SEO Company in Glasgow

Today, being a glorious Friday and with the sense of "it's been a good week", I thought i'd write about my own city of Glasgow. In particular, I'm focussing on (as always!) the SEO impact of companies looking for SEO support.

SEO company in Glasgow

North Star Marketing is an SEO company based Glasgow. Ultimately, search engine optimisation doesn't have a permanent address; it's an international service. However in Glasgow, or even Scotland, companies seem concerned with relationships, building strong ties whilst continuing to deliver profitable online marketing. In this regard it's very like the far East where relationships are key and contracts are worthless pieces of paper.

At North Star we help clients as far away as California (visit on company expenses... one to ponder) and as close as a company we work next door too. However, the fact is the majority of our clients are based in Scotland.

When I asked them, "why do you use an SEO company in Glasgow", there answer wasn't "because you're the cheapest" or "you were high on Google for SEO". The answer I received was because we were recommended and local; we could meet, have coffee, talk to you face to face and come direct to you with our SEO problems in your office.

This feedback came from a variety of companies across different sectors, one of which was a bluechip company which operated world-wide already. It's fantastic that business has globalised and from an SEO perspective North Star has benefited from the world-wide online promotion industry. However, there's a part of me glad to be from Glasgow where the cheapest price isn't always what counts, instead it's about value for money and building strong, long-lasting relationships to enable success to thrive.

Long live SEO in Glasgow

There are a number of SEO companies in Glasgow and each have their own way of communicating, building business, creating their brand and shouting about what they do. I've met some fantastic companies who really have a firm understanding of SEO principles, yet they can't convey their unique selling points (USP's) to their target audience. Conversely, there are companies who can drive in new business all day but can't provide the same level of SEO service in Glasgow.

We've covered some of the ways SEO companies in Glasgow generate new enquiries.

Word of mouth

It won't be a surprise to read that one of the most popular routes to generate new clients is via word of mouth. We constantly get new clients referred to us because of the high standards we set. This in turn reduces our marketing budget and helps us keep costs down (which client's like!).

Google

I've lost count of the number of companies who ask the question, "Where do you rank for the phrase 'SEO' on Google". The answer is nowhere near it. There are companies who have been established for 20 years+ providing an online SEO service with huge marketing budgets striving to be top for key phrases like SEO. The client eventually pays for their marketing budget with £7,000 per month SEO campaigns.

Companies still aim to be the top for these phrases, however honesty is a valuable trait in the SEO world. Client's don't want to throw good money after bad chasing an impossible dream, when they could drive just as much traffic under another search term. It's the same for an SEO company which like North Star was conceived in the last 5 years - optimise for success.

PPC

Pay Per Click is another popular route to generate SEO clients in Glasgow. I've spoken to a number of Glasgow SEO companies who say they regularly spend money on paid search campaigns with Google and get value for money. I've tried this to test the theory but in truth the enquiries proved to be short-term agreements with little substance. Yes there's quantity but the quality didn't seem to match up.

Off-line advertising

One SEO company in Glasgow also tried offline advertising within the national press. It's not an area i've been tempted with before as i've thought it to be too mass market however it's another route to

Free ways to get SEO clients

Other than word of mouth, there are free ways to generate new SEO clients and it's exactly what North Star did when it first launched. One route as an SEO company in Glasgow to generate new clients is to look at your current client bank and offer an incentive to introduce new clients.

Secondly, you've probably been working for a number of years - tell people about your service and spread the word. People know people and word of mouth often spreads as long as it starts somewhere.

Finally, the most important tips to meet new SEO clients for free is to go to networking sessions and meet, speak and learn from other people. In Glasgow there are business seminars and breakfast meetings where a wide variety of companies will be eager to hear about your service.

Being a DMOZ Editor

Last year I applied to become a DMOZ editor and I was accepted for the position. I'm sure you can imagine the surprise on my face when I found out. I've kept it quiet for months for two reasons,

What is DMOZ?

DMOZ is the largest human edited directory in the world. Volunteers are required to ensure the database is maintained and kept up to date.

DMOZ has multiple benefits for websites, none more important than being able to tell Google that your website is on the most successful internet directory. Some people also search for companies and organisations using the directory so it can be beneficial for this purpose too.

