Maintaining the highest position in Organic Search

What are the risks involved?

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Search engines are an important way of obtaining information on the Internet while Google.com is the most popular search engine today holding over “70% of the search market share”. HubSpot (2019)

SEO is a set of technical tasks helping organisations secure top positions in search engine results Sungin et. al., (2016). Gupta et. al., (2013) outlines that the key benefits of SEO are wide like, tracking a website, ranking, and increasing brand awareness.

This blog aims to provide a wide variety of research outlining what is important when thinking about ‘maintaining the highest position in organic search’ and the processes a company can follow summarising tips and guides while critically evaluating any potential risks involved.

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Importantly, organic search is any search result coming from a search engine that cannot be affected by paid advertising like google ads. Organic search results will be ranked according to their relevance in terms of search words. The results that come up will not include adverts but you will be able to find some famous search snippets like maps, images, articles. Clearly, ‘organic search’ is only used to describe if a website or pages appear on google listings without the company or individual placing an ad for them.

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The actual process happens when searching. According to EVOK (2019), “when someone asks Google for information on a specific topic, the search engine serves up what it thinks are the most relevant pages. These organic results appear just below any ads and ranked based on their quality and content.” Although, most of the literature focuses on paid clicks, the bulk of most of the traffic that is generated online comes from search engines using organic links. (Jerath et. al., 2014) Moreover, advertisers engage in SEO to improve the “organic clicks rather than purchase sponsored links for paid clicks (Berman and Katona, 2013)

Organic Search VS Paid Search 

The challenges that the digital marketing world is facing rarely have clear cut solutions. The only reason one would choose between organic or paid search is to increase the websites visibility.

Web presence simplistically means ensuring that the website is rich in content containing valuable information for any potential member who want’s to read it. By focusing on both organic and paid search you can benefit from the fast acting nature of the paid campaigns while also driving the long-term results through effectively by optimising the content of the website. It is easy to see and understand where you are at the moment by taking an SEO audit. (Baye, De los Santos and Wildenbeest, 2015)

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You already know that having a prominent online presence supported by an effective SEO strategy  is indispensable while the goal of SEO is to influence the position of a website in search result pages of the search engine.

Certain benefits and drawbacks can help evaluate if they are satisfactory or not.

Organic Search Benefits

1. Trust and credibility: High search rankings imply industry authority, leadership, exerting trust to the average consumer.
2. Evergreen: Specific listings may rank high long after the content was created.
3. Ranking: Once you get high rankings, it’s easier to keep those rankings.
4. Click through rates: For “top of funnel” search terms, I.e., don’t show immediate purchase intent, the click through rates are better for organic search results. That’s very important for businesses that have a longer buying cycle.
5. Inbound marketing: Develop the content assets to achieve it. This is important for higher involvement purchases. Users interact with content as they move down the purchase funnel. (Khraim, 2015)

Organic Search Drawbacks

1. Time: Depends on how competitive the keywords and it might take months or even years to become involved in the high rankings. Can a company afford to wait this long? The call is on them depending on their strategic initiatives.
2. Resources: high rankings require creating content that can use SEO tactics in order to achieve it and this can be difficult, frustrating and time consuming for the internal or external staff who are needed for these functions.

(Khraim, 2015)

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Lastly, everyone has a different point of view on SEO methods, but even so they all have similar long-term goals, so you need to be innovative and original. The bottom line is that you must decide if you will use paid search or organic search for your marketing as seen above all depending on the needs and opportunities that you have. You will need to decide which method gives you the best CTR or ROI and whether paid or organic search is better depending on your own needs.

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References

Baye, M. R., De los Santos, B. and Wildenbeest, M. R. (2015) “Search Engine Optimization: What Drives Organic Traffic to Retail Sites?,” Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 25(1), pp. 6–31. doi: 10.1111/jems.12141.

Berman, R., and Z. Katona, 2013, “The Role of Search Engine Optimization in Search Marketing,” Marketing Science, 32, 644–651.

Forsey, C. (2018) The Top 7 Search Engines, Ranked by Popularity. [Online] Available at: < https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/top-search-engines (Accessed: March 15, 2019). > [Accessed 16 March 2019]

Gupta S., Miglani S., Sundriyal V. (2013) Search Engine Optimization Techniques. Vol.2, Issue 9, Published: International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology

Geekschip (2018) Best SEO Tips to Boost Website Traffic in 2018 – Geekschip, Geekschip – Blog. [Online] Available at: < https://www.geekschip.com/blog/seo-tips-to-boost-website-traffic/ (Accessed: March 15, 2019) > [Accessed 16 March 2019]

Jerath, K., L. Ma, and Y.‐H. Park, 2014, “Consumer Click Behavior at a Search Engine: The Role of Keyword Popularity,” Journal of Marketing Research, 51, 480–486.

Khraim, H. S. (2015) “The Impact of Search Engine Optimization on Online Advertisement: The Case of Companies using E-Marketing in Jordan,” American Journal of Business and Management, 4(2). doi: 10.11634/216796061504676.

