Two SEOs and a Microphone: Hyper-Localization and “Sales” Engine Optimization
Here it is—the first full episode of Oneupweb’s newest ongoing series: Two SEOs and a Microphone.
Oneupweb Presents: Two SEOs and a Microphone: Episode One from Oneupweb on Vimeo.
When we last left off, Mr. Freddy Hunt was doing his best spit-take at Dave Doran’s mention of a keyword performance report. In this, our first full episode of Two SEOs and a Microphone, find out what caused such an adverse reaction.
It isn’t so much the request for this report—it’s that there are more important issues SEOs should be focusing their attention on.
Of course we monitor the keywords internally, you know, to make sure the sky isn’t falling. But little fluctuations here and there—that’s expected.
Geo-targeting, personalization, algorithm updates—these all have an impact on ranking. What’s more, with Google’s focus on hyper-localization (or, the capability for the search engine to display the precise distance to a business or location), it’s difficult for local businesses to rank highly outside of their respective service area radius.
This all, of course, begs the question—if we’re not focusing on keyword performance, what should we focus on?
SEO no longer means “Search Engine Optimization”—a term that denotes all the SEO’s effort is geared toward search engines like Google or Bing. This industry continues to evolve, and our SEOs are now calling the industry “Sales Engine Optimization.”
Businesses, SEOs, marketers—we all need to look beyond excessive on-page optimization and vanity metrics like keyword performance. The goal is to focus on metrics that matter; the ones that directly affect bottom lines and represent measurable returns on investment. We’re talking micro-conversions like:
- Newsletter signups
- Secondary form fills
- Account creation
- Downloads
The questions every SEO should be asking are:
How can we examine our business’s sales funnel to determine where we want users to go and how does SEO/content marketing fit into and inform our strategy overall?
In answering the above, you’ll inevitably need to address how brand comes into play. And that’s where we’ll leave you this week—but tune in next week to hear the SEOs discuss how to establish that brand and how SEO fits into that mix.
