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Kai MacMahon is an online media consultant specializing in the practical application of social media and Web analytics in modern business. Kai has worked with some of the biggest brands around, including EMI, Disney, The BBC, QUALCOMM, Taylor-Made adidas Golf and Comcast Interactive Media. His online career spans a decade: starting with AOL UK, he then made the transition to Head of Content for Netscape UK where he was in charge of all content, production and community for Netscape Online, the award winning ISP & Portal, and the UK Netcenter. Most recently he ran the Online Marketing & Analytics group for an award-winning west coast agency.

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Go Organic; Avoid Optimization Pitfalls

Written on
July 12th 2007
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by Kai MacMahon  |
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adotas_small_011.jpgYears ago online marketing was a relatively straightforward business. An email campaign here, a banner run there…throw in the odd ROI calculation for confirmation that you’re on track, and all was good. Fast forward to today though, and the game has changed almost beyond recognition.

Measurability is king and ROI is in most cases the single most important factor to consider when developing a campaign. The mix has broadened and matured, and there are a multitude of new channels all vying for your dollar. It’s tougher than ever to apportion your budget, or to even decide which methods are right for you and your business.

One component of the marketing mix over which there should be no debate, however, is organic search. If you’re serious about being in business online, organic should be part of your plan.

When you buy keywords, you typically get access to a report back detailing who clicked on what, and how much it cost. But when the money runs out, so do the clicks. Organic is different: a correctly optimized site will be generating qualified leads for you 24/7 for as long as it remains optimized. As your business grows and matures, so should your optimization program. SEO should be as much as part of your build cycle as QA.

Measuring SEO traffic is easy once you’ve done the initial legwork. For detailed results your search terms will need to be mapped to your analytics package, and you’ll need to create (or access if your analytics tool already has this set up) a report to break out traffic generated from organic results. Once you’ve done that, it’s real easy to see which keywords and engines are driving traffic. Even if you don’t want to go to the effort of breaking out the keywords, all the major analytics packages will give search engine referral data, so there’s no excuse for not monitoring where your traffic is coming from.

So we’ve established that you should be paying attention to organic search: everybody should. What to do now? Below are five of the most common SEO mistakes marketers make as they get started down the optimization path:
Mistake #1: Optimizing Once, Then Forgetting About It.

SEO is not a onetime deal. Just as the indexes are constantly changing, so optimizing for organic search is an ongoing process. It’s all too common to do a onetime optimization, and then forget about it. Any and all modifications to your Web properties (new content, changes in IA/navigation) can and will impact your search status. What seem like small changes can have big consequences, so all should be undertaken only after considering SEO implications. We’re not talking about a huge investment here, either. Smaller sites can get by on as little as a few hours a month, though we would typically recommend more, particularly for larger sites. Anything is better than nothing though. Put some time aside every month, whether in-house if you have the expertise or outsourced if you don’t, for SEO.

Mistake #2: Ignoring the Search Engines. (They are not the enemy!)

Engines make money off traffic. That traffic will only come for as long as the organic results are good. Ergo, the engines will do everything they can to ensure the relevance and integrity of their results. The better and more accurate their organic results, the more revenue they generate off the paid results. They are just as keen as you are to get you placed correctly. In the long run it will serve you better to be in the #1 position for a number of specific terms that are relevant to your business (’north county auto dealers’) than it will to be #1 in one larger, broader term (’autos’). There are guidelines for each of the major search engines. Feel free to email me if you’d like me to send them to you, but above all remember to pay attention to them.

Mistake #3: Cutting Corners

This is a cardinal rule, do not try and dupe the engines into displaying you where you shouldn’t be, or into giving you a higher ranking than you deserve. Optimization is playing by the rules, listening to the engine’s guidelines and getting the best possible placement based on your business, sector and goals. Cross the line into shadier areas, and you run the risk of getting blacklisted. The engines rule with an iron fist by necessity (because people are constantly trying to scam them), so it’s not very smart to get on the wrong side of them. Getting excluded from an index is a very bad thing. If you’re running a genuine business and you optimize correctly (on an ongoing basis, of course) you can ensure good placements. In the long run you’re better off driving qualified leads like this than effectively spamming the Web by trying to dupe the engines. Don’t do it.

Mistake #4: Failing to Look Beyond The Big Guys

Yes, Google is the 500 pound gorilla and yes, they account for around 50% of the market, but that still leaves a huge amount of traffic elsewhere. Consider optimizing for the more specialized engines that cater to your vertical. Look at the regional versions of the engines. There’s more to life than Google. Of course they’re incredibly important, but don’t make the mistake of optimizing for them and ignoring the others. There’s a boatload of traffic to be had elsewhere.

Mistake #5: Diluting Your Efforts

One example of this is having multiple URLs; this can severely dilute your SEO efforts. Worst case scenario you start to cannibalize your own traffic and end up with a number of weak programs instead of one real strong one. Roll all duplicate URLs under your master (usually dot com), and focus your optimization efforts on that. Maximize your traffic by routing all your organic traffic through your primary URL. More exposure = more traffic = more qualified leads.
Every business is different, and only when very familiar with each business’ unique set of goals and objectives can you recommend which marketing channels are right for that business. Organic search is the one exception to that rule. Every single site should be optimized for the Web, no debate. If it’s online, it should be optimized. If your agency doesn’t provide SEO services as a matter of course, find one that does. It’s too important to ignore.



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Reader Comments.

Nice thoughts. I think in-house SEO is going to become more common than SEO companies soon. Companies will have their graphic design guy and their SEO guy.

Posted by Adam | 5:28 pm on July 12, 2007.

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