This is the first of 5 Questions Interview Series with industry experts in the online marketing field.
Today’s interview is with Enterprise SEO expert Jeremy Dearringer, co-founder and Chief Research Officer with Slingshot SEO. Slingshot SEO is a highly respected SEO agency based in Indiana who’s client list includes ExactTarget, Finish Line and Angie’s List among its other 150 clients. Slingshot SEO is also recommended by SEOMoz, an industry leading SEO software company.
#1. For many companies who currently have a website or are about to launch a website, SEO is usually at the top of the list as part of their marketing plan. With so many companies out there competing for the top spots in Google, is it more difficult to succeed with SEO now when compared to previous years?
Yes, it is absolutely more difficult to compete in search today. Nearly every single high volume keyword phrase worth ranking for has multiple entities employing a focused SEO strategy to win that phrase. That said, there is still plenty of opportunity for new and established businesses to effectively use SEO as a marketing strategy if they’re ready to commit the time and resources.
Further, I would say that SEO is an essential component to any multi-channel marketing strategy. Natural search falls in the path to conversion for nearly all online transactions anda growing number of offline business transactions.
#2. How has SEO changed over the years? What should be the main areas of focus for those who want to tap into SEO to generate traffic?
Search engines, such as Google and Bing, are changing and evolving at an exponential rate.That said, I don’t feel that your SEO strategy has to change at that pace. We like to focus on the data sources modern search engines may use to determine digital relevance rather than worry about exactly how they will use that data. At its base level SEO is just sound marketing.
- Is your business active on Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook? Are discussions about your brand and website happening on these social networks?
- Are you creating interesting, valuable, noteworthy content on your website that is technically accessible to search engines?
- Are you marketing noteworthy content?
- Do you have a press release strategy to share company growth, philanthropic activity, new hires, innovations, etc.?
- Are you participating in online communities specific to your industry and demonstrating thought leadership?
Focus on these online marketing strategies while insuring that your website is technically accessible to search engines and those search engines will evolve around your business.
#3. Recently JCPenney was penalized by Google for shady SEO tactics their agency conducted without their knowledge. In light of this, what steps should a marketing manager take when looking for an SEO consultant or agency?
Google’s guidelines are not law, but it’s wise to play by their rules if you want a long term strategy of generating traffic from their search engine. JCPenney violated Google’s policies by in effect bribing other websites to link to them. Brokering or bribing for links to influence search is clearly something Google doesn’t want. This is important to them because links are still a huge part of Google’s ranking algorithm. This type of link purchasing activity may be effective in the short term, but is risky in the long term.
I recommend asking any SEO services provider about their link acquisition strategies. If those strategies involve bribing other website owners for links, I recommend continuing your search for an SEO provider.That being said, I wouldn’t let this paralyze you to the point of inaction. Virtually every type of link acquisition activity has been labeled as a form of “spam” or called “blackhat”. Anyone can put a negative spin on nearly any form of link building activity. Some form of link building is required for nearly every competitive market. I recommend that anyone considering an SEO strategy familiarize themselves with Google guidelines related to SEO and use their own best judgment .
#4. There are great opportunities to be had with organic search engine optimization, as well as with paid search marketing such as Google AdWords. What do you recommend for clients who are trying to determine the right blend in terms of budget and focusing their resources? What is the right mix?
I absolutely recommend that any successful online marketing strategy include both paid search and natural search marketing strategies. SEO is still more cost effective than paid search in most cases, thus requiring more budget be allotted towards paid search to strike the right balance. Because this varies from market to market, it’s hard to say exactly what the right balance is.
#5. Social media is undoubtedly an important part of online marketing today. What advice do you have for companies who are currently engaged in social media? How can they ensure that what they are doing in social media also benefits them from an SEO perspective?
Social media has influenced search since 2003 when the first social bookmarking sites, such as Delicious, were becoming popular. Social media channels, such as Facebook, Linkedin,Twitter, Stumbleupon, Digg and others, are effective content marketing channels. Modern search engines are now tapping into the data collected by these widely used social sites allowing them to better understand what people think about brand, website, or piece of content on the web.
Assuming you’ve taken social media marketing seriously and are truly engaging with fans,followers, connections, partners, and prospects; I have a few recommendations to insure you’re supporting your natural search efforts.
- Share open, free content that demonstrates thought leadership through your tweets and updates.
- If you’ve created true brand advocates and have earned social capital through giving then you’re network will share and retweet your content.
- I often see larger brands attempting to sharing whitepapers, case studies, or other content; but are forcing visitors through a lead generation form before they gain access to this content. These lead generation forms are natural search killers. Not only do these lead generation forms prevent search engines from seeing and indexing your content, but they prevent others from wanting to share it as well.
- People don’t like to push content that appears too commercial or sales focused.
I also recommend adding social share features to your entire website. Again, focus on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Allow people to “Like” individual pages and blog posts directly from those pages. Encourage social interaction with your content. Think of these sharing features like valuable call-to-actions.
Thanks again to Jeremy for the interview. Post a comment if you have any comments or feedback on how SEO is evolving.
