The Power of SEO: In-house or Outsource?

In my opinion, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the most forgotten and under-utilised marketing tools used towards creating brand awareness and increasing the number of sales (Lee and Seda, 2009). With 93% of internet traffic managed by search engines and 62% of users only clicking on the first search engine results page (SERP), SEO is evermore crucial in getting potential customers onto a particular website or landing page (Egri and Bayrak 2014; Malaga 2008).

It has been said that traditional methods of attempting to improve SEO such as duplicating internal and external content or relying on the domain name, have become ineffective. As technology develops, organisations should take advantage of using sophisticated tools and approaches to maximise search engine results and achieve marketing goals (Green, 2003). Some of the optimisation platforms and tools such as Google Analytics, MOZ and Webmaster Tools are known to be useful resources to uncover any issues that may be affecting search rankings.

When working on SEO, it is important to be aware of the guidelines set by the internet providers as failure to conform can result in penalties. In 2013, Interflora, flower delivery company, were accused of ‘link selling’ through advertorial pages to newspapers (Wired, 2013). Through these links, this form of Black Hat SEO would attract search engine ‘spiders’ to increase links back to Interflora. These unethical action performed by Interflora resulted in reduced site visibility and lower rankings in search results due to being banned by Google.

Fortunately, Interflora managed to recover from their Black Hat SEO and gained their search rankings again after only 11 days of being penalised (Searchengineland, 2013). The above screenshot shows their current ranking under search term ‘valentines flowers’.

In some cases where there is a lack of knowledge on SEO marketing, companies may benefit from outsourcing to digital marketing consultancies to help with search optimisation. SwellPath were commissioned by Nike Golf to increase the number of visitors to the Nike Golf website during the sports season (Swell Path, 2012). Through the help of Swell Path, Nike Golf saw an increase in search traffic of over 200% between 2010 and 2012 (Examiner, 2016).

Another example is that of Sky News, who sought help from Unique Digital to increase awareness on pay-per-click (PPC) pages. By running the RSS feeds through optimiser technology, Unique Digital were able to automatically generate keywords for Sky News in relation to particular news stories (Econsultancy, 2013). Once it was received by the RSS, pages would be uploaded to search engines which allowed Sky News to generate large search volumes quickly. This campaign led to high click-through volumes of more than 100,000 clicks (costing under 25p per click).

From these examples we can see that through external help of digital agencies, companies are able to succeed in their marketing targets for specific campaigns. However for long-term search engine management, this costly method is not ideal. In order to remain competitive, consistent evaluation of search engine results, site traffic, competitor movements and Google Algorithms should be performed to identify any updates needed. For smaller businesses that may have access to less resources, there may be no options other than internally managing SEO, even for specific campaigns.

A mixture of on-page and off-page SEO that can easily be incorporated includes:

• Ensure the site is indexed
• Using Google Analytics and Keyword Planner to gain marketing data and identify appropriate keywords used by target audiences
• Include ‘title tags’ (recommended less than 65 characters) and meta description tags (recommended less than 155 characters)
• Ensure correct HTML is used on webpages with relevant keywords in Title, H1, H2, H3 etc.
• Incorporate relevant descriptive/ALT tags when embedding images within webpages
• Use internal links throughout your website (especially on the ‘main’ pages) as this allows Google to crawl the entire site and find as many pages as possible
• Avoid duplicated content across internal and external webpages
• Using original content which includes natural language influenced by keyword research
• Regularly check Google algorithm updates and Terms & Conditions

  (A full list of techniques to enhance SEO can be found here).

So is it better to optimise search engines in-house or through an external SEO consultancy? In my opinion, if a company required quick, short-term search engine rankings in relation to a targeted campaign (such as previous example of Nike Golf), then it may be worthwhile to pay for external specialised help. However for long-term maintenance against competitors, for example ensuring your website remains top ranking on the first SERP, then managing in-house is a more cost-effective route so long as the staff have good knowledge on SEO, of course!

References:
Econsultancy, 2013. Six examples of effective PPC and SEO campaigns. [Online]. Available at: . [Accesed 1 February 2016].

Egri, G and Bayrak, C. (2014). The Role of Search Engine Optimisation on Keeping the User on the Site. Procedia Computer Science. Vol 36. PP. 335-342.

Examiner, 2016. SEO Case Study: Nike Golf. [Online]. Available at: . [Accessed 31 January 2016].

Green, C. D., (2003). Search Engine Marketing: Why It Benefits Us All. Business Information Review. 20 (4). PP. 195-202.

Lee, K and Seda, C. 2009. Search Engine Advertising: Buying Your Way to the Top to Increase Sales. 2nd Ed. New Riders: Berkeley.

Malaga, R. A., (2008). Worst Practices in Search Engine Optimization. Communications of the ACM. 51 (12). PP. 147-150.

Searchengineland, 2013. Interflora Gets Its Google Rankings Back, 11 Days After Penalty. [Online]. Available at: . [Accessed 27 January 2016].

Swell Path, 2012. SEO Case Study. [PDF]. Available at: . [Accessed 3 January 2016].

Wired, 2013. Interflora UK Apparently Banished from Google Search. [Online]. Available at: . [Accessed 27 January 2016].