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Turner Ink

Copywriting Services London

Posts tagged 'seo company'

Let’s get digital. An interview with Matt Sawyer of Datadial

22nd
Jul
by Sarah Turner

This month, I’ve managed to grab a few moments with digital marketing expert Matt Sawyer (who was one of the first industry bods I ever followed on Twitter). Matt heads up the online marketing department over at digital agency Datadial. We talked about link campaigns, the best blogs to read and why is the SEO industry coming in for some flak?

Turner Ink: You’ve been head of SEO and digital marketing at Datadial for five years now Matt. What’s changed in the industry since you joined?
Matt Sawyer: Everything and nothing. I see a lot of talk about how SEO is constantly changing, but really the fundamentals have remained the same – good content in a well organised and well structured website.

Social media has really changed link development though, and it’s forced SEOs to think a lot more creatively about who will link to them and why.

TI: So where is the SEO industry heading? What’s it going to look like in 5 years’ time?
MS: I think we’re going to be a lot more integrated with other marketing disciplines. To a lot of people we’re always the geeks in the room at the end of the corridor that nobody really understands. I think the industry itself is partly to blame for that.

Over the last couple of years though, SEOs have become far more closely integrated with development, sales, marketing and editorial teams and we’re doing a much better job of educating people, not just on what we do and why we do it, but also how it complements their roles.

TI: That’s interesting. Because there’s been a bit of SEO bashing online lately. (This is the post that springs to mind.) What are your thoughts?
MS: I completely understand why people feel that way when so many people have had bad experiences with SEOs. I think there is a real knowledge gap between the marketing managers and SMB owners that are buying-in the services and the companies that are selling them. Unfortunately, this either leads to companies taking advantage of this, or services being mis-sold.

TI: Ok Matt, how do you execute an SEO strategy? What do you do specifically?
MS: Generally for us it falls into four distinct stages:
1. Site architecture – ensuring the site is technically correct. Everything from making sure all the pages are reachable by search engines, to checking for duplicate content issues.
2. Site structure – checking that the site is organised logically, with relevant category pages.
3. Keyword research and page optimisation.
4. Link building and social media strategy.

TI: Yes, links are a major factor in the success of a site’s SERPS positioning aren’t they? How easy or difficult is it to get quality links?
MS: Links are THE biggest factor in rankings for competitive phrases. Getting good quality links is easy. Getting them in large enough quantities is harder. Social media has made the process easier and more scaleable, but you still have to rely on great ideas to make things work.

TI: I’ve locked horns with a number of so-called SEO experts who are more concerned with the mechanics of SEO and don’t give a hoot about the quality of the writing. What are your thoughts?
MS: Always write for users. There’s no point getting visitors to a page if it looks like it’s been written by a 5 year old (or me for that matter). There is no reason why a page can’t be optimised as well as written with conversions in mind.

TI: Well, I totally agree with that! What SEO tools do you use?
MS: I think most people would be surprised how few tools SEOs really use. I think there’s a misconception that we automate everything. But really the only tools we use are those that speed-up fairly menial tasks or give us more metrics to play with in Excel.

For example we use a ranking checker to monitor site rankings changes. I also use the Open Site Explorer to pull link data and site metrics into Excel. Majestic should also get an honourable mention here. I also like using Xenu which can spider an entire site, extract page metrics and export all of the data to a .csv file.

TI: Do you only optimise for Google?
MS: Realistically, yes. In the UK, especially, they have such an obscene share of the search market that they have to be the search engine that’s at the forefront of your strategy. However, most search engines work in similar ways, so you’ll find that most SEO work brings similar benefits on all search engines.

TI: But is Bing becoming more important?
MS: Slowly. I’m seeing its search share gradually start to creep up, and before long Yahoo will start to serve Bing results.

TI: What other services do you offer at Datadial?
MS: We’re a full service agency. So we do everything from design, development and hosting, through to digital marketing, email marketing and ebusiness consultancy.

TI: I know you handle online PR and reputation management for clients as well and you’ve developed an in-house reputation monitoring tool. Tell us how that works.
MS: Our reputation monitoring tool works by pulling together lots of different data sources – such as Google (news and blogs), Twitter mentions, RSS feeds and several others, which it then parses for mentions of the client name. These are then displayed in an admin control panel. A lot of similar services tend to over-complicate things, so we have tried to go the other way and keep thing as simple as possible for the user while retaining functionality.

