Have you ever taken up a New Year’s Resolution and failed at it miserably (after the first 15 days)?
Well, it is not uncommon for people to feel dejected once they see that results are not that visible, even after the 15-day mark. This impatience is the main reason for people losing focus; and the same goes for the business world as well. Most companies do commit to a lot of new goals as the new year approaches. The goals are usually budget and spending related. The executives are always thinking of ways to cut costs and give space to the most important aspects of the business.
SEO in Australia and other parts of the world usually figures among the first few things that are omitted from the budget. The main reason for this is lack of patience and knowledge. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a gold mine that most (or many) are unaware of. The people simply do not understand how SEO works. Many people think that SEO is magic. Rome was not built in a day! Same with SEO, traffic to your site will not increase in a day. This fact is not understood by most, and the online marketing strategy loses out to other advertisement medias.
SEO takes time and if you have patience, then it is bound to bear fruits. All you need to do is follow the process, maintaining the ethics and employing the method correctly. The fact that it might take up to a year to get the desired results is the reason, which makes business owners look the other way and walk away from SEO strategies.
Many business owners feel that SEO can help fix their lagging business, but that has led them to reduce SEO to a method of selecting keywords and using it for rankings. SEO, if given the proper time and attention, can be a really powerful tool; with monitoring and important adjustments at regular intervals or whenever needed.
You might not have the expertise to set up an effective strategy, but an experienced agency can definitely help you set some S.M.A.R.T. goals.
WHAT IT MEANS TO GET S.M.A.R.T.?
When you hear the words smart, you think of being intelligent. In case of goals for marketing strategies, the same word is used to define many words. S.M.A.R.T. basically stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic/Relevant
- Time-frame
With the help of a good reputable company, you will be able to use these goals and give your business wings. When you set up for S.M.A.R.T. goals, you are obviously setting up the business for success.
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN BY SETTING UP S.M.A.R.T. GOALS?
You would be intelligent to look after S.M.A.R.T. goals rather than come up with a list of goals that just “sound good”. Here is what S.M.A.R.T. actually stands for:
1. Goals that are Specific
Success is a term that cannot be quantified, hence we cannot say that a plan has been implemented successfully. If you set up goals that are vague as well, then the whole SEO strategy itself becomes vague.
Felling that a certain keyword would come out as first rank is definitely quantifiable, but would that be able to tell you how it brings your business success? Ranking No. 1 does not always yield beneficial results. The goal of setting up a keyword for top ranking is too broad for businesses that are small or medium sized.
You would actually need to breakdown the larger vague goal into smaller more specific goals, like the number of visitors to your site or the amount of sales that occurs due to your internet marketing strategy. When you set such specific goals always ensure that the whole company is on-board for these specific goals, otherwise it cannot be achieved.
2. Goals that are Measurable
Would you rather set grand goals that are vague or set more specific goals? If you settle for the first one, then you are heading for trouble. Specific goals are much easily measurable. Once you have set up goals that cannot be quantified, you will be heading nowhere with your online marketing strategy.
When you set up keywords for higher ranking, you are looking to increase the traffic to your website, right? This is also supposed to improve sales. In a hurry to improve the traffic, you might end up making a rookie mistake of overlooking essential analytical information, which ultimately has a huge impact on the overall result.
You need to again go through the same steps that you made for creating specific goals: breaking down the larger, vague goals to smaller more specific goals. Once you create measurable goals, you would need to look at different information like:
- The amount of traffic your website received
- The time the website received maximum traffic
- The things that attract most traffic
- Factors that compel visitors to make purchases
These are some of the information that you might be needed to look into. A company that specializes in it will do it much faster and much more efficiently. Once the data is ready, you will find it easier to create more specific and measurable goals. This information needs to be gathered continuously, giving you the chance to improve your goals. There are many more factors which you could take into account, some of them include:
- Number of links from relevant and authority sites
- Improved Organic Traffic
- Increase in the number of pages on the website for generation of traffic
- Organic Impressions
- Increase in Organic Conversions
- Maintenance of rank for organic and local keywords
The above-mentioned factors are just the tip of the iceberg. Can you handle all the factors by yourself? Having some help from professionals will prove to be really beneficial. Just remember that if the SEO goals cannot be measured, you will have a tough time because they are definitely not S.M.A.R.T.
3. Goals that are Achievable
Always remember that just like you, your competitors are also looking for ways to improve traffic to their site and increase sales. Sometimes you have to decide, whether you want the best ranking or just maintain a good ranking. This will help you reach better audience and hence set gaols that are more achievable. How can you be certain that your SEO goals are all achievable? These are just some aspects that can help you decide on whether the goals are achievable:
- Presence of sufficient resources to achieve the goals
- Understanding about the impact of the goals on your business
- Sharing the same league as the websites that dominate search engine results page
- Ability to deal with the enhanced traffic
If you can answer these, then you will have the answer about how equipped you are to achieve the set goals. The goals must be challenging, but should not be unachievable. Not being able to achieve the goals will definitely leave the team disappointed and frustrated, losing faith in the online marketing tool, SEO.
4. Goals that are Realistic & Relevant
Would you really want goals that are not only unachievable, but also unrealistic? The team from reputed companies offering SEO services, will always set goals that are both achievable and realistic.
If you are looking to create realistic goals, then you need to assess the resources of your company and analyse the financial health of the company as well. If you do not complete the analysis, then the common outcomes involve wastage of both time and money, along with other resources like manpower.
You will need to also ensure that the keyword must be relevant for your product or products/ services. If you fail to ensure the relevance, then the clients might feel betrayed and lose interest in your website altogether, reducing sales and website traffic. The reduction in traffic should be taken as a pointer towards the fact that the keywords lack relevance to your product and services.
5. Goals that can be achieved in a Timeframe
Usually the time taken to create the SEO strategy is much longer than other forms of marketing. The time for outcomes from SEO strategies to become visible might take ages and the timeframe cannot be defined.
If you do break up the larger vague goals into specific, measurable, realistic and achievable goals, which have deadlines and timelines, then the same goals become much more achievable. A timeframe always motivates the employees to work hard and achieve it at all costs.
CAN GETTING S.M.A.R.T. OFFER GREATER SUCCESS WITH SEO STRATEGIES?
We have to remember, while working with something like SEO that it is not magic. Having said that! When you are ready to set goals that are S.M.A.R.T., you have a better chance of getting success and achieving it faster in comparison to “sounds good” goals.
Another important fact is that S.M.A.R.T. goals will not automatically turn any SEO strategy into a success. You will need careful planning, execution and follow-up to get desired results. Are you sure that you can handle all of the planning efficiently? Being a novice, setting up S.M.A.R.T. goals can be a daunting task. A reputable and reliable company with top notch SEO services can prove to be really helpful with the whole process of S.M.A.R.T. SEO goals & strategy development. Look for an Affordable SEO agency today – and get S.M.A.R.T !
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