Tag Archive: SEO

1. Why combine SEO & digital marketing?

   30/05/2017 09:15 Comments Off on Why combine SEO & digital marketing?

   All too often, attractive websites do little more than act as a shop window, particularly in a business-to-business environment.

   To create a website which earns its keep as a sales tool, you need to work hard on the SEO (to get visitors to the site in the first place) and then on the engagement (to get visitors to stay and take action in the sales funnel).

   This is why it’s important to bring SEO and digital marketing skills to the table, as one without the other will mean your website under-performs, both in terms of visitor numbers and conversions.

    

   The value of SEO

   A robust SEO strategy will help customers to find you by making your website visible for relevant search terms.

   To do this, there are no short-cuts or tricks to the top – you’ll need to play by the rules and abide by Google’s webmaster guidelines which emphasise the need to put users first, not search engines.  (Find out how to maintain a Google-friendly website.)

   However, while the technical SEO on your site needs to be right, it’s not going to be enough to maximise the visibility of your site on Google, or convert visitors into customers.

   Quality content – content which answers your visitors’ biggest questions – is a vital component.

   This is where good SEO crosses over into the realm of digital marketing.

    

   The value of digital marketing

   Most businesses will need to optimise their site not just for products and services they provide, but for the information people need to make a buying decision.

   This is because Google is increasingly used to answer questions in the information-gathering stage of a buying cycle.

   The companies which answer these questions well are shown to achieve the highest search engine rankings, and the best conversions.

   That means you need to understand your customers, and create on-site content which gets their attention and engages them enough so that they take the next step towards a sale.

    

   Why content is so important

   Google rewards companies which create high quality content which gives users the information they are looking for.

   When creating content strategies for clients, we focus on a ‘wide and deep’ strategy, creating content which covers a wide spectrum of related issues and deep content which covers some key subjects in depth.

   This approach helps us to improve rankings for specific search terms, but also for related search terms which engage customers while they are researching possible solutions (and improve the visibility of a site for a more comprehensive set of search terms).

    

   Reaching a wider audience

   Quality content will not only help your website to be more visible on search engines, it will also help you to use social media more effectively.

   All too often, businesses find social media is a drain on time and resources, and they find it hard to see the payback.

   However, with focus, social media can enhance your SEO and digital marketing efforts.

   This is because people like to use social media to share information and ideas, so authoritative content which is highly shareable can be a great way to reach a wider audience and build referral traffic.

   Plus, sharing content on social media can help you build a good backlink profile, which is something Google will reward.

   While Google says social share counts don’t have a direct impact on your site’s ranking, it’s clear that social profiles can be a useful marketing tool as they’re often featured on Google’s search engine results page, particularly when it comes to a branded search term.

    

   Improving conversions

   By analysing what’s happening on your website – which pages people are visiting, how long they’re staying for etc – it’s possible to understand how to improve conversions.

   As well as taking an honest look at whether and how you are providing the information a visitor needs to feel secure in taking the next step in the buying cycle, there are various calls to action (CTA) devices which you can use to build a connection.

   From email opt-in to forms, contact options, free downloads and guides, introductory offers and pop-ups, there are a myriad of devices you can employ to prompt action in your site visitors.

   The right approach will depend upon your company, industry and audience, of course, but it’s an essential component of an effective digital marketing strategy, and will help to make all your SEO efforts worthwhile.

    

   Combining digital marketing and SEO

   Taking an holistic view of SEO and digital marketing means you have all bases covered.

   A digital marketing expert with SEO skills will ensure all the technical aspects of SEO – URL structure, alt attributes, keyword focus etc – are not overlooked. But digital marketing skills can be used to create customer-driven sticky content which leads visitors through the site and into the sales funnel.

    

   Find out more about how we can help you generate more leads and sales from your website using an effective combination of SEO and digital marketing. Please get in touch for a free, informal discussion on 01606 610808.

    

    

2. Online PR: Are press release syndication services helpful?

   04/10/2016 11:32 Comments Off on Online PR: Are press release syndication services helpful?

   Positive online PR in titles read by your target audience can provide invaluable publicity and help your search engine optimisation efforts. But getting the attention of busy journalists isn’t easy.

   For many businesses, the starting point in their PR journey is a press release syndication service like PRWeb or PRNewswire.

   While syndicated press releases now have little or no impact on SEO they can help your SEO efforts in other ways while also raising your profile among influential journalists. This article aims to tell you more about press release syndication so you know how they can fit into your overall marketing strategy.

    

   What is a press release syndication service?

   When you sign up to a press release syndication service you pay to have your company announcements distributed to a wide variety of news sources.

   You can do this on a one-off basis or pay a regular fee to have news and views distributed more frequently. There are lots of variants between different providers but most allow your announcement to go to long list of titles in whatever area of interest/industry or geographical location you specify.

    

   How can this be helpful?

   If you’ve ever tried to get the attention of a mainstream media journalist, you’ll know just how hard it can be.

   Not only have you got to have a super-sized scoop for them to report, you’ve also got to have the tenacity to make contact until they will hear what you’ve got to say.

   Syndicated press releases are a good starting point in raising your company’s profile so that journalists begin to notice you have something worthwhile to say. It’s far easier to get a journalist’s attention if they’ve already heard of your company and know it’s going to be worth their while.

   Also, the process of producing a press release can get you thinking about what your target news media wants to report and what your company has to say. The stronger these two forces are aligned, the better your chances of getting coverage where it counts.

    

   What influence will press release syndication have on SEO?

   Times have changed and where once a syndicated press release might have given you SEO value, this is now rarely the case. In fact, if not handled correctly, press release syndication can actually have a negative effect on your rankings.

   Firstly, if the same press release is published on a large number of sites, Google will count this as duplicate content – a big no, no as far as SEO is concerned.

   Secondly, if your press release is distributed on a large number of low quality ‘spammy’ sites this will do nothing to enhance your backlink profile and could actually cause damage.

   Conversely, if your press release is published on quality websites, it’s likely that these will be marked as nofollow links which contain code to tell search engines to ignore them. So while the PR benefit in getting articles published on quality, targeted websites is invaluable, the SEO value simply isn’t there.

    

   How to make press release syndication work for you

   Use a press release syndication service as part of an overall PR strategy and see them it as a ‘door opener’ to journalists with whom you would like to build a relationship.

   From an SEO perspective, don’t expect SEO value from the actual syndication service. The only way a syndicated press release will contribute positively to your SEO is by prompting a journalist to write an article and providing a genuine backlink to your website. When this happens, the effects can be invaluable.

    

   What to do next

   Read our article on how to get SEO value from PR. Or get in touch to find out how we can help you generate worthwhile media coverage for your business.