Fact: Most people do not read past the first paragraph of content.

If you are looking for SEO, and you want your company to succeed, this page is for you. I may not be the best match for you. You do not have to purchase anything from Telapost. But, if you want to rank in search and grow your business it will be in your best interest to read and digest what is on this page. Below is a story about YOU. It starts off about me, but rest assured this page is all about you and your business.

My name is Len. I am the founder and chief content creator here at Telapost. I was lucky. My first success online was with a BBS around 1993 or so. A BBS was an online service that existed prior to the web being popular. I learned then, at age 13, through trial and error, what people wanted. They want to be connected with what they are searching for as quickly as possible. Google gets this, and they continue to deliver this, which is why Google is successful.

In 2001 I opened the doors to my first company. I was in my early 20s and fed up with my job. I was broke, again. After 2 long years I had a storefront. I had foolishly put off working on my Internet presence. Other companies in my niche had 10 – 15 storefronts, a sales staff, a huge advertising budget, websites that were years old. Business still came in from the Yellow Pages. How could I possibly compete? Content. I created things that people were looking for: resources, answers to questions, how-to articles, pictures, videos. People linked to this fantastic content. Let’s backtrack for just a second: I have had an insatiable curiosity with search engines from day #1. I used Gopher, Archie, Lycos, Dogpile, Yahoo, you name it. I’ve watched every trick in the book… Forever. When I built my company’s presence, I wanted it to last; I went on to use absolutely no tricks. The website went on to become an authority, meaning it really kicked butt for all of the terms we targeted, hundreds of terms we never targeted, and thousands of terms we still have yet to learn about. The business itself moved several times; by the end, we were on our 5th address. We had a very nice store in Cary North Carolina with 5 awesome employees and a total of 37,000 customers who had come to us. My target was Cary but we ended up serving customers from all over the world. I sold this business in 2012. To this day, I still do their SEO.

Marketers used our website as a case study. Other business owners asked me to help them. I went on to build one more company exclusively via SEO & content. I have now owned multiple successful businesses. As of 2014, I have helped all sorts of businesses rank in search, from small mom & pop shops to international brands.

What exactly is SEO?

SEO is search engine optimization. We call SEO anything that gets your website’s content in front of people who are searching for it SEO.

However, what websites need in terms of SEO varies drastically from website to website. This is why SEO audits of the past are useless.

There are thousands of aspects to SEO. Just a few of these are:

  • Technical SEO: Technical SEO is everything from the speed of which you page loads, if it works on mobile devices or not, your URL structure, the CTR and bounce rates of users. It also includes HTTPS, titles, headers, tags, user experience, sharability, domain age, the size of your domains, indirect affects of meta descriptions, inbound links, link age, link freshness, expertise / authority / trustworthiness, image size, alt tags, content structure, broken links, 404s, 301s, 302s, canonical tags, thin content, duplicate content, translated content, sitemaps, robots files, javascript combinations, code, social media, inbound links, outbound links, followed links, nofollowed links, internal links, anchor text, navigation, page elements, browser compatibility, etc… The list goes on.
  • Content: If you want your content to rank in search, you need content. You need to answer every question your potential customers may be asking the search engines. Having worked in extremely high competition niches, this is something we understand. First, your website needs to have enough authority to rave its pages rank well. Second, it needs content that matches what people are looking for. In most niches, content is the #1 ranking factor, and the content is actually what builds authority. Catch 22? Not necessarily, you likely need lots of content now, and lots of content moving forward. Not all content is created equally; for more information on our content creation service please visit our page on content creation.
  • Offsite SEO: Offsite SEO is often referred to as linkbuilding, however, offsite SEO can be anything from YouTube video, to showing up in local search from Yelp or Google My Business (previously known as Google Places). Not all websites need linkbuilding. Yes, links to your site are a factor. In some niches, they are mandatory. You would be shocked though at how few links we go after. In many niches, we actually create authority websites using absolutely no backlinks whatsoever.

The value of ranking in search

In 2014, ALL of our clients called us to increase their budgets. Why?

