SEO (Search engine optimisation)
Today businesses are expected to have a website, indeed many businesses are based entirely on the internet. We have all heard of the overnight successes of some of these businesses. Yet many people don't implement an effective marketing strategy to attract new potential customers to their website once it is up and running. In reality it is only by being on Google page one for your relevant key words, that people are actually searching for, counts.
It is vital that we determine the correct search terms that will bring the best traffic to your site - most likely qualified prospects who will acually buy your goods or services - what use are hundreds of visitors that do nothing. Having identified the most likely search terms we have to get a number of them - ones that can get ranked easily and quickly though they pull less traffic to more competitive terms that could pull more leads but will take more time and effort to get ranked. We also need to avoid going head to head with a number of major players - luckily you don't need to until you are a major player yourself - at which point we will still be able to help.
There is also the matter of good web design - 'funnelling', analysing and converting the traffic most effectively and viably. This isn't strictly SEO work or even email marketing but if it is badly out then it can invalidate all the marketing work done so we have learnt to do this work as well and consider it key to SEO in general.
Perhaps the easiest way to get an understanding of it and what you get for your money is to look at how it would be done for a medium sized UK company selling Leaflet Distribution.
Step 1 - is there a market at all?
Using various tools - like Google Keywords we look at searches being made on the Internet over the last year. With bright ideas - we have to think of what someone wanting a leaflet company would be searching for? Not Joe Bloggs Ltd - that may be your company name but he hasn't found you yet - he's going to type "leaflet distribution company" - if it's to deliver to a particular town it is more likely to be "leaflet distribution company in Bradford". Someone typing that into Google is very likely a real prospect - for a leaflet distribution company in Bradford. These are the kinds of search phrases that we want your website to appear near the top of Google in as they are pulling in good prospects - and all the variations that someone wanting your service may type. By looking to see if the searches are there we can discover if there is a market there. No point having a big fancy web site and optimisation done if there isn't anyone looking in the first place! The online market in the UK is very big - and growing, but no harm looking and seeing how big.
Step 2 - which key phrases to go for?
Assuming we did indeed find a market. Partly covered above, we have to decide which search phrases to target. Two things here - we want search terms for buyers and genuine "interested in getting your product or service" people to see you at or near the top and so go to your web site. We don't want to pull in loads of clicks and visits from an unintentional source. In our Leaflet company for example we could easily get hundreds of visitors looking for a leaflet distribution job - and we may not want these. We may also discover that "leaflet distribution" is a botany term for plants and we are getting students studying for exams! This takes some thought and trial & error to get right. Further - we only want the Bradford area as all other leads are of no value - we are wasting their time & ours. Finally there is the competition for that term - what if 5 other companies in the UK are - and have been for the last 6 years - targetting the same phrase! This will make the job much harder. Better to find a niche, to start with anyway. A good term, right people, decent volume of interest and low competition. Now that is worth looking for as you can win with that and more quickly too.
Step 3 - optimise the site
Now we have, usually 5, key search terms that are likely to get good results we need, ideally, 5 pages to optimise for. One page for each term. So we write or edit the page so Google knows this page is all about "Leaflet delivery in Bradford" and another page is all about "flyer distribution in West Yorkshire" etc. So it will present those pages when people search on those terms. We have to ensure the content is good enough to get the right back links from similar sites.
Step 4 - monitor results and adapt as indicated
With Google Analytics or an on-site stats program you (or we) would monitor the results to look for traffic going to the web site. It should be going up each week when it starts to bite. We'd also follow where your site appears for the search terms. They may start at "nowhere" then appear at rank 85 (half way down the ninth page), they will climb and drop day to day and week to week but if the work is being done right they will eventually arrive on the first page and finally where they are needed - in the top 5 where the bulk of clicks occur. The volume of clicks drops fast below the top 5 and further still below the first page.
Step 5 - maintain & monitor
Although it lasts longer than other marketing forms - that is, once on the first page it is likely to stay there for months with no further attention - it should get mantenance actions or it will likely slowly drop down again. Also key phrases come and go so you have to keep an eye on that aspect to.
We also need to know what the traffic, assuming it is appearing, is doing - are they phoning up, sending in email or using the contact form on your site? There is no point getting the traffic if your website doesn't convert it to a lead.
How long does it take?
This is a little like how long is a piece of string! One to six months for real results is the likely time scale - particulary for a new site (less than two years old). Older sites are quicker as a rule.
Why Google? Because it completely dominates the search market in the UK right now - and mostly the actions are similar for Bing, yahoo etc. anyway.
