SEO services: work on your site’s visibility in Google

What the cooperation looks like month by month

SEO work has stages that usually fall into one pattern. The exact plan depends on the state of the site, but the order stays similar.

1. Conversation and access. We agree goals, the most important services or categories, the market and competitors. We get read-only access to Search Console and Analytics.
2. Diagnosis. A crawl of the site, Search Console data, performance measurement, link analysis and a first measurement of AI visibility. The result is a list of problems with evidence. We describe this in more detail on the page about the SEO and GEO audit.
3. Plan. We arrange tasks by impact, urgency, cost and dependencies. We agree what we do and what the client’s team does.
4. First implementations. We start with indexing blocks, technical errors and the pages with the greatest potential. We describe technical tasks so that a developer can move them into their own system.
5. Content and structure. We improve existing pages, create missing ones and tidy up internal linking.
6. Authority and mentions. We work on links, mentions and the consistency of data about the business.
7. Measurement and corrections. Every month we compare the metrics with the baseline, assess what worked and update the plan for the next period.

Every week the team sees the implementation status: what has been published, what is waiting for a decision or resources, and what needs checking again. The monthly report shows the work done, keywords in the top 10, the change in visibility and the state of technical problems.

After the first months, once the basic problems are removed, the emphasis moves from repair to growth: new topics, deepening existing pages and extending the brand’s presence in external sources. We check the site after every publication, because a small change to a template can break indexing in a single day.

How long it takes before a change shows

A reliable supplier will not give you a single number, because SEO has no fixed timetable. Changes to a site work only once Google notices them, processes them and takes them into account in ranking. The pace depends on several things.

• The baseline. Removing a serious technical block can quickly bring a page back into results, but not every change has a noticeable effect in search.
• The age and history of the domain. A new domain has no history, while an old one may carry migrations, penalties or drops that have to be repaired.
• Competition for keywords. Strong competition can lengthen the work. We assess it for a specific group of keywords, because niche and local keywords can be competitive too.
• Crawl frequency. Google may crawl popular, frequently updated pages more often, but the frequency also depends on content quality and server performance.
• The pace of implementation on the client’s side. A task that waits several weeks for a developer delays the whole plan.
• The scope of changes. Fixing a server response code has a different horizon from building topical authority from scratch.

The first technical changes can be visible after the page is crawled again. Changes to content and authority can take longer. Google says: “Some changes might take effect in a few hours, others could take several months.” That is why we judge by the trend over the following months, not by a single measurement. Small day-to-day fluctuations in position are normal, but a sudden large drop needs its cause checked.

Before the site reaches the top 10, we also watch the number of impressions in Search Console, the indexing of important pages and the number of keywords in wider bands, for example the top 50. These data help judge the direction of change, though on their own they do not prove the work is effective.

What the cost of SEO depends on

The cost of SEO follows from the amount of work needed to change a site’s situation. It is set after a review of the site, because the same service for two sites can differ greatly in scope. The factors that matter most:

• The size and complexity of the site. A company site with a few dozen pages needs a different effort from a shop with thousands of products, filters and language versions.
• The technical state. A site with serious errors needs more work at the start than one that is built correctly.
• Competition. The stronger the pages in the top 10 for the chosen keywords, the more content and authority you have to build.
• The scope of content. The number of pages to write or rewrite, the level of expertise required and the time of the people on the client’s side who know the product.
• The number of markets and languages. Each market has its own keywords, competitors and requirements.
• The scope of measurement. The number of monitored keywords, competitors and questions put to AI assistants.
• Who implements. If our team makes the changes, the cost rises. If we describe tasks for your developers, the cost covers analysis and supervision.

One-off work and ongoing cooperation

An audit, a migration and consulting are work with a defined start and end. Ongoing SEO is cooperation spread over months, because results depend on regular implementation and measurement. In quotes we show payments spread over time and describe what you get in each period.

How to assess an offer

A good offer describes the scope: what will be done, which metrics will be measured, who is responsible for what and how often you get a report. An offer with a price based on the number of keywords and no description of the work does not explain what the company will do with your site.

