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If you're confused by the jargon that accompanies search engine optimisation (SEO), you don’t need to feel ashamed - there are literally hundreds of phrases that have been coined over the past thirty years, describing numerous techniques, types of websites, pages, processes and links that