A4JP.COM Design Studio & English School

Sapporo SEO Services

A4JP is based in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan and offers practical search engine optimization services. We improve website code and content to increase the chances of search engines finding, understanding and ranking your site. Feel free to contact us anytime.

Sapporo Design Studio A4JP

Tel/Fax: +81-11-768-8116

Office Hours: 7:00–24:00

Visits by Appointment only
Room 506, Asahi Plaza Kairakuen,
2-1, North 6 West 6, North Ward,
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan 060-0806

Can You Help Improve My Website?

Yes. We can review your existing website and identify areas that may be limiting its visibility, usability or ability to attract customers.

We can work with both existing websites and new ones. Depending on your needs, we can improve the code, page structure, content, navigation, mobile experience, page speed, internal links or other on-page SEO factors.

If your website is not performing well in search engines, we can look at the website as a whole rather than simply adding keywords.

What Exactly Do You Do?

Our SEO work can include:

Local SEO: helping businesses target customers searching for services in Sapporo and throughout Hokkaido.
SEO for new websites: building SEO considerations into the website from the beginning.
Ongoing improvements: continuing to improve and update the website as your business and search results change.
Website and technical SEO: checking HTML, CSS, page structure, links, errors and other technical issues.
On-page SEO: improving page titles, headings, descriptions, content structure and internal links.
Improving content: rewriting or improving existing pages so they are more useful and relevant to the people you want to reach.
Keyword research: identifying the words and phrases potential customers are actually using.
Mobile optimization: making sure your website works properly and is easy to use on smartphones and tablets.
Website usability: finding problems that may make visitors leave the site or have difficulty finding what they need.

We can also combine SEO with web design, programming, content creation and website management when this is the best approach.

LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization)

We help make your website and content easier for AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Kimi and Google AI to find, understand and reference correctly, alongside traditional SEO. This can include clearer page structure, accurate business descriptions, structured data so AI-generated answers about you remain correct and current. We also offer content drafting, image generation and research support, while keeping quality and accuracy in human hands.

Examples of Websites We Have Worked on

*Rankings can vary depending on location, device and search history.

https://agreatdream.com
Keywords: 札幌英会話
Google Ranking: Approximately #5–6
Keywords: Sapporo Eikaiwa
Google Ranking: #1

https://midtownniseko.com
Keywords: Niseko hotel
Google Ranking: Approximately #5–6

https://partysapporo.a4jp.com
Keywords: International Party
Google Ranking: #1
Keywords: 国際交流パーティー
Google Ranking: #1

How Much Does SEO Cost?

Some websites only need a few hours of technical updates or content improvements, while others require more extensive work. SEO pricing depends on the size and condition of your website also the amount of work required. Landing Page Optimization (LPO) and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) can also be included as part of larger website projects.

Our website services currently start from ¥20,000 a month for simple websites with management, while standard website projects start from ¥50,000. Larger projects start from ¥200,000. SEO, content, LPO and CRO can be included depending on the project.

For an existing website, we can discuss what needs to be done and provide a price based on the actual work required.

Contact us and tell us about your website. We can then recommend the most practical and affordable approach.

Request an AI summary of A4JP

Ask your assistant to brief you on what we do.The prompt is pre-filled.

ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Mode

What is SEO?

The process of making attempts to make your website easier for search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo to find, understand and display your site is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Users search for information using keywords and phrases. Well-optimized websites can achieve greater visibility in search results because of this.

To achieve this, structure your site properly, create high-quality content and earn natural links from trusted sources. Additionally, use correct HTML and optimize load times to boost rankings. Experts often note that high search rankings outperform paid advertising in driving traffic.

In essence, SEO drives more internet users to your content by ensuring search engines recognize your pages as relevant and authoritative.

In the search results, Google and other search engines display links to pages it considers relevant and authoritative. Authority is mainly measured by analyzing the number and quality of links from other web pages. If you can increase the number of quality backlinks from other websites to your website you can increase your authority rating.

In simple terms, useful content, a well-structured website and relevant links can all help your pages perform better in the search results.

How to Get Better Search Results?

Write words and phrases that people search for when looking for your products and services without overusing keywords.
Make it easier to share and link to this content.
Repeat the process of improving your content and website as your business and customers’ needs change over time.

Here are some areas worth focusing on when optimizing your pages.

Remove errors, programming mistakes, links to missing files, spelling mistakes, anything else that reduces the overall reading quality or experience of viewing pages.
Add relevant titles, keywords and formatting to increase readability.
Try not to have more than one h1 tag per page unless there is a special reason.

How to Get Links from Other Sites?

Quality and quantity are two very different things when it comes to getting links from other websites. More links do not necessarily mean better SEO. Instead, focus on creating useful content that other relevant and trustworthy websites will want to reference. Securing natural links from relevant, high-quality websites will help a lot.

In simple terms, if you create something genuinely useful and worth linking to, other websites may choose to link to it. High-quality websites are more likely to reference useful/trustworthy content.

Be Found Quicker

SEO can help your website become more visible when potential customers search for your products or services. However, competition for popular keywords can be strong, so a successful SEO strategy needs to consider your content, website structure, technical performance and competitors.

