Originally published on eCommerceConsulting.com here on 01/13/2014
This is part 2 of the Tortoise (SEO) and the Hare (PPC) analogy. SEO
is definitely the Tortoise as steady forward progress and persistence
will take this channel to the front of a successful and mature search
marketing strategy. The key is to remember that, unlike the story,
these 2 facets of a successful search marketing strategy must be used
together and, for the best success, they need to inform each other.
Rule #1 is that SEO is a long haul channel. If you expect instant
results and gratification, you should just concentrate on paid search
and let SEO happen organically, as you will end up with better results
in the long-run than if you are making excessive changes. Now, if you
are in for the lucrative, long-term win that is proper SEO, just
remember these 3 things: Be Patient. Be Foundational. Don’t Panic.
Start with a consistent strategy and objective. Remember that SEO
isn’t about being #1 on a specific keyword, but having a good position
on many strategic keywords and maintaining a hold on those positions
once you have them. The real keywords and phrases that matter depend on
what you’re selling, how diverse a market you serve and, at the end of
the day, the keywords that convert the best for your company. If you
sell thousands of diverse products, paying lone attention to 10 keywords
is probably not the best thing to do. Even if you only sell a hundred
products, all within the same use sphere, you still need to develop a
coverage array of keywords that truly matter to your brand, thus
creating the goal terms based on the best converting keywords from your
highly organized paid search program. This ensures you are pursuing
keywords that result in sales, not just traffic.
As your website grows and evolves, this will inevitably result in
projects, many of which will be specifically focused on the following
areas: SEO improvements, usability, conversion increases and data
gathering. When looking specifically at any project, stop and ask the
question, what is the real goal? Often I find that when asking others
this question, the answer almost always has to do with performance, and
usually focuses on improving conversion rates. Honestly, all four of
the areas I mentioned above should be a considered part of every website
change. Thinking this way will keep you focused on the foundation of
the website vs. improvements for the sake of change. Always be
foundational in your projects and remember that almost any time you make
technology changes to your website, you will be affecting SEO one way
or the other. Find that one person in your organization with a strong
foothold in technology and SEO and get that person engaged early in
projects.
So, now you are thinking about the diversity of keywords that mean
something to your brand AND keeping your website’s foundation strong and
focused. Great. Now remember this: If your SEO measurements show
fast growth, be skeptical and dig in. SEO, as mentioned before, should
be a long haul channel; fast gains typically mean something could become
a problem down the road (just ask anyone who bought lots of links a
year or so ago). Sure, sometimes the progress will be faster or result
in better than expected progress, but always be skeptical. Focus on
‘white hat’ SEO practices like clean and simple URLs, quality
informative copy, thoughtful internal cross-linking and, in general,
usability. In the long run, this will put you at the top of results for
searches that matter and drive that beautiful thing called conversion
rates. After all, is it better to have a 1000 visits who convert at 1%
in a week or a 1000 visits converting at 5% over 2 weeks because you
rank on the right keywords, not just the “big” keywords? Keep the
foundation in focus and keep it strong for the right kind of results.
So, what else besides the right state of mind do you need in order to
build a top class SEO program? What remains to be done is to find the
right people, build the right processes, foster the right relationships
and use your data. The right people can be found for a price and
sometimes that is an in-house person, other times a consultant or even
an agency. The key is that once you find them, support them with
streamlined processes and make sure that ALL the right people are
working together. If your SEO team is lacking an IT counterpart, then
projects will not go smoothly. Foster these relationships and promote
cross-departmental interactions. Not only will this make sure the
correct people are planning, vetting and designing projects, but it will
also mean that you have the best people to design the processes that
will be necessary for the long haul…remember, SEO is The Tortoise.
The final piece is data. SEO is about keywords and which keywords
are most valuable from the perspective of multiple KPIs, including
traffic available and conversion rates. Now, if you have a mature paid
search program, you don’t have to look far for this data, which you
already have in spades. Strategically use your paid search data to
inform your SEO decisions, and you will end up with a win/win
situation. Paid search will become more efficient due to better user
interaction, and SEO rank will grow on keywords that really matter.
This will lead to a proper overall SEM strategy.
In short, always remember that slow and steady SEO combined with a
nimble, flexible and robust paid search program will truly create a
serious SEM strategy. Build the right culture around the total search
picture and it will be unstoppable and will not put you at risk of
penalty from the likes of Google. Let the Hare carry the Tortoise, but
finish with the Hare and the Tortoise hand-in-hand and leaving your
competition gawking.
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