This has been the talk all week for some reason, so I thought I would address it in my blog. I think maybe a lot of you are looking at your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with a big question mark hanging over your head.
Yes, SEO can be a mystery. We have worked for years to find a suitable SEO partner without success. Our conclusion: Most companies that perform full blown SEO services offer way too much for small business clients. It is not that their services are not good or do not work but they are overkill for a small business, particularly a niche small business like a cosmetic dentist or surgeon. The $1000/month or more costs to support all of their efforts is just not justifiable. So, now what?
I decided earlier this year to do an analysis of this problem and this is what I found.
1) Clients did not understand what they were getting for their investment.
2) Clients did not have reasonable expectations of SEO.
3) Clients did not receive proper communication updates and regular reporting they could understand.
4) Clients did not understand the strategies and lost faith and interest, even if it was working.
5) The cost for the service was simply too high.
This was consistent across the board. So, I decided to look at what was working, what could be simplified strategically and how we could offer the benefit at a reasonable price. My research came down to two simple SEO strategies: Keyword Optimization and Pay Per Click.
Keyword optimization is only one method of SEO but it has the benefit of excellent accountability. Many other SEO strategies pay a role in the overall optimization big picture but, at the end of the day, keywords provide landmarks that we can measure. In addition, I was presented with verification that a steady keyword optimization strategy was the most effective plank in the more complicated full-blown SEO strategies from our partners that had been frustrating our clients. So, I knew Keyword SEO had to be part of what we did.
Next up came the perceived value. Our Keyword SEO strategy had to work on easy to understand metric AND paint a realistic picture of what is achieveable. We selected a program to use for optimization that focuses on the Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI). This is a numerical rating that tells you if a keyword is likely to be effective for you. Say you want to be ranked on a really popular term. The KEI tells you if that term is really going to be effective for you. It has nothing to do with where you are ranked on that term. It tells you if that term is a good bet. Today, I was looking at the KEI of the term San Diego Cosmetic Dentist with a client in a phone meeting. He saw that there were 8 millon listings under San Diego Cosmetic Dentist and he realized that our suggestions to try to place him higher on less trafficked terms with less listings improved our chances of getting him on Page 1. It was an easy explanation and he understood the strategy completely. This use of a simple KEI indicator made the whole process make sense and shows it to be worth the monthly fee... which is only $300/month compared to at least $1000/$1200 month which most dedicated SEO companies will charge. (I even know of one client who is paying more than $2500 for top of the line service. It works well but not many clients are able to do this.)
This greater perceived value is the key to keeping a consistent effort going. Consistency and persistence is vital to SEO and I believe we have found a very good match for niche small businesses for the reasons stated above. So, what about the highly desirable, highly unattainable low-KEI words that you still want to see yourself on? The answer is the same as always... my old favorite: Pay Per Click Advertising. Due to the vastly higher traffic on Google, we recommend Google AdWords as a branch of this keyword-based program. Therefore, as part of our program, we administer a Google AdWords campaign (for one country or one search engine... another country or search engine is an additional fee). Between the Keyword Optimization and the AdWords, you have an easy to understand strategy in place. And, at $300/month it is fairly priced for the services you are getting, which are handpicked services that work best for small businesses.
Needless to say, we have not been able to keep this in a pilot program. Now that it is proven, we are adding clients every week and I am pleased to say we are seeing progress on every client that is enrolled in this program. The common reasons people switch to our services is:
1) They are unsure, unhappy or displeased with the service from their current SEO company.
2) They are ready to pay less for SEO.
3) They do not know what they are getting for their SEO.
4) Poor communication and reporting by their current SEO company.
If you are one of the many who are experiencing any of these four circumstances, I invite you to try our Keyword SEO service. SEO is the cost of doing business on the Internet. We make it much more affordable and easier to understand for you. Please let me know if you are interested at donald@dogstarmedia.com.
