In the past, it has been typical to rely on one person in an organisation to focus on the SEO efforts for the whole company. In an isolated role, SEO professionals haven’t necessarily been considered as people who need to be in close contact with other departments, but to continue to think this way would be a big mistake. The last two years in particular, with the rise of mobile internet and the age of user experience, have shown just how powerful search marketing is. Here are the best reasons to be focusing on cross-department work in a search engine optimisation agency.
You can’t have SEO without content
Google’s algorithms have made it nigh on impossible to rank for search terms in the way you could five years ago. Unique content that is of high quality and that offers real value to users is what sets the first page results apart. To expect this level of output from a one-person SEO team would be aiming too low. Whether you have a dedicated content team or it is integrated with your marketing department, there is no better time to be creating content that really shines. The SEO benefits of super-charged content are just too good to ignore.
Getting the tech team on board
You can’t expect your site to rank on Google, if the site itself isn’t at optimum visibility for search engine indexing. This starts at the very foundation of your website. As an example, the speed of your website can have a significant impact on your SEO. If your site takes too long to load, Google is less likely to recognise it as an authority site, which can have an impact on your overall domain authority (also an important SEO factor).
Tapping into local knowledge
Locality-based SEO has been gaining traction for some time now, and thanks to a range of location-specific results like maps and reviews, it is extremely important for businesses to draw on the knowledge of other departments to make sure they are targeting the right demographic with SEO efforts. This includes content, as well as more analytical SEO like paid advertising and social media native adverts. For example, a digital marketing agency targeting the Hampshire region would need to ensure that they have quality localised content on their website, optimised for their exact market.
Sales data and the funnel
Statistics that come from sales staff can be powerful in allowing your agency to focus SEO efforts. Analytical tools mean that SEO professionals can identify trends in the so-called sales funnel. By noticing where people are most likely to leave a website (driving up bounce rate), they can work to improve on things like call-to-action, or can re-evaluate the keywords that are being targeted. It is often the case that businesses aren’t targeting long-tail key phrases, which would actually yield greater results for them in more specific searches.
For more information on SEO, talk to our team. Atelier is a digital marketing agency in Hampshire