Organic Search vs. Paid Search: Where Should Credit Unions Focus? (2018) [Online]Evok Advertising. Available at: < https://www.evokad.com/credit-union-organic-vs-paid-search/. > [Accessed 16 March 2019]

Sungin L., Wonhong J. et al. (2016) Search engine optimization. Vol. 34, Issue 2.

Sellers, P. (1989), “Getting customers to love you”, Fortune, March 13, pp.38-49

-This is a student blog post.-

CUSTOMER ACQUISITION & SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)

What are the risks involved?

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SEO is a set of technical tasks helping organisations secure top positions in search engine results Sungin et. al., (2016). Furthermore, SEO is “highly effective in the post-sale enablement, adoption, and retention phases of customer marketing”, very common for any company to expand their digital marketing strategies effectively and efficiently.

Gupta et. al., (2013) outlines that the key benefits of SEO are wide like, tracking a website, ranking, estimating the total traffic, and increasing brand awareness.

This blog aims to provide a wide variety of research outlining what is important when thinking about ‘customer acquisition and SEO through organic search’ and the processes a company can follow summarising tips and guides while critically evaluating any potential risks involved.

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Clearly, when looking at the last five years “the cost of acquiring new customers increased by 50%” Hub-spot (2019) with marketing becoming more expensive, customers becoming less trustworthy of what they see and companies trying to increase their sales by promoting trust.

Smart Insights (2019) defines a customer acquisition strategy as “the best mix of media and engagement gaining new customers by targeting them through online and offline customer journeys”. Intrinsically, the management guru, Peter Drucker (1973), outlines that “the sole purpose of a business is to create a customer”

When looking at SEO there is a list of initiatives a company must consider while understanding their audience and business. One must be using SEO through multiple channels, but keywords and links remain significant.

• Keyword research 

Hill (2007) describes keywords as influential but not unique since a company must know their target audience before understanding this concept. Contrastingly, DeMers (2014) emphasises keyword research by saying that “without a proper keyword research, any SEO campaign is doomed to fail”, this has been supported by many scholars. For excellent results a long tail approach is vital because it gathers precise words.

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• Link Building

The development of the right links is indispensable in such a competitive world. Hill (2017) mentions that a company can build up links with other websites, blogs or influencers to increase popularity. Significantly, SEO is an investment in better visibility and higher ranking by protecting a company’s internet assets. Spencer (2015) Fundamentally, link risk management is used to protect traffic and the income generated from it.

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• Mobile SEO

As most millennials and generation Z individuals we grew up in a digital era involved with whatever is happening around us at any given time. Toonen (2017) states that “mobile traffic has now eclipsed desktop traffic”. According to the author, smartphone users have a higher buyer intent than desktop users which is beneficial for brands or companies selling online products. Not many businesses are up-to-date regarding some recent innovative features of mobile phones such as Siri for iPhone. Something to think about!

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• SEO Plan

Any strategy will need to develop a plan to be able to timeframe and align the activities. Predominantly, the world is an evolving place, so the pressure is real when we speak about a continuous plan to keep the business in competition. Ledford (2016) Also, Brown (2013) supports this approach stating that “any time a new page or new content is added to your site, it needs to be properly researched against your marketing goals”.

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1. When using SEO, it doesn’t give you a guaranteed place as No.1 on page searching platforms.
2. SEO is a continuous process and needs continuous improvement. Start low and work yourself up.
3. Stay away from black hats and focus on white hats. Companies employ black hat tactics to gain search rank in order to counter the search engines. So, to avoid a possible banishment from the search, you need to prioritize SEO friendly strategies.
4. Control the spamming blog comments because then you may lose credibility.

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Everyone has a different point of view on SEO methods, but even so they all have similar long-term goals, so you need to be innovative and original. An effective SEO strategy must be a continuous process even if it is time consuming, because it remains crucial for keeping a competitive grip. Lastly, SEO can benefit your company but risks must be considered remembering that risks are not always negative they can be beneficial to your company if you know what they are and you are prepared for them.

References

Ang, L. and Buttle, F. (2006). Managing For Successful Customer Acquisition: An Exploration. Journal of Marketing Management, 22(3-4), pp.295-317.

Buttle, Francis A. (1998), “Word-of-mouth: understanding and managing referral marketing”, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Volume 6, No. 3, pp.241-254

Buttle, Francis (2004), Customer relationship management: concepts and tools, Oxford, Elsevier/Butterworth Heinemann

Brown M. (2013) 5 SEO Fails: What you risk by managing SEO internally [Online] Available at: https://www.business2community.com/seo/5-seo-fails-risk-managing-seo-internally-0630574 [Accessed on February 20th, 2018]

DeMers J. (2014) 7 Advanced Ways to Improve your site’s SEO [Online] Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237819 [Accessed on February 20th, 2018]

Drucker, Peter F. (1973), Management: tasks, responsibilities, practices, Harper and Row, p.61

Gupta S., Miglani S., Sundriyal V. (2013) Search Engine Optimization Techniques. Vol.2, Issue 9, Published: International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology

HubSpot (2019) The Ultimate Guide for Customer Acquisition for 2019. [Online] Available at: < https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-acquisition > [Accessed 8 February 2019]

Hill, C. (2017) How to use SEO to get more customers [Online] Available at: https://creativeresources.threadless.com/how-to-use-seo/[Accessed on February 20th, 2018]

Hanan, Mack (2003), Consultative selling, 7th ed., New York, AMACOM

Hongju L., Pancras J., Houtz M., (2015) Journal of Interactive Marketing. Managing Customer Acquisition Risk Using Co-operative Databases. Vol 29. Pp. 39-56

Ledford J.L. (2016) Search Engine Optimization Bible, Chap. 3, vol. 3, 2^ndEdition, Published: Wiley Publishing Inc.