How we measure progress

We assess the work by visibility metrics, taking into account the effect of implementations, seasonality, competition and changes at Google. We do not promise traffic, sales or specific positions, because those values are affected by factors outside our control: the offer, the price, the season and the behaviour of competitors. We set the group of metrics at the start and compare it with the baseline every month.

Keywords in the top 10

The number of keywords for which the site is among the first ten results. The first page of results gives the best chance of a click, so this is the most important threshold. We also track changes in wider bands, which show keywords approaching the top 10.

Domain visibility

An aggregate measure that combines the positions of many keywords with their popularity. It shows the overall direction of change better than a single keyword. We take data on impressions and positions from Google Search Console.

Indexing status

The number of pages in the index and the reasons why the rest are not there. A drop in the indexing of important pages is an alarm signal that needs an immediate response.

Visibility in AI answers

The brand’s share of the answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude to a fixed set of questions, how the brand is described and which sources are cited. The page about monitoring visibility in AI describes this in detail.

Implementation status

A metric about the work itself: how many tasks from the plan have been done and checked. It helps tell the absence of an effect from the absence of implementation. When an important task has been waiting for months to be carried out, there is no point in assessing whether it worked.

The report also includes a short description of what changed, why we think so and what we will do next month. Where visibility falls, we describe the cause and the repair plan.

What SEO is

SEO (search engine optimisation) is the work of making a site appear in search results for the keywords potential customers type in. It covers three things: access to the site for Google’s robots, content matched to what people are looking for, and signals that show the search engine the business can be trusted.

Results fall into two groups. Google Ads are labelled, and you pay for them under set auction rules. Organic results, the natural ones, are ranked by an algorithm on the basis of the quality and relevance of pages. SEO concerns the second group. A permanent position in organic results cannot be bought. What you can improve is what the algorithm evaluates.

“SEO” and “search engine positioning” mean the same thing in practice. The difference is one of tone: positioning sounds as if it were about a single position for a single keyword, while SEO describes the whole system. A site can be visible for many related keywords, questions and query variants, so we work on groups of topics, not on single words.

Presence in the answers of AI assistants (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude) belongs to the same family. We describe it separately in the section on combining SEO with AI, because it needs extra work, but it grows from the same foundations.

How Google finds, indexes and ranks results

A search engine works in three stages. Each of them can stop a page, so we start the diagnosis by checking which stage is the problem.

Stage 1: discovery and crawling

Google’s robot (Googlebot) follows links and the sitemap (sitemap.xml) and downloads pages. The time and attention it gives to one site is limited. A site with thousands of unnecessary URLs, a slow server or errors along the way is visited less often and less thoroughly. A robots.txt file can block the robot from parts of the site, sometimes by mistake.

Stage 2: indexing

After download, Google analyses the page and may add it to the index, the database that results are built from. Meeting the requirements does not guarantee indexing. Google may leave a page out because of a noindex tag, the choice of another canonical URL, or content that is too similar to another page or too thin, among other reasons. Waiting for JavaScript to render can delay the processing of a page. In Search Console, the “Page indexing” report shows which URLs are in the index and which are not, with the reason.

Stage 3: ranking

When someone enters a query, the search engine picks the pages from the index that answer it best and puts them in order. It takes into account the intent of the query, the relevance of the content, the quality and credibility of the site, the user experience and the context: location, language and device. Google publicly describes only some of its ranking systems and updates them regularly. That is why sound SEO rests on principles that have held for years: the site must be accessible, the content must answer the question, and the business must be credible.

Search intent

A content mistake is answering a different question from the one the user asked. The phrase “SEO services” suggests that someone wants an explanation or a service offer. The phrase “how to increase a website’s visibility in Google” means that someone wants instructions. Search results show which type of page Google considers suitable: an article, a service page, a shop category or a comparison. If the results are made up of guides and we have only an offer page, we need to add the answers people find there.

Area one: the technical side of the site

Technical work decides whether the content is seen at all. A correct site with average content does better than excellent content hidden behind errors that cut off the robot. That is why we set the technical side as the first stage of the cooperation.

