SEO Blog

Some people go into business online fully expecting to have to build slowly and develop their reputation, just as with offline industries. However, others expect instant results. They hear about the success stories of others, building their reputation on social media and getting straight to the top of Google with SEO. Understandably, they want a piece of the action.

The Internet isn’t a lawless society based on principles that are easily manipulated. It is largely governed by search engines and their algorithms. Social media is an exception; however, there are still standards that people expect to be observed. You can’t simply turn up and achieve success, you have to earn it.
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So you’ve invested time into creating a good blog post or information page, what now? What can you do to get that content seen and ensure that you get some return on that original time you invested in it?

Content, as we all know by now, is integral to SEO. It is what the search engines look for when trying to decode what a website is all about. They use the words on any page to find context and provide a comparative metric for indexing sites that are targeting the same phrases.

Content is context, but it is also there for your human visitors. It can inform, educate and persuade, you just need to find the best platform for it. A blog is a great way of furthering the spread of your website. It can build internal link structures and encourage external links. Posts can earn you individual rankings for phrases you’ve never previously targeted, earning you more visitors and increased search visibility.
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Whilst I obviously spend a great deal of my time telling clients about the benefits of SEO, it isn’t your only option when it comes to marketing your website online. SEO is still hugely important, but it certainly isn’t the only thing you need to address when looking to achieve online success.

Firstly, you need a product. If your business model is inept, your prices are higher than all competitors or you just don’t have an audience, nothing will help you. Regardless of your search engine ranking, you can’t sell chocolate teapots.

Your website also has to be user friendly. If you have a dated looking website that is difficult to navigate around it will be difficult to get conversions.
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If you have ever been involved with an all-encompassing online marketing campaign you will be all too aware of how many different branches there are. It also won’t have escaped your attention how much it can cost too.

Pay per Click advertising, or paid search, is a great way for picking up further clicks for your targeted keywords. However it does come with its own financial implications. Whilst effective, you do have to pay a set charge for each click that your advert receives. So if you aren’t getting any financial return for your paid adverts, you end up leaking money from your budget.

Social media takes a lot of time to develop and often doesn’t have much in the way of tangible results. As it is a format based on participation and interaction, the basis of your work will be on creating relationships. The divide between being too promotional and not advertising enough is remarkably slender. You have to get the balance right.
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To ensure that you maintain a high level of online exposure, you need to sustain visibility. For some this might include extensive (and expensive) online marketing and advertising campaigns, for others though, the options are a little more restricted.

When you don’t have the budget to shell out for expensive Pay per Click campaigns or the time to dedicate to social media promotion, you need SEO. Don’t get me wrong, search engine optimisation isn’t free [see: How to Budget for SEO]. There is a huge time and/or financial investment required to achieve the best results. However, you tend to enjoy far more long-term benefits.
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When it comes to marketing a website there are plenty of options available to you. Some are more obvious than others whilst the effectiveness of each also varies. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you allocate plenty of your budget and time to it; website marketing isn’t quick and it can cost a fair amount of money to do properly.

Marketing a website is all about trying to increase visibility where it really counts. Whilst you want traffic filtering through your site, it is important that this is targeted. So whatever direction you want to push, always bear this in mind.

Effective online marketing requires a determination and focus like no other form. It is a continuous process that allows for immediate changes that can encourage quick results. If something is failing, you have to fix it. If something is working, you have to optimise it. You can’t just make a poster campaign, sit back and hope for customers to find you. The Internet is about engagement and bettering the efforts of your opponents.
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As we’ve previously established, a blog is a great way of attracting attention for yourself, your business and your website. It is a fantastic marketing vehicle, providing useful and engaging information to the wider public, whilst also providing a great opportunity to build strength for your site and attract traffic.

If you have a business website and have not yet implemented a blog, you are missing out on a major trick. Take this blog as an example, it is here to provide visitors to my site with some helpful tips, a bit of an insight into how SEO works and hopefully encourage them to explore the rest of the site. There’s nothing underhanded about it, almost every blog in the world is written to generate traffic and to get people looking elsewhere - whether that’s products, services, other blogs or even paid adverts - just as long as you do actually provide something.
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There are so many methods for increasing your online visibility these days, it can become quite a challenge to effectively manage your resources. Take social media as a good example. Here is a format that allows group interaction, the free distribution of links and a great way to build up a targeted following for your site; perfect!

The trouble is social media on its own is unlikely to get you the continuous levels of traffic that search engines can conjure. SEO is all about improving the quality of your site, not just for the search engines’ benefit but for your visitors too. Excellent content will provide both with the information they need to trust you, whilst good linking practices will always ensure a healthy amount of traffic that can easily navigate throughout your site.
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They might appear to be polar opposites; however, both the creation of site content and marketing take time and both are hugely important in attracting visitors. However, what marketing – whether through professional PR or social media – can’t do is maintain their attention.

It’s the eternal problem of the Internet. Lots of sites do it, but in order to market something effectively, you need something to market in the first place. Content, therefore, is still the most important part of the creation and development of a website. By creating original copy and an eye-catching design, your site already has the characteristics to ensure that visitors will have something engaging to meet them when they arrive on your pages.

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