Don’t Sabotage Your SEO Campaign!

I’ve often found that companies can be their own worst enemies when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). Many people believe that search engine optimization is an isolated exercise that you can hire a SEO company to look after and then not be involved. This couldn’t be further from the truth! The most successful SEO campaigns happen when clients and their SEO company work together.

The following are some tips on how to help your SEO company and avoid inadvertently sabotaging your SEO campaign:

1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!

A good SEO company needs to understand your business’ goals, audience and priorities as an understanding of your business will be needed to develop a sound strategy. You can help your online marketing team by communicating:

• What products and services are your biggest priority or offer the highest margins
• Who your customers are
• Where you fit in your industry. Are you a market leader? An innovator? A newcomer?
• What your overall online marketing goals are. Building brand awareness? Increasing leads or sales? Communicating with customers?
• What your expectations, performance indicators and benchmarks for success are

A credible SEO company will want to know all of the above. Without this information, they’re firing in the dark!

2. Define the Relationship

Empower your online marketers to act by defining what actions will require your approval and which changes can be reviewed after implementation. For example:

• Does your online marketing team have the ability to make changes to your website or should they work with your website developers to implement them?
• Is it necessary to have small changes approved before implementation?
• Is permission required before acquiring certain kinds of links to your site?
• Who will write new content?

The temptation is to keep your SEO company on a tight leash.  However, a good online marketer will only make changes they believe are in line with what you’ve articulated, so by separating big decisions from routine ones you can enable your online marketers to work more efficiently.

3. Don’t Be a Roadblock

Give timely responses to recommendations from your online marketers. It’s easy to overlook your SEO campaign when there’s a lot on the go, but even the best SEO company in the world can’t improve rankings without the ability to influence changes in your website’s content and incoming links.

Additionally, keep in mind that the longer a recommendation spends awaiting approval, the longer you’ll wait to see results.

4. Connect Online & Offline Marketing

Offline activities can easily translate into valuable content and links for your SEO campaign! For example, all of the following can have SEO benefits:

• Contests and competitions
• Special events and event sponsorships
• Media coverage (interviews, press releases, newspaper articles, etc.)
• Sales and specials

Online marketing is an extension of the marketing efforts you’re already doing, so keep your online marketers “in the loop” when it comes to what’s going on offline. They’ll find ways to make your traditional marketing pay off online as well.

5. Don’t Unplug!

Above all, stay connected. You may not need to be immersed in your online marketing every day, but never let the pulse go flat. As your campaign progresses there will be new recommendations, opportunities and challenges that will need your input.

The bottom line is that you should view SEO as a cooperative partnership between you and your SEO company. They’ll do the heavy lifting, but you also play a valuable role in keeping it all moving smoothly.