Some people do not understand the value of ranking in search. They have never experienced what comes along with it. They haven’t been the real estate agent that gets the call to list a $2.5 million home after ranking. They haven’t been the attorney to take on a huge case that is going to make them 300k. It works for almost everyone; you could be an optometrist or selling popsicles. They think it is all too good to be true. If you need proof, just find a business that ranks in search very well and go ask the owner how it helps them. Telapost’s ideal client knows the value. Some of our best clients have been screwed over by “SEO companies”. They were putting out press releases, or commenting on people’s blogs, or simply spamming the Internet up in one fashion or the other and got whacked with a penalty. If you need examples of business success that came exclusively from ranking in search feel free to contact us.

We have no SEO sales staff.

When people grasp the fact that they can rank for hundreds of things instead of one, they find us. To us, search engine optimization is getting your product or service in front of people when they are looking for it. We have clients across the United States and Australia, because they found us when they were looking for what we provided and we were a good match. If we needed a sales staff we wouldn’t be practicing what we preached! We will never have or need a sales staff. A classic example of how SEO salespeople work is available here on our article: SEO Salesman Q&A.

Who we do SEO for, and who we do not do it for

We are not a one stop shop, nor are we a perfect match for everyone. Then, there are niches that we absolutely destroy. We’ve worked with bicycles, computers, IT, personal injury attorneys, rock salt, optometrists, international brands, real estate agents, home improvement, HVAC, mold remediation, animals, and much more. If we can not help you or we are not a great match for you we will point you in the right direction. We are busy and will not waste an ounce of our time or yours.

Why SEO is a four letter word

The vast majority of people “performing SEO” have, simply put, turned SEO into a 4 letter word by spewing misinformation all over the Internet.

You have the scammers, the newbies, the SEO companies with huge overhead that deliver nothing in exchange for your advertising dollars. You have people who actually mean well but are completely incompetent. You have salespeople flying around the country preaching BS to you at conferences. You have the professional that was lucky and ranked well a few times for something and thinks they’re the expert now. Sometimes these “SEO experts” terrorize a particular niche- law firms, real estate agents, veterinarians, and optometrists are just a few of the professionals in the cross-hairs.

Do It Yourself SEO

If you’ve read all of the above you are probably ready to either email us or go do it yourself. Some business owners CAN do it themselves. I love seeing this. I have case studies of this. Sometimes their niche is not that competitive. If the niche isn’t that competitive and you have a passion for what you do, throw up a WordPress website and start typing up content.

SEO Q&A:

Do you only provide Raleigh, North Carolina SEO?

Nope, we provide SEO worldwide. One of our best clients is in Brisbane, Australia. We are most active in Los Angeles, California. We have clients worldwide. Most people, even after hiring us, are amazed at what we can deliver not being in their city. We aim to continue delivering these pleasant surprises. Sometimes, we are not fit for a certain niche. We will not waste our, or your, valuable time. If we are not a good match for you we will tell you and try our best to point you in the right direction. Unfortunately, we can not help everyone and turn people away all the time. If you ARE local to us, you might like our Local SEO in Cary, NC page.

It sounds like I need content. How do I get content?

Glad you asked! If you are trying to rank a website please have us evaluate it,but, you will probably need content. Some people call this SEO, content marketing, or SEO copywriting. Regardless of what you call it, either contact us or read more about why content is so important over at our content creation services page.

Are SEO people crazy?

Usually, yes. As stated above, there is a lot of bad information out there. If you like entertaining posts, check out our article Are all SEO people crazy?

Do I need WordPress to get good SEO?

This is one of those situations where it depends on your niche and your market. Of course, a website does not have to be WordPress. Is WordPress good for small business websites? Definitely. If you have a static site and need it redesigned you will probably like our 48 hour SEO friendly WordPress website that is ready to unpack and use immediately.

Is pagespeed an SEO factor?

Yes, it is. All aspects of usability are a factor. Slow websites are frustrating. Search engines want to deliver good results, not frustrating experiences. This is what led us to purchasing our very own webserver. Read more about how pagespeed affects SEO here.

Does CTR really affect SEO?

Absolutely. Peeps “in the know” have been onto this for years. It is now scientifically proven, if you are in to that kind of thing.

Are Meta Descriptions important?

In this article we break down Why Meta Descriptions Affect SEO.

Can “SEO companies” survive in 2015?

Ok, this isn’t really a frequently asked question, but it should be! SEO companies with sales staff who are used to churning and burning clients are definitely trending down. See: SEO Companies and Telephone Books: Tending Down in 2015.

Do I need to move to HTTPS?

It is a small factor and will be more important in the future. It keeps the web secure. For more info read our article: Why HTTPS will be an important ranking factor.