The online world is becoming more and more competitive with many companies choosing to allocate marketing budget into pushing their online presence through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). However one mistake that can be made at the start of a new search marketing campaign is to focus purely on branded keywords as opposed to incorporating various non-branded keywords into the strategy.

For those that aren’t necessarily familiar with the practice of search marketing, keywords are the words that users type into Google in order to search for products and services etc. To help achieve a successful SEO campaign it is essential to ensure that your site is optimised for the keywords you want to rank for in the SERPS (search engine ranking pages). This is the case for both organic search marketing and for PPC campaigns therefore choosing the wrong keywords can have huge implications for your search marketing drive.

A reputable search marketing company will be able to help you choose the appropriate keywords tailored to your campaign. Here at Search Marketing Group our dedicated account managers will be able to provide advice and guidance regarding the choice of your keywords to ensure that you and your company are rewarded with higher rankings, more traffic and a higher ROI. However, when choosing your keywords there is often confusion as to whether you should opt for brand terms, non-brand terms or a mixture of the two.

Whilst traffic for brand terms is a good indicator of product awareness, many sites tend to find a higher percentage of traffic is directed towards the website through non-brand terms which suggests that non-brand keywords are more important in raising the general awareness of your site. However, non-brand terms are more competitive and so an aggressive search marketing strategy should be devised to help maximise your sites visibility in todays’ extremely competitive online market. It would therefore seem an appropriate move to incorporate both brand and non-brand terms into your SEO campaign.

At the Search Marketing Group we will only ever do what we feel is right for the future-proofing of your campaign. Our highly experienced staff will be able to advise you on choosing the correct keywords to help boost the ranking of your site, to increase traffic and to see a higher ROI. Contact us today for a no obligation discussion.

Content and search marketing go together like bread and butter, horses and carriages or even Facebook and random pictures of other people’s meals. In the past the production of high quality content was not the primary focus for search marketing companies. Where content writing was a factor, the aim was to increase the number of relevant keywords in URLs, tags and on page. This attitude led to a plethora of articles that added little value to the user and were often keyword stuffed.

After the Panda update in 2011 shook up the world of search marketing, attitudes to content writing changed significantly. Another factor in this evolution of article provision is the impact of social media and viral marketing: put in simple terms, interesting articles that offer information are more likely to be shared on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. This “link bait” technique works to build natural links to your website and while many of these links will be <rel=”nofollow”> as standard; there is a growing belief that search engine algorithms are now incorporating this growing phenomenon.

As a business owner you are probably thinking that the link bait strategy sounds like a prudent plan and you’re wondering how to go about implementing it. The truth of the matter is that not every business can employ fulltime copywriters that understand both your business and how to create optimised and readable content. There are, however, two basic tips to ensure that your content is as linkable as possible:

• Firstly, tonality is important. Readers of a business level exchange company will expect content of business standard, meaning formal language, precise focus and supporting information. Conversely, readers of a lifestyle retailer are less focused on facts and figures and more the value of the product offering. Lifestyle sites often have a softer/ more conversational style to the copy and this should be continued through the content writing.
• In terms of the body of your content, one should always seek to use your own knowledge to provide insight (one of the most common writing tips, after all, is “write what you know”.  A great tip is to create a diary of questions that clients ask you, as this will give you a great (and free) insight into what your clients actually want to know, then write your article as a question and answer piece.

If you simply do not have time to write your own content in house, Search Marketing Group offers a content writing service. Call us on 01229484290 to find out more.