Search engine optimisation (SEO)

 

SEO is one of the most talked-about aspects of online marketing and is so complex

that it will be dealt with separately in chapter 6. Don’t worry: you do not need to

know or apply any SEO principles until then. For now, here is a brief explanation

for the sake of completeness.

Search engines such as Google have special processes for deciding which web

page shows up first in their lists of search results. SEO is the process of getting

your page as high up on that list as possible. There are many technical ways

of improving your position on this list, but two of them relate specifically to

copywriting: keyword optimisation, and the hierarchy of content on a web page.

• Keywords. When somebody searches online, one of the ways that a search

engine knows that your page is relevant to the search request is that the

same words appear on the web page as in the search term that was used.

Therefore, the more frequently these “keywords” appear on a web page, the

more relevant that page will be to a search engine for the query that was made.

• Content hierarchy. Another way that a search engine identifies relevant

content is by analysing content areas on a web page. Some areas are valued

above others in terms of importance: for example, a search engine considers

the main page header to be more important than sub-headers. Similarly, it

will consider sub-headers to be more important than a paragraph of body

copy. Therefore, if your chosen keywords appear in these important places,

such as in your page’s main header, a search engine will see the page as more

relevant for search queries relating to that keyword.

SEO is a long-term marketing technique that will bear fruits if you approach it with

determination and patience. With the right skills, knowledge and resources, SEO

could be the simplest and most important marketing tactic for achieving increased

traffic and ultimately increasing your return on investment.

• Non-biased. SEO only generates natural (organic) listings and is perceived to

be non-biased. According to www.seoresearcher.com, natural listings convert

30% more than paid listings and the percentage of clicks on organic search

results increase with the level of education of online users.

• Return on investment (RO I). SEO has a better RO I than any other marketing

medium. The only “cost” spent on SEO is the time spent researching,

calculating and analysing data, but the return can be considerable.

• Less fraud. There are no bidding wars or click fraud.

• Brand presence. SEO helps build an online brand presence and long-term

positioning. Search engine rankings are relatively stable compared to PPC and

SEO is cheaper and works over a longer term than other marketing strategies.

• Flexible. Through an SEO campaign, you can reach a large audience of people.

Your organisational strategies can optimise your website to meet the needs

and requirements of your choice.

• Measurable. By tracking key conversion goals and analysing relevant statistics,

SEO success can easily be quantified.

• Targeted. Converting visitors into customers is one of the essential goals of

SEO . You are able to derive the source of specific traffic through your website

and report on which keywords are generating the most traffic. The more

targeted traffic equals more sales.