Our SEO agency typically charges 10% – 20% above the market rate because nearly all our work is done manually – every campaign is bespoke to the client. We don’t risk your website getting penalised by Google for using poor or automated SEO practices.

Additionally, if we conclude the SEO resources needed to get you on the first page of Google will outweigh your Return On Investment, we’ll decline to take you on – no matter how large or ambitious your company. In these cases we usually recommend well targeted AdWords campaigns.

Payment is via BACS Direct Debit, which we’re proud to say makes us unique within the UK SEO industry.

Most SEOs ask for Internet banking transfers or cash via PayPal – payment methods anyone can set up. To be allowed to take Direct Debits requires a company to undergo significant background checks, so Direct Debit isn’t just simple – it’s safe.

You have full control to cancel it with your bank at any point, and you’ll receive monthly invoices marked as ‘paid’. The reduction in administration is significant.

We make a business out of creating seriously good levels of return on investment for our clients. If you are not making much more money by using our services, then we would be out of business! Contact us now to discuss your website.

No caveats, no small print, no conditions or exceptions – If you’re not pleased with how things are going within the first 6 weeks of working together, just email us and we’ll refund you in full. Whilst feedback is always appreciated you’re under no obligation to even tell us why!

We understand that appointing an SEO company comes with a level of trust, and that’s why we offer the guarantee. No other SEO company in London (and to our knowledge the UK) offers this unique safety net.

And just in case you’re interested, nobody’s ever taken us up on this offer (yet!). We only take on clients we assess and conclude will get a positive ROI% (Return On Investment) from SEO. The rest are given the recommendation and necessary guidance for a targeted Adwords campaign instead.

In short, we know that even if a company was looking to take advantage of us for free SEO, they’d end up happy and continue anyway! So we have no problems offering the 6 week money back guarantee.

Conducting SEO on your business is a marathon, not a sprint. And just like a marathon it takes consistent and steady effort. Unlike a marathon however, there is no finish line. And if you’re not in the top ten at the front of the pack, you may as well be nowhere.

To keep your website in the top ten results on the first page of Google for any keyword requires constant attention. If SEO were a one off cost, you may be able to sprint to the front of the pack, but you’d soon fall behind as your competitors kept their steady rate. This is crudely how SEO works, and is why you’ll find all SEO companies charge a monthly fee – it’s because your website will require work on it every week of every month.

The short answer is: ‘Yes’. The long answer is: ‘You shouldn’t’.

In the world of online marketing, it’s not a case of SEO Vs. Adwords, whereby SEO is like owning a house, and Adwords is like renting it. The two compliment each other, and both are independent methods of generating more money than you spend on them. If you’re making money from using Adwords, then why would you stop?!

But let’s look at the real reason people think getting SEO will mean they can spend less on Adwords – the idea of ‘duplication’.

Let’s say an Architect wants to appear on the first page of Google for the keyword ‘London Architect’, and we know that 4,000 people a month search for this keyword. Research proves that of that 4,000 only 10% of people will click on the Adwords results. The remaining 90% will skip them and go straight to the organic results because they deem them to be there by merit (you probably do this yourself when searching online). This 10:1 balance was concluded by the independent research of Nielsen Group.

So the reason SEO and Adwords don’t cause duplication when targeting the same keyword is because neither has access to the other’s traffic pool. If you only do one, you’re missing out on the other. Plus, appearing twice on the first page of Google gives a company significant brand power and dominance over its competitors.

Anywhere between 1 and 4+ keywords will usually be optimised to achieve 1st Page Google rankings. The exact number depends on the average monthly searches for each keyword and their relative online competition.

This is why having 4 keywords instead of 1 doesn’t automatically mean you’re getting 4x as much value…

Client ‘A’ may get 4 keywords with an average monthly search volume of 2,000 people.

Client ‘B’ may get only 1 keyword attracting a monthly online search of 8,000 people.

…Both result in the same traffic increase for the client.

Likewise, just because a keyword attracts a large monthly search, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s worth pursuing for SEO. We sometimes conclude that the money and time required to achieve 1st page ranking would be better spent on getting several keywords with less traffic instead. This is usually the case with smaller companies.

In all circumstances though we consult you throughout the entire process.

In short, deciding the keywords to optimise is complex. We’re guided by you and what products / services you’re marketing, but ultimately we choose the keywords and present these recommendations to you for approval.

Every website we work with will get on the 1st page of Google for the optimised keywords. This is our minimum guarantee to you. From there, we work to push your company up even further to fight for the top spots – these premium rankings are regularly achieved, but it should be noted they’re not guaranteed.

We often get approached by website owners who’ve had poor-quality SEO done to their site by either DIY attempts or cheap SEO companies. This has usually caused the domain to be flagged and penalised by Google.

