Monkey Business, Issue one
Search Engine Optimisation Nottingham
In this issue (click to jump to article) or visit www.babooncreative.co.uk:
- Introduction
- Search Engine Marketing
- Play by the rules, not with them...
- Online Solutions - What's the real Cost?
- Affiliate Marketing
Search Engine Optimisation, Nottingham - Introduction
It's hard to believe it but Baboon Creative Industries was a year old this month.
And what a year it's been, starting with a project for one of the highest profile brands we could have wished for on our books. The Virgin branded 'Virgin Health Bank' website was launched early in February. But that's not all, during the same period we've had the chance to work on a whole range of projects for equally prestigious clients Rolls-Royce, Gala Coral Group and numerous regional and local businesses, each with their own unique, individual and diverse requirements from corporate identity and brand development to web design, design for print, exhibition and information graphics, direct mail and new-media.
Without a doubt, the biggest growth area of our business has proved to be in the design and development of web solutions and we have designed and built, or are in the very process of developing, several sites for clients that require equally as varied and specialist web based techniques to promote their various businesses. E-commerce, music or video streaming, online applications and data-base driven solutions and so on and so forth... the list of requirements is constantly growing!
Interestingly we predicted this marketing sea change in our business plan, but even we are surprised at how quickly our prediction would become a reality. The cost of print based media and traditional advertising channels has in the past proved, and continues to prove, prohibitive to many companies, especially new start-ups whose marketing budgets simply wont stretch that far. Web solutions, albeit that they aren't always that inexpensive, do provide greater flexibility, high visibility and, above all, offer great value for money. It's this 'levelling of the playing field' effect that gives the small business the ability to go up against its larger, more established competitors on a more equal footing, providing their target markets with far more brand confidence than they might normally be able to afford!
But the most surprising development in our business over the past twelve months has been the rapid growth in enquiries looking for Search Engine Optimisation and online marketing which now accounts for something in the region of 30% of turnover. We see this as being proof, if proof were needed, that online marketing has come of age. Any company who's seriously invested in their online solution (with a reputable source) will, without doubt, have seen a sizeable increase in business via the internet.
In this, the first issue of the aptly named "Monk'e'y Business", weve decided to dedicate it to these very influential topics in order to dispel some of the myths about SEO and try and inject a level of reality into what returns a client might realistically expect to see from their 'Google' advertising campaigns - hopefully you will find it informative and useful in relation to your own online marketing requirements.
If you would like any further information about any of the articles or, indeed, about any of our creative or marketing services, design and development for web and new media, Search Engine Optimisation or Online Marketing please don't hesitate to contact us...
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing is probably one of THE most closely scrutinised topics of the moment.
So, where exactly does the value of Pay Per Click (PPC) lie and why shouldn't we concentrate our efforts wholly on natural search.
Simply, because any business that aims to attract customers to their site and convert visits to sales has to consider a combination of both natural search optimisation strategy and Pay Per Click to achieve the best results.
Interestingly, however, it's safe to say that companies that do well with their organic search listings are more likely to develop a more trust worthy perception with potential customers - money can't buy you love but it appears that good, honest, hard graft can!
Search engine optimisation strategies can help to strengthen brand perception and people do tend to trust the natural search results over and above sponsored links, simply because there is generally more understanding of the merit of the most relevant natural results.
Return on investment can prove to be much better for the organic searches compared to Pay per Click (PPC) although results may be harder to track and monitor.
At Baboon we often encourage our clients to take full advantage of what is probably the most powerful, cost effective and versatile marketing tool they have at their disposal by experimenting with elements of their website. We feel that clients shouldn't be afraid to make changes to landing pages, Meta information and on page headers as diversification, rather than pouring all available funds into Google PPC campaigns, is the key to a successful search campaign.
Without doubt Google PPC (and not forgetting Yahoo Search Marketing) is a powerful method to generate business leads but to become completely reliant on Google or natural search techniques could have negative effects.
The necessary seeding of keywords, terms or phrases into the site, along with text rich links, highlighted and bold keywords can all make for a poor user experience, not to mention run the risk of being penalised buy the search engines.
Online advertising has made a massive impact on the way in which we market our businesses, providing us with advertising opportunities that provide visible and accurate results turning what used to be considered a costly luxury into a dynamic and highly profitable business tool.
Some of our clients are now receiving at least 200% ROI (return on investment) on their PPC campaigns with others achieving OVER a staggering 600%!
Play by the rules, not with them...
There are many ways to have an influence over the search engines, manipulating them in order to gain a more highly ranked site.
