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SEO FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

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SEO - A Brief Introduction

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM)? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and SEM for Search Engine Marketing. Both tend to have ambiguity surrounding their meaning, where in fact it is fairly simple. The ambiguity is created by subjective interpretation and by a common misunderstanding of the aims of both. It is also extenuated by practitioners that exacerbate lack of common understanding of what SEO is all about. This also leads to an ambiguity of what is included in SEO and where the boundaries lie.

The Wikipedia defines SEO as follows: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via 'natural' ('organic' or 'algorithmic') search results.

So ‘volume’ refers simply to the number of visitors (or traffic) to a site. This volume is itself directly related to the frequency and position in the search engine’s natural listings. This is why the goal is the number one (or top) spot in the listings (see also the Google Golden Triangle discussion for an explanation of why the number one spot is so sought after).

Volume is all very well but the art of good SEO is to attract ‘quality’ or to some extent ‘qualified’ traffic. The ability to measure the quality of traffic is in turn relative to the quality of the target web site (measured by ‘click thru’s). The quality is measured differently by every search engine (and involves numerous measurement criteria, discussed later) but ultimately is based on that search engine’s measurement of the content relevance of your site to the search string (known as the keyword or keyword phrase) which in turn provides your ranking.

Therefore:

  • Web site traffic volume is relative to search engine ranking,
  • Search engine ranking is relative to quality traffic
  • Quality traffic is relative to web site quality,
  • Web site quality is relative to content relevance
  • therefore quality traffic volume is relative to web site content relevance.

This is not a scientific equation but the point is made that all elements of the equation are related and part of a cause and effect chain. If you cheat on one (such as a poor experience = bad site quality or poor technical implementation = bad search engine visibility) the others will suffer.

It also shows how the business objectives (such as sales or brochure downloads) are directly related to site design and content. Think of it as a series of dots that needs joing together and if you miss any of the dots then your search engine rankings will suffer.

DIY SEO

There is enough information on the internet to teach yourself to DIY SEO. Indeed this page is designed to help in that process. However, if you are truly running a business then it is unlikely you will have the time or SEO experience to get the job done to the best of its potential. SEO is never finished. It is like tuning a racing car. You might win the Grand Prix but you can bet on the losers re-tuning for the next race. That said, the more you understand the more chance you have of getting someone else to do the job properly so it always worth investing some time on the basics.

Who should do the Search Engine Optimisation and Marketing (SEO & SEM)?

Who should do the Search Engine Marketing (SEM)? Not everyone can afford the ideal, which is your own in-house SEO and SEM specialist. Even if you can, depending on the size of the organisation one may not be enough. It does not follow that the webmaster that created and maintains your web site can do the SEO and or the wider SEM, so you need to ascertain whether the Webmaster in your world is the correct person (see below) for the job.

There are many individuals and companies ‘specialising’ in SEO, some specifying Business SEO and some trying to catch a niche such as eCommerce SEO or Travel SEO. The fact is the majority are very willing to take your money and run. Instinct will usually help in these circumstances but quite simply you need a multi faceted all-rounder or a specialist team. This requires educated 'business savvy' skills with extensive internet and marketing experience. Knowledge and experience should cover marketing, internet and web site building and technologies, good copywriting skills (including a good command of the language) and an excellent ability to crystalise what your business is about. Wrap all this up in a bucket of SEO specialist expertise and great listening and research skills and you have your man (or woman).

There are certain standard SEO techniques (many detailed in this site's SEO section) and if your supplier has a good grasp of these (such as page structure requirements and link prominence) AND a good understanding of your business (such as a marketing aware person that is responsible for the site copy) and is able to translate their combined SEO, internet marketing, web development and business knowledge into an effective SEO campaign strategy, then that is your man. He also needs to have the time and incentive to build, maintain and develop the campaign on an ongoing basis.

A good measure of these abilities can be found in your initial discussions with your prospective SEO supplier. Have you found yourself thinking 'Hmm....I had'nt thought of it that way before' or 'Yes, that's exactly what we do [why did'nt I think of that ?!], or 'Why did'nt my web site designer do this in the first place?'.

Good SEO requires a deep understanding of the business goals and objectives, the mission of the company and the web site technology in use. Only then can you be sure you will achieve your aims.

Remember: Wether in-house or outsourced, or a mixture of the two, there are no SEO short cuts and using suppliers that promise the earth in a day may well put your site's ethical SEO status at risk - for which Search Engines will punish you dearly. You may get away with some clandestine techniques for a short while but the engines will catch up with you and penalise your site so it is not a long term strategy.


