SEO is often de-prioritised within businesses, as it is hard to measure ROI and impact, compared to channels such as paid search, where you have a clear ROI / ROAS model.

Whilst SEO isn’t right for every business, you need to think long term about investment, as it isn’t just a ‘turn on and leave’ channel – it is far more complex than that and can support other channel’s success too.

Below I have outlined and explained Mediaworks top tips to getting the most out of your investment in SEO.

1. Get the basics right: technical, on-page targeting and user experience – these lay the foundation for your whole website and ultimately the overall user experience from when they search a term in Google, through to landing on your site.

Technically if your site is poorly structured and not optimised, Google can measure this and will penalise your visibility rankings, effectively moving you down in search results, as it doesn’t want its users to have a bad experience.

On page targeting is key and links into the user journey – you need to make sure the keywords your pages rank for, have content that is rich and aligns. If you don’t, then you will see high bounce rates and low engagement rates.

2. Understand that Google’s algorithms change, typically it’s to prevent spam, low quality results or sites trying to advantage of the algorithm. Some websites use tactics like stuffing keywords or creating low quality content just to get clicks. But Google doesn’t like that because it doesn’t help people find what they’re looking for.

By investing in a solid SEO strategy, you can make sure your website follows the rules and provides valuable content. This minimises the impact of Google’s algorithm changes because the website is already doing things the right way. So, investing in a solid strategy helps websites stay relevant and visible in search results, despite algorithm changes.

3. Know your industry and understand search results. This goes back to my comment at the start, SEO isn’t right for all businesses. Some B2B industrial businesses will benefit from trade shows and human interaction vs some, where audiences are heavily reliant on research, which is done via Google. Make sure you understand the level of SEO maturity within your organisation before embarking on a long-term investment journey, with little or no commercial impact.

Not all searches are the same, different types of search terms require different approaches.

Some searches may be informational, where users want to gain knowledge on a topic. Others might be transactional, where users are ready to make a purchase. Tailoring your SEO strategy to address the various stages of your customer’s journey and the needs of your target audience are an integral part of any successful SEO strategy.

4. Have a long-term vision, SEO is best activated in stages for the majority of SMEs, this helps with budget and capacity, but also allows you to measure impact of your work.

Think of it as building a house – technical and onsite are your foundations and you build from there. Below is a top level outline of how you can activate in stages.

Technical
Manual Penalties – Ensuring we can rank in search
Access – Search bots can access the website
Crawling – Ensuring we can rank in search

Onsite / Content
Keywords and Targeting – target KWs list based on intent and volume
Functional content – optimise revenue or conversion driving URLS
Navigational content – optimising supporting revenue or conversion driving URLS
Informational content – optimise informational URLS

Offsite
Outreach – always on DPR, targeting lower DA relevant publications, to keep a steady flow of diverse links coming into the site Digital PR – Larger scale campaigns, sitting at brand level focusing on higher DA national publications.

5. Understand that SEO is an investment and takes time, it’s a long-term investment that requires a bit of patience and consistent effort. Results often gradually manifest as search engines crawl and index website changes over time. By committing to a comprehensive SEO strategy and continually refining it over time, you’ll find you can gradually increase your visibility and organic traffic.