SEO: Trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?
Remember all those lovely metaphors our parents trotted out when we were kids? “A bad workman blames his tools”; “It’s an ill wind that blows no good”; “If you don’t want the whelks don’t much them about” (or was that just my family?); and “Look at that! Mutton dressed as lamb!”. Of them all, the one that comes to mind too often when auditing a digital footprint is ‘You can’t make a silk purse out a sow’s ear”.
Search Engine Optimisation has been a dark art for a decade, trying to second-guess the algorithms that make one website appear higher up the page than another on Google, Bing or Yahoo, delivering potential sales and brand exposure to your business. In its purest form, SEO should focus on delivering exciting, engaging, compelling content to keep users on your website and coming back for more. It should take advantage of genuine business links, consistent information across the online space, and put the user at the heart of the strategy. As search engines become more sophisticated they are tracking increasingly complex indicators to try and deliver these top class user experiences to the customer. But there are still plenty of people trotting out ‘SEO’ as a bolt-on service to websites that simply don’t hold the attention of visitors: trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, indeed.
Saving money online
Knowing this is a big step in saving money online. There are emails flying across the ether all the time offering SEO ‘backlinks’ and ‘first page on Google’. Better be clear – even Google cannot guarantee first page on Google, and backlinks have to be right to be effective. There are however some excellent, reputable search engine optimisation companies out there who should not be tarred with the same brush.
If you want to raise the profile of your website effectively, expect a reputable SEO professional to spend time understanding you and your business, developing a proper network of relevant links which fit with what you do, and working on the website itself – looking at the content, the keywords, and the way your message is presented. At Galia Digital, we make sure the first step has been taken, with your website fully optimised at launch, and your digital footprint consistent across the online space. This gives ongoing SEO a solid platform to build on, ensuring that you get maximum return on your investment.
Keeping your website up to date and dynamic, and following and acting on visitor analytics, is a time-consuming and professional job. Galia Digital spoke to Helen Turley of Viable SEO who told us, “‘A continuous SEO campaign is intrinsic to the success of any online presence. What’s even more important however is how this work is carried out. It needs to be natural and compelling and the way to do this is via content and its promotion. Blogging is highly important but should not be advertorial. Every time a new post is added to a site, tweet about it. Add a status to Facebook and if your business is highly visual, stick a picture to your Pinterest board. Link back to your site and allow the natural authority to build.”
So, is your SEO strategy presenting a high quality business image to the world – or do visitors expect a silk purse and find a sow’s ear? Contact Galia Digital to find out more about your Digital Footprint, and how to harness your online opportunities.