Crawling and indexing

We check whether the most important pages are accessible to the robot, return the correct server response code (200 for working pages, 301 for permanent redirects, 404 for pages that do not exist), are not blocked and have been indexed. We compare the number of URLs on the site with the number in the index. We check a large gap, because some URLs may be excluded on purpose or be duplicates. The problem arises when important pages are outside the index or the robot wastes time on unnecessary URLs.

Canonical URLs and duplicates

The same content under several URLs (with parameters, without a trailing slash, with a mobile version) splits the search engine’s attention. The canonical tag points to the main version. Set incorrectly, it can exclude whole categories from the index, so checking it is one of the first steps.

Architecture and internal linking

Links between pages help Google understand the structure of the site and the relative importance of its pages. A page linked from the menu and from many articles gets more attention than one that takes several clicks to reach. A good structure groups related topics in one place and leads from general pages to specific ones.

Performance and Core Web Vitals

Google measures user experience on real visits in Chrome. Three metrics have set thresholds for a good result, measured at the 75th percentile of visits, separately on mobile and desktop: LCP, the render time of the largest visible content element, 2.5 s or less; INP, the response to clicks, taps and keyboard input, 200 ms or less; and CLS, the stability of the page layout, 0.1 or less. A slow page also loses users who do not wait for it to load, so improving these metrics helps on two fronts.

JavaScript and rendering

If content appears only after scripts run, the robot has to render it, which takes extra time and is sometimes unreliable. For sites built on JavaScript frameworks, we check whether the most important content, links and titles are visible in the code delivered by the server. Other robots, including those used by AI assistants, may not run scripts at all.

Structured data

Schema.org markup describes in machine-readable form what a page is: an organisation, a service, a product, an article, a list of questions and answers. It helps the search engine understand the content and can produce rich results, for example with ratings, but Google does not guarantee that they will appear. The data must match what the user sees on the page.

Security and mobile versions

The site should work over HTTPS and display correctly on a phone, because Google treats the mobile version as the primary one. Correct redirects from the non-HTTPS version and from different variants of the domain to one main version finish off this area.

Area two: content and matching search intent

Content is the reason anyone visits the site at all. In SEO its role is twofold: it has to answer the user’s question and, at the same time, show the search engine clearly what the page is about.

Keyword and topic research

We start with a list of the keywords customers actually type and group them by intent. We take data from Search Console (what the site already appears for) and from keyword research tools. Each group of keywords gets one page that answers the question best. Two pages that answer the same intent can take visibility from each other, which we call cannibalisation.

The structure of a service or category page

A good service page answers the questions a customer asks before deciding: what the service includes, who it is for, how it runs, what the cost depends on and what the customer gets at the end. Headings describe the content, and the first paragraph summarises the answer. This structure is easier to read, and it suits the robots and AI models that pull out fragments for their answers.

Supporting content

Articles, guides and comparisons serve questions from earlier stages of the decision: people look first for an explanation of the problem, and only later for suppliers. They link to service pages and build the site’s topical authority. It pays to develop content that covers a topic fully and adds something new, instead of multiplying texts that repeat the same information.

Currency and credibility

Content should be up to date, signed by a person or a company, and contain information that can be verified: a description of the process, sources, contact details, evidence of experience. Google assesses pages for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T), especially on topics that concern health or money.

Optimising a single page

The elements we check on every important page include the page title, the meta description, the H1 and subheadings, the URL, the alt text of images and internal links within the content. The title and description influence whether a user clicks a result, so we write them as an invitation that answers the query.

Area three: authority, links and brand mentions

A search engine assesses a site and also what others say about it. Links from other sites work like recommendations: the more credible and topically related the source, the stronger the signal. The quality and context of links matter, so we do not judge a link profile by the number of links alone.

Link profile

We analyse who links to the site, with which words (anchors), to which pages and from which domains. We look for gaps against competitors, meaning sites that link to them and not to you. We also check risky links: those from automated networks, bought in bulk or unrelated to your topic. Such links can do harm. We first try to have them removed, and we use the Disavow tool in Search Console when there are many of them and they have caused a manual action or may cause one.

