060 279 5587 info@sitect.co.za 139 Davies Street, Doornfontein, Johannesburg, 2001 Gauteng, SA
Services / Website Design & Development / SEO & Performance Optimisation
Technical · content · authority · Lighthouse 95+

Rank higher. Load faster. Convert more.

A technical SEO audit, Core Web Vitals optimisation, and an ongoing visibility programme for established SA websites. We don't chase keywords — we ship measurable rank gains, organic traffic growth, and a faster site, all in 90 days.

90-day programme Lighthouse 95+ Measurable rank gains From R6,000

Four reasons your "SEO investment" never moved the needle.

We audit dozens of SA sites a year. The pattern is uncomfortably consistent. If two of these sound familiar, your SEO programme is leaking budget.

!

Vanity keywords

Targeting "best CRM" (1M searches, no chance) instead of "CRM for SA medical practices" (200 searches, conversion-ready). High volume = high cost, low intent.

0.3%CR on broad-keyword traffic
!

Technical foundation broken

Slow site, no schema, duplicate titles, 14 redirect chains. Google can't crawl + understand your site, so it can't rank it. Content effort wasted.

38%pages with critical issues
!

Content without strategy

"Let's blog more!" but no keyword intent, no topical clusters, no internal linking, no measurable target. 80 articles, none ranking, all forgotten.

68%SA blogs with 0 organic traffic
!

No backlink earning

Google ranks pages with authority. Authority comes from other sites linking to you. Your team isn't earning links because they don't know what's link-worthy.

~3 linksmedian referring domains

Four pillars. Skip one, the rest break.

SEO is not a single discipline. It's four working together. Most agencies focus on one or two and ignore the others. We work all four — that's how the rankings actually climb.

Pillar 01

Technical foundations

Crawlable · indexable · fast

Without a clean technical foundation, no amount of content moves rankings. We fix the plumbing first — Core Web Vitals, schema, sitemap, indexability, redirects, hreflang, structured data.

  • Core Web Vitals
  • Schema.org markup
  • XML sitemap
  • Robots + canonicals
  • JS rendering audit
  • Mobile-first checks
Pillar 02

Content + topical clusters

Earn the right to rank

Google ranks topical authority, not just individual articles. We build clusters: a pillar page on a core topic, surrounded by 8-12 supporting articles, all internally linked. Pages teach Google what you're an expert in.

  • Keyword intent mapping
  • Topical cluster design
  • Pillar + supporting pages
  • Internal linking
  • Content gap analysis
  • Cannibalisation fixes
Pillar 03

Authority + backlinks

Other sites vouch for you

Google trusts what other trusted sites link to. We build authority through digital-PR-style outreach, podcast appearances, guest articles on SA industry publications, and link-worthy original research nobody else has.

  • Backlink gap analysis
  • Digital-PR outreach
  • SA industry publications
  • Original-research pieces
  • Podcast booking
  • Toxic-link disavow
Pillar 04

UX + conversion

Traffic that converts, not just visits

Ranking #1 with a 0.2% conversion rate is theatre. We ensure the traffic SEO earns actually converts — page-by-page conversion audits, intent-match between query and content, post-click experience tuning.

  • Intent-match audit
  • Page-level CRO
  • Bounce-rate reduction
  • Pogo-stick analysis
  • Conversion goal tracking
  • UX heat-map review
The performance leg

Core Web Vitals · where we always start.

Since 2021 Google ranks faster sites higher. Below: the three metrics that matter, the typical before-after we see, and what changes to move them.

Metric 01
LCP · Largest Contentful Paint
Before4.8s
After1.2s
How fast the biggest content element renders. We fix it with: image optimisation, critical-CSS inlining, edge caching, font preloading.
Metric 02
INP · Interaction to Next Paint
Before540ms
After120ms
How fast the page responds to clicks/taps. We fix it with: JavaScript splitting, deferred third-parties, passive event listeners, worker-thread offload.
Metric 03
CLS · Cumulative Layout Shift
Before0.34
After0.02
How much the page jumps around as it loads. We fix it with: image dimensions, reserved ad slots, font-display swap, web-component placeholders.

Eight check categories. ~200 individual checks.

Our audit covers ~200 individual checks across eight categories. Each finding is scored by impact + effort, then sorted into the 90-day action plan.

