Original post : Feb 11, 2010 Marketing Online - Should You Do it Yourself?I've just completed two Simply Better Marketing seminars for the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Business Link on this very subject, presenting with an expert in PPC (pay per click) and SEO (search engine optimisation), Luke Quilter of Sleeping Giant Media. The events were well attended (not surprisingly, as the internet remains such a hot topic), but there was a very wide range of experience and need in the room - varying from those who had yet to set up their website, to those who were interested in tweaking their existing optimisation activities to boost results. (And if you're in Kent you might want to know the next seminar in the series is on selling - see the EventsKent website for details.) We set out with the objective of helping people decide if they should or could undertake their online marketing themselves, or whether they would be better off (mentally and economically!) to let an expert take the strain in one or more areas. The answer, as in any similar decision, depends on whether you can earn more money focusing on your core business rather than spending it on the intricacies of online marketing. For me the event confirmed that, while the headline theories of PPC and SEO are relatively straightforward, the subtleties of applying these are far more challenging. It takes regular and frequent attention to develop a campaign that ensures your website is found by the right people - and that those people then stick around on your website long enough to be persuaded to buy or contact you (depending on your objective of course). Not only that but the rules change all the time so it seems to me that it is only those that spend their whole day on the subject that can possibly keep up! If you believe you have the oppportunity to earn significant return from your website then I would strongly advise getting a professional to run your search marketing activities. On the other hand I could tell that for some people it was almost a hobby - something they were developing quite a passion about! Whether you decide to do it yourself or look for help, there were some useful pointers that came out of the event that I thought I'd share with you here:
If you're uncertain then have a go - you might be surprised how much you enjoy it. And you'll be better informed if you do decide to talk to an expert at a later date! CommentsThat's a really useful article Sharon. I know people who have spent a lot of time absorbing the detail of SEO and PPC and have succeeded but for most people, it's a huge can of worms and quite often (particularly with PPC) so easy and expensive to get wrong.
The 85% statistic is one that's bandied about but I think it depends on the type of business. For example, we have clients who have virtually no other websites linking into them, but are strong in Google because of on-page optimisation that works - particularly if they're geographical type searches. However, when it comes down to really competitive phrases then yes, the off-page optimisation is really important. But for smaller businesses, particularly geographically targeting their potential customers, on-page SEO can get great results. Personally, my view is that the way Google gives credibility to websites that have numerous links into them, is extremely flawed as we all know how easy it is to generate links that appear to be good quality but actually mean nothing. Things will change in time and hopefully Google will wake up and realise that natural positioning should be less reliant on factors such as how many links (and their quality) go into a website, and focus more on finding ways to demonstrate how good the website is - something that the social web will hopefully contribute towards. My question would be: "just because a company is top of Google natural search results, does it mean they provide a better service or product than those below them?" Currently, the answer is "no - it just means that they have been better at SEO". Is that good for the buyer of products or services, who could potentially get a raw deal? Not in my view. I think it's only a matter of time before things will change - but not in the short term unfortunately. Maybe, just maybe, the tie up between Yahoo and Microsoft may innovate in some way and force such change. Sharaon, thank you for a really useful article. I'm trying to promote 2 software applications- one is a learning management and course content creation product called Learnbubble (See www.learnbubble.com ) and by its very nature it is a real challenge to find keywords (phrases) that don't return millions of results - I've decided to get help with this as Elmstone is spending money for no results!
The other is a suite of Health and Safety applications (see www.elmstonesystems.co.uk/products.html ). At least this is a bit more specific and maybe I will watch the stats for a while to see how the natural searches do. But the most scary statistic you mention in point 6 - that 85% of natural search results positioning is down to other people/sites linking to you. This is an area I am going to give more serious thought to. Louise Perryman, Elmstone Systems Ltd 01304 382410 | Past BlogsSocial Networking - what's in it for businesses?Jul 6, 2010 17:45 Are you charging enough?June 10, 2010 11:01 Using PESTLE in your marketing planMay 12, 2010 15:01 Why bother with a marketing plan?Apr 15, 2010 15:45 What business are you in?Mar 11, 2010 15:10 Marketing Online - Should You Do it Yourself?Feb 11, 2010 18:40 Marketing Myth #7: the lowest price will always winJan 12, 2010 9:21 Marketing Myth #5: Marketing is Expensive - except on the InternetNov 9, 2009 15:22 |
