SEO FAQ
Let's face it, Search Engine Optimisation is fast becoming known as the "dodgy plumber" sector of Internet Marketing.
The following are a selection of the questions we are asked most frequently about SEO.
What does SEO mean?
SEO, otherwise known as Search Engine Optimisation, is often inaccurately described, in reality it relates to a specialist set of skills required to get a website high up the search engine rankings in the natural listings, ie, in the results on the left hand side, which is where 77% of people prefer to click (on Google).
SEO has something of a reputation as a "black-art" that uses either secret or dubious techniques to achieve top positions. Whilst this kind of service is still prevalent in the UK, in reality professional SEO suppliers use a mix of tried and tested techniques to ensure that a clients website firstly deserves to be at the top of the engines, and secondly, gets found, hence achieving increased prominence.
In this context SEO is a predictable science, not a black-art and you may be surprised to hear that the UK is actually a world-leader in this market, followed by Australia, both countries being well ahead of USA practitioners. For this reason, SEO Brokers first supplier partners are from the UK and Australia, although they can all optimise sites from any country.
What does a SEO strategy entail?
A well thought out strategy is complex and consists of many SEO elements.
Firstly, as you would expect, it requires that a website is well built, populated with the correct words that are presented in a search engine friendly format. However these "on-site" elements account for only around 20% of the possible points awarded by the search engine algorithms. What this means in practice is that whilst on-site SEO activities may be sufficient to get a website in a non-competitive industry to the top of the engines, in competitive sectors more complex and time consuming off-site strategies may be required.
The off-site strategy is so powerful (it accounts for the other 80% of a site's algorithm score) that it can also be used tactically to achieve top positions by focusing off-site in scenarios where on-site or technical changes are more difficult - for example, in large companies using a Head Office procured / managed Content Management System across many divisions.
In an off-site strategy the focus is less about technology and more about how your site is perceived and referenced by other trusted relevant sites and information sources such as directories, syndicated news feeds and specialist independent sites.
Why work with a SEO supplier?
You can apply a SEO strategy and the individual elements yourself, but it can be very very time consuming. There are also two important reasons why it is worth bringing in specialist help. Firstly, do the wrong things and your site will be penalised (losing points which equates to lower positions in results), or pages will be dropped from the index (losing you potential top scoring key phrases). And if you keep doing the wrong things, even unintentionally, your site can be blacklisted and removed from the engines forever.
Secondly, its all about experience and the right contacts and resources online. You could spend six months on activities yourself which could be bettered by a skilled optimiser in less than six hours.
What are the costs per lead with SEO?
SEO is a long-term investment requiring set-up funding, it does not create any need for funding on a lead by lead basis or per sale as the resultant traffic you receive is free, unlike PayPerClick activities where you are charged for every lead you receive.
In general terms a SEO strategy will comprise one-time research costs, a possible set-up / implementation fee, if on-site activity is required, and ongoing monthly fees to manage off-site strategy to keep your site high up in the leading engines.
Once a site achieves good results and maintains them, it can attain trusted status, which makes it even harder for competitors to knock you off top spot, almost however much budget they subsequently spend. You can get an idea of the costs of a SEO campaign by using our online SEO price checker which looks at the level of competition for a given keyphrase and balances this with demand for PPC adverts etc. Click through rates (CTR) and response rates, often called Cost Per Acquisition in the UK or Cost Per Action in the USA (CPA) do of course vary by industry but if you assume a 2.5% rate as an average you can assess an approximate cost per lead for a given key phrase.
How does the ROI of SEO compare?
Plainly every market and competitive scenario varies. However, in general terms a SEO strategy should be around 300% more cost effective than a comparable PPC campaign purely because the left hand side of search engines attract more than 3 times the market share.
In reality, performance can be better still as budget disparity across the two areas is in a ratio of 2200%. This is why the smart money is migrating towards SEO making it the fastest growing area of online marketing. You can get a better idea of the market statistics by downloading SEO white papers here.
Should you think local or global?
This is the kind of decision that can be made at the analysis review stage with SEO Brokers and in simple terms is based around two key decisions,
- How much budget do you want to invest? Checkout SEO pricing by keyword here.
- And secondly, how fast do you want to grow your business?
Again, every business differs but in general terms the Internet can be leveraged through SEO to deliver traffic volume in bands which escalate exponentially. So what do you want, one sales lead a day, a hundred, or ten thousand? Plainly the costs to achieve the latter will be the most expensive, but not in direct proportion to the lower volumes. To put this another way, the bigger you think with SEO, the bigger the margin of disparity with PPC.
What are the downsides of SEO?
The main drawback to SEO is time to market, especially for new websites, but through SEO Brokers we can develop unique strategies to deliver results more quickly.
Another often quoted drawback is that budgets are more difficult to track and account for via SEO than, say, a PPC or banner advert strategy. Whilst this is true in part, working with SEO Brokers helps narrow the gap through a combination of proven skills and because some of our suppliers will work partially on a performance related basis. So combined with the ROI benefits of SEO, the benefits outweigh any downsides.
Finally, strategies such PPC provide the benefit of instant traffic. This can be tactically useful to fill gaps in sales pipelines at short notice - and hence many SEO Brokers consultants can also deliver well-managed PPC activity as part of a fully managed solution for your business.
Can we develop long-tail strategies with SEO?
Yes - a good supplier can develop long-tail strategies to target the hundreds of niche phrases used by small numbers of prospective customers even more cost effectively via SEO than they can through PPC.
But we sell B2B services so surely SEO is irrelevant?
Far from it - more and more lead generation is now happening via online channels so getting on to the first 3 pages of engines like Google (which most people click on) is more vital than ever.
Most online originated business leads are not now closed online (only a third are) so the Internet really is moving into being a lead generating environment rather than a online shopping platform - and SEO can turn these trends into more business for you, especially as only 15% of businesses have cottoned-on so far (Click here to read more in our SEO white papers).
Can SEO help me stay ahead of my competitors?
Yes - by getting to the top of the engines and staying there consistently, your site can be awarded trusted status - this means you can earn an opportunity to stay ahead of your competitors in top spot, almost whatever resources your competitors throw at beating you.
Can I delay my SEO strategy?
It's not a good idea to prevaricate online. The search engines give prominence to history through their algorithms so it is vital to make as early a start as possible.
Which engines should we focus on?
SEO Brokers can help you develop strategies for any engine (as there are benefits to be leveraged by creating distinct strategies for different engines in different countries) however for most businesses it makes sense to focus on Google as they account for 50% origination of all UK commerce related enquiries. You can read more about our view of the REAL online market statistics in our SEO white papers.