I get asked all the time about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) by small businesses. To the point now that I feel these companies have heard these amazing success stories about being on page one of Google that they have dedicated their whole marketing budget to achieving this!
I’m not saying that Search Engine Optimisation is not important, it’s very important, but it is also saturated with businesses targeting the same keywords as yours. If your lucky enough you will be in a geographical location targeting keywords with little competition, but you could also win the lottery.
I wanted to give these companies some good advice based on my experience, so I had a think about how we create marketing campaigns for our clients. I soon realised that Google and other search engines were taken very seriously when developing a clients website and content, then for a few months it is put to the bottom of the list. The reason for this is that we are not in control of Google, Bing, MSN, Yahoo etc and have to be patient when letting these search engines index the pages of the website, also allowing us time to determine the sites progress and make necessary changes.
Successful Search Engine Optimistation (SEO) takes time, but is an important ongoing marketing strategy for your company. Whilst you develop your page rank within these search engines you should have a comprehensive Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign for instant traffic and brand awareness.
I recently invited these companies to a workshop I was running in which I spent time with them specifically looking over their current SEO and marketing options. All of them had already spent huge amounts on SEO and some of them had really seen the benefits, but, for some this was a huge waste of time and money, they could have achieve better results with some of the options I have mentioned below. Another factor that they didn’t take into account was the look and usability of their website. A few of them had high bounce rates which reflected the fact that the SEO was not consistent with the content and the end user was unable to find what they wanted or were put of by the design of the site.
Before any optimsation should take place, your site should reflect the professionalism of your company. It should engage and interact with your customer to help embed your brand as the one to go to. Only when your site is working as well as it can, you should then consider optimising it for the search engines.
Why not try these:
Social Media – A great way to push your brand, product, service or message out to a wider audience using the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In.
Blogging – By having a blog you can add juicy content and advice around your industry, another great way of building traffic.
Direct Mail – IS NOT DEAD, no need to spend all your budget online! get your brand out there in print form.
Events – Get your business booked onto a stand at an event, there are hundreds of business events every year and there may be industry specific events for your business.
Posted by Chris Nutbeen
Tags: Marketing