TI: You and I are both on Twitter quite a bit. Are you finding clients want to jump on the social media bandwagon no matter what their product or service?
MS: A lot of people seem to decide that they want to do social media before they have thought about why they’re doing it and what they want to get out of it. Some companies are made for social media; others need to think about culture change before they engage in social media.

The key thing to remember is that consumers aren’t always the best group for your company to try to engage with. Often, it’s better to network online with the bloggers and journalists in your industry.

TI: Talking of bloggers – you write for the Datadial blog Matt. And, of course, you write for own blog. What topics do you cover?
MS: With the Datadial blog we write primarily for our clients, on (hopefully) interesting topics and issues that affect them and their business.

My own blog has actually been around for several years in one form or another, and I tend to use it to organise my own thoughts and rants more than anything else. I have been known to post at 3am when I have ideas that I need to get down somewhere!

TI: I hate to think what I’d blog at 3am! What other blogs do you read or recommend?
MS: The SEOMoz blog is fantastic, both for advanced SEOs and novices alike. The range of topics covered and the resources that they have available really are second to none.

Other than that I regularly read (and recommend) EConsultancy, SEOptimise, Apple Pie And Custard (who also win the prize for the strangest name), Search Engine Land, Malcolm Coles and SEO By The Sea.

TI: And last question Matt. What does a normal day look like for you?
MS: Normally I get into the office by seven. I cycle into West London from Surrey and spend around an hour reading my RSS feeds and answering emails. These days I tend to get more involved in the technical and strategic side of SEO, so that will include everything from site audits to planning structure and then organising the link and content development and social strategy. It seems I spend a lot more time at client meetings these days, so I’ll be out and about for much of the day.

TI: Thanks Matt. See you on Twitter.

 

Matt Sawyer - Head of SEO at DatadialMatt Sawyer is head of SEO and digital marketing at London-based digital agency Datadial and is considered one of the most influential SEOs in the UK.

He works with a wide range of clients and industries: from internationally recognized businesses to small, niche brands. His specialities include integrated digital marketing, SEO (on-page and off-page optimisation)

social media, digital PR, PPC, link development strategies and online marketing consulting.

On Twitter he describes himself as a social media junkie, part-time blogger, and full-time timewaster. Follow Matt on Twitter.


Tags: datadial, digital agency, matt sawyer, online PR, reputation management, seo, seo company, seo writing, Social media, twitter
Posted in Interviews with cool people | comments icon No comments yet »

SEO FAQs (Infographic)

1st
Jun
by Sarah Turner

I was chatting to the guys over at digital agency Datadial last week when I casually mentioned the (rather fab) flowchart I’d recently created to show the relationship between Search Engine Marketing, Online PR and Social Media Marketing.

‘We did an infographic similar to that last month’ they told me.

Here it is. Take a look. It’s brilliant and way cooler than mine. I might have to give up ‘designing’ for good. Just click on it to enlarge it.

Datadial SEO Infographic

Copyright Datadial


Tags: datadial, seo, seo company
Posted in Social media, Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon 2 Comments »

Personalised Search: Good or bad for SEOs?

28th
Jan
by Sarah Turner

I was chatting to friend and colleague Matt Hodkinson from YourSeoConsultant this week. And we were talking about Google’s introduction last month of personalised search for ‘everyone’, and whether or not it would have a detrimental effect on search results.

Google personalised search works like this: if there’s a site you frequently visit, Google is more likely to show you this site at the top of the organic listings than some other site; even if another site has better content and better links. So for instance, if I’m looking for hard-to-find books, The Book Depository would rank higher on my search engine results page than Matt’s because I’ve visited their site frequently in the past.

Now, as a customer I’m thinking ‘great!’ Google’s giving me more relevant and accurate listings. Although it could be argued I want Google to find me sites I haven’t visited before – not show me ones I already know.

But from an SEO perspective haven’t things have just got a whole lot trickier? Not only does a site need to be fully optimised and have oodles of links coming in, it’s now competing with a potential customer’s previous shopping habits. And the Search Engine Result’s page will now look different for everyone; The Book Depository site will rank high on my results but not on Matt’s.

There’s been a bit of a hoo-hah about privacy issues as well. Google will now keep a record of a user’s browsing history for up to 180 days; unless of course you opt out. But, let’s be honest, most people won’t bother.

And it’s received a fairly lukewarm reception from SEO types, although Matt doesn’t feel there’s too much to be concerned about.

“Because it is personalised search, and the results will be relevant to the user, there’s much more chance that a user will click through.

The caveat I suppose is that a customer may visit a site a number of times and still not find what they want which is why they keep looking – and of course they’ll keep being shown the same site.”

