Search Engine Optimisation

SEO Is Not Dead

You may read online blogs and think that “content marketing is king” and “SEO is dead”.  It’s not and many businesses need help with it.

I see many new websites being developed that look great, but they only look great to a human, and despite what we think, Google isn’t human yet.

You can have two identical screenshots of a website and you’d never be able to tell which one worked best for search engines unless you had the SEO and tech knowledge to know.  Content Marketing is great, and should be a part of your online marketing strategy, but only after you’ve made sure the essential on site elements are in place, otherwise…again you’re losing business.

The vast majority of businesses don’t take SEO into account when developing their website.

Many agencies add SEO as an optional extra and clients often sign off website as though it’s a brochure.  It’s not your fault as you shouldn’t have to know all the geeky stuff, but it matters, and more often than not it’s not done right.  That’s right, that $10k you’ve spent on your website may not perform as well as it should.

SEO is not optional, and it has to be done right.

You may not be aware but developing a website is very complicated.  I’ve been there, and I used to work on large corporate web based projects.

SEO is a very different skillset from website development, and often your web agency will let you down on this front, through no fault of their own.  They are too busy working on cross browser issues, responsiveness, databases and everything else.

You’ll sign off on a great looking website, walk away happy, then wonder in a few months why it’s not appearing on search results.

The worst thing is, you’ll wonder why you allocated all your budget to your website as it’s just not delivering what you expected.

Search Engine Optimisation Is Measurable

SEO is more than just checking to see if your site comes up in your search results.  Do you realise that Google may have customised your search results for you, and you may not be seeing what your customers are.  You always click on your own website so Google may view that as more relevant and display it higher up the search terms.

With the right tools I can measure where you lie on different search results (e.g. AU and NZ) and I can track the differences over time to see where your content efforts are being rewarded.

Remember the first image above?  Have another look below.

These green arrows are all rises in search engine positions.  If there’s not a number next to green arrows it shows that the results never used to be on the first ten pages.  It also shows what happened to this clients competitors over the same time period – they remained stagnant, now my client is slammed with work, dominating all the key search terms (the specific terms have been blurred for privacy reasons).

 

 

If You’re #1 On Google Customer May Not Find You

That seems weird, but bear with me.

Just because you are #1 when you Google your company, that doesn’t mean people will find you.

Imagine you are the owner of Jo’s Salon, a hairdresser in a small mid western tourism town in the USA, and you come up first when people Google your name.

Only your repeat customers may know your business name – it’s the other potential customers you want to grow your business.

Do you still come up first when people search for Men’s Hairdressers?  If so great, but are you doing everything to ensure you will still be there in 6 months time when Google changes their algorithms?

SEO Doesn’t Mean A New Website

Websites are expensive.  You may be told you need a new site to rank better.  Whilst that’s often the case, it isn’t always that way.  I’ve also seen companies build new websites and spend thousands of dollars on them, they may perform better, but they are still missing many core SEO components.

SEO is affected not only by content but by the technical nature of your website and your content management system.  Often this can be tweaked without doing a complete site overhaul.

SEO Is About Branding, Not Just Geeky Stuff

So you appear on the first page of Google, or close to there.  Awesome stuff, but how is your brand represented online?

In the example search below for a helicopter tour in Lake Taho, half the organic results were taken up by third party booking sites or business directories.  Out of the organic search results which one would you click on?

Will people click on your search result?

Do you have an appealing call to action?

These vital elements are often overlooked and combine the power of your website, third party listings and social proof, the new “word of mouth”.

Both these listings could be improved.  Your web developer may tell you page descriptions won’t help SEO, but it helps your click through.

Google bolds search results an keywords.  How do you compare?

SEO Isn’t A One Off Task

Your online presence is like a big jigsaw puzzle.  It’s probably one you can never “finish” but it’s about tackling tasks in the order that makes the most difference to your business, not some generic template.

Unfortunately Google changes things constantly.  Remember Google Places, or is it Google+ Local…or is it Google My Business?  They’re all effectively the same thing to a business owner.  Google changes their algorithms constantly, and your competitors may be improving things without you knowing.

Just because you are Google #1 today, doesn’t mean you will be tomorrow.

It’s perfectly feasible for a brand new competitor to trump you online with a good digital strategy.  I’ve seen it happen.

Can I Review Your Search Rankings and Online Presence?

Let me review your search rankings today to bring you more business tomorrow.

Let’s make your online presence work for you.

I can help by reviewing your online presence, making actionable recommendations (or doing them myself) and running reports like below :

• SEO Reports Against Your Competitors
• Website Audits
• Looking At Your Brand Online

I can also ensure you have the right tools in place and the correct accounts linked together to take advantage of your website going forward.

Call me on +64 (0)217 43107 to boost your search rankings today or email me at darren (at) fullychargedmedia.com.