Corporations must elevate search engine optimisation (SEO) to a strategic level if they are to meet the needs of their business, web users and by proxy Google, says Janaya Wilkins @IamJanaya and Mike Jacobson of Ayima
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving a website’s position or ‘ranking’ within non-paid or ‘organic’ search engine results pages. It is essential for any business looking to generate sales online. Yet there remains a lack of understanding and a certain amount of confusion amongst senior executives at traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ companies as to how SEO works, what can be achieved, and why it is important.
Ayima Search Marketing @ayima is a specialist corporate Search Marketing Consultancy, backed by real-time data. Drop them a line:contactus@ayima.com
All too often, they will be seeking justification for why they should be investing in what they perceive as some kind of ‘black magic’. This disconnect is exacerbated by the fact that SEO, unlike paid search models such as pay-per-click (PPC), does not fit easily with traditional corporate procurement. Although in theory it is possible to cost out time spent on SEO projects and the cost of individual pieces of work, the process is not nearly as predictable as it is with PPC, where ‘deliverables’ and spend can be broken down relatively easily.
In addition, the language and structure employed in tender documents is also designed primarily for the procurement of physical goods and services, rather than virtual technologies or logical assets that are less tangible. Moreover, there tends to be a lack of visibility at Board level from the outset where the procurement process is led by senior managers rather than C-level executives. Even where those responsible for leading procurement do have some understanding of digital media and the key messages pitched to them by SEO specialists, it is unlikely they will appreciate the nuances. More often than not, the result is a decision based purely on price, as opposed to strategic benefits.
Strategic tool
SEO budgets vary considerably. Econsultancy found that almost half of the companies surveyed for its UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2013 are spending £10,000 or less on SEO per year, while 15 per cent are spending in excess of £100,000 per year. There have been more increases at the higher end of the range, with a 5 per cent increase in companies spending over £50,000.
Certainly, many larger corporations today remain behind the curve, either because online businesses have established a leading position, or because they are being outpaced by more nimble and digital-savvy competitors. One only has to look at the dominance of online firms such as Skyscanner and Amazon to appreciate just how far behind many bricks and mortar corporations are. It is most evident where they rank lower within search engine results for competitive keywords such as ‘cheap flights’, ‘mobile phones’, and ‘insurance’.
Ranking for keywords is essential in organic search because most users tend not to look beyond the first two search results pages. A study published recently by ad network Chikita found that websites listed on the first page of Google’s search results generated 92 per cent of all traffic, with traffic dropping by 95 per cent when moving from page one to page two. Sites listed on the third page generated just 1.1 per cent of all traffic generated.
However, with natural search, companies cannot simply ‘buy their share of voice’, as there can only be one or two brands at the top of the search engine results pages taking the lion’s share of traffic. On the other hand, companies are able to buy as much ‘voice’ as they can afford with PPC or any other kind of mainstream marketing. Moreover, SEO is a process that takes years rather than months. Ensuring companies understand these distinctions is the first hurdle to overcome.
Back to basics
Once its strategic value is understood, SEO ideally starts with the technical aspects of a company’s website, such as initial design and build, and the technology behind the site – including the content management system (CMS) and the service. It also takes in optimising the way the website is structured to deliver the most important information for users in a simple and effective way, but also such that search engines can identify information they believe is important for users. These factors are classed as ‘on-page’ activities.
SEO also embraces ‘off-page’ activities, which are designed to increase the ‘popularity’ of a company’s site and thus its rank within results pages – for example, the number of people that link back to a company’s website and the ‘strength’ and quality of those links are taken as a primary signal of quality and authority by search engines. In essence, ‘link building/development’ is like seeking votes from other web users for being the most relevant or best resource for a particular type of query or search topic.
Link-building and keyword targeting must be approached with caution. In the eyes of search engines such as Google, there are techniques considered as good SEO (‘white hat’), and those that are deemed bad (‘black hat’). These are penalised either by being ranked lower, or at worst by being severely penalised, resulting in a website’s near or total de-listing from the search engine’s index.
Nevertheless, a website featuring unique content that is refreshed regularly, with the right keywords distributed carefully throughout, and with links pointing back to this content from other relevant sites, stands a good chance of being ranked highly by search engines. The role of the SEO specialist is therefore to ensure that corporations can be aggressive in their SEO strategy and maintain performance over time, but in a way that is sensitive to the aims and needs of both Google and web users – and which avoids any potential penalties for black hat activities (whether intentional or not).
http://t.co/Db9wsTlNjq – The SEO + Beer Event http://t.co/TUdRkyks8n pic.twitter.com/iXEDj3hoAN
— Will Corry (@slievemore) April 20, 2014
Aligning objectives
It is also important to recognise that SEO cannot operate in isolation: it has to be considered a core pillar to the wider marketing strategy. However, defining SEO and search marketing objectives, aligning these with existing corporate strategy, and obtaining buy-in from multiple stakeholders, can prove difficult.
For example, those responsible for marketing might argue that brand, messaging and user experience take precedence over any functional changes designed to drive traffic and conversions. This is where the role of the SEO specialist becomes as much about being internal advocates for driving specific activity, and providing the critical interface between the various stakeholders, as it is simply performing the work in isolation.
One approach is to bring all stakeholders together to share ideas on best practices with regards to PPC, SEO, and social media, as well as to agree a framework for delivering a more joined-up approach. Such stakeholders might include: digital acquisition managers and marketing executives; direct retail managers; PPC, SEO, and social media managers; and heads of legal, procurement, and web development. Training sessions are another beneficial activity. They don’t have to be long, but placing an experienced SEO professional in front of different teams to ensure a better understanding of the SEO process can deliver significant benefits.
In short, basic SEO knowledge should be like any other basic skill for marketing executives, and checking that it has been done right with an in-house function or external agency expert should be as commonplace as checking a translation is grammatically accurate before putting out a creative piece, advertisement or other campaign.
Thus the challenge for C-level executives is to ensure that SEO is embedded firmly within corporate strategy, and that it is approached as another key channel that is tightly managed in line with all of the other online channels and different stakeholders responsible for a website. This way, SEO activities can be undertaken safely, consistently and robustly to drive sustainable results and business outcomes over time.
Ayima Search Marketing @ayima is a specialist corporate Search Marketing Consultancy, backed by real-time data. Drop us a line: contactus@ayima.com or go to Ayima is the UK’s largest dedicated SEO agency, specialising in competitive industries and helping large brands dominate their market.
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