Readytomanage.com (2019) The Challenge of Customer Acquisition | ReadyToManage. [Online] Available at: < http://blog.readytomanage.com/the-challenge-of-customer-acquisition/ > [Accessed 8 Feruary 2019]

Spencer S. (2015) Link Risk Management: Are you using this critical SEO tactic? [Online] Available at: https://searchengineland.com/link-risk-management-using-critical-seo-tactic-217701[Accessed on February 20th, 2018]

Smart insights (2019) Customer Acquisition Strategy. [Online] Available at: < https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/customer-acquisition-strategy/ > [Accessed 8 February 2019]

Sellers, P. (1989), “Getting customers to love you”, Fortune, March 13, pp.38-49

Sungin L., Wonhong J. et al. (2016) Search engine optimization. Vol. 34, Issue 2.

Single Grain. (2019). 6 Awesome Ways to Use SEO for Customer Acquisition. [Online] Available at: < https://www.singlegrain.com/seo/seo-tactics-customer-acquisition/ > [Accessed 8 February 2019]

Snider, S. (2019). SEO Risks to Take and SEO Risks to Avoid | SEO.com. [Online] Available at: < https://www.seo.com/blog/seo-risks-to-take-and-seo-risks-to-avoid/ > [Accessed 8 February 2019]

Toonen E. (2017) Mobile SEO: The ultimate guide [Online] Available at: https://yoast.com/mobile-seo-ultimate-guide/[Accessed on February 20th, 2018]

Vindicia (2019) Best Practices for customer acquisition. [Online] Available at: < https://www-356.ibm.com/partnerworld/gsd/showimage.do?id=34071>  [Accessed 8 February 2019]

Channel Analysis

EasyJet through their website they use digital marketing very effectively because they provide interactive ads like offering a variety of flights worldwide and you can book flights to far away destinations or link one easyjet flight to another connecting through London Gatwick. Through their website they also offer travel essentials, you can find package holidays, popular destinations, information about at the airport while also how to conquer your fear of flying.

EasyJet offers the opportunity to reach to customers across Europe

1. Seatbacks

Visible during the passenger’s entire on board experience, offering the opportunity to feature on the back of seatback headrests on easyJet aircrafts. This unique and exclusive access to consumers who frequently fly for business and leisure is a powerful way for brand owners to communicate.

• Proven call to action medium capturing high dwell time (average 1.5 hours per sector)
• Campaigns loaded monthly, packages to suit your needs
• Featured on a minimum of 2 columns per month which can feature a combination of:

– 132 UK based aircraft
– 104 EU based aircraft
– 236 network-wide based aircraft

2. Inflight-magazine

Featured on board in the pocket of every seat, easyJet Traveller is read every month by over 5 million passengers. Its engaging content makes it a much sought after inflight magazine for both readers and advertisers alike. Awards:

• – Travel Media Awards 2015: Customer Magazine of the Year
• – BSME 2015: Editor of the Year – Branded Content Consumer
• inflight-magazine >

3. Targeted Advertising

The boarding pass is the second most important travel document after your passport. Passengers look at their boarding pass over 8 times per return journey. You can place your brand on this document and target consumers according to gender, nationality, language, age, destination route and departure airport.

Easyjet, has developed a great relationship with established and reputable companies companies within Europe. Their partnerships have been short term or  long term depending on th emedia needs of their partners.

How is EasyJet using Digital Marketing?

Three areas of strength:

1. The campaign aims to create a more emotional connection with consumers as it looks to be known for more than value for money. The campaign was launched (14 September) during Gogglebox on Channel 4. It has a media budget of €12m across Europe and while TV is crucial it will be an integrated campaign. “TV is crucial for creating an emotional connection and this campaign is absolutely about inspiring travel but digital remains very important to us. There is no one channel that sticks out as we look to both dial up and dial down different channels across the different markets,” Lis Blair – Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
2. The role of digital also goes beyond advertising, with easyJet increasingly focused on its app as a way to improve the customer experience and engagement. A soon-to-be launched function will enable users to link seamlessly from a photograph of a destination though to booking. Currently, around 12% of boarding passes issued by easyJet are mobile passes, although this can be as high as 50% for some flights. Up to five people can save their booking documents on one mobile device, making it easier for families and small groups to check in and travel together.
3. The tool works by enabling customers to take a screengrab on their phone and share it with, or upload it to, the easyJet app. Image recognition technology will then identify the location and match the photo to an easyJet destination.

One area for improvement:

1.

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