Over the last 15+ years we’ve been involved in SEO, we’ve seen all manner of definitions, ideas and discussions around what SEO is and how to do it well. There is some really good stuff out there, and some not so good. So, we wanted to share what our learnings have produced and how they have been shaped over time.
The Captain Obvious:
Ultimately, SEO is measured in 2 ways (one more important than the other).
- How much revenue and how many leads did we get? (clearly the most important)
- How many visitors did we get through to our website (only an indicator, but certainly trumped by no.1)
And this journey is further defined by how well we are ranking in organic search results for the main terms that our target audience is searching for. We want to rank better and better for more and more keywords => pretty simple right?
The Often-Forgotten Premise:
Google exists to:
"Find, share, categorise, organise & prioritise the world’s information that is most relevant to the person searching."
Thus… to rank better than your competitors, google needs to see you as:
- More important than your competitors
- A better authority in your industry
- More educational and informative
- Run a better business
So, you then have 2 choices:
1. Try and manipulate google into seeing you as more important than your competitors
Unfortunately, this seems to be the tact taken by a lot of people and what SEO agencies tend to focus on. This would mean:
- Backlinking (getting links from as many sources as possible)
- Create content for the sake of doing content
- Outsource everything to an SEO Agency in the hope they can manipulate google into seeing you as the leader in your field
2. We make you the expert, authoritative, leading business in your field
This is the option we suggest. It would mean:
- Adding tremendous value to your industry
- Building valuable marketing assets
- Adding to the body of knowledge
- Engages with your target audience well
And google will follow…
It’s that age old saying, build it and they will come. Google will reward you accordingly and reward you for a long time to come.
Note: in our SEO ebook, option 1 above is short sighted and won’t produce the long-term results and valuable digital asset you want / need to build over time, so we don’t recommend it.
Option 2 all the way!
So, the question then becomes:
How do we make you and your business into the expert, authoritative, leader in your industry?
Certainly, it’s no easy task, but nothing worthwhile is easy. We’ve boiled the answer to the above question down to the following…
The 4 Golden Rules to SEO success
1.
Build, Manage and Grow A SUPER IMPRESSIVE WEBSITE
You need to have a great website that’s technically sound, is built for your target audience, that has great content, has amazing assets and provides an exceptional user journey and experience. This is by far the most important task. Build this and you’re well on your way to amazing results with SEO.
2.
Create AWESOME CONTENT
The second component is about creating great content that engages your target audience. Ultimately, this is how you will become the authoritative expert in the space. And it’s a great asset – we are aiming to build the ‘encyclopedia’ of your industry. It’s this content that will drive the long-term results (and feeds into golden rule 3).
3.
BE SEEN MORE ONLINE
Your web presence, or as the old school like to call it ‘backlinking’. How do we get you found more and more in the right places online? And by right places, it’s the right places where your target audience are, not some weird website that isn’t related to your business. Questions to ask:
- What are the industry websites?
- What are the sponsorships locally you need to do?
- What are all the maps and Google My Business pages, etc?
- What are the main business directories you need to be on?
- What awards can you win?
- What social channels should you be active on and sharing awesome content through?
4.
BE BETTER THAN YOUR COMPETITORS
You need to do all the above and do it better than your competitors. Whilst focusing on competitors won’t drive your digital marketing strategy, you need to overlay some competitor analysis to ensure you are doing it better than them. This means:
- A better website and user experience/journey
- Better content that engages better
- Better web presence
- Better social reach and engagement
- More awards!