Matt continues “Google’s not here to make life easy for SEOs. It’s here to give a user the best results and experience possible. And it’s up to good SEOs to make the best of the opportunities that present themselves.”

This will be an interesting one to watch.


Tags: seo company, seo writing
Posted in Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon 3 Comments »

Putting the ‘oh’ into SEO: An interview with Rob Dobson of SEM London

9th
Oct
by Sarah Turner

This month’s interview is with colleague and SEO consultant Rob Dobson of SEM London. Over a pot of hummus and some carrot sticks (true!) we chatted about a number of things including, why blogging is so great for SEO, the future of SEO, and why Rob still hasn’t got any content on his website!

Turner Ink: Ok Rob. Tell us a bit about what you do. You do more than keyword research don’t you?
SEM London: Well what I do is market a company on the internet. I increase a company’s internet presence. So that includes detailed keyword research, website optimisation and inbound linking. And then of course there’s PPC campaigns, integrating blogs into websites, and helping clients set up their Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages. So yes. It’s a bit more than keyword research.

TI: How has your work changed from a couple of years ago?
SEM: Well, I guess the use of social media has been the biggest change. Potential customers now expect companies to engage with them on different levels whether that’s blogging, Facebook, Twitter or other social media opportunities.

TI: What’s involved in the SEO process? Where do we start?
SEM: Of course keyword research starts the whole process off and is the most important thing to get right. Keyword research not only tells you what key phrases to target in your content but it can even dictate what web address you choose for your site.

TI: I wrote a post a while back about dodgy SEO ‘experts’. How do you differentiate yourself?
SEM: Well, when I’ve been approached by clients that have worked with other SEOs, the thing they have in common is the lack of proper keyword research. Without detailed keyword research it’s just a bunch of guesswork.

And I don’t bamboozle clients with loads and loads of reports that they won’t read. I’d much rather show clients how to use Google Analytics and analyse other metrics, so they can get a real feel for their visitors, customers and potential customers.

To be honest, I just don’t know how some of these SEO ‘experts’ justify £500 a month and then just chuck a fat monthly report at their clients. So many clients come to me having spent a few thousand pounds – and they’re not really sure what on! If a monthly fee is how you wish to charge then it should be clear exactly what you’re getting for that fee each month.

TI: There still seems to be a lot of smoke and mirrors around SEO. Why is that?
SEM: Well there shouldn’t be. It’s true that search engines like Google keep the algorithms – the criteria they use to rank your site – a secret, and, of course, they often change this.

But SEOs should be transparent. You should say what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it and the sort of results you’d expect to see.

TI: Is blogging important for SEO?
SEM: Definitely. If a search engine doesn’t see your site evolving with fresh content or increased backlinks then, rightly so, it decides your site should be given less weight over time. That’s why SEO and website content is an ongoing thing. A blog is a brilliant way to get new content quickly and easily on to your site. A website should never be ‘finished’!

TI: Do you make any promises about getting a client on to page 1 of Google?
SEM: No never. Because you can’t promise something that isn’t entirely under your control. Organic search results cannot be bought. But with proven techniques your chances are greatly enhanced. So when a company starts an SEO campaign they should realise that it needs its own annual spend and it’s an ongoing process. For large organisations this may even require a new role to be created. Website, Search and Social Media Liaison Manager would be a good title!

TI: Tell us a bit more about link campaigns. Why are incoming links so important for the Search Engines?
SEM: An inbound link is a vote of confidence. A vote from Site A to Site B is saying that Site B is worth checking out. But the quality of links is essential. A hundred links from non related or irrelevant sites is less valuable than five from well renowned and trusted sites.

So a link campaign consists of researching linking opportunities. On a basic level this can be links on free business directories or something like Best of the Web Blogs as well as paid-for directories. On a higher level there are things like article marketing.

TI: What’s around the corner for SEO?
SEM: SEO is still very much in its infancy. So I expect demand to increase and the job of SEO to become harder. Much of the real change will depend on the direction the search engines take. Improvements in localised search and possible changes within paid search will provide new opportunities.

TI: What does an SEO project cost?
SEM: Basic keyword research and website optimisation can start in the region of £1.5k.This will get you started on the road of an SEO strategy. Unfortunately marketing yourself online is an ongoing process and an annual budget should be allocated to it. A beneficial initial strategy may cost up to £5k.

TI: So tell us a bit about your background Rob. What did you do before you became an SEO bod?
SEM: In 1995 I was running a small company’s computer network and maintaining their website. I taught myself HTML and how websites should be built. I even did a few myself although I was never much of designer! I got into SEO back in 2003 as I felt the content and the ‘findability’ of the site was more important than all the design bells and whistles that were going on at the time.

