Posts Tagged SEO

It’s important to get the right partner for SEO

Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Thoughts & Opinions on August 2nd, 2010

Have you ever been ripped off by Internet Marketing companies that claim they can “get your business onto the 1st page in Google” and then don’t deliver any results? Do you receive calls every day from companies that claim they can get you a lot more business than you already are?

Well, you are not alone.  Every year, thousands of UK businesses buy into rogue services that fail to deliver results of any kind. The most popular type of service that Internet Marketing companies push is called Search Engine Optimisation, otherwise known as SEO.

What is SEO?

SEO is the process of increasing a website’s position in the search engines so that the website receives more visitors. If carried out correctly, an SEO campaign can deliver a measurable increase in targeted traffic:  visitors looking for a particular service or product.

By focusing on specific keywords, a website can be optimised to appear in the search engines for relevant searches. The more exposure a website gets in the search engines and the higher up in the results the website appears, the more visitors the website will get from its target market.

How do businesses get stung?

SEO is a specialist service that requires technical knowledge of how the internet and search engines like Google operate. There are a variety of scenarios that lead to a business feeling cheated by an SEO company. Typical scenarios are rogue SEO companies;

  • Pretending that guarantees can be given for what ranking position a site will attain and how long it will stay there for.
  • Not analysing the individual requirements of a client’s business and then applying inappropriate or ineffective strategies that don’t deliver results.
  • Charging monthly fees on a rolling contract so that business owners see the campaigns as low risk (and essentially ‘worth a gamble’) but end up paying more than the value of the work done.
  • Taking on clients that operate in extremely competitive environments where there may be no room for successful optimization.

10 tips to qualify an SEO Agency

So how can you avoid the unpleasant situations that we have just discussed? Research, preparation and asking the right questions are pretty effective in our experience. Here’s our top 10 tips.

1.    Ask them what guarantees they provide on indexes and rankings over time.

If they give any guarantees to do with Google (or other search engines), bin them
2.    Ask them how long it will take to get your website on the first page of Google

All SEO campaigns take time, and a real SEO company will say that a minimum of 3 months work is needed to make progress (unless you already rank for the keywords). Any mention of anything less, walk away.

3.    Do a Google search for their company name, paying particular attention at forum posts

Any negative experiences will come up, as will positive experiences
4.    Ask them what their rates are and how they price up campaigns

If they price per keyword that’s fine, but if they offer packages for £100 or £250 per month without first finding out what your needs are be cautious; the campaigns may not be tailored to what you need.

5.    Ask them what reporting they provide for clients

A genuine SEO company will provide monthly reports on what is being done each month for your money.

6.    Ask them what keywords their company website ranks for in Google.

Check their rankings. If they don’t come up, be sceptical. If they are a new company it’s acceptable to ask how they intend on ranking and how long it will take them (they should be at least trying to rank and have an understanding of timeframes) and only move forward on client testimonials directly from the clients (as well as doing point 2).

7.    Ask them what they think about your website

Most SEO companies will highlight how well optimised your website is for the search engines to read. Page titles internal linking, and keyword optimised copy are some points they should mention.  The emphasis shouldn’t all be on Meta Tags and if anybody tells you to focus on the “keyword meta tag” in particular, then beat a hasty retreat.
8.    Ask them how campaigns are planned to get you a return on Investment as soon as possible.

A good company will have a plan that will target low hanging fruit keywords to get an additional amount of traffic through to your website in the initial 1-3 months. Alongside this, they will have a long term strategy (3-12 months) to target the competitive keywords for your business. If they don’t provide a reasonable plan, question their approach and how long it will take you to see some form of ROI.

9.    Ask them what policies they have to protect your campaign and service from competitors.

An ethical SEO company will only service 1 client per sector or niche. By doing so, you will be sure that they will only optimise your campaign and not your competitors after you. If they do not commit to working exclusively for you within your sector / niche, be skeptical about their approach and ethics.

10. Ask them for case studies of their clients and contact details.

A genuine SEO agency will be happy to provide case studies and contact details for client references. These references will provide you with an unbiased, real life experience of the services being provided.

Conclusion

Just a few simple checks could mean the difference between a cost-effective campaign that delivers traffic, leads and clients, and an expensive failure that could even leave you worse off in the search engine rankings than before.

Remember to keep asking those questions! We have a proven record of delivering a return on investment when it comes to our clients regarding SEO. Why not give us a call on 01694 724 899, and we will be only too happy to answer any queries that you may have!

