~~~Search Engine Optimization~~~
The role of the SEO specialist has certainly changed in the six years
since I've been doing it. Let's ponder the following questions for a
moment:
Is it the search engine optimization company's job to increase their
client's sales? What about increasing their traffic? Is that their
job? Or is it simply to get the client's site ranking high for certain
keyphrases?
Most would agree that the main function of an SEO is the latter. In
fact, many SEO companies will tell you right up front that their job
is to get your site ranked high, nothing more, nothing less. These
companies understand the various intricacies of the engines and they
do what they say they will do. But what happens when those high
rankings don't translate into additional traffic? Or perhaps the site
gets additional traffic, but it doesn't convert it into sales, or
sign-ups, or whatever the site is promoting; who's to blame?
The answer lies in the original expectations that the client and the
SEO company had with one another. Very often, a client is under the
assumption that high rankings will automatically translate into more
sales, even though the SEO never said that it would. When this doesn't
happen, they blame the SEO. However, there are a number of reasons
why sales may not increase. Some of these reasons may be the fault of
the SEO company, some may be the fault of the client, and some may be
misunderstandings and miscommunication by both parties. At times it
could simply be circumstances beyond anyone's control.
An example of where it may be the SEO's "fault" would be when the
wrong keyphrases are targeted. As we've discussed many times before,
getting high rankings for keyphrases that nobody is searching upon,
probably won't do you any good. In the old days, pre-WordTracker,
even that couldn't be considered the SEO's fault. But with the
availability of many keyword-tracking tools, there is no excuse for
faulty keyphrase targeting. Be sure to agree beforehand, on exactly
what keyphrases you'll be shooting for, to avoid misunderstandings
down the line.
An example where the client may be at fault is when they don't listen
to the expert advice of their SEO, and decide to do things their own
way. This can mean targeting keyphrases which they want to rank high
with, even though they may not actually apply to their business, or
targeting keyphrases that are simply too broad or too competitive. It
is the SEO's job to explain these things to the client, but it's up to
the client to follow that advice. Another example of where the client
might be at fault would be with the site design. A good SEO should be
able to give recommendations for keeping a site fast loading and easy
to navigate, however, their main concern is that the spiders can
easily read it. It's up to the client to make their site people
friendly.
Thus said, many SEO companies are now starting to learn more about
marketing, writing for sales, and conversion rates (converting your
visitors into buyers). Since all of that fits in nicely with search
engine optimization, it creates a great package for the client.
However, not all SEO companies are doing this yet, so it's important
to know exactly what you'll be getting from your SEO company, right
from the start.
If you're a client, ask if your potential SEO company has experience
writing marketing copy (if they will actually be writing your copy),
and ask if they expect to deliver more traffic and sales along with
the high rankings. If that's not one of their areas of expertise, you
may want to also hire a marketing consultant who does have this
knowledge. In most cases, your search engine optimization company
will deliver more highly targeted traffic to your site. However, once
they get there, it's the Web site and your company that have to keep
them there and convert them to buyers. Make sure all of this is
discussed at the beginning, and any objectives are put forth in
writing to avoid misunderstandings somewhere down the line.
Be patient with your SEO firm. Remember that this is a long-term
process and you really need about six months to truly get a good
measure of success. After that time, if you're still not happy with
the results, then reassess the goals, the keyphrases, and the site,
and decide where to go from there.
As it just so happens, Heather's next article will give great advice on not only getting visitors, but how to keep them and convert them!
Jill
~~~Send Us Your Questions~~~
If you have questions about online copywriting or search engine optimization (or both!), just zip us an email to questions@rankwrite.com. We've had some folks ask if their question
was "too basic" to be printed - and you don't have to worry about
that! There are no "stupid" search engine optimization or copywriting
questions, so ask away!