The internet taught me about the internet. And I am constantly learning about this evolving industry.

TI: So what’s happening with your website Rob? When are you actually going to get some content on there?
SEM: I know, I know! I first need to find myself a good SEO copywriter. Ha ha! Time constraints and my clients’ success have meant I’ve been unable to practise what I preach. I guess in a way I’m lucky that I haven’t had time to get my own site – SEM London – sorted. But I will do soon. I promise.

TI: And finally, how can people get hold of you Rob?
SEM: Well I have managed to complete a LinkedIn page!

Rob Dobson, SEM LondonRob Dobson is a freelance SEO Consultant. He works with clients directly or via design and development agencies. He has worked for South West Trains, PayPoint, MTV, SITA, and Sanderson as well as many SMEs.


Tags: facebook, linkedin, seo company, seo writing, Social media, twitter
Posted in Interviews with cool people, Social media, Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon No comments yet »

How to choose an SEO company or SEO consultant. (Read this before parting with a penny.)

17th
Aug
by Sarah Turner

Let me come right out and say it: there are a lot of SEO companies out there that are full of bull.

I had such a company email me out of the blue last week. They advised me that they had studied my website (yeah, right) and were concerned that I was not ‘appearing on the major search engines’. Not only that, but apparently, I had ‘very few inbound links’. Utter baloney.

A different company contacted a client of mine to tell him that Google had only cached 9 pages of his website which would adversely affect his search engine position. His website only has 9 pages! And he’s on page 1 of Google for every keyphrase we optimised his web pages for!

It seems that even Google can’t avoid these scammers.

“Dear google.com,
I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed in most of the major search engines and directories…”

Hilarious!

So if you get approached by an SEO company, or you’re in the process of interviewing an SEO company or consultant, this is what you need to know.

1. What other companies have they worked with? How are those websites performing? What keywords are they getting found for? What position do those sites achieve on Google? Ask for a contact at the company they’ve worked for and call them for a testimonial.

2. What search engines are their clients’ sites getting found on? Sure, Bing (formerly MSN) has recently purchased Yahoo Search in a bid to increase its market share. But let’s be honest, Google is the one you want to get found on. Being top of AltaVista, Excite or Lycos is all very well but collectively they have about 0.1% of the global market. Probably not enough to influence your bottom line much.

3. Ask to see a copy of the keyword research they’ve done for you and ask them why they’ve recommended the keywords they have. Remember, you want keywords or keyphrases which are searched for but are not so competitive that there are 1.5 million other sites with that phrase in their page title. Nor do you want to be found at the top of Google for a really offbeat phrase that absolutely no-one is searching for. It’s somewhere in the middle.

4. How are they going to include the keywords or phrases in your copy? Are they going to employ a copywriter to weave the keywords magically into the copy? Or is someone in the office just going to plonk the keywords any old how into the text? (Tip: you want the first one.)

5. Insist your SEO company sign an agreement not to do any work for your competitors. Why should you pay for keyword research and have your competitors benefit?

6. Make sure they give detailed monthly reports and stats. And ones that are easy to understand. You want to see a steady month on month improvement in your search engine rankings. And you want to know what keywords or keyphrases people are using to find your site.

7. Ask them if they actually monitor and analyse your stats? What are they going to do if the site isn’t performing well for the chosen keywords? What’s plan B?

8. Are they going to run a link campaign? Inbound links (links coming into your site) are as equally important for SEO as content. Google assesses a site by the content of the site and the number of quality inbound links there are. And if they are going to run a link campaign, what type of links do they hope to obtain?

 

SEO is not smoke and mirrors. Any SEO bods worth their salt are going to tell you exactly what they’re doing and what they hope to achieve. Remember, no-one can guarantee you top of page 1 of Google.  

A client told me last week that they’re paying £300 a month to an SEO company but they’re not sure what they’re getting for that. That’s £3600 a year and they’re not sure what they’re paying for? Before handing over a penny ask the questions above. If the SEO company or consultant starts muttering and getting all weird, run for the hills. Your money is better spent elsewhere.

Shameless plug: For keyword research, PPC, competitor analysis, link building campaigns and a bunch of other cool stuff, I can highly recommend Rob Dobson at SEM London. (Please note: he’s really good which means he’s always stupidly busy. I have to book him in two months in advance to work with my clients!)


Tags: seo company, seo writing
Posted in How to, Marketing, Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon 1 Comment »

 

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