Our team and I were talking the other day, after a conversation with a potential client here in our Brisbane office.

The poor bloke had spent a fair bit on SEO for his business, but even after 12 months, hadn't seen a decent return on his outlay. It was a frustrating discussion, because the theme was a familiar one and we were sorry to hear his story.

SEO is only a PART of your digital marketing strategy.

The problem was that, like so many that we see, his SEO wasn't integrated properly with his overall website design and content. So, even though his traffic WAS increasing, he wasn't seeing the level of sales he should have because conversions were low.

SEO is only part of the jigsaw. You need an integrated digital marketing strategy to see a return on your investment

In his case, an overly enthusiastic SEO agency had pitched that search engine marketing would get him on page one of Google, and that would make him prosper.

Hmmm...

The problem is, in all the excitement, people forget that 'traffic' doesn't necessarily translate into 'customers'.

To put SEO in perspective...

Let's compare your website to an offline situation: a retail shop.

As many gloomy-faced business owners have discovered, a location in a shopping mall with high foot-traffic PAST the door doesn't necessarily mean that your shop will have a high customer count THROUGH the door.

In my earlier years in shopping centre marketing, I saw this many times — where a retailer paid a high rent for a prominent location, but failed to prosper because their presentation, customer service, marketing, product pricing and a multitude of other issues where out of whack.

SEO like the shopping mall in Queen St. It gets the traffic to your door, but you STILL need to turn traffic onto customers.

The way we see it, the purpose of a credible and professional SEO agency to bring traffic to your site. There needs to be a process of optimising your website for specific keywords, so that people can find you when they look for those keywords on a search engine.

HOWEVER...

You must also convert that traffic into bankable business! That's why your web designer and web copywriter must ALSO be involved in the process, so as to pull everything together.

Digital marketing: the bigger picture.

To get a profitable result, you need to think more broadly than search engine optimisation alone. You must think in terms of digital marketing — which covers a much broader spectrum of marketing issues.

The end-game is to convert 'traffic' into 'customers'. Typically, it involves the combined expertise of a web copywriter and marketing strategist — working closely with your web developer and graphic designer.

Your team must work together, to:

1. Engage people and draw them into your website,
2. Build your brand,
3. Increase the perceived value of your offering, so people will see the real VALUE,
4. Make you more appealing than your competitors,
5. Reassure your target market about your ability to deliver on your promises,
6. Overcome objections and
7. Pull people through to the point where they buy or make contact in some way.

All of this takes work, and it is very important work. If these issues are not handled correctly by your marketing team, (with a consistent, steady process of measuring results, fine tuning and testing the pages of your website), your investment in SEO will show a diminished return, as you won't capitalise on the traffic that is generated.

Need some help with developing a comprehensive SEO and digital marketing strategy?

 We'd love to help you to grow your business, and you can be sure we will take a genuine interest in you, your ideas, your objectives and your challenges. So get in touch with us today by arranging a no-obligation chat about your SEO and marketing needs.