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(You don’t need to be a marketing expert to do this)
As a manufacturer stepping into 2024, you are looking to make every dollar in your marketing budget count. You need to make sure that the money you are spending on SEO with your marketing agency is being done correctly to deliver the inquiries that you need for your business.
In this article I will take you through 3 steps you can take to check on the real status of your website in search results and also identify some areas where you can possibly make improvements.
Step 1 – Are You Targeting the Right Keywords for Effective SEO Optimization?
If you are ranking high for your keywords but they are not delivering inquiries, then you need to review whether they are the right keywords for your business. The problem is that often these keywords are chosen by SEO companies because they are not too popular and they can therefore make them rank more easily, meeting the KPIs that they have agreed with you.
Here is how you can test the keywords and also what to look for to find out whether they are really the right ones for you.
Simple Steps to Follow:
- Visit http://isearchfrom.com/
- Enter the language and target country that represents your market
- Enter the keywords that you have been using in your SEO one by one.
- Check whether you and your competitors appear in the search result. Check if there are Google Ads results on the page.
If you see both your competitors and Google ads on the search results page then this is a good indication that the keywords are good ones. If you don’t see these things, then you may need to review the keywords again with your SEO provider.
There is also a free tool that will let you see the monthly search volume for keywords. Just visit Ubersuggest and type in your keywords. If the monthly search volume is less than 200 then you probably need to choose new keywords.
Pro Tips:
- Keyword ranking is by country, there is no global ranking so make sure that your SEO reports show you the ranking for your keywords in each country you are targeting.
- Your company name is not a keyword. You should always be able to find your company website without doing SEO.
Step 2 – Answer Customers Questions With Great Content
“What you really want is inquiries in your email box, not high ranking on Google”.
I often see websites that are ranking highly for keywords but they are still not receiving inquiries. When this happens I always look at the content of the webpages as that is often the issue.
Too many web design companies use simple catalog style websites for manufacturers that only have a short company introduction and then lots of simple product pages with specifications. Unfortunately this is not good enough to help you attract new customers.
Your website is your online salesperson. It should not only showcase your products but also engage and inform potential clients. Focus on the information and the questions that real customers have asked you about the products in the past, maybe check your emails to see what information customers could not find on the website.
Getting these things right will impress customers, maybe put you ahead of the competition and hopefully help you to get more inquiries.
Pro Tip:
- When you receive inquiries, ask how the customer found you and even what keywords they used for search, this will help you to optimize your marketing.
- Don’t sign up for platforms like Alibaba or other industry directories. Google is ranking them lower every year and customers do not visit them directly to look for products.
Step 3 – Choose the Right Marketing Company for SEO
Digital marketing is complex and there are a lot of things that need to work together perfectly to help your website succeed and grow. If you would like a complete list of all of these things, check out this article I wrote on the importance of different ranking factors for Google. This will help you to understand the complexity of the work that good marketing companies should be doing for you.
In my experience, to be successful with a website the marketing company needs to control the server that the website is hosted on, the website design and structure, and all of the website content and updates. It also needs to manage SEO for the site as well. In this way the company can also be held responsible for the results as there is no one else to blame.
Another important factor to consider is the type of marketing company you are working with. Is it a company that listens to your needs and is focused on delivering great value to you? Or is it a large company with a high energy sales team that seems to be more focused on their own sales figures than your success.
Often you will find that larger companies may also be working with your competitors in the industry. This is not ideal, especially if you are competing in the same markets too.
Pro Tips:
- A good marketing company should spend a lot of time asking questions, listening to you and also answering your questions.
- A marketing salesman with a long presentation is also selling the same things to your competitors.
Considering the factors above will help you to identify whether your business is getting good value for money from your SEO or marketing provider or whether your hard earned money would be best spent in other ways. If you would like to talk to us about your business goals and marketing needs to see if we can help you, please give us a call.