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34% of e-retailers say social marketing has increased sales, study says

Posted by Paul McSweeney in M-Commerce, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking on July 19th, 2010

The 34% of online retailers who say social marketing helps to increase sales participate in five or more forms of it-the most common being social network pages, customer ratings and reviews, and blogs-compared to fewer than four by retailers who don’t tie sales growth to social media, according to the State of Retailing Online 2009 report.

The report, which was conducted by Forrester Research Inc. on behalf of Shop.org, the online retailing division of the National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, notes that most retailers regard customer ratings and reviews as useful and directly correlated to sales.

And though the report adds that 66% of retailers are unclear about the effect on business of other forms of social marketing, it notes that 58% say the primary benefit of social marketing and social commerce is in listening to and better understanding customers.

Other forms of social marketing and social commerce cited in the report include social product recommendations, product sharing in social networks, e-commerce widgets, customer-generated videos, social shopping sites, online forums and co-browsing.

The report also notes the percentages of online retailers agreeing with the following statements regarding social marketing:

  • The return on investment is unclear, 66%
  • The primary ROI is in listening to and understanding customers, 58%
  • We’re pursuing it now to avoid being latecomers, 54%
  • We’re pursuing it because of the buzz surrounding it, 50%
  • We use a specific set of metrics to measure social marketing initiatives, 36%
  • It has helped to grow our business, 34%
  • We’re pursuing it because our competitors are, 28%
  • We’re pursuing it to satisfy senior management, 15%

The report also notes the percentages of online retailers who have used the following methods to measure the effect of social marketing:

  • Click-throughs to a retail site from a social marketing tool like Twitter or Facebook, 60%
  • Growth rate of followers on sites like Twitter and Facebook, 57%
  • Total subscribers to blog or social network page, 53%
  • Unique visitors to social marketing tool, 42%
  • Improved search engine optimization, 38%
  • Requested action taken (i.e., video views, contest entries, coupons downloaded), 33%
  • Insight and market research findings, 31%
  • Time spent on social tool, such as reading a blog, 26%
  • Percentage of products with multiple customer reviews, 25%
  • Number of referrals from customers, 24%
  • Media buzz generated, 24%
  • Return visits to social tool, 21%
  • Not yet measuring social media initiatives, 17%
  • Number of installed widgets (i.e., desktop links to e-commerce site), 11%

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10 tips on how to keep focused on social media marketing

Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, Facebook, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking on June 28th, 2010

Some of our clients tell us how frustrated they can get with all this social media stuff. Despite the hours they spend on it, they just don’t seem to engage in as many conversations as they had envisaged at the outset. And they start to question whether it is really all worth it.

The flipside is that Social media marketing can be so compelling and addictive that if you are not careful an hour is gone and you haven’t done a thing. Friends and colleagues often make the observation that there is so much valuable information  and tempting headlines that compel us to read and view that like the temptations of the mythoglical Greek Ulysses ‘Sirens’ who lured away away ancient mariners we too can be turned from away from our destination.

So how do we keep on track so that the ‘Sirens’ of Ulysses don’t distract us to destruction and ensure we meet our goals?

1. Check your goals

Why did you set up your social media marketing channels in the first place? Is what you are currently doing on social media moving you towards those goals. Some goals may be quite specific such as to to increase inquiries by 20%. It may be a more general goal such as to connect, engage and communicate or create more brand awareness. It may be to write one blog post a day.

2. Get Focused

You have now checked back to your original goals and now you need to refine and continue to determine what are the most important and prioritize them. For me one major goal is to write our  blog post on a daily basis.

3. Set a Schedule & A Routine

Providing yourself with a schedule and a deadline can ensure.. mostly… that the activity is done and then you can move on to the next task.

4. Planning , Creating and Developing Content

To ensure that we have information to place on the social media channels that we are using we need to be constantly brainstorming and keeping an eye out for content to  post that provides value to your clients and answers their questions and helps solve their problems.

5. Optimizing your Channels

So you now  have the content on your social media platforms….are they set up to ensure that people will find them online and when they get there they will find it easy to view and read. A blog may need some search engine optimisation tweaking and with the changes to Google’s search with the recently announced ‘Google Caffeine’ having more recent content on your web presence is more important than ever. Do you have your LinkedIn profile public and do you have your website, blog and facebook pages entered in the page?

