SEO: The Pros, Cons & Reality

Emphasis on search engine marketing (SEM) is growing at an increasingly steady rate. This is a result of slowed growth in viewership in mediums such a network television, and more emphasis being on the internet and web searches. When we want to find something out, or are looking for a solution, we tend to refer directly to an online search engine, and this generates large opportunities for organisations that have the right stuff to fulfil our consumer needs. Today’s blog post is going to focus specifically on SEO – Search engine optimisation – by addressing some pros, cons and the reality, woo hoo!

So what is SEO? Let’s start by clarifying what the heck SEO actually is. Beal (2015) defines SEO as the following: Search engine optimization is a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP) — including Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.

In more simple terms: It’s what affects whether your website appears/ranks when keywords are used in a search engine. We, as digital marketers, can control SEO to an extent, and it is very impactful when done well. If you’re still confused, this YouTube video by Search Engine Land does a beautiful job at explaining it. 

Fun Fact: to ‘google’ (verb) was added to the Oxford English Dictionary on June 15, 2006. You google, I google, everybody is googling! The implication for firms? Get on the SEO bus and make your organisation as google-friendly as possible. If you’d like a list of the most popular search engines, take a look here; but I’m sure you’ve already guessed which one is first. If you haven’t, why not give it a google?! Heh…

The Reality: Your Competitors are Doing It. In 2014, CMO reported that 85% of surveyed retailers said that SEM (SEO and paid) was the most effective customer acquisition tactic. This industry belief suggests that most organisations have put an emphasis on improving and sustaining their SEO. U.S figures show that $9.02b was spent on mobile search improvement for firms, and 47% of respondents admitted to a budget increase regarding SEM within the next year (CMO, 2014). It’s also predicted that by 2018, mobile search spending will account for 85.9% of the US digital search advertising marketing. If you want to be truly competitive, SEO is not something you can ignore. Your firm may provide a better product or service than your competitors, but if you aren’t taking full advantage of SEO, you are neglecting a plethora of growth opportunities (and your competitors are having a fiesta because they’re benefitting from it).

The Pros

• 60% of clicks go to the first result (rankexecutive.com)
  That’s a big deal; that leaves 40% for the second and remaining results relating to the keyword. It goes without saying that if your firm is SEO focused, you are potentially investing in millions of sales. More than half of the market is going to put your organisation into their consideration set, and that could bring some VERY nice results! Not to mention, according to digitalmarketingphilippines.com, 70-80% of consumers will actually ignore paid listings in search engines due to organic results appearing more authentic – a big thumbs up for SEO!
• Your results are often permanent.
  Yes, you will be required to do some maintenance work to keep your high position, but quite often it is difficult for it to be taken away! If you pay an external organisation to program your website to cater to an engine’s algorithm, once you’ve stopped paying, your site won’t suddenly revert back.
• Results of SEO, in comparison to PPC, are often lower in cost
  Whilst there may be an initial investment, SEO is a long-term payoff. In essence, it is referred to as the ‘gift that keeps on giving’. Whereas PPC charges an amount per user interaction, once your website is in the top searches via an engine, you will be receiving glorious traffic without having to pay per visitor.

The Cons

• Each search engine has its own requirements. Sen (2005) clarifies that a web site optimised for one search engine is not necessarily optimised for the others. For example, if you aim to optimise your website by varying your codes to suit a particular search engine’s algorithm such as Yahoo’s, it may be totally ineffective for another engine like Bing.

• SEO can be a long process
  This is a little subjective, because personally I believe the process is well worth the payoff. However, it must be recognised that SEO can be costly and take some time. Whether you decide to pay an external organisation or attempt the process yourself, there are financial and time sacrifices required.

• 75% of search users will most likely never scroll past the first page
  That leaves 25% of the market for anything beyond those top searches – which can be disheartening for firms who are struggling to reach the first page (it’s no small task).
• Search engines may decide to update algorithms overnight
  This could mean that your investment in SEO is out the door quite rapidly, and unfortunately it can quite out of the firm’s control. It means that a significant amount of invested time can be swept away in a short amount of time; clearly a devastating event for a digital marketers.

Source: digitalmarketingphilippines.com

If you’re not confident which SEO tools you should looking at, Marcela De Vivo has compiled a list (2015 edition) of the best SEO tools she’s discovered over her fifteen years as a digital marketer – click here to have a look. Alternatively (and ironically), you could always ‘google’ organisations that offer SEO services.

So, tell me what you think: do you believe SEO is an integral part of any search engine marketing plan? Or should we just stick to paid listings to guarantee exposure to markets? Let me know your thoughts on the topic.

“Forget SUCCESS, Remember DIGITISATION”: Four i’s To Ensure Mobile Marketing Glory

The word ‘success’ doesn’t have any I’s in it… But it should. In fact, it should have four of them! Because four I’s are what you should be addressing when attempting to achieve a successful mobile advertising strategy for your organisation. So, because our English language has failed to consider digital marketing strategies as the basis for the way they’re spelled, let’s take another word:

Digitisation.

Remember digitisation – remember four I’s – achieve total mobile dominance. Perfecto!

