SEO, Adwords & the changing face of digital marketing in NZ – A brief overview
There was a time when marketing activities were limited solely to the offline realm, causing traditional media to flourish and milk business owners for all their worth.
Since the advent of the internet and social media, the scales have tipped in favour of business owners. It is now easier than ever to promote your business effectively and reach a large number of targeted people, whilst not blowing the budget. This easy access to large markets has caused an explosion in the number of entrepreneurs taking the plunge into business in recent years, and more power to them!
With over 80% of NZ already connected to the internet and over half of those users doing their pre-purchase research online it pays to have a well-constructed and thought out presence in the online sphere.
Traditional media like Radio, TV and Billboards once reigned supreme – not anymore. They still have their place but not when it comes to SME’s who don’t have million dollar budgets. Where do you go to look for information these days? Chances are you go to Google and you don’t go past Page One for your search term – just like most people. It is this change in behaviour that has caused the SEO and Adwords industry to grow at such a phenomenal pace.
SEO is the process of getting your site to rank organically on Page One of search results for relevant keywords. Doing it right is time consuming but rewarding. In my opinion a website and SEO go hand in hand because to not do so is like opening a store but not telling anyone that you’re open. People can promote their site through other means such as social media, Google adwords, remarketing, radio, billboards, mobile ads etc. but traditional media comes with a higher ongoing cost in comparison to SEO and digital marketing.
If you choose to let a professional handle it, there are a few things you should ask your SEO before signing up to their services. Also, try to go with a local SEO company with a proven track record – even better if they come recommended by someone you trust. A good digital agency will give you realistic expectations when it comes to SEO and will likely recommend a hybrid marketing strategy that includes both SEO and paid advertising. In some cases, if your web design isn’t up to scratch and not converting well, they may even suggest conversion optimisation. Some agencies say that guaranteeing SEO is bad to which I say ‘False, if you’re a professional at the top of your game taking money off people you had better do your job properly or give them their money back’. Imagine if a roofer said ‘Hey I can’t guarantee your roof won’t leak once I’m done but pay me $20,000 thanks.’
Adwords are easy to use especially with the launch of Adwords Express, however it can end up costing more as the ease of use has caused many people to jump on board thus raising the cost per click price. Also, if you’re just using Adwords Express and not tweaking your campaigns, you’re missing out on a lot of potential business that you would have otherwise got with advanced settings such as Remarketing, Custom Audiences, Display Advertising and more. Check out how professionally managed Adwords campaigns can benefit your business. You can essentially steal your competitors’ visitors, retarget your own site visitors, rank on page one of Google instantly and much more.