Updated: Apr 27, 2025
Author: Tony Waldegrave
We all want high organic rankings in Google, but is SEO worth it and does it really work. SEO is a long play game and yes it works but not always in the way we would like and certainly not quickly enough.
SEO is complex and confusing to understand and we have all experienced, ourselves included, the many persistent telemarketing calls by various providers promising the world. In short it’s hard for a business owner to know what to do and which advice to trust.
SEO is a bit like creating a great wine, you can have all the components together today but the wine is no good until it has had time to age.
Age of your domain and website: The age of your domain can have a big impact on your rankings. New domains aren’t going to rank highly for competitive keywords other than brand during the first year. It will take the average new domain 2-3 years of effort before you really start seeing a strong organic traffic profile.
Your industry’s competitiveness
The quality and consistency of your SEO efforts
1. Good website architecture that aligns to search and visitor behaviours.
2. A website design that is optimised for mobile traffic (responsive design).
3. A website that engages visitors well. Good usability and engagement metrics should substantiate this.
4. Website content that is rich, unique and relevant to your business.
5. Web pages that show transparency and authenticity in how you operate and your expertise and credentials including:
6. Webpages should be correctly tuned and incorporate best practice in on-page SEO.
7. An external linking profile that adds credibility and substantiates the businesses reputation and credentials.
8. A social media presence that has some support by followers.
9. A content creation strategy and plan that results in relevant content being published on a regular basis.
The website is an important component in the optimisation mix and ideally specialist advice is best sought at the beginning of any website redesign process.
Too often organic traffic is lost as a result of migrating to a new website design without getting the right advice on search optimisation at the beginning.
See our free SEO tips and guideline for optimising your website.
SEO isn’t just about technical tweaks; it’s about producing helpful content regularly. Treating your website like a static business card won’t get you far. Consistently publishing:
- an article blog (like this one) to share your advice and opinion
- a news blog to communicate latest updates, events and news
- case studies or examples of the work you have completed
- customer testimonials and feedback
Read our article on content marketing.
And ideally your new content should also be posted via your social media networks.
As a general rule, we advise against outsourcing link-building activities to 3rd parties. Google’s algorithm has become sufficiently advanced to recognise naturally acquired links from those unnaturally acquired.
A Google ranking penalty can result from low quality spamy links, so if you do choose to outsource you need to be sure that you can trust the provider to only acquire quality links. Google now provides a link disavow tool and there is now a whole segment of SEO providers offering link disavowment services.
If you are in a highly competitive industry, its also possible that you can be at the receiving end of a negative SEO strategy.
It’s a better plan to adopt a sustainable SEO strategy over the long term and accept that with time and the right focus and commitment that rankings and organic traffic volumes will be achieved.
The strength of your website linking profile is however important to your rankings. A strong natural linking profile will come about by:
1. Listing your business on local and national directories. Industry specific directories are great. Try and include your website link in theses listings.
2. Creating a presence in social media and posting about new content and news and happenings in your business and industry.
3. Soliciting reviews from customers – on your Facebook page and or your Google Plus page.
4. Publishing great unique content that is rich and thorough and of value to your audiences.
Search activity has become more localised with people commonly using Google find and locate information about local services and providers. This shift in consumer behaviour means that it’s important for businesses that target localised audiences to include this requirement in their SEO plan.
Key elements in localised SEO plan:
• Get a verified Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) listing.
• Ensure that your verified business address is on your website. At least on your Contact page and preferably in the footer of each page.
• It’s a good idea to include a map directions link to your address.
• Include your primary service location(s) in your website page title tags – for example utilise a title tag convention like: “service-type” – “business-brand”, “location”.
In some markets like the USA, there are more searches and website browsing from mobiles than desktops. In NZ we see a range of mobile browsing from 10% up to 40% and it’s fair to say that moving forward that the web will be dominated by mobile type devices.
Website have traditionally been designed with desktop in mind and more recently with mobile in mind, but looking head they will be designed for mobiles first and desktop second.
Google is now ranking mobile search activity separately from desktop search activity. A mobile responsive website that adheres to good mobile usability practices will ensure that rankings on mobile search will be maintained and improved.
If you'd like assistance with understanding your best SEO options, then see more about our SEO services or contact us for a consultation.
"We have been working with Ricki-lee from Adhesion with our online marketing for a while now and I can tell you she is full of great ideas for getting people interested and contacting our business. In fact, Ricki-lee is now a very important part of our team, and I can't recommend her, and the team behind her, highly enough."
★★★★★ Kevin Downing June 2025
"I've really enjoyed working with Jen and Ryan from Adhesion! They've been very responsive and knowledgeable and have gone out of their way to help when I've needed campaigns setup in short notice. Highly recommend the team at Adhesion!!!"