6. Promoting Your Brand on Social Media

A lot of people think that once they have published their blog or posted that the online world is just going to turn up… they won’t .. so you need to tell the world. Tweet it (a few times). Place your content on as many channels as time, money and resources allow. Take your eNewsletter and embed social media buttons at the top and the bottom of the email and also place buttons and links to your blog.. email can be integrated into your whole social media activities.

7. Measuring and Monitoring

Set up measuring and monitoring tools and use them as these can provide the feedback on what is working and what isn’t,

8. Analyze and Adjust your Activities

You now have the numbers on your different activities…. use this tweak and fine tune your activities to ensure that they are producing the best result for the least effort.

9. Communicate and Engage with your Social Media Tribe

Ok .. so you have had your head down and tail up, pumping out great content and doing fantastic things  but you haven’t had time to listen and engage. You need to ensure that you are not just doing but also connecting otherwise one day you will look up and the tribe has dissappeared

10. Help Someone in your Social Media Community

Take time to promote and help someone in your online community achieve their goals and you will be find that reciprocation is often forthcoming and your efforts will be paid back in spades.

How do you keep focused?

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8 “social tactics” you can use to drive more sales

Posted by Paul McSweeney in E-Commerce, Facebook, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking on June 3rd, 2010

We have discussed before in this blog, how important it is to have a clearly defined social media strategy. In large organisations, social media marketing accounts for roughly 1-5% of digital marketing budgets; and this figure is increasing, as companies start to see the fruits of their labours.

As we have mentioned before, the biggest benefit of social marketing is it’s ability to enable you to engage in ongoing dialogue with existing and potential customers. You cannot expect real quantifiable Return on Investment (ROI) from the outset, but in time you will see the benefits. Below are 8 top “social tactics” that you can deploy..and many of them you will be delighted to hear..are inexpensive!

1. Ratings and Reviews: These are already used by most retailers, and offer an opportunity to reduce content creation costs.  This also enables you to have direct contact with your customers, and gain an honest insight; which will help you refine your product more effectively to meet customer needs.

2. Microblogs (eg. Twitter) This is inexpensive to launch, can provide a great platform to offload excess stock (Dell); and provide an opportunity to serve your customers’ needs in real-time. It can also put a face to your brand.

3.  Social recommendations - gives you an opportunity to “leverage” the wisdom of the customer. It exposes customers to content deeper in the site, and encourages “stickiness”. A referral from a friend is, furthermore, so much more powerful, than from a company!

4. Company Blogs – provides the biggest opportunity for SEO benefits. They do not drive a great deal of traffic, but can be set up for relatively low cost.

5.  Customer generated outfitting – Enabling customers to see how they will look in different products will enhance cross-selling considerably. This method further engages shoppers and provides a more interactive customer experience.

6. Product sharing on social network sites – Much more effective than company social network pages. Customers promote your brand for you! Nice..

7. Social shopping aggregator sites – This is a great opportunity to drive incremental traffic to your site.

8. Open APIs – Opportunity to “crowdsource” technology.

These are some of the methods you can look at to drive sales through social media. It all points to the same thing though. Before embarking upon any of this, you need to have clearly identified your target audience, decided upon your goals, and then your approach to meet your objectives. Only some of these methods will  be of benefit to your business, but I hope this gives you a guideline as to what those who have achieved success, do!

A lot of this material was taken from a presentation given by Suleika Bloom , who is the Social Media Director of Heels in the US.  This was posted on Social Commerce Today , a fantastic source of information by Dr Paul Marsden.

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Where to spend those advertising dollars, or pounds, or euros …

Posted by David Harrison in Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions, Useful Stuff on July 9th, 2009

We’ve started putting a few posts up on Social Media of late … no doubt there will be more to follow. Our view is that in combination with search marketing it should form an increasing part of your overall marketing mix (but we would say that wouldn’t we!) and it seems there is increasing concrete evidence to back up that view ….

Not only is online marketing’s share of spend increasing but it is at the expense of traditional advertising … as Paul mentioned the other day, people are increasingly not using newspapers as much, although I still buy them myself (!), so what is the point of advertising in them?

Pretty simple really – spend your marketing money where the people you want to reach exist!

More information, with the appropriate Forrester Research numbers can be found at http://www.briansolis.com/2009/07/the-decline-of-advertising-and-the-rise-of-social-media/

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Useful SEO …

Posted by David Harrison in Useful Stuff on April 3rd, 2009

Take a look at http://econsultancy.com/blog/3621-25-seo-tips-to-create-trust-with-the-search-engines for some useful SEO info ….

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