How authority is built

Credible links appear when a business does something worth writing about: it publishes data or research, gives expert comments, takes part in industry events, works with media and partners, or creates tools and resources that others are glad to point to. Buying links that pass ranking signals breaches Google’s policies and can lead to a manual action. We do not buy such links.

Brand mentions

A mention without a link also has value. Search engines and AI models recognise the contexts in which a brand appears, who recommends it and whether the data about it is consistent: name, address, description of the business, profiles on industry sites and reviews. That is why we check how the business is described outside its own site and put that information in order.

Google Business Profile and reviews

For businesses that serve customers in a specific place, the Google Business Profile matters. Complete data, categories, photos and reviews influence visibility in local results and on maps. We cover this area in more depth on the page about local SEO.

How SEO connects with visibility in AI answers

More and more people ask questions of assistants: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. An assistant uses what it learned in training and, when it runs a search, also the pages it finds during the conversation. A business with a well-prepared site and good mentions across the web has a better chance of being named.

What SEO gives AI assistants

• A page that is accessible to robots, not blocked in robots.txt and not behind a login can be read.
• Content placed directly in the page code, without the need to render scripts, is easier to extract.
• Clear headings and short, complete answers to customer questions give fragments that can be quoted.
• Structured data describes the business in machine-readable form, and in Google it helps with eligibility for rich results. Consistent information about the business makes its details easier to verify.

What comes on top of classic SEO

AI models also draw on external sources: industry sites, rankings, forums, media and directories. If a brand does not appear in those places, the assistant may not know it. Work on AI visibility therefore includes researching which sources are cited in answers to a given business’s customers’ questions, and working to get the brand into them.

We measure this separately: we put a set of questions to the assistants and check whether the brand is named, how it is described and which pages appear as sources. The result shows the brand’s share of answers (share of voice) against competitors. We give the details on the pages about AI SEO and GEO and about monitoring visibility in AI.

The order of work is fixed. First the SEO foundations, then content for customer questions, and last external sources. Skipping steps usually does not work, because an assistant will not quote a page it cannot see.

SEO and Google Ads: the differences and when to use which

Both methods appear on the same results page, but they work by different rules. They can run in parallel and complement each other.

• Place in results. SEO: organic results. Ads: adverts labelled as sponsored.
• Billing. SEO: work on the site and content. Ads: payment per click according to the auction.
• Pace of change. SEO: spread over time. Ads: once the ads are approved, usually within 1 business day, if the budget, settings and auction allow.
• After stopping. SEO: the implemented changes stay on the site. Ads: the adverts disappear with the budget.
• Control. SEO: indirect, we influence the factors that are assessed. Ads: direct, you choose keywords, texts and bids.

When to choose Ads

• You need visibility quickly: a new product launch, a sale, a short campaign. It is worth submitting ads for review a few days in advance.
• You want to test which keywords and messages attract interested people before you invest in content.
• The site is new and has no chance yet on important keywords.

When to choose SEO

• Your plan includes a lasting presence for keywords important to the business over many months.
• You want to build an asset that remains after the work ends: a sound structure, content and authority.
• You also want to be visible in the answers of AI assistants, which draw on pages available online and on external sources.

How to combine the two

Data from Ads campaigns show which keywords generate queries and how people react to different messages. We carry those conclusions over into page titles and content. In the other direction, if SEO work improves the usefulness of the content and ease of navigation on a landing page, it can also help the landing page quality assessment in Google Ads. The decision on proportions is best based on how important immediate visibility is to the business and what the competition looks like for the keywords.

Varieties of SEO: online shop, local business, migration

The principles are shared, but the emphasis shifts with the type of site. We have separate descriptions for the three most common situations.

Online shop

The biggest challenges are indexing thousands of products, controlling URLs from filters and sorting, unique category descriptions and ranking for keywords with purchase intent. We describe the details in the material on online shop SEO.

A business that serves customers locally

Local results depend on the Google Business Profile, reviews, consistent contact details and pages for individual locations. We describe the principles on the page about local SEO.

