Digital Marketing Blog Posts

Why should I use a SEO Agency?

Friday, October 26th, 2007

Digital Marketing, SEO

Many a time, companies large and small ask themselves… why do we need to use an SEO agency; we have a web development team – why not get them to do it?

Asking this question is usually a result of a lack of knowledge. They assume that because SEO involves the website, the web development team must be able to do it. This is certainly not the case; many areas of the website may require the input of an external company. There are 2 areas that I strongly feel should be performed by an external company:

(more…)

3 comments

The Search Marketing 'Remix'

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

Digital Marketing, SEO

Having sat on both sides of the fence it can be easy to see why many marketing agencies offer faux search marketing services, white labeling third party suppliers for the ‘greater good’ of the client. The attitude of we control media spend, ergo we control you…’Let’s not confuse things’

The question that begs to be answered is what are the benefits of this white labeled lip service over open relationships, where the search marketing company is brought in as a trusted supplier alongside the media buyer?

(more…)

no comments

Getting Down and Dirty with Social Media Optimisation

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

Blogging, Digital Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Optimisation

Social Media Optimisation SMO is something you can expect to hear a lot more about over the coming year as social networks increasingly come to dominate the web landscape. As part of an over arching Search Marketing Campaign for many it is no longer going to be good enough just to be on the front page of Google and have a professional adwords campaign. There is a new player in town and whilst you can ignore SMO today if you wish, tomorrow it may be crucial to your online success.

It’s important to remember that the web is still relatively young as an industry. Whilst I think we’re beyond the automobiles industry benchmark of the the Ford Model T, we’re nowhere near the deterioration of Detroit! The longevity of Search Engine Optimisation is less clear, but you can be guaranteed that as the web moves out of pubescence / young adulthood its evolution will have an effect on the way Search Marketing operates. Social Media Optimisation could be only the first of many examples.
(more…)

no comments

RIP Overture Keyword Suggester ?

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Digital Marketing, Keyword Research, SEO, Yahoo

The fact that Yahoo have ceased to update their Overture keyword suggestion tool has been known for several months. Overture US was last updated in January 07 and the UK data was last refreshed in May 07 and Yahoo have officially commented on their termination of support for the tool.

This morning however, it seems that the tool has become completely defunct as no terms return any search results. Does this mean the tool is officially dead ? Either way this throws a serious issue for the little guys who relied on the fact the Overture tool was free.

So what now ?

With Wordtracker now using UK data there is now a solid alternative at a cost. £15 per week / £29 per month / £149 per year. Having now used this tool with the UK data (I wouldn’t have recommended it to the UK market prior) I can say it is a sound investment and the billing structure makes it accessible to both big and small whether you want to cram all your keyword research into a single week or have the tool on hand all the time.

That being said, I for one would like to see the Overture tool reborn as it provided another angle to compare with Wordtracker and the more thorough you can be with your research, the better the results.

1 comment

Web Accessibility and SEO – The most important visitor to your website is blind and his name is Larry.

Thursday, April 19th, 2007

Accessibility, Digital Marketing, Google, SEO

Seems like a bold statement to make doesn’t it? Well I don’t think it is and in this article I hope to explain why, to both business owners and website developers alike.

Let me explain. Roughly 80% of all UK search traffic originates from Google. In the majority of cases, your long term website traffic (& conversions) will originate from a search engine (insert your own social media caveat here). Before this online behemoth and others can begin sending you those potential customers it has to visit, ‘read’ and ‘understand’ your website, not just once, but hopefully time and time again. How else can Google decide on which pages to recommend to its users? ‘The machine’ (or rather several thousand servers) that does this is know as the Google Bot.

(more…)

no comments

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »