The 2015 Enterprise Buyer s Guide to SEO. The 2015 Enterprise. Buyer s Guide to SEO. Guide to Sustainable SEO

Transcription

1 The 2015 Enterprise Buyer s Guide to SEO A Guide to Sustainable SEO 1 digital.relevance.com

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary The Need for a Sustainable SEO Strategy 2015 Organic Search Trends The Foundation of a Sustainable SEO Strategy The Strategic Framework for Sustainable SEO Common Traits of Winning SEO Providers Must-Ask Questions to Include in an RFI/RFP Conclusion Sources digital.relevance.com

3 Executive Summary Enterprise marketing executives have faced no shortage of challenges in The world of digital marketing seems to turn on a dime, and today s executives must be adaptable to succeed. The realm of organic search is no exception its breadth of influence in marketing has grown dramatically in the past year alone. Organic search affects every aspect of a brand s digital presence and provides touch points for customers at every stage of the buying cycle. The ante has been upped, and true SEO solutions are more complicated than they used to be. As a result, finding the right SEO partner is now more critical than ever before. True SEO solutions are more complicated than they used to be. Finding the right SEO partner is now more critical than ever before. Questionable search engine optimization practices have led to disagreement among service providers as the term SEO became associated with Black Hat tactics and assumed a negative connotation. Convergence of service providers around content marketing and the resulting ambiguity of messaging have made it difficult for enterprise brands to cut through the clutter, understand core competencies and effectively choose search partners that will lead them to longterm organic search growth. This guide was written to help enterprise marketing executives understand what it takes to implement a sustainable SEO strategy amidst an ever-changing search landscape and how to pick the right partner to lead them to success. 3 digital.relevance.com

4 This guide will address the following topics: The need for a sustainable SEO strategy in organic search trends The foundation of a sustainable SEO strategy The strategic framework for sustainable SEO Common traits of winning SEO providers Must-ask questions to include in an RFI/RFP The information and insights found in this guide will provide marketing executives with direction for developing the type of SEO strategy that will drive results both now and in the future. It will also provide clarity by which to choose an optimal partner for executing that strategy. Successful marketing executives in the coming year will be the ones who understand what it takes to win at search and who will lead them to victory. It s survival of the fittest, so let this be your guide to SEO fitness in digital.relevance.com

5 The Need for a Sustainable SEO Strategy As long as people are going to search engines to find information, products and services, SEO will always be relevant. Today, organic search remains the channel that drives 1 the most visitors, earns the most customers, and produces the highest ROI for both B2B and B2C companies. Research 2 has shown that nearly two-thirds of all web traffic is driven from organic search. As the Internet continues to redefine and moderate consumer behavior in the future, search will tighten its hold as the channel that rules the economics of global commerce. The small handful of companies that are able to capitalize on this channel will ultimately own disproportionate shares of their respective markets. The first step on a long road to organic search growth is embracing a sustainable SEO strategy. Shortcuts are no longer good enough. It s too expensive for enterprise brands to continue pursuing SEO strategies built on loopholes in search algorithms, and the risk of manual penalties is far too high. Search algorithms will only get smarter, and no company will beat the engines in the SEO arms race. It s time for brands to stop chasing short-term returns. Success in organic search cannot be bought or cheated anymore. It must be earned over time by creation of true value for prospects and customers. In today s advanced search engine ecosystem, the only strategy that will work is a sustainable one. Success in organic search cannot be bought or cheated anymore. It must be earned over time by creation of true value for prospects and customers. 5 digital.relevance.com

6 2015 Organic Search Trends Most search engine marketers are aware of the major changes 3 in Google s search algorithm over the past few years. Elements like quality and frequency of content, social signals, bounce rates, time on page, and link profile have long been known to affect Google s search results, among other factors. Anything that can influence these results, no matter how small, must be understood in order to stay on top in search. Here are a few key Google algorithm updates that have occurred in 2014: 2014 January Top Heavy Page Layout #3 update penalizes sites with too many ads above the fold July February March April Payday Loan 3.0 update targets spammy search queries June May Payday Loan 2.0 update targets especially spammy sites Pigeon update creates closer ties between local and core algorithms Authorship Photo Drop update removes all authorship photos from SERPs Panda 4.0 prevents sites with low-quality content from reaching top results pages HTTPS/SSL update gives ranking preference to secure sites August September Authorship Removal update completely removes all authorship markup from SERPs October 2015??? THE BIG PICTURE SEO has long been considered a technical specialty, siloed from other marketing functions, and focused on adapting to irregular search algorithm updates. This outdated SEO model is reactive, rather than proactive, and isn t sustainable. But at the same time, it s nearly impossible to predict algorithm updates that will come in the future and banking on this approach is a fool s game. 6 digital.relevance.com

