Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is not dead. Nor is it ‘bulls**t’ – in spite of what the top 2 suggested responses in Google might imply. Quite simply, SEO is still the most powerful tool in your online marketing arsenal, partly because of its great Return on Investment (ROI) but also because it’s one of the most effective ways to reach your customers.

As we increasingly switch to looking and doing business online, it’s vital to remember that your customers are just like you. They Google what they need to know and they don’t often bother look past the first page of search results, in fact, most of them never look any further than the top 3! So if you’re not doing SEO and your competition is, are you really content to slog it out while they grab the lion’s share of the available business?

Search Engine Optimization, when done well allows consumers who are actively looking for the product or service that you offer to come straight to your (virtual) door. Geo-tagged SEO will even allow local consumers to come to your physical door, if you have one and it’s a short step from enquiry to sale. The point is, mobile searches can quickly turn into real sales, so it’s vital to make sure you’re getting as much of the online action as you can.

SEO works. It’s changed a lot and it’s still changing; it always will. Google alone makes between 500 – 600 changes per year to its search algorithms, constantly seeking to better understand and predict the way real people use online search facilities. And with online lead generation being one of the fastest growing methods of gaining new business, companies who are serious about growth know that SEO is one of the most important investments they’ll make with their online marketing budget.

So What IS Search Engine Optimization?

I’m glad you asked. There’s a lot of confusion around it and when everyone talks like they know what it means (even if they don’t) it’s easy for misinformation to spread but difficult to ask – no one wants to look silly!

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a term that covers a lot of things but what it boils down to is this:

SEO is what we call planned activity that aims to improve a websites online ranking in search engines.  

Yep, it’s that simple… But not really, because that sentence covers activities like web design and development, social media marketing, blogging, AdWords, branding, keyword research, competitor research and more.

Now, you’re great at what you do – you wouldn’t be in business if you weren’t, but that’s a lot of things to try to do in addition to all the stuff you already have to get done in the normal course of your day.

Chances are, if your car’s not running right you don’t try to fix it yourself, you take it to an expert because car engines are complicated so it just makes sense. Well SEO is pretty similar – if you’re not getting the results you want or need, if your online marketing experience isn’t running so well, why not get an expert to fix it?

Let us optimise your website for search engines and humans, have us research which keywords are being used in searches that target your industry and then tell you which ones represent the best value. We can help you grow your business through organic online searches in addition to highly specific online advertising campaigns. We can help you create valuable, engaging content that will get people talking about and visiting your site, all of which helps move you up the page rankings and helps you get more of that online business.

So if you’re looking for nonstop, organic traffic and value for money, what you’re looking for is SEO.