What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

At its most basic, Search engine optimisation (SEO) entails improving website listing in search engine results pages (Google, Yahoo!, etc). In the old days (two years ago in the search marketing industry), SEO services consisted primarily of search phrase analysis, site analysis, copywriting and link building. These days an SEO specialist has to offer a broader range of search marketing services to be relevant and competitive in the always changing, results driven field of SEO.

SEO is often overshadowed by its flashier relation - PPC (Pay per Click). While PPC provides instant results, they are short term only. SEO services, on the other hand, are designed to work over the long term and the results are cumulative, that is they build on each other. SEO services are also more affordable than PPC marketing and have proven very effective in cash strapped economies. 

MediaVision's SEO specialists in UK and South Africa recognise that search engine marketing requires a more innovative approach than article writing for the internet and email link requests. Our services include a comprehensive site analysis to determine which aspects of your website can be improved to fall in line with Google's SEO best practice guide, as well as monthly rankings reports to determine the success of your search phrases and analytics reports that measure the relative success of every step of the SEO process.

Why are SEO services important?

Google sees 80% of searchers clicking on organic results, with 20% clicking on search ads.

Stuart Small - Google UK

The benefits of specialist SEO services:

1.    Trust from Google, which is the search engine preferred by roughly 90% of the UK, is transferred to the websites that Google ranks well. Any SEO specialist worth his or her salt will tell you that abiding by Google's rules will enable you to reap the benefits of ethical SEO services, while breaking the rules will result in penalties and perhaps even the removal of the offending website.

2.    Affordability: SEO typically comes in at one tenth of the cost of PPC for the same amount of traffic generation. But what makes SEO services even more affordable is that it also results in reduced bounce rates and increased conversion rates than PPC, and this equals better ROI.

3.    SEO results in cumulative traffic generation, whereas PPC experiences step growth that only increases when the budget is increased. SEO specialists are able to constantly push the ceiling to achieve higher rankings and conversion rates over time.

4.    Search phrase analysis is highly targeted, so you will only ever rank for your intended phrases. No energy is wasted on phrases that you don't want, as can be the case with PPC and the broad nature of PPC bidding tools. Your SEO specialist will concentrate the SEO-related services around site content - if a phrase doesn't appear on your website you won't rank for it.

5.    SEO is highly measurable. SEO is, in fact, as measurable as PPC; and with the use of proper analytics SEO and PPC can be compared to see which marketing strategy delivers the best results at the best prices. When SEO is implemented by search marketing specialists its cost-effectiveness far outweighs that of PPC.

The ease with which professional SEOs implement SEO services should not be taken to mean that search engine optimisation is easy. When it comes to choosing an SEO company it's important to make sure that you are comfortable with the services offered and methods favoured by its specialists and that you understand the potential challenges and time constraints of SEO.

Challenges faced by SEO specialists:

1.    SEO is constantly evolving and needs a specialist agency's full attention to succeed within the changing online landscape. It's also important to consider the specialised nature of the various services included within SEO, such as copywriting, link building and site analysis. Ideally you want to choose an SEO service provider that not only has the qualified staff to manage each of these specialist services, but who are also seasoned multi-taskers who can take on any role in SEO.

This prevents delays in service delivery and ensures that each step of the process is subject to cross checking for optimal results. Our SEO specialists are all conversant in each of the areas of SEO, which enables us to make full use of our resources to create the ultimate search engine marketing (SEM) strategy.

2.    SEO services can't be packaged; every solution has a different goal and different challenges. This is why we conduct preliminary research and site analysis before providing you with an accurate and relevant cost estimate. After all, how can an agency provide an estimate of costs before analysing the search phrases and competition for a client?

3.    SEO can't be automated. Some SEO service providers claim to have special tools that automate much of the search engine optimisation process, however, one of the major problems with SEO tools is that as soon as they're complete, they are redundant.

The organic search marketing landscape moves so fast that only those SEO specialists who are able to think on their feet and adapt their services quickly to take advantage of changes are able to deliver optimum results. Tool-based agencies can't keep up and are likely to fall foul of Google penalties.

SEO is one of the most effective ways to market a business's services and products, but it needs a specialist agency to achieve true success. MediaVision, with its friendly, warm and slightly unconventional approach to search engine marketing (SEM), places emphasis on holistic SEO strategies.

With offices in London, UK and Cape Town, South Africa we are able to provide specialist SEM and SEO services that are effective and affordable. For more information on what services an SEO specialist should provide contact MediaVision today - it will be well worth your while.