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Businesses considering going it alone and creating their own search engine marketing strategies should be aware that SEO is a complex field.
According to industry analyst Kathleen Fealy, search engine optimisation is made all the more difficult by the ever-changing rules set out by leading service providers such as Google and Microsoft.
Writing for SES Magazine, Fealy claimed many firms are reluctant to accept that search engine marketing strategies have evolved and that they now require more than just effective website optimisation.
She said that many IT professionals still hold the view that search engine optimisation is an added extra that can be implemented if a company wants to make its website offering more prominent.
“It’s not seen as an integral part of the overall organic search process, and search’s potential for building a business is limited by misperceptions and mystification,” Fealy said.
She claimed that the old days of improving visibility within one or more search engines by regularly updating a single website are over.
Ms Fealy added: “Before universal search, being on the first page of a search engine, organically, meant being one of ten websites.
That rarely happens today, since results are pulled from various sources such as social media with real-time search, video, press releases, news, and local search.
“Search and its role in business is evolving. Mobile is beginning to make its mark, and businesses are realising the value of social search.”
She suggested that firms embarking on a search engine optimisation strategy – or those considering hiring in a third-party SEO agency – should ensure they have a number of concrete goals outlined.
Something, she suggested, that is normal practice for other marketing channels.
“Businesses understand sales and marketing. They want conversions, be it sales, calls, sign-ups, or donations. These are concrete – not abstract concepts,” she said.
Ms Fealy concluded that it is more vital than ever before for firms to keep on top of the latest developments in search marketing and urged them to better understand the underlying benefits of a good search engine optimisation strategy.
Her comments come after Margaret Farmakis, writing for Econsultancy, remarked that social media can be used to augment any number of digital marketing campaigns – including email marketing.