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Hi Nicholas,

I'd avoid any automated programmes like this- did they explain how it works? Does it just pull the first line of your page text or product description or something similar to be your meta description? Lots of software can do this, but it's not necessarily the best way- your meta descriptions should be compelling for users who see them in search, and they don't directly impact your ranking anyway. Your meta titles can also be generated automatically, most CMS systems will do this for you automatically unless you override the description, or you'll be able to change your settings or add a module/plugin to do this (e.g. so that a product title is the meta title, followed by your brand name). What is your website built on? E.g. Wordpress, Magento, PrestaShop?

I wouldn't trust this company though, as you'll be able to make such improvements yourself, and worst case scenario they might hurt your rankings.

Hope this helps! 
Zoe

Hi Gary,

If you're happy to teach yourself, I'd say go for it! It does take time to learn and there's a lot to it, but it's very rewarding. I'd start with the resources available for free on Moz, and get a good head start (especially the Beginner's guide to SEO). Then perhaps you could get someone to give you an SEO audit, with prioritised recommendations, and implement them yourself?

Hope this helps, 
Zoe

Hi,

Backlinks certainly help, if there's no links at all to your site that could be a reason, but it's hard to say without looking deeper.

Are your internal pages all linked to each other? Does your website have a structured navigation system? This is also really necessary to ensure Google will index your whole site, not just a couple of pages.

Zoe

Hi,

It's my understanding that using responsive design/content, and dynamically serving content, does not cause a risk for any cloaking penalties. These are all recommended ways, along with a separate mobile site, to serve content to users (see this Google Webmaster article) The most important thing is that smartphone users see all content which Google's Smartphone Googlebot will see, and that desktop users see all content which the desktop Googlebot will see (as there are different Googlebots for this).

Here's a video from Matt Cutts, explaining that as long as the hiding is done for user experience rather than search engine deception, it's ok: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-hiding-content-17136.html

Hi Dan,

Moz just announced today some changes to the on-page optimisation reports, here, this should answer your questions about the change in grading!

Thanks, 
Zoe

Hi Gavo,

I agree with Moosa; work on other pages around the website, and also your website itself. Aim to get your website at number 1, with sitelinks, and then your other related business pages- I'd also add Google Plus to the suggestions, as this one tends to be able to rank quite quickly on Google, and also any other relevant channels.

Good luck! 
Zoe