Semalt: Individual Approach Or Automation In SEO And Content Marketing
Do you need automation in SEO and Content Marketing and is it effective? In recent years, both the industry and the approach of clients to SEO agencies have changed dynamically: cooperation began to take on greater importance.
From optimization methods to link building, almost the entire industry has undergone a profound transformation in just a few years.
Previously, SEO was more schematic, now it requires much more varied involvement and creative solutions.
What remains timeless is the individual approach to the client. Although the needs and strategies of small and large companies may be different, what remains constant is the customer's desire to be heard and understood.
What SEO elements can I automate?
When researching areas for automation in SEO, you are probably wondering what processes can be automated. Here are some things you can automate in your SEO campaign:
- Monitoring the website's technical parameters
- Position tracking
- Analysis of external links
- Competition monitoring
- Content analysis based on NLP
- Translating the generated organic traffic into sales
Website monitoring
One of the key SEO elements that you can automate is monitoring the health of your website. When you launch an SEO campaign, you don't have to worry about how to check the technical parameters of the website. SEO tools to optimize the page will do it for you. I can't imagine doing it manually now.
Especially for pages with several million subpages, manual analysis is a pipe dream.
What we monitor is, among others: page loading time, errors, broken links and many others.
Rank tracking - position tracking
Our main goal in SEO is to gain high positions for key phrases with high traffic potential tailored to our products and services.
When you have hundreds of pages on your site, it's hard to manually track the ranking of each page in the search results for every possible phrase.
To simplify the process, you can use an SEO automation tool, such as The Dedicated SEO Dashboard, which allows you to track your website's rankings for specific phrases.
Backlink analysis - Analysis of the link profile
Link analysis in the process of SEO automation is a key element of the strategy. Links belong to an important area in SEO activities which is offsite optimization. Without crawlers that scour the Internet in search of connections between individual pages and analyse their parameters, it would not be possible to run a high-level SEO project.
There are many tools available, but the one with the largest link base is worth mentioning. It is The Dedicated SEO Dashboard. This tool is characterized by a high frequency of analyses and a very large database of links.
Competition monitoring
When you start an SEO project, your goal is to be in the highest positions in the search results for as many phrases as possible. You compete with dozens of different companies for these positions. To be able to create an effective SEO strategy, it is important to know your competition's strengths and weaknesses.
If you have many different competitors, keeping track of them is difficult. However, by automating your competition monitoring, you can make it easier for your business to see whom you are competing with and find ways to outperform them in search results.
Content analysis based on NLP
A very important element of the SEO campaign and a very automated element is the semantic analysis of the content as well as the structure and interdependencies of such content. NLP, or Natural Language Processing, is a component of artificial intelligence AI. Marketing algorithms are often based on Machine Learning and NLP. Thanks to these algorithms, we can extract a lot of clues about the construction of content and its syntax in SEO.
Automation in SEO or Individual approach - benefits for the agency
Even though so much is said about automation, 49% of SEO is done manually at the moment.
Even if algorithms and AI take over some of our work, the strategy, concept and customer relationship will remain in human hands.
An individual approach is not only knowing the client by name, but also a wide range of tools that can be adapted to his/her needs. Keeping up to date with news in the industry, both local and abroad, and constantly developing our own skills, affects the quality of both the goods and services offered and builds customer trust.
Why is it worth investing in a conscious customer?
In digital marketing, change is inevitable. New tools, algorithms, and updates of the functionality of already existing tools make it hard to be surprised that the client often has no idea about the realities of the positioner's work. Treating the client as a partner means that we must take the time to explain the nuances of the proposed solutions. Initially, this approach requires patience when we answer the same questions for the hundredth time, especially when the answers seem obvious to us.
However, a conscious customer is the best thing we can invest in
People outside the industry have no idea how SEO works, how much it costs, what is included in the valuation, why it takes so long to see results and how SEO should influence other marketing decisions of the company. Therefore, working with an educated client is not only easier but also more effective, because such a client will be able to better integrate our solutions with other processes and decisions - present and future - in his/her company.
Why is it worth working with smaller companies?
Even if a local firm's job may not be the most profitable, you can't make the client feel that it's less important than that of a mega concern. Smaller companies are often more loyal and more willing to recommend your agency to friends.
On the market, small enterprises constitute the vast majority.
Therefore, marketing agencies cannot afford to underestimate them, but they often try to ensure that servicing "smaller players" brings as little cost as possible. A popular solution is an automation of positioning processes for this type of client.
Tailor-made solutions not only focus on items but understand that they are merely an indicator of what the client wants to achieve.
It is worth remembering that, although for the positioner, increasing the traffic on the client's website several times is a success, it will not be perceived in the same way by the client if it is not related to the assumed sales.
Automation in SEO vs. Individual approach - benefits for the client
Like any relationship, the one between the marketing agency and the client is two-way.
How to find an agency that will develop an individual strategy for your company?
Choose an agency that offers a comprehensive approach, but also has specializations
The promotion of the website consists not only of the work of the positioner but also of copywriters, proofreaders, and programmers... That is why it is important to work as a team. On the other hand, agencies that deal with everything from building websites to PR to large advertising campaigns are usually large corporations, where it is difficult to feel individual treatment, especially if you are a smaller company.
- Ask if one person will serve you. If you talk to someone else every time you contact an agency and you have to explain your assumptions from the beginning, that's a bad sign. Not only because by working with the same representative you save time and build mutual understanding, but it is also a matter of responsibility. In the case of comments and objections, you want to have a direct call to the person who deals with your project, instead of waiting on the hotline, being switched from one employee to another.
- Or maybe the agency you are considering already has experience in commissioning for your industry? Fantastic! Each industry requires a specific approach to marketing solutions and knowing the context is very helpful.
- The same goes for local agencies. Not only the subject matter but also the realities of a given city affect the language, cultural references and needs of the recipients. Besides, even in the world of digital marketing, some issues are easiest to explain at a personal meeting, which, of course, will be facilitated by the proximity of the location.
- In a company where customers are treated as partners, it is unthinkable for a customer to receive an incomprehensible report written in industry jargon, or to remain unanswered to a question.
You sign the contract with the agency, but there are specific people behind the logo, and it is with them that you will make decisions regarding the future of your company. Therefore, choose people with whom you want to pursue a common goal.
Summary
If your agency doesn't use these or similar ways to automate the SEO process, it's time to change it. If your agency has specialists who do not understand the concepts of NLP, Machine Learning or semantics, it's time to change it. If you pay the agency $ 1,000 a month, don't expect any effects, it's a waste of $ 1,000. It is better to spend $ 5,000 or more and have a chance at an effective SEO strategy.
Interested in SEO? Check out our other articles on the Semalt blog.