★★★★★ Karthik Hariharan May 2025
"Very efficient in getting a result."
★★★★★ Oksana Fediuk May 2025
"We've been with Adhesion for a couple of years now, and they've consistently provided prompt and reliable support. Thanks a lot team for your expert advice and exceptional service throughout this time. Our Google Ads have been performing much better in recent months, thanks to your hard work and dedication. Our recent experiences with Ricki-Lee and Jennifer have been fantastic—it’s such a relief to know that we can be in contact anytime we need. It truly feels personal. Thanks again, ladies! 😊"
★★★★★ Sandeep Nagpal May 2025
"I have been with Adhesion for a couple of years and I am very confident that they are working in my best interest. Peter Volkov communicates well with me and picks up concepts about my business quickly. I am doing well in my business as a result of Adhesion's commitment to their client. I previously had an unfortunate experience of working with a large company who promised the world, charged the earth and delivered nothing of value. The difference now is outstanding."
★★★★★ Karen @ Child Behaviour Service April 2025
"Peter has done a great job running my google ads - highly recommended."
★★★★★ Alex Patten April 2025
"Working with Adhesion I have found them to not only be very helpful but also reasonable and fair on pricing"
★★★★★ Rita Patel-Kumar April 2025
"After years of watching clients get burned by faceless agencies and one-person marketers who vanish overnight, finding Phillippa at Adhesion felt like a revelation."
★★★★★ Alex Mann April 2025
"Ricki-Lee was an amazing account manager. Always pro-active and looking for improvements to my campaign. Would highly recommend!"
★★★★★ Chris April 2025
"A huge thank you to Adhesion, and especially to Ricki-lee, for being an absolute rockstar with my ad campaigns! From the very start, she’s been incredibly responsive—always quick to answer any questions and on top of everything to make sure my ads are running smoothly. I love how creative she is, the way she puts the ads together is just perfect! She continuously monitors and optimizes them, making sure they perform at their best. If you're looking for someone who truly cares about your success and delivers amazing results, Ricki-lee is the one!"
★★★★★ Picnique Queenstown February 2025
"I've had the pleasure of working with the Adhesion team for years, and they have consistently provided professional and valuable services. The entire team is fantastic to work with, and Courteney, in particular, stands out for her attentiveness and responsiveness. Her keen attention to detail and dedication to delivering top-quality service have greatly benefited our projects. I highly recommend Adhesion for their expertise, reliability, and outstanding customer support."
★★★★★ Frank Krieger January 2025
"Adhesion, Jen & Court have taken our online marketing strategy from strength to strength over the many years we have been using them for Gordon Harris. Courteney is an absolute star! Their knowledge is deep and broad, keeping us up to date with the latest opportunities to make our campaigns work better. Highly recommend."
★★★★★ Laura Budd January 2025
"I worked with Reuben @ Adhesion through a previous business which was sold and a new start up business of mine. Very prompt at setting up new campaigns, sorting issues and implementing changes. Nothing was ever an issue and all campaigns delivered acceptable results. Would recommend to any small business owner looking for a more personal agency."
★★★★★ Kyle Simpson December 2024
"We love working with the team at Adhesion, they did an outstanding job with our website—The Lodge at 58 North. Not only did they understand our unique needs as small business owners, but they also perfectly blended creativity and functionality, crafting a site that captures the spirit of our lodge while providing an intuitive, user-friendly experience for our guests. The team's attention to detail and expertise brought our vision to life, showcasing our lodge's unique charm and commitment to authentic experiences.The whole team is professional, highly responsive, and genuinely invested in our success—making us feel supported every step of the way. The result is a beautiful, functional website that reflects our lodge and makes it easy for visitors to explore, book, and get excited about their stay.We highly recommend the Adhesion Team—it's a joy to work with them!"
★★★★★ Administrative Assistant October 2024
"I would like to say that Reuben Nel from Adhesion has been of excellent assistance with our google words campaign. He has excellent knowledge and insight and could communicate that in an easy and understandable way. I would certainly recommend Reuben to you"
★★★★★ Leave Calendar October 2024
"We've been working with Courteney from Adhesion for a year now and it's one of the best business decisions we've made. The growth in online sales, as well as in-store referrals, is testament to Courteney’s expertise. Her communication is superb, she offers practical advice, and nothing is a problem. Highly recommend!"
★★★★★ Velo Ronny's Bicycle Store September 2024
"I have been using adhesion for about 2 months now and my ads and revenue has increased significantly, not too mention there customer service is 5 star. I will carry on working with this company and Rueben Thank you for great work. I highly recommend after using many different agency’s over the last 2 years in NZ and AU. Thanks Again James Roberts SPORTZONE"
★★★★★ James August 2024
