Great question! SEO (Search Engine Optimization) agencies can seem like mysterious entities from the outside, but here’s a real behind-the-scenes breakdown of what they actually do to help businesses rank higher on search engines like Google.

🔍 1. Website Audit & Analysis

The first thing an SEO agency usually does is audit your website. This means they check for:

  • Technical issues (site speed, mobile usability, broken links, crawl errors)
  • On-page SEO factors (title tags, meta descriptions, headers, content quality)
  • Backlink profile (who’s linking to your site and whether those links are good or toxic)
  • Content gaps (what topics you’re missing compared to competitors)

This is the foundation that informs the strategy moving forward.

🎯 2. Keyword Research & Strategy

They dig into what your target audience is searching for using tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Keyword Planner. They find:

  • High-volume, low-competition keywords
  • Long-tail phrases your audience is likely to use
  • Commercial vs informational intent

From there, they build a strategy to target the right keywords across your site.

✍️ 3. Content Creation & Optimization

Content is king in SEO. Agencies either:

  • Create new SEO-driven blog posts, service pages, or landing pages
  • Optimize existing content with better keywords, structure, and internal linking

They also ensure your content satisfies E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), especially important for industries like health or finance.

🔧 4. Technical SEO

This is the “under-the-hood” stuff that helps search engines crawl and index your site efficiently. It includes:

  • Fixing site speed and mobile issues
  • Making sure your site has a clean URL structure
  • Implementing schema markup (rich snippets)
  • Creating XML sitemaps and robots.txt files

🔗 5. Link Building

Backlinks are still a huge ranking factor. SEO agencies help you:

  • Earn high-quality backlinks through outreach, guest posting, and digital PR
  • Disavow or clean up spammy links
  • Build relationships with niche sites and influencers

This boosts your site’s authority in Google’s eyes.

📈 6. Reporting & Analytics

They don’t just set it and forget it. Agencies provide regular updates, like:

  • Keyword ranking progress
  • Website traffic changes
  • Conversions (form submissions, calls, purchases)
  • Monthly or bi-weekly reports to show ROI and tweak strategy