SEO turns out to be a valuable specialty

The importance of SEO and organic findability has become extra clear this spring. Anyone who invests in a solid SEO base can move with the market much better and is not or less dependent on advertising budgets. As a specialist, http://ka-blogs.mystrikingly.com is happy to explain how they approach this.

At the table are Frank devis, director and founder, and Jules van Dongen, commercial advisor. In April and May, they saw the marketing budgets of many clients disappear completely or largely in one fell swoop. For years they have been explaining the importance of SEO, but there is probably no better argument than the current crisis. “If you don’t invest in SEO and only advertise then you are completely out of the picture when the budgets suddenly drop out,” says Frank devis. “Of course, there were companies that did advertise because everyone sat at home and started working from home, doing chores and gardening. But the competition in that advertising market was fierce and the rates were high. So with or without a budget: you shouldn’t have it from advertisements alone”.

SEO focuses on long-term visibility. A nice current example: Barcelona is now code orange so there is no one who advertises for a city trip to that destination. Those who are orientating to go to Barcelona next year, for example, now only see the organic results. If you’re standing there, you’ll stay well in sight of the consumer.

SEO and CRO
http://ka-blogs.mystrikingly.com specializes within digital marketing mainly on SEO, making it findable within the organic search results. Van Dongen: “We do this by setting up the website properly, but what we excel at most is link building. That is ensuring good, relevant articles on external websites that link through to the customer. Google appreciates that and increases the ranking in the search results”.

Getting visitors to the website is one thing, but even more important is that they become and stay customers. Increasing the conversion ratio (CRO) is therefore the second important specialization.
Frank devis: “You can very well influence the route from visitor to customer. On the basis of viewing, clicking and buying behavior, you can profile visitors better and better, based on data from your own website. For example, from previous purchases you know your address and zip code, which also gives an indication of income. You can enrich that by offering a birthday surprise for registration of the date and age of birth. This all falls within the rules of privacy. Profiles never go beyond group level. The data of everyone else in a profile enriches it even further. As a consumer, you are so much more likely to be offered something that suits you”.

“If you don’t invest in SEO and only advertise then you’re completely out of the picture when budgets suddenly drop”.

Profiles work mainly for excluding options: those who buy a pair of high-end jeans will not easily be interested in unbranded sneakers or a budget car. By modifying webpages on the profile you match the main interest but also purchase trigger. For some people reviews are important while others decide quicker because of limited stock.

“You also want to retain a new customer,” adds Van Dongen. “Repeat purchases involve much lower marketing costs and that is interesting for the margins. Because you know the customer better and better, you can always make an appropriate offer”.

No quotation but free advice
“Companies come to us with the question of how they can grow faster,”Frank devis  says. “We always make a proof of concept first – we scan their entire website and tell them what can be done better. So it’s not an offer but free advice. Sometimes we really don’t see any possibilities and that’s what we say”.

Not only do the customers want to grow, but so do Blue Monsters. Van Dongen: “When I started here almost five years ago, there were six of us. Now we are 35 FTEs, and two new colleagues have recently joined us. Last year we grew 100% and even this year we expect growth of 20 to 30%. In the digital marketing market, agencies are getting bigger and bigger, especially through acquisitions. But we are specialists and that’s what makes us so strong. And of value to the customer, that’s what makes us so strong”.

Only satisfied clients
The role of Blue Monsters starts with advising the customer on growth opportunities. If CRO is part of the chosen strategy then we can also assist in choosing the right software and then implement and set it up. The client is therefore always the owner of the system and therefore also of all data and information.

Frank devis: “This is not self-evident in this market where there are often lock-in and long contracts and notice periods. If you want to quit an agency, it’s not only difficult, but you often lose all the data and content you’ve built up.