How did I become a DMOZ Editor?

The truth is I had to submit my entry to DMOZ three different times to be successful. It was not easy. However, each time I did I learned something else about the process and eventually my persistence paid off.

If you are trying to join for your own website this is allowed, however penalising other websites and failing to support the DMOZ project is frowned upon.

I gave an honest account of DMOZ and why I thought I could add value.

Tips for becoming a DMOZ editor

We've created some tips to help you with your application to become a DMOZ editor. It's simple to apply. You visit the DMOZ website, navigate to the category you wish to become an editor for and click "volunteer to edit this category" in the top right hand corner.

Tip 1: When selecting a category drill down to a category with less than 20 submissions to date. This will improve your chances of success.

You will be asked to complete the application form. This should take about 1hour.

Tip 2: You can only edit one category initially so before you complete your application be sure you are happy with your DMOZ category and can demonstrate your knowledge in this subject.

When completing the form you will see a section "What is your internet experience"

Tip 3: At the internet experience section you want to keep it short and punchy. List the experience you have both personally and professionally. For instance, what type of websites do you build, do you manage PPC campaigns, can you CMS websites or build database etc.

You will then have to demonstrate why you are interested in joining DMOZ.

Tip 4: It's imperative that you don't say "I want to become a DMOZ editor to get my website listed". Your application will be deleted.

Tip 5: Explain your passion for becoming a DMOZ editor. Also, identify that DMOZ is the largest open directory worldwide and being part of this would be an honour for you.

Next you should identify why you are interested in this category.

Tip 6: Explain your experience of the category and what you can bring to the subject. Be descriptive and give examples.

You will then be asked about websites you are associated with. This means listing the websites you've built, created content for, build databases for etc.

In the last section you will have to list 3 submissions for your chosen category. Please take your time here and do research.

Tip 7: Check that you suggested listing meets the DMOZ guidelines and that it's not already listed within DMOZ. If there is a more appropriate category don't use this listing.

Your suggested websites should be appropriately formatted (e.g http://www.) and the description should start with a capital letter.

From behind the DMOZ curtain it's easy to understand the frustrations of people submitting their listing. When I was given my category there were 20 listings already waiting for me, some of which dated back to 2006! There are simply not enough resources to cover every section, however with that said, DMOZ is extremely selective over who they choose to become an Editor. Ultimately, you have to be getting involved for the correct reasons and demonstrate your passion for the category you wish to write for.

Paying DMOZ Editors for listings

There has been highly controversial suggestions that DMOZ editors accept money in exchange for listings within the directory. I applied to DMOZ for two reasons, 1. I wanted to list a website I was working on and 2. I actually wanted to contribute to the success of the most powerful directory in the world.

Under no circumstances did I think, OK let's make money. My stance is that it's immoral, unfair and greedy.

1&1 SEO does it equal 2?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is not always as simple as implementing metadata, website content and link building.

We were asked by a company to optimise their website for the major search engines. As a company providing SEO in Glasgow we are more than capable of delivering successful SEO campaigns. However, often external factors must be taken into account when deciding if a campaign is managable or not. Whilst our expert SEO specialists have the skills, fundamental problems often exist.

1and1 SEO

In this instance, 1 and 1 equalled 5 and a fundamental change was required. The client had a Wed Eden website which restricted their metadata and the content which search engines could read on their website.

When we spoke to the client they had spent thousands of pounds with a company building their website so didn't want to spend anymore.

What did we do?

When you face a challenge you can see it as a threat or an opportunity. The threat was that the new client would cancel and decide not to pursue an SEO plan with North Star. Alternatively, they may go to another SEO company who would happily take their money for 6 months with no benefit to the company.

Our view was to consider it as an opportunity to build a long lasting relationship with a new company eager to develop their web presence. Our website developers and SEO specialists got together and decided to take an initial loss and build the client a new website, with a new domain name and custom built tools. This designing and building of the website took two weeks. However, the SEO client was so happy with our service and flexibility that they agreed to sign up to a SEO agreement for 12 months.

Long Lasting SEO Relationships

In the competitive world of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) it's important to ensure you look after the client and that the relationship is mutually fufilling. The SEO client used the Web Eden site as a corporate website and the new website we designed, built and manage as an SEO / lead development proposition.


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