Once a domain has been penalised, it’s difficult (but not impossible) to recover the Google rankings of the website. Our first action would be to assess the damage done to the domain, and if necessary, we may advise that the site be moved to a new domain where we can conduct correct SEO with a new canvass. Should a new domain be recommended your old domain would simply redirect to it, so you wouldn’t lose any business from people typing the old web address into Google.

If you think you may have a damaged domain, contact us so we can tell you for sure and suggest some ways to move forward.

Depending on how close you are to already being on the first page of Google, the average time is between 3 and 6 months to get you there.

However, significant progress can be seen within a matter of weeks (and sometimes days), so you’ll be able to track an upward trend in your Google rankings straight away. This is especially good news for anyone attracted to our 6 week money back guarantee feature.

On day 1 we’ll email you your starting positions in Google for the targeted keywords and get you to confirm via your own Google search.

NOTE: When ‘Googling’ yourself, you must first log out of any Google accounts and clear the cache on your browser. Not doing so will result in your website artificially appearing higher on your computer than it actually does for the public. This is because Google prioritises websites you regularly visit on your personal browser.

Every month we send you the progress of your website in graphical form so you can easily see how things are going. Our software tracks your position every hour, and we assess your progress at the end of every day, so you can be assured you’re being looked after!

Of course you’ll be free to see how things are going in between reports by simply doing a Google search for your own website.

Initially yes. But within a few weeks of neglect your position in Google will steadily decline. You’ll permanently be higher than before you started SEO but you’ll rapidly disappear from page #1 of Google.

SEO requires steady and consistent effort to maintain rankings once achieved. Otherwise Google starts to favour your competitors.

Yes. This is one of our first actions. We’ll also be working on your review footprint online to make sure you have a minimum of 4 stars out of 5 everywhere.

Yes and No. We set up and optimise 20+ of the most powerful social media accounts available for you. However the primary reason is to use them as conduits to link to your website from other sources.

In terms of active management we only recommend this as a worthwhile SEO practice for Facebook, Twitter, Google +, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest. For an additional fee we’re able to manage these for you but we would recommend every time you do this yourself in house.

Managing social media accounts leaks into the field of brand development and direct customer interaction, something only you’re 100% qualified to do well.

No. There are no minimum tie in periods at Sharpe Digital.

If we conclude the SEO resources needed to get you on the 1st page of Google will outweigh your Return On Investment, we’ll decline to take you on – no matter how large or ambitious your company is.

For this reason we’re comfortable with the level of risk involved with no minimum tie in and use it as a feature of our product.

Peak times are usually at the beginning of the new tax year in April as companies look to innovate and grow for the coming year so occasionally a waiting list can develop at this time.

In all other periods we need just a minimum of 5 working days notice before we can take on a new client. This is to allow us to time to prepare for the initial on-page SEO drive, which is quite a labour intensive period of your optimisation.

The request is understandable and one we used to acquiesce to, but we have too many monthly enquirers to be able to offer such a facility. The frequency with which we’re asked this makes it untenable without impacting our existing clients’ privacy, time, and generous patience.

We’re the only SEO in the UK to offer a 6 week money back policy as standard, so new clients are able to confirm results with their own eyes before they’ve committed. This places any risk and urgency for results with Sharpe Digital – not the new client.

If you’re London based, absolutely! In fact we strongly advise it. Although this is only extended to businesses who have already appointed us. For obvious reasons we’re unfortunately not able to offer a meeting for anyone still at an enquiry level. Instead we’re freely available to discuss anything you like over the phone.

If you’re eager to move forward but still feel a meeting is mandatory before committing, you’re free to exercise our 6 week money back policy straight away if necessary after signing up and then meeting.

We work with clients ranging from individual entrepreneurs and business owners, right through to multi location companies with 150+ employees.  No matter your size the principles of SEO don’t change.

Some of our processes involve working with the website developer, which could be yourself or a team. If you do have a development team we usually insist upon one point of contact for this.

We’ve worked with business and websites in many industry sectors, including…

Aviation
NHS & Pharmaceutical
Accountancy
Entrepreneurial
Estate Agency
Trades
Recruitment
Catering

Unfortunately we’ll decline to work with you if your website is in any way unethical, has adult themes, or involves gambling.

Apart from for administrative items, all phone and email correspondence will only ever be with a one of the Directors. And for the most part you’ll deal with one person throughout – we insist on this in order to keep things as convenient and simple for the client as possible.

It also means one person always has a top level view of your SEO campaign. This sets us apart from cumbersome digital marketing agencies.

We offer Google AdWords management, website design, iOS App development, Google analytics & conversion audits, as well as online marketing consulting. However these are only offered where applicable after we get to know your business first.

None, some, or all may be recommended eventually, but if there are any gaping issues which will affect your SEO we’ll fix them without charge.

Sharpe Digital is registered in Central London just next to Old Street Station, and our operational office is just inside the M25 in Cobham.