Some SEO 'experts' are constantly on the lookout for loop holes in search engine algorithms in order to exploit them however such devious "black hat" techniques never go unnoticed.
Even though, in the short term, they may produce good results they will undoubtedly result in your site being black listed from Google for breaching best practice guidelines! And so, although time consuming and, in many cases, frustratingly tedious simply playing by the rules is the ONLY way of achieving a good, long term page ranking.
Keeping your site updated on a regular basis, making sure that all pages are keyword rich, dense and relevant, is a must along with the inclusion of good quality inbound links are all essential and proven techniques for improvement of page rank.
Baboon offer various packages that provide support for both SEO and SEM activity including the development and management of PPC.
Using these techniques is the only reliable way of guaranteeing a position on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page) – anyone who tells you otherwise is a real monkey!
"A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing"
Oscar Wilde
Online solutions. What's the real cost?
Qualifying the costs for web based solutions is fast becoming a valuable and necessary technique in itself!
But when you cut through all of the jargon and 'geek speak' what SHOULD a website cost and why?
Not so long ago, when asked "how much will my brochure cost?" one could fairly reliably estimate that with the design, photography, copywriting, artworking for print, print reprographics, proofiing, plate making, print set-up, printing, finishing and delivery of 5,000 copies you might reasonably expect to pay in the region of £10,000.
Of course, there were always those who claimed they could produce the same quality job for less but, as with all things, there comes a point in the equation where lower cost means compromise.
With printed matter the compromise might be to use a lower cost brand of paper, reducing the tactile quality slightly for a good saving probably wouldn't upset anyone but the designer and the results would in, all honesty, hardly be noticed by the recipient.
We never heard of a brochure that failed purely because the paper it was printed on was of an inferior quality.
However, when we apply this to the production and development of a web site, we see a completely different result because the very structure upon which your website is designed and built is absolutely fundamental to how it functions and performs.
Regardless of the aesthetics of the design, if you compromise on quality with the website structure it will, without doubt, have a direct effect on performance - quite simply it’s a case of style over substance.
Web design isn't about how good a site looks - to a certain degree looks are irrelevant - it's about how a site functions, how its users interact with it and how effectively it can cope with the tasks it was developed to perform.
Unlike a printed brochure, if the site has been developed properly, all of these factors can be analysed in real time with any short comings in the design of the solution being easily identified and quickly remedied.
So, what should a website cost and why?
It should cost as much as you are prepared to invest to achieve maximum return, and then some!
Why, because if you don't you might not even get what you've paid for!
Affiliate Marketing. You've got to be in it to win it...
Affiliate marketing is second only to Search Marketing in the online marketing stakes and, if your business relies on sales that are generated from your website, you cannot afford to ignore its obvious business benefits.
But what exactly is affiliate marketing?
Simply, it's a practice whereby a designated affiliate will drive traffic to your website for an agreed commission on any sales or leads that are generated by their affiliation.
It's a simple and cost effective solution to increasing your sales team without the expense of actually having to dig deep to employ staff. This is probably why affiliate activity has rocketed to over 60% in the past year. As with most online marketing techniques, however, there are rules that must be closely followed.
For example, ensure that a restricted keyword policy is employed as this should help you to avoid accidentally competing with your business partners.
There are also other aspects to be considered; costs, experience, market specialisation and network coverage all need to be addressed but in affiliate marketing, as with most marketing in general, quality is better than quantity. And, whilst were spouting adages, it's worth remembering that, with regard to choosing the right affiliate network, biggest isn't necessarily best! Selection and motivation are key to success. Remember:
a) Find affiliates with proven a track record for quality of content,
traffic potential, audience and always those who have affinity
with your product or service offering.
b) Spread the word by promoting your affiliates Newsletters and
creative marketing.
c) Place a 'Become an Affiliate' link on your website.
d) Be proactive - keep your affiliates supplied with the latest
information on your products and services - special offers,
up-to-date creatives, content and emailing kits.
Again, as with all SEO and SEM programmes, on-going and proactive management of your affiliates is a must.
Affiliate marketing certainly isn't for everyone but if your business requires that you maximise the potential traffic driven to your site in order to drive the volume of sales then it's certainly something to think about!
© Baboon Creative Industries Limited
Postal Address: The Studio, 1 Clinton Terrace, Derby Road, Nottingham NG7 1LY
Registered Address: 1 Queen Street, Shepshed, Leicestershire
Company Reg. No: 5766655 :: VAT Reg. No: 880 6957 76