01
Crawl + index health
Is Google indexing all your pages? Are there orphan pages? Are bots wasting budget on duplicates?
robots.txt sitemap canonicals noindex tags crawl budget
02
Core Web Vitals · performance
LCP, INP, CLS measured on real-user data + lab data. Mobile + desktop. Per-page-type drill-down.
LCP INP CLS TTFB FCP
03
On-page SEO
Titles, meta descriptions, H1s, semantic HTML, image alt text, internal linking. The basics, scored.
title tags meta desc h-tags alt text internal links
04
Structured data + schema
Schema.org markup for Article, Product, FAQ, Breadcrumb, Organisation. Rich-result eligibility checked.
JSON-LD Organisation Article FAQPage Breadcrumb
05
Content gap analysis
What are your competitors ranking for that you're not? Where are the realistic wins given your domain authority?
keyword gaps topical clusters intent match cannibalisation
06
Backlink profile
Referring domains, anchor distribution, link velocity, toxic links to disavow.
referring domains DR/DA anchor text toxic links
07
Mobile + accessibility
Mobile-first index readiness, accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA), tap-target sizing, viewport handling.
mobile-first WCAG 2.1 tap targets contrast
08
SA-specific signals
hreflang for SA English / Afrikaans, Google Business Profile, local-search readiness, ZA-domain authority.
hreflang GBP ZA TLD local schema

Industry-standard stack. No mystery dashboards.

The same tools your in-house SEO would use — wired up and feeding into one reporting view. You see exactly what we see.

A
Ahrefs
backlinks · keywords
SR
Semrush
rank tracking · gaps
M
Moz Pro
DA · local SEO
G
Search Console
indexing · queries
GA
GA4
behaviour · conversions
B
Bing Webmaster
2nd search engine
L
Lighthouse CI
performance budget
PS
PageSpeed Insights
CrUX real-user data
SF
Screaming Frog
site-wide crawl
S
Sitebulb
technical audit
U
Ubersuggest
keyword discovery
P
Plausible
privacy-friendly analytics

Six artefacts. Auditable from week 1.

Not a 70-page PDF you skim once. Six concrete artefacts your team can act on this week — with the live dashboard so you can verify our work as it ships.

01 · Technical audit

~200 checks · scored + sorted

The full technical SEO audit. Every issue scored by impact × effort, sorted into a 90-day fix-list. Linkable Notion doc, exportable to Linear.

Notion + Linear-ready CSV
02 · Keyword strategy

Topical map · 90-day target set

The keywords you're going after, why, how hard each is, what content needs to exist to win them. Sequenced quick-wins first.

Cluster map + sheet
03 · Performance fixes

Code-level Core Web Vitals fixes

The actual code changes that move your LCP from 4s to under 2s. Ships as PRs in your repo — you (or we) merge them.

GitHub PRs · ships within sprint
04 · Live ranking dashboard

Plausible / Looker · weekly refresh

One dashboard with your target keywords, position changes, organic traffic, Core Web Vitals, conversion goals. Refreshed weekly, shareable URL.

Looker / Plausible / Sheets
05 · Content briefs

Ready-to-write pillar + supporting

Detailed briefs for the 8-15 pieces of content the strategy needs. Each with target keyword, intent, length, structure, internal links to set up. Your writers (or ours) execute.

Notion briefs · brief templates
06 · Monthly reporting

Honest progress · no theatre

Monthly written report: what moved, what didn't, what we're changing. Includes a quarterly business review with leadership. Templates included so your team can self-report after handover.

Monthly report + QBR

5 phases. Audit → Fix → Build → Earn → Measure.

You'll spend ~8 hours of stakeholder time across 90 days. Most of it is week 1 (kick-off + access) and the monthly review meetings.

01
Week 1 · 3 hrs

Audit

Full technical audit, keyword research, competitor analysis. Baseline ranking + traffic data captured.

02
Week 2–4 · 2 hrs

Technical fixes

Core Web Vitals + on-page + schema fixes shipped as PRs. Sitemap, robots, canonicals corrected.

03
Week 5–8 · 2 hrs

Content build

Pillar + supporting content briefs written. First pieces published. Internal linking strategy enacted.

04
Week 9–11 · 1 hr

Authority + outreach

Digital-PR outreach to SA publications. Original-research piece shipped. Podcast guest spots booked.