When common keywords are searched for, a large number of websites appear on the search results page. So, it can be difficult to get a higher rank and beat your competitors. Ranking highly in the search results by search though engines is said to have a greater effect than by placing ads.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is used to try and boost a website’s visibility on search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, where users search for information using specific keywords. Well-optimized sites can rank higher in the search results, standing out among competing websites.

Good SEO combines clean website code (HTML, CSS, PHP…), high-quality content, a clear structure and relevant links. Together, these elements help search engines understand your website and its pages also relevance and authority.

SEO and Search Engine Marketing

SEO is one part of search engine marketing (SEM). A4JP builds websites with search visibility and online marketing in mind.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) encompasses broader marketing strategies through search engines. We build websites optimized for SEM, ensuring clients maximize their online presence and effectively compete in the search results.

Optimize Websites for Search Engine Bots as well as People

Some people write amazing articles but they just write for people instead of machines. When considering SEO, your website needs to work well for both people and search engines. Visitors should be able to understand your content easily, while clear headings, page structure, links and HTML help search engines understand what each page is about. Websites should be structured so that algorithms can analyze the data properly.

Search engines are programmed with algorithms that pick up on background code pointing to the most important content, over repeated words, valuable words that have been repeated throughout the content, etc. Virtual points are added or subtracted in a way to rank these pages and hopefully show the highest quality content first. The number of page views and the length of the views may also be taken into consideration when calculating page ranks.

Keeping up to Date

Although it is difficult to keep up with all the algorithmic changes of search engines, we like to read online, watch a lot of videos and also go to seminars about SEO for latest and greatest tips.

Who are Some of the Famous SEO Gurus?

If you want to learn more about SEO and how it is changing definitely do a search for amazing people like Matt Cutts, Rand Fishkin, Aaron Wall, Danny Sullivan, Barry Schwartz, Andy Beal, Adam Heitzman, Dave Naylor, Eric Ward, Neil Patel, Bill Slawski, Bruce Clay, Vanessa Fox, Lee Oden, Eric Enge and Maile Ohye. By watching a few of their videos you can usually hear some good ideas or learn about best practices.

SEO Videos, Free SEO Tools and SEO News

Matt Cutts:

How can small sites become popular?

What are the top 3-5 SEO areas where webmasters make the most mistakes?

Brian Dean:

SEOBACKLINKO: SEO Checklist — How to Get More Organic Traffic (Fast!)

Rand Fishkin:

SEO Master, Rand Fishkin’s Proven Tips and Story to Greatness | The G.O.A.T. Show 007

Greatest Misconception in Content Marketing Whiteboard Friday

Earn Higher Rankings Without Investing in Content Creation & Marketing

Rand Fishkin’s Tips for SEO: Audience Research

Sapporo SEO - Website Services | Search Engine Optimization

Components of an SEO Branding Strategy

Based on Snezana Ristevska Jovanovska’s scientific paper.

1. Purpose

What differentiates your business from your competitors?

When writing your business purpose, keep examples of companies that are not just trying to make money in mind. While profits are a priority for most businesses, operating under this notion alone does little to set your brand apart from others in your industry.

According to Business Strategy Insider, the functional and intentional business purposes

Functional business purpose:
The evaluation of success in terms of immediate and commercial reasons — i.e. the purpose of the business is to make money.
Intentional business purpose:
Success as it relates to the ability to make money and do good in the world.

2. Consistency

Avoid talking about things that do not relate to or enhance your brand.

Try to stick to a certain style or pattern. Ideas that stray from the main point can confuse customers.

3. Emotion

Cheaper well built items may not attract customers which seems illogical but it is true.

In many cases, people sometimes just buy items based on their feelings, not logic. Also factors like feeling they have become part of a group.

By providing customers with an opportunity to feel like they are part of a larger group, companies can hook into the innate desire to build relationships. Psychologists Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary describe this in their “belongingness hypothesis,” which states: “People have a basic psychological need to feel closely connected to others, and that caring, affectionate bonds from close relationships are a major part of human behavior.”

4. Flexibility

Remain flexible to stay relevant.

5. Involvement

Sit down and make a list of rules before you start. For example, rules on writing messages sent out and/or rules on checking and approving posts before publishing. But get employees involved, if possible. If you run a business by yourself you can look for volunteers, use friends on Facebook or even people from your family. It is always nice to hear what other are thinking but sometimes remember to step back and just make sure you are heading towards your goal.

6. Loyalty

Reward people that love you, your company and brand. Cultivating loyalty from people early on will yield more returning customers and profit for your business.

7. Competitive Awareness

Are you watching what your competitors are doing? Do their ideas work or fail? Do you keep track of changes in your industry?

8. Testing

Device specific tests
Does your product, service or website look right on most devices? Use website testing services like https://testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com to check your site on mobile devices, and other testing sites.

Bug testing
You can improve your search engine ranking just by remove bugs and errors from your site.

Usability tests
Are the buttons on your site too small and difficult to click. Can you zoom in on images or text?

2026-07-11: Mosseri from Instagram said hashtags aren’t a good way to increase reach. They can’t be used to hack reach.

Sapporo Design Studio A4JP | Web Design, SEO, Architectural Models, Photography, 3DCG, Translation |