SEO is about Measurable Objectives

SEO is NOT just about attaining the top spot in Google, Yahoo or MSN. To get the best results SEO ‘should’ be a part of an internet strategy for your business. Part of that strategy will define the purpose of the web site and any associated campaigns such that the appropriate internet marketing needs, like web site optimisation, will become clear. The key here is that we are looking to deliver on measurable business objectives of optimisation rather than to just get your site to the number one spot (although that's nice too!).

SEO – How to get measured value for money (Return on Investment or ROI) and grow your business

Neither SEO nor pay per click internet marketing techniques such as Adwords or affiliate advertising are rocket science. It is however very complex and requires a lot of patience to get it right; and getting it wrong can be very costly. It requires a good dose of common sense, a knowledge of basic ingedients and preferably a good ability to define and achieve business objectives: and that is just to hire the right person!

The keys to success are:

  1. Defining and understanding Business Objectives (of the business as a whole and of the web site as a part of the business)
  2. Defining the business (and technical) constraints and expectations against meaningful measures of success. This is one you might like to skim over, but in my experience is one of the most important aspects of successful SEO. Risks also need to be defined in here to assure no nasty surprises.
  3. An experienced and well defined approach to delivering the SEO ‘business’ objectives such that the objectives are achievable and agreeable.
This is the point your eyes start to glaze over so let’s make lot’s of exciting promises to win back your attention:
  • GET YOUR TOP SEO RANKING HERE!
  • FREE SEO SITE SURVEY, GUARANTEED RESULTS
  • AUTOMATIC WEB SITE SUBMISSION AND SEO SERVICES
  • GOLD POSITION SEO SERVICES!
  • NO.1 GOOGLE POSITION GUARANTEED FOR EVERY WEEK YOU PAY £x
  • TOP GOOGLE RANKING, PROFESSIONAL SEO GUARANTEES NUMBER ONE LISTING IN 100 SEARCH ENGINES

Just what you wanted to hear? Are you sure?

Perhaps this is what you think you want to hear, but allow me to try another approach:

  • Achieve 100 new member sign ups a day !
  • Increase sales by 30% every month !
  • Gain 500% more ‘qualified’ leads a week !

Now if you have any business experience at all you will immediately click the difference (if you’ll pardon the pun) and spot the true path. SEO success = Business Growth.

Measurable Web Site SEO goals, by example

So now we have some measurable SEO objectives. It is very difficult to achieve precise metrics but there are tools and experience that will help give an idea of what might be achieved.

Imagine we have a site that has achieved 7000 member sign-ups over twelve months without any SEO or search engine rankings at all but purely by paying for adverts (pay per click, or ‘ppc’) at say £140 per day. The site statistics show that we have about 160 visits per day and around 20 sign-ups (or ‘conversions’ as we say in the trade) per day. That’s a conversion rate of just over 12% (which is reasonable) at a cost of around £7 per membership sign-up, which seems a lot..

i.e. £140 ppc / 20 sign-ups = £7.00 per sign-up * 7000 = £49,000 per annum

So our membership has so far cost £49,000 for 7000 members or £7 per member.

Now lets have a go at projecting a measurable search engine campaign using natural rankings via some good SEO.

There are say 600 searches on the target keywords (more on keyword optimisation later) per day, and the competition is not ‘brand leading’, it could be possible to increase the traffic to say 6% of the organic rankings searches ( free and natural search engine listings). Now let’s say we take half the 12% conversion rate experienced in paid adverts and go for a 6% conversion rate this means we now have an additional 2 members per day FOR FREE!

This means we have achieved an additional 10% per day/annum which in measurable monetary terms converts to a £5000 saving in advertising costs plus the opportunity earnings presented by the new members.

This is conservative in real terms as a similar scenario will frequently improve performance to many times this. An additional side benefit is the reduction in cost of the original paid adverts (the cost per click may be reduced) because the landing pages will have a higher relevance, or ‘quality score’ – but that’s another story.

The SEO statistics here are for illustration (based on factual stats) and are very conservative. They do serve to illustrate however that with a little thought very measurable SEO business objectives (or SEO targets) can be set. In this way it can be shown very often that good SEO pays for itself in a very short period of time. Additionally the results of a good SEO campaign are incremental over time so the benefits can be measured in short, medium and long term ranges; provided it is considered an ongoing activity.

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