05
Week 12 · 1 hr

Measure + scale

90-day readout. Rank changes, traffic delta, conversion attribution. Recommendation: stop or continue?

The numbers behind an SEO programme done right.

Median results across our ongoing SEO clients. Your numbers will be yours — these are the order-of-magnitude bracket. SEO is a long game; these are 90-day markers, not endpoints.

+147%
Organic traffic
Median Google-organic-traffic lift at the 90-day mark.
~22
Positions gained
Median rank-position improvement on tracked target keywords.
96
Lighthouse · mobile
Median performance score at 90-day mark. Held by CI.
3.4×
Organic leads
Median lead-volume lift from non-paid traffic vs the baseline quarter.

Pick the depth. Cancel after 3 months if it's not working.

One-off audit fee fixed in writing. Monthly retainer billed up-front, month-to-month after the first 3 months. SEO tools (Ahrefs, Semrush, etc.) billed via Sitect at cost.

Audit only

Technical SEO audit

R6,000
/project · ex 15% VAT
  • ~200-check audit (one-off)
  • Core Web Vitals diagnosis
  • Keyword gap analysis
  • Prioritised fix-list
  • 1-hour readout call
  • 30-day Q&A support
Choose Audit →
Enterprise

Enterprise SEO programme

R22,000/mo
12-month minimum · ex VAT
  • Everything in Kick-start
  • 8 content briefs per month
  • Dedicated outreach manager
  • 2 original-research pieces / year
  • Podcast guest booking
  • Local SEO (Google Business Profile)
  • Weekly sync · dedicated PM
Talk to us →

Common questions from marketing leads & founders.

If yours isn't here, send us your domain — we'll come back with a free 1-pager audit in 48h.

How long before we see results?
Realistically: technical fixes can move rankings within 2-4 weeks (especially Core Web Vitals on a slow site). Content usually takes 60-120 days to show in rankings. Backlinks compound over 6-12 months. Anyone promising you "top of Google in 30 days" is selling vapour — Google's algorithm doesn't move that fast.
Can you guarantee #1 ranking?
No. Anyone who guarantees specific rankings is either lying or about to do something that gets you penalised. What we can guarantee: a measurable improvement in technical SEO score (Lighthouse, Search Console health) and a measurable lift in organic traffic against baseline. The exact ranking position depends on competition, which we don't control.
What about AI / SGE / Google's new search?
Generative answers (SGE / AI Overviews) are now part of SERPs. The good news: AI Overviews favour sites with strong technical foundations, deep topical authority, and schema markup — exactly what we work on. The 4 pillars still apply, just with sharper expectations on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
Do you do paid ads too?
Not as part of this service. SEO and paid ads work together but they're different disciplines. We refer clients to specialist SA performance-marketing agencies if you need paid. For landing-page conversion, see our Landing Pages & Funnels service.
What if our content team is small?
Three options: (1) We write the briefs, you execute — best when you have ≥ 1 writer. (2) We write + execute via our content arm — best when you don't. (3) Hybrid — we write the pillar pages, you write the supporting articles. Cost varies; we'll quote based on which option you pick.
POPIA + GDPR — what about cookie consent?
Our setup ships with privacy-friendly analytics by default (Plausible doesn't need cookie consent; GA4 does and we install the consent banner if you want both). All tracking is opt-in. We never recommend "consent walls" — Google penalises them and they hurt UX.
What about local SEO / Google Business Profile?
Included in the Enterprise tier; available as an add-on (R 1k once-off) to other tiers. Critical for SA businesses with physical locations. Covers GBP setup, NAP consistency, local citations, review-acquisition strategy, and Google Maps ranking.
Smallest version of this?
If R6k is too much, send us your domain — we'll do a free 1-pager audit (~12 checks) and tell you the top 3 fixes. You apply them yourself, no obligation. If after that you want the full audit, the R6k applies in full.

Send us your domain.
We'll send back the 1-pager audit.

Drop your domain into our form. Within 48 hours one of our senior partners will come back with a written 1-pager: Lighthouse score, top 3 technical issues, top 3 keyword opportunities, top 3 missing-schema items, and an honest read on whether SEO investment makes sense for your business right now. No sales pitch.

You'll get back in 48h

  • Lighthouse mobile + desktop scores
  • Top 3 technical issues
  • Top 3 keyword opportunities
  • Honest "is SEO worth it now" verdict

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