Changing domain, platform or URL structure

A migration can cause indexing problems and ranking fluctuations, so it needs a plan and a check of the implementation. Moved pages should permanently redirect (301 or 308) to their corresponding new URLs, and content removed without an equivalent should return a 404 or 410 code. The new version should keep the titles and content, and internal links have to be updated to the new URLs. After a domain change, you use the Change of Address tool in Search Console. The page about site migration describes the whole process.

A second opinion before a decision

Sometimes a team already has its own agency or specialist and needs an independent assessment of a plan, an offer or results. SEO and GEO consulting is for that.

How to choose an SEO specialist or agency

The SEO market is wide, and the quality of work is hard to judge from outside, because results show only after months. It helps to ask questions that force concrete answers.

Questions to ask in the interview

• What exactly will be done in the first period, and in what order?
• Which metrics will be reported, and will I get access to the raw data (Search Console, Analytics)?
• Who will do the work: the team’s specialists or subcontractors?
• How does the cooperation with my developer or site administrator work?
• What link building do you use, and where do the links come from?
• What happens to the implemented changes when the cooperation ends?
• What does the report look like, and how often will I get it?
• Can I see a sample report or plan from another project, with the data anonymised?

Warning signs

• A guarantee of positions. Nobody except Google controls search results. A promise of first place, or of a specific position by a set date, is unrealistic.
• No description of the work. The offer is limited to a number of keywords and a price, with no explanation of what will be done.
• No access to data. The supplier does not want to give access to Search Console or refuses to report metrics that can be verified.
• Mass links. Packages of links from directories, private network blogs or automated tools. Such links breach Google’s guidelines and risk a penalty.
• Secret methods. “We have our own technology” with no way of explaining what it consists of.
• A contract with no exit. A long commitment with no option to change the scope and no handover of data after the cooperation ends.
• Reports only on traffic and the positions of a single keyword. Such metrics leave out indexing and the visibility of the whole domain, so they do not show the full picture.

Signs of good cooperation

The supplier starts with a diagnosis, asks about business goals and constraints, says what cannot be promised, shows evidence and measures with a fixed set of metrics. The conversation makes sense to someone who does not know the terminology.

Glossary of key terms

• Indexing. The process of adding a page to the search engine’s database, from which results are built. A page outside the index cannot appear in results.
• Crawl (crawling). The robot moving through a site’s pages and downloading their content. Crawling usually comes before indexing, although Google can index a URL known from links without fetching the page.
• Googlebot. Google’s robot, which visits pages and collects their content for the index.
• Canonical (canonical URL). The URL of the page Google chooses as the main version from a set of pages with the same or very similar content. You can suggest the preferred URL with a rel="canonical" tag.
• 301 redirect. A permanent redirect from an old URL to a new one. It tells the search engine that the page has moved for good.
• Search intent. The purpose with which a user enters a query: they want to buy something, compare, find a specific page or understand a topic.
• Top 10. The first ten organic results, usually the first page of results.
• SERP. The search results page, which besides organic links can contain ads, a map, related questions and AI answers.
• Core Web Vitals. Three user experience metrics: LCP (render time of the largest visible content element, a good result is 2.5 s or less), INP (response to clicks, taps and keyboard input, 200 ms or less) and CLS (layout stability, 0.1 or less). The thresholds apply to the 75th percentile of visits, separately on mobile and desktop.
• Structured data (schema.org). Markup in the page code that describes in machine-readable form what the content is: a business, a product, an article, questions and answers.
• Search Console. A Google tool for site owners that shows a site’s impressions, clicks, positions and indexing status.
• Anchor. The text of a link, which describes where it leads.
• Link profile. The set of links leading to a site from other domains.
• Cannibalisation. A situation in which pages of the same site that answer the same intent overlap in a way that hurts the site’s visibility or makes a less suitable URL appear.
• E-E-A-T. An assessment of the experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness of a page and its authors.
• GEO. Work on a brand’s presence in the answers generated by AI assistants.
• AI share of voice. A brand’s share of AI assistants’ answers to a fixed set of questions, compared with competitors.