7 Industry-wide volatility has ushered in a new era of SEO; one that requires a holistic view of macro search trends rather than a laser focus on one-off algorithm updates. As search becomes an integral part of a larger digital marketing mission, marketers can mitigate risk and build sustainable strategies by focusing on the big picture. A true understanding of the following macro trends is the first step towards implementing a sustainable SEO strategy. 16% of all searches done today have never been seen before. 16% INCREASE OF LONG-TAIL SEARCH TRAFFIC According to Google, 16% of all searches 4 done today will be ones that have never been seen before. With the increase of long-tail search traffic, brands must find creative ways to use consumer insights to regularly produce targeted content that will capture traffic from a large volume of queries. CHANGING DISPLAY OF SEARCH RESULTS SEOs are often the only ones paying attention to the display of search results, despite the substantial impact it can have on how companies bring in revenue. Google s Carousel and Knowledge Graph have revolutionized the way search results are displayed online, so brands must begin thinking about how they can ensure visibility when Google has taken over delivery of information as a purveyor. Additionally, with the marginalization of differences between paid and organic search results, brands must consider how the two strategies can be merged to support each other. MERGING OF THOUGHT LEADERSHIP AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT Even content that you may think is great, is not truly considered great by Google unless it is supported with social proof. Neither thought leadership nor social engagement on its own is enough, but, a combination of the two will drive SEO success. Marketers need to create valuable content and ensure that the media and consumers are engaging with it in order to see desirable returns. 7 digital.relevance.com

8 VALUE OF TRULY EARNED LINKS Link building, particularly off-page link building, has long been a way to demonstrate value in search. In the past, brands have focused on a variety link building techniques, many of which no longer carry the same weight they once did. As a result, links that are truly earned are becoming more valuable due to the devaluation of built and paid links. FRAGMENTATION OF SEARCH The internet search space is becoming fragmented, due largely to the prominence of online information providers, mobile devices, and applications that allow for internal search functions. Brands must focus on optimizing content for other platforms like Amazon, Wikipedia, Yelp, and mobile applications all of which are taking search volume away from Google. DIMINISHING FOCUS ON KEYWORDS AND RANKINGS This trend was first manifested in Google s encryption of keyword search data. As information consumption continues to fragment across devices and applications, search engine optimization, as it s known today, may diminish. In the future, focus on keywords and rankings may die entirely. Instead, search optimization may become about increasing brand visibility across a multitude of digital properties, whether online or in niche applications. PERSONALIZATION As the search for information fractures across digital properties, results will become increasingly personalized. Each person will see different results based on local, psychographic and demographic information. In a hyper-personalized search space, a company s visibility across channels will depend on becoming the most prominent brand in their digital realm. Brands that can effectively utilize personalized marketing tools will stay ahead of the curve. 8 digital.relevance.com

9 IMPORTANCE OF MOBILE Mobile Internet usage officially surpassed 5 desktop Internet usage in While mobile browsing is flat, traffic from mobile apps is on the rise. Brands need to position themselves to capture traffic from mobile devices, if they haven t already. Search engine mobile ranking algorithms call for different best practices than desktop algorithms, so it s crucial for brands to have mobilespecific content and set up site pages in a way that these algorithms are familiar with. 2014: Mobile Internet Use Overtakes Desktop Use mobile desktop 2000 mobile use takes over 1600 internet users digital.relevance.com

10 The Foundation of a Sustainable SEO Strategy There is no true future for any SEO strategy that involves gaming the search algorithm. It s not news and it s not a trend: hacking your way to search success is not a sustainable strategy. Black hat SEO tactics provide little to no return and carry a high risk if caught by Google s Webspam team. In an era in which search visibility can make or break a brand, understanding what is necessary to execute a proactive and sustainable cross-functional search strategy is key to longterm organic search growth. RECOGNITION OF ORGANIC SEARCH AS A TOP MARKETING CHANNEL Enterprise organizations cannot afford to take the organic search channel for granted. Search demands the same budgetary respect of any other marketing channel it is being compared against. This means that marketers should expect to get 5-10x annual return on their search investment, and that they should expect to spend as much or more than their dedicated budgets for paid and traditional campaigns with a true SEO partner. Anything less would likely not buy the kind of services needed today, nor the kind of work that will move the needle over time. The companies that are taking the channel seriously today will be the companies that dominate the channel tomorrow. Channel Services Old SEO Structure SEO Search $ Paid Search Social Media Public Relations Website Mobile Display 10 digital.relevance.com

