What is meant by SEO?
The term SEO (you may have heard it a thousand times at least by now) stands for Search Engine Optimization, by which we group a number of activities performed to optimize a website overall so that it ranks well within a search engine. Specifically, we focus on Google, the search engine par excellence that covers about 90 percent of worldwide searches.
The type of activity involves on-site optimizations at the level of platform code and quality of content (text, images, videos, etc.) contained therein and off-site activities involving digital PR in general, as well as creating or improving the existing link building profile.
No matter what kind of online business you are in, you cannot overlook organic ranking as a source of traffic for your site, let alone for an e-commerce . It would be like ignoring a type of people who come from the outskirts of the city where our physical store is located and not even letting them in through the entrance.
How much and when should be invested?
Obviously, there are differences on the type of reasoning for implementing an SEO strategy for e-commerce versus that of a site dedicated to generating leads.
First, it should be made clear that any source of site traffic has a cost to be incurred. Whether it is from:
– ADS campaigns (we have to manage the campaigns and pay a cost per click received to Google, Bing, Yandex, etc.).
– Social networking (such as Facebook sponsorships).
– Email marketing campaigns (someone will have to take care of it, not to mention the cost of the platform used as well).
– Direct brand research (you may have had to do some ‘old-fashioned’ advertising, print, radio or TV, event planning, and more).
Needless to hope that organic traffic (e.g., when they find you by typing “Hogan shoes on sale” into the search engine) is free. It is inevitable that Google ‘s first-page results are 10 (the organic ones), and one has to struggle to stand out and be chosen by the search engine-and to its unquestionable judgment-to place there, since already from the second page on, no one will ever search.
This process of climbing the SERP (Search Engine Result Page) takes time that varies depending on several parameters (primarily the competitiveness of the industry) and, as a result, the earlier you start the better! Always remember that time is of the essence for an e-commerce business that needs to bill; every day lost cannot be made up with the next.
As for the budget to invest on SEO, again there are many factors involved such as the complexity and structure of the site to be optimized and the comparison with direct competitors. To put it simply: we must have the same (or preferably better) cards in hand as those in front of us if we are to win the game.
This means that if well-positioned competitors have optimized platforms and continue to invest in link building-which we can monitor-we too must do the same if we want to keep up with them and surpass them.
Is this a static process or an evolving one?
Often it is a constant chase, especially if the field covered is very competitive. The benefit that comes from well-designed SEO work lies precisely in the fact that hard-earned results over time (yes, patience is needed!) are frequently maintained even when attention is shifted to other sources.
In other sources of direct paid traffic, however, as soon as you stop the allocated budget immediately you lose that ‘slice’ of traffic that was being generated. This is not to say that SEO can be turned on and off on a cadenced basis (one month on and two months off or vice versa), but if we initially invest more to make Google ‘understand’ that our site also exists (and is better than those there are on the first page) as time passes depending on the results obtained we can decrease the budget or shift it to attack other areas.
Is SEO also linked to other strategies?
Precisely in order to have a balance among the sources of site traffic, SEO is an integral part of an overall marketing strategy that takes into account the needs of the business concerned. Usually SEO has a very close link with Google ADS campaign ads, as the same can serve as a ‘pathfinder’ and immediately give the perception on what are the keywords that convert clicks into purchases.
The immediacy of ADS campaigns, allows us to work right away with what will be the transactional keywords most effective and then devote ourselves (once we have achieved our goals) to the search keywords that generate a type of traffic to the site that is not necessarily related to a conversion but that allows the corporate brand to be recognized as an authoritative source for that particular industry and perhaps become the reference itself.
Why rely on Tun2U?
At our SEO agency we let the facts speak for themselves and specifically the numbers. We take a realistic approach based on the goals the company concerned has for emerging in the online marketplace and tell it like it is without the sailor promises that many of our “colleagues” make.
We often find ourselves in meetings where we are faced with clients who are discouraged by previous experiences made up of ‘fluff’ and broken promises, analyzing pseudo-optimized sites that don’t bring results (and of course, sometimes there is nothing optimized).
We like to establish a relationship of mutual trust with the client with whom we are very transparent by providing from the outset some very detailed reports with accurate data on which we can reason together in order to choose an SEO strategy that combines the demands we consider important with what is really the budget we can have. We justify each of our choices analytically and are ready to explain even to those outside the industry, what we are talking about by showing the numbers that prove us right.
As mentioned earlier, each marketing area has a budget that needs to be allocated, and to do a job done right (really) you need to invest first and foremost in the professionalism of those who will be in charge of that marketing area of your company. We are talking about professionals who are not afraid to tell you that by allocating a certain budget you will not get results and that maybe by making a little more financial effort you will definitely be repaid in the near future.
If all this is still not enough, all that remains is to measure the results we have achieved with our customers to understand that we do not just sell smoke but boast a tangible plus that should not be underestimated.
I leave it up to each individual to decide whether or not to request an SEO consulting for one’s own site or e-commerce unless one is so satisfied with the results one has that one can ignore that flood of users who are visiting the sites of their respective competitors.
