A healthy presence across all channels is essential for a modern digital marketing strategy. We sat down with Hedgehog Search Analyst Joe Rega to discuss how SEO marketing, digital strategy and best practices combine to create quantifiable brand impact.
Q. How does search marketing fit within the overall digital strategy?
Having a healthy presence across all channels—organic, paid, social, video, etc.—is essential for our clients’
digital marketing strategy. Search marketing takes a high priority, as the journey of the customer who is ready to buy often
starts from one place—Google. We work with our clients to create a strategy that is unique to their brand and highlights
their services and unique value proposition. We ensure that their digital presence is not only complete across all relevant
channels, but also aligned with how prospects interact with their brand.
Q. How do you measure online success?
Form submissions, increases in traffic, and phone calls are just some of the key performance indicators we look at to determine
online success. We’re not just looking for the keywords our clients want to rank for; we want to know what the keywords
will do for their business. Once we have a full understanding of where our clients are now and where they need to be, we
then set measurable goals. With goals in place, we track the conversions and measure the results of each and every tactic
we implement. Our daily monitoring and weekly/monthly reporting provide an early warning system to ensure we’re on
a successful track, or to help us get ahead of issues.
Q. How do you ensure long-term success?
The secret to long-term success is a strategic marketing roadmap that is aligned with our client’s goals and
has a thoughtful, ongoing optimization strategy. To develop the roadmap we apply the Hedgehog Capability Maturity Model
(HCMM) that sets the vision short term through the next three years. The HCMM provides competitive insight on best practices
for search marketing, UX and technical capability within our client’s specific market. It’s the tool we use
to bring our clients to the level of best-in-class. Increasing traffic to your website is only part of the equation for
success. Long-term success also hinges on delivering relevant experiences to your users and ensuring that lead generation
and purchasing funnels are continually tested and optimized.
Q. What is a proven method for ranking a specific keyword?
We start by defining the keyword that our clients would like to rank (or rank higher) for, and then determine if their audience
is searching for these terms and at what volume. Then we create a content strategy that leverages their targeted keywords
and any semantic variations. Next, we’ll generate well-written, high-quality content across all relevant channels,
and regularly update their website—specifically on high-worth topics. This is a long-game approach that can be accelerated
with Hedgehog’s pay-per-click engagements.
From conversion rate optimization to mobile search, strategies that are data-driven, customer focused, and unique
are what we live for. Give us a shout - we'd love to chat.