11 There is no true future for any SEO strategy that involves gaming the search algorithm. INTEGRATION OF MULTI-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS In today s organic search landscape, tangible results come from the unified efforts of a variety of functional groups, from PR teams to marketing communication teams, and social teams to IT teams. Traditional SEO was purely technical and results could be driven through SEO specialists alone in a silo. Today, SEO looks more like good marketing, and integration across a multitude of marketing functions is necessary to move the needle. Sustainable SEO is about providing research, insights and strategy to guide and orchestrate the efforts of other marketing functional groups in order to reap organic search benefits. New SEO Structure Public Relations Channel Services Social Media SEO Website Mobile Display $ Paid Search 11 digital.relevance.com

12 Sustainable SEO should: CONTRIBUTE PROVIDE INFORM Contribute to all digital marketing efforts on topics ranging from site architecture to competitive gaps and opportunities. Provide optimization advice and content suggestions for each and every marketing channel. Inform a company how well its web properties are serving its user base, what kinds of questions users are asking that the website isn t answering, and how to integrate an understanding of user activity in search to inform other functions like social, PR, and . Most enterprise companies have started to restructure their organizations to make the most of the organic search channel. This involves changing the way departments work and the way they hire. To make it all sustainable, managers must assign vested owners with time and budget for every department that touches the online space for their business. They must integrate the understanding of search behavior and SEO best practices into the larger digital marketing strategy for the organization. A COMPREHENSIVE CONTENT STRATEGY Today s SEO looks much more like a function of digital marketing than it used to. Now, it s about building an online brand while becoming a trusted and authoritative resource for prospects and customers. Creating valuable content is a great way to increase market share and help consumers through the buying cycle. This requires the deployment of a strategy that utilizes both editorial and commercial content to draw consumers to your website and convert them to customers. A sustainable SEO strategy is one that ensures that the brand s online properties are answering customers questions and solving their problems at every stage of the sales funnel no matter 12 digital.relevance.com

13 which channels they frequent or which devices they use. This means that great websites must be accessible to all users in all digital formats. Back-end architecture must be optimized for front-end usability, and content, both on-site and off-site, should be optimized for users first and search engines second. OPTIMIZING FOR USERS, NOT SEARCH ENGINES No longer should SEOs optimize web content just for search engines they must focus on optimizing for consumers. SEO success is achieved when consumers find a brand s content to be relevant, top quality and valuable. Truly optimizing for users has always been the best sustainable SEO strategy, but it s more important now than ever before. The days of gaming the system are over. Temporary spikes may occur with short-term strategies, but long-term results will not follow. SEO success is achieved when consumers find a brand s content to be relevant, top quality and valuable. A SHARING MINDSET The root of a sustainable SEO strategy is an organization-wide attitude. Everyone should be on board with making a whole-hearted effort to share your company s best and most useful information with the world, and to demand that that information gets seen and covered. Thinking of search around traditional search engines is a limited focus. Now that social platforms and commerce platforms are being used to answer questions, purchase products, solve problems and entertain, they are intrinsically part of the overall search landscape. Social signals influence organic results and organic results can contain social results. Third party endorsements, universal results, knowledge graph, and app indexing all flood the search engine results pages. Enterprise organizations must embrace the mindset that search is no longer just about rankings in search results, it s about overall brand visibility online. How a brand ranks in the top ten results for a keyword query is a KPI only, and not the end goal of SEO. 13 digital.relevance.com

14 The Strategic Framework for Sustainable SEO Great content is at the root of every sustainable SEO strategy. Great content should help, educate, and inform prospects and customers at every stage of the funnel. But when it comes to earning inbound links as an off-site SEO strategy, content production alone is not enough. Strategic promotion and distribution are necessary for earning media coverage and audience engagement. Then, conversion steps must be in place to drive traffic and leads accordingly. Embracing a sustainable SEO strategy involves earning links to a value-added contribution rather than to a service, product or category page. This can be executed in four stages: research, creation, promotion and conversion. RESEARCH The research phase is critical, as it will drive the execution of all tactics in subsequent phases. The research phase should determine the needs and behaviors of the target audience, the subject matter and format of the content to be created, the channels of distribution, and more. Keyword research, audience analysis, content gap analysis, media and influencer analysis, and competitive assessments should be the foundation of the content creation and promotion phases. CREATION Brands need to look to new ways of building high-quality, offpage links by first creating valuable content to contribute to their industry space. At the top of the funnel, however, not all content is fit to be promoted. A true contribution that will build online search visibility is one that solves customer problems by educating, informing or entertaining. It is an inherently helpful asset that will not only appeal to end users, but also to media outlets and influencers in the industry. Enterprise organizations should look to create hilltops with industry contributions that position them as thought leaders in the eyes of their prospects and customers. 14 digital.relevance.com

