Sorry, but in this Olympics week I had to get the sporting reference in there somewhere! It is also a very valid question, and one that was raised recently in a post on the e-consultancy website “Will Panda kill the freelance SEO star?”
They are not saying that SEO is no longer valid, but more that given the increasing sophistication of search engine (read Google!) algorithms, they are suggesting that it is no longer the realm individual technicians who can tweak the structure and content of your website to deliver good search results. Rather good search results are a result of good marketing.
- Understanding your market
- Understanding how you can deliver value
- Ensuring that your website contains good content that your market value
- And finally making sure that this content is delivered on your site in a way that makes it easily for search engines to find it.
As the article concludes, an individual with a skill set that can deliver all these things (Market Analysis, Customer Psychology, Copy Writing, Web Design) and who fully understands the inner workings of Google, would be in such demand that few could afford their services. Good SEO is not something that can be delivered for a couple of hundred pounds a month by an individual freelance SEO practitioner.
From our perspective, this means that when looking to promote your business, the staring point should always be Marketing. Understand your objectives, understand your market & build a sustainable marketing programme using the most appropriate tools. Unfortunately it is not a quick fix, and can rarely be delivered by a single individual. But when done well it delivers long term sustainable results.
If you want to discuss how we may be able to help you with joined up marketing for your business, please get in touch. It costs nothing to talk!
If you want to read more about what we have said on this subject in the past, here are a few links you may find interesting:
- Building a Solid Web Marketing Strategy Takes Time
- Google changes reward high quality, up to date web content
- Create your own Marketing Plan
