To produce strong SEO results and happy clients, focus your SEO efforts on traffic and conversions, not rank.
Tags: content marketing, content strategy, Digital Marketing, marketing, online marketing, Search, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, sem, seo, seo services, social media marketing, social media strategy, web presence optimization
Posted in Search, Social Media, Web Analytics | No Comments »
The backlink within the practice of SEO is an ongoing topic of conversation for marketing, sales, delivery and reporting of SEO services. Even in a post Penguin world, SEO professionals are still asking questions such as:
What’s the best way to build backlinks that will have a positive long-term impact on a web presence?
Is quantity better than quality?
Should I buy backlinks?
How do I protect a web presence from future Google algorithm changes?
How do I know how many organic backlinks versus inorganic backlinks my web presence has?
In our post Penguin world, the right and wrong approaches to backlinking strategies should be very clear, yet I continue to hear SEOs talk about how backlinking is dead, where the best place is to buy backlinks, and whether backlinking even matters anymore. The fact is, the backlink is and will continue to be a fundamental variable in organic search algorithms and organic search strategies. Backlinks matter. Period. The only question you need to ask yourself is: Is this an organic backlink or an inorganic backlink?
SEO and backlinks on the web cannot exist without each other. It is worth getting back to the backlink basics and considering the origins of SEO and backlinking to understand the... Read more
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The techniques and tactics of “doing” SEO are forever changing and constantly challenging. For many SEO agencies, the marketing and selling of SEO services is a bigger hurdle than the task of actually obtaining improved organic search results for clients. Competing for marketing dollars while proving value through the sales process needs to be accomplished even before the insurmountable task of obtaining ROI through the Google search box begins.
From an SEO buyer’s perspective, it must be downright confusing and discouraging to obtain multiple quotes from SEO service providers that very clearly have differing price ranges and service methodologies, but not so clearly defined differentiating skill sets and experience.
So sellers attempt to make it easier for buyers to understand SEO proposals in order to ultimately get to a closed deal - a signature on a contract. In the meantime, are they undermining their own profession and setting themselves up for failure by setting unrealistic expectations with clients?
Or are SEO clients being unrealistic in their expectations of SEO results in the short term versus the long term, leading SEO service providers to drastic measures that may ultimately result in the client’s web presence being penalized in organic search? Or even results in... Read more
Tags: buyer experience, content marketing, content strategy, online marketing, Search, seo, seo services, social media marketing, social media strategy, Strategy, web presence optimization
Posted in Search, Social Media | 5 Comments »
Search Engine Optimization agencies, professionals and in-house teams have difficult jobs – obtain improved organic search results as quickly as possible given a limited budget and timeframe, while Google changes its algorithm on a daily basis and competitors continue to optimize their web presence. I think it’s safe to say that managing the clients’ or boss’ expectations in this turbulent environment are almost more difficult than the moving target of SEO itself.
I spend a lot of time thinking about how the SEO landscape has changed for the better over the past three years, with Google’s continued and unwavering focus on the concept of relevance. However, three aspects of SEO have not changed at the same pace. The outcome is often a gap in expectations between the team delivering SEO services and the client literally banking on the results. The three aspects of SEO that I feel have not changed at the same pace as the SEO industry include:
The way SEO services are marketed and sold.
The processes around how SEO is delivered and reported on.
The ability for agencies and in-house teams to prove the ROI of SEO efforts.
But the importance of SEO in the digital marketing mix remains unchanged and unchallenged.... Read more
Tags: content marketing, content strategy, online marketing, optimized content marketing strategy, Search, seo, social media marketing, social media strategy, web presence optimization
Posted in Search, Social Media, Web Analytics | 7 Comments »
I was thrilled to see the joint GroupM and Nielsen research published recently on the UK Search Marketing Landscape. If you missed it, Danny Goodwin’s blog post, “Organic vs. Paid Search Results: Organic Wins 94% of Time” is a great summary. With this study, marketers and search marketers have, for the first time, vendor-neutral data containing evidence of organic search clickthrough rates (CTRs).
As a quick recap, the research concludes that 94% of searchers click through on organic search results, and that the top three positions in Google earn 61% of the clicks. These numbers are not far off the numbers I’ve used for years when describing the importance of SEO in a marketing budget as well as ranking on Page One for the keywords prospects are searching on to find your organization. The GroupM and Nielsen numbers simply (and strongly) validate the importance of an on-going SEO strategy.
A significant disconnect, however, continues to exist between the impact that SEO can have on impressions, clickthroughs and lead generation compared to PPC and the representation each receives in a typical marketing budget. Take Forrester’s U.S. Interactive Marketing Forecast, for the years 2011 to 2016. Marketers are spending and will continue to spend,... Read more
Tags: content marketing, content strategy, online marketing, optimized content marketing strategy, public relations, Search, seo, Social Media, Strategy, Video, web presence optimization
Posted in Search, Social Media, Web Analytics | 7 Comments »
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