15 PROMOTION Off-page signals are the most influential elements in leading search engine algorithms. This is not likely to change anytime soon, so marketers must learn how to acquire links sustainably by earning them rather than building them. Highly reputable off-site signals drive a domain s authority and search visibility, and the most sustainable way to earn authoritative off-site links is by creating content so valuable that it s worthy of being cited. However, even the best content in the world is not guaranteed to get discovered organically, especially for organizations that don t have large existing audiences. Therefore, a promotion phase is necessary for exposing content to a target audience online and ultimately earning traffic, engagement, conversions and links. Enterprise organizations should deploy a threepronged approach to content promotion: earned, owned, and paid. A well-balanced promotion strategy is key to earning links that will build brand relevance online. CONVERSION The ultimate goal of increased search traffic and visibility is, of course, conversions. Whether leads or closed sales, organic search must be tied into the bottom line to prove return on investment. This means that organizations must be properly user-optimized to convert all traffic that is driven back to landing site pages. Success of a sustainable SEO strategy should be measured through traffic and leads, rather than search visibility and rankings. 15 digital.relevance.com

16 Common Traits of Winning SEO Providers PASSION Enterprise companies should seek out SEO providers that have the guts to tell them what it s really going to take to get the job done. These partners will not sacrifice quality for a quick win. They respect the organic channel enough to only recommend pursuing a sustainable strategy that will allow their partner to sleep better at night. A TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS A top-notch SEO provider should be able to demonstrate an impressive and sustained track record across multiple brands and challenging verticals over time. This will speak to the organization s ability to stay current with trends and adapt to meet challenges presented by search volatility. If an organization has pivoted to find success in the past, they will be more likely to be able to do it again. A LONG-TERM FOCUS A sustainable SEO partner will care about much more than just your search rankings. They will seek to understand your sales funnel and how your content aligns to it. They will assign appropriate KPIs to different projects depending upon where those projects lie in the sales funnel. Then, they will have the ability to measure and update campaigns accurately, report effectively in analytics, learn from data and execute changes. A long-term focus requires a deep understanding of the client s customer journey, sales funnel, current state of the website, opportunities, challenges, competitors, market trends, and overall marketing objectives. 16 digital.relevance.com

17 A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH Be wary of SEO providers that specialize in a single technical area. Lots of expertise across a variety of practices is a sign of a holistic and sustainable approach to SEO. Look for a partner that has a true understanding of the interplay between search, media outreach, content, technical elements, and social factors. An enterprise company will see the greatest returns in its organic channel when all those teams are working together. Each of those functional groups influence the factors that Google s algorithm values. THE ABILITY TO EXECUTE AND PROVE ROI A sustainable SEO partner will have experience executing its strategy across a number of verticals for both B2B and B2C clients. They must understand the importance of research, creation, promotion and conversion, as well as the tactical expertise and resources required to execute each phase. Finally, a sustainable SEO partner will know how to measure the success of its campaigns and prove ROI for its enterprise partner. 17 digital.relevance.com

18 Must-Ask Questions to Include in an RFI/RFP SEO providers may not give you direct answers to sensitive questions if you do not seek them out. Learn where they stand in this volatile industry by asking tough questions about their philosophy, capabilities, and differentiating factors. Here are ten questions focused on sustainable SEO services that you should ask in an RFI or RFP. 1. How do you engineer a content marketing campaign for success in organic search? 2. What role does content promotion play in your SEO strategy? 3. What client accomplishment are you most proud of over the past 12 months? 4. Since you ve been in business, how has your SEO strategy changed over time? 5. What is your approach to earned media and building off-site signals? 6. What relevant experience do you have executing content marketing campaigns in my industry space? 7. What is your experience working with different marketing functional groups for clients in the past? 8. What is your ability to produce recommended content? 9. What do you consider to be best-in-class SEO? 10. How do you report on the impact of a campaign? What KPI s, how often, what format? 18 digital.relevance.com

19 Conclusion For consumers, search is a means by which to find answers and entertainment. For businesses, search gives insights into how consumers use the Internet and how to respond to those customers needs. Every day, people search for information about products and services, and they search with commercial intent. As long as organic search is driving real business results, SEO will not only be relevant, it will be a critical function within every enterprise organization s marketing department. SEO is not dead, but the short-term tactics designed to exploit rather than build relevance are certainly dying and a new generation of customer-centric SEO is taking its place. While the role of SEO specialists within enterprise organizations has fundamentally changed, 2015 will see that role rise to prominence as SEO becomes an integral function of the big digital marketing picture that is now more important than ever before. True SEO touches every aspect of a brand s digital presence and every stage of the customer buying cycle. A sustainable search strategy that drives long-term ROI is no longer a nice-to-have, it s a need-to-have. Organic search is a game of survival of the fittest. Is your brand positioned to survive in 2015? TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE SEO STRATEGY FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION CONTACT US 19 digital.relevance.com

20 Sources 1. Conductor Blog 2. Conductor Blog 3. Moz 4. Google Ads 5. Mequoda 6. Big Sea 20 digital.relevance.com

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