Individualise, Involve, Integrate, Initiate.

But first…

Why should organisations care so much about mobile advertising?

Mobile marketing is a crucial component of any successful marketing plan; we’re progressing into a reality where not having access to a mobile device or being reachable at all times is against the norm. Compare this to fifteen years ago, and the picture is quite different. “The world of social media is evolving at warp speed; what is considered science fiction today might be reality tomorrow.” (Kaplan, 2012, 136) If you want to be a real competitor, it’s imperative that you address this mobile trend and utilise it to its full capacity, otherwise you risk lagging behind more innovative and fierce firms.

According to smartinsight.com, mobile media usage has been greater than desktop and other media since July 2015, with US figures showing mobile digital media usage at 51% in comparison to 42% on desktops. Despite the use of successful mobile marketing being an obvious necessity for competitive firms, Bosomworth (2015) claims that advertisers are still missing out on huge opportunities regarding mobile advertising; from total internet advertisement expenditures of $50b, only $13b is being spent on mobile-specific advertising.

Come on, guys! There is literally billions of dollars’ worth of opportunity being foregone (even more disturbing is the total expenditure on print advertising in comparison to consumers’ consumption time spent on print advertising… some firms clearly haven’t gotten the consumer-movement memo…).

Source: smartinsights

The four I’s presented in this post are designed by Andreas M. Kaplan (2012), and can be examined in greater depth in his paper “If you love something, let it go mobile: Mobile marketing the mobile social media 4×4”. This is simply an outlining and attempted contextualisation of them, because they are so absolutely relevant and necessary for successful mobile marketing implementation (or digitisation, as I like to put it).

1. Integrate your activities into your users’ life to avoid being a nuisance

The use of a mobile device in contrast to a desktop varies when it comes to the level of intimacy involved in user interactions. No, I don’t mean like when Raj falls in love with Siri in Big Bang Theory, but there is an increased sense of trust initiated between a consumer and organisation when the consumer consents for that organisation to contact them on their personal mobile device. If firms are too intrusive and bombard mobile users with obnoxious advertising, pressure to complete surveys, unnecessary alerts at 2am in the morning (the absolute worst), then they run the risk of betraying a very precious consumer-organisation relationship before it even has the chance to come to fruition. Instead, try targeting mobile users when content is relevant – for example, send a little message when they’re in close proximity to a sale, or if they’ve shown interest in a particular trending subject that relates to your product/service. The trick is to be an enhancement in the consumers life, not an intruder.

2. Individualise your activities to take account of user preferences

This is a given; mobile devices typically only have one particular user, unlike traditional desktops which may belong a collective group such as a family. Marketers should capitalise on this. Accessing attitudinal preferences and enabling location tracking on devices allows customised content to be delivered to certain mobile users, hence creating a tailored experience that will reach the appropriate target market and achieve better results! Kaplan (2012) highlights that campaigns employing generic, instead of customised, content often perform less well. Undifferentiated advertising may more economically efficient than tailored approaches, but its effect on mobile marketing is quite unimpressive.

3. Involve the user through engaging conversations

Consumers are demanding, they want something and they want it now. What’s so great about mobile marketing in this regard? We have the ability to optimise on real-time response activities that create highly engaging conversations with both current and potential consumers. Utilise this capability by connecting with consumers on mobile devices through interactive schemes. You’ve probably encountered this before in marketing scenarios where you can ‘check in’ or ‘scan’ particular locations in exchange for some form of reward. By employing these mobile advertising efforts, you are enhancing the consumer-organisation relationship and encouraging participation with your brand.

4. Initiate the creation of user-generated content

This is what Kaplan & Haenlein (2012) refer to as the Holy Grail of mobile social media usage. At the end of the day, despite what an organisation says about itself, nothing is more credible than our best friend (or potentially worst enemy): Word of Mouth. Ensure your mobile marketing activities give consumers the opportunity to share positive thoughts and feedback with other users. Similarly, also ensure that negative comments are heavily monitored and addressed ASAP. If you’re unsure of how to turn negative feedback into a golden opportunity, here’s an interesting article on 7 ways to handle a negative comment by Linda Doell (2015) (). Otherwise, if you’re after a more cynical (but amusing) read, try 5 Ways Brands Respond to Negative Social Media Comments.

So there you have it, “four eyes see better than two” as Kaplan (2012) informs us! If you’re aiming to achieve a solid and effective mobile marketing strategy, then ensure that you consider these four points.

Forget ‘success’, remember ‘digitise’!   

Alright, so that doesn’t have the motivating undertone I was hoping for, but you get my point. Have you heard of any other mobile marketing tips and tricks? How do you feel organisations are making the most of their mobile efforts?

Sources:

Bosomworth, D. (2015, July 22). Mobile marketing statistics. Retrieved August 23, 2015, from http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/

Kaplan, A. (2012) If you love something, let it go mobile: Mobile marketing and mobile social media 4×4. Business Horizons, 55, 129-139.

Kaplan, A., & Haenlein, M. (2012). The Britney Spears universe: Social media and viral marketing at its best. Business Horizons, 54(2), 1.