provide a more accurate estimate of your predicted results and timeline after the Initial Discovery Package, as this process allows us to compare how your site is ranking to how your competitors are ranking.
For example, moving up to page one will be a relatively quick process if you are starting on page two, but will take more time if you are starting on page ten.
What Metrics Are Used to Measure SEO Success?
Whitecap uses two primary metrics to gauge SEO success: organic traffic year-over-year and organic revenue year-over-year. We use year-over-year (YOY) reporting because it strips out the seasonal fluctuations that occur in every industry.
For instance, the holiday season drives higher organic traffic and sales on virtually every ecommerce site. Comparing this year’s December metrics to last year’s numbers will provide more meaningful insights than comparing this year’s December and November metrics.
We emphasize these metrics because they have a direct impact on your brand’s bottom line, which is what true SEO success means to our team. However, we also internally track keyword movement to ensure rankings are moving in the right direction, even before those big changes to traffic and sales hit.
These metrics will be shared with your point of contact in our monthly touchpoints. If you are tracking other specific KPIs, we can also incorporate these into our reporting.
How Much Work Is Needed on My End?
Getting started with Whitecap is quick and easy. All that’s required on your part is:
Attending a kickoff call to help us learn as much as possible about your business and your website
Granting our team access to your Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts
From there, our team will spend the next 5-6 weeks completing our Initial Discovery and developing your SEO Roadmap. Many of our clients use this downtime to determine who will serve as Whitecap’s point of contact, and to prepare their internal teams for the implementation of SEO recommendations.
As part of your monthly package, our team of SEO experts will handle all the keyword research, optimization work, content creation, analytics tracking, and reporting — all that is needed on your end is a developer or member of your in-house team who can implement our recommendations in the back end of your website.
We will meet monthly with your brand’s chosen point of contact to share our recommendations, analytics, and other insights. If needed, we can adjust the frequency of meetings based on your needs, and our team is always available to answer questions via email.
Why Whitecap SEO?
Whitecap specializes in helping online retailers grow their organic traffic and revenue using results-driven ecommerce SEO solutions. Every member of our U.S.-based team cares about the long-term success of our clients.
Our Principal & Chief SEO Strategist Michael Salvo has over a decade of experience in the ecommerce space and an in-house background, having worked as the SEO for the popular $100M+ online t-shirt company Custom Ink. He brings a keen understanding of small business needs and a vast network of industry experts.
Unlike some other agencies, we don’t drive traffic for traffic’s sake — we strive to attract targeted traffic that will positively impact your brand’s bottom line.
As for the quality of our work, our name says it all: Whitecap was founded as a white hat SEO agency, meaning all our practices are Google-approved and within their terms of service.
Still Have Questions About SEO?
If you have questions about the SEO process or about working with Whitecap that we haven’t answered here, please reach out to us for a zero-obligation call.
We’re happy to listen to your business goals and take an honest look at your site to recommend the services that will offer the best ROI — even if they aren’t services we offer.
A simple thirty-minute phone call could put your business on track to a new level of success!