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Last Updated on 17/07/2024 by Caroline McAuley

SEO TIPS!

Why not engaging in effective SEO could be a recipe for a marketing shipwreck.

 

Creating a beautiful website or online asset and setting it out into market without effective SEO on all levels is the equivalent of building a beautiful ship without a rudder or sails to help it steer course. When the winds and currents change, without effective marketing your beautiful investment is already on a course to hit the rocks and cause major brand fall out. Worse still, convincing yourself that creating another website and expecting the same will only get the same result.

Without continuing on with a solid online marketing strategy to compliment and back up your real-world presence (your product and team/ work force) is going to create even more havoc. Fingers will point and sooner or later marketing will become a ‘tried it, doesn’t work’ file on the pile, we hear it far too often.

 

Positively search engine optimisation ought to be treat as a stand-alone component in your marketing machine. Let’s call it a major organ of your marketing and a staple and its good for you. Anything that improves your business and brand for you is good for your business.  The understanding of SEO is varied and perhaps not truly represented in our industry, so we understand that it can be seen as a minor asset. Recently software giants SEMRUSH reported 49% of SEO issues were tech related, the remainder of the pie divided between content and other SEO variables such as imagery, H1 and meta descriptions.

When you consider SEO, you need to consider literally SEARCH, be found easy for the product and brand you are and you will need experts to help you reach this goal . With tech a major factor now in an ever changing algorithm it doesn’t just relate to keyword strategy and it will involve deploying professionals that can cater to tech issues and understand and be proactive with your strategy. It  also involves working with a team that can create and actively execute it above your competition. Being in the game and playing to your strengths is a positive, work with a team that are hungry the same.

 

Today we finished a call with a supplier who was remarking that they were so busy they did not need to market. This is my ideal competitor type for our clients. One that has their current book full and isn’t going to invest in marketing, they are doing well so they can cut costs or even better, they don’t believe in digital marketing.  This is the type of scenario where we can position above this type of company for a client to be found above them.

When they say they are not taking business (if they do get a call) then our client is there to pick it up. Gradually word gets out the company is full and the hungry and well positioned client scoops up then keeps the competition down. Sadly, most people think digital marketing is related to spending on elements such as ppc, Facebook ads etc. The reality is if your site is not up to compliant standards and actively pointed towards your keyword strategy then it will not be found anyway and pushing hard earned advertising money is well, money after bad.

 

Bottom line? Work with experts (yes, like ourselves) who have a few key areas that will make sense in an aggressive environment which is exactly what the online world is. Remember that analogy in the playground about talking to the girl or boy you like? If you don’t’ then someone else likely will. It’s the same online, if you are not marketing someone else, likely your competitor is. Look for companies (yes, like us – we are a marketing company so no shame here) that proudly state their ethos up front as it will reveal a lot about how they intend to handle your business.

 

  1. Non-compete – Work with marketing companies that understand they need to be loyal and work against competitors in your industry sector.
  2. Let the marketing company guide you in a multi-pronged approach at different stages (no point spending ppc till your site is ranking nicely)
  3. A good company will take no short cuts, you can’t literally go from zero to hero or number one. Avoid companies that claim to do so and be prepared to be involved in marketing long term, it’s what wins the race.

 

Owen Waters is the Senior Consultant and Owner at Icarus Communications Ltd. A marketing agency in Northern Ireland, Icarus work with clients on a non-compete basis on active campaigns such as SEO, PPC, Website design, content marketing and graphic design.

 

Drop us a line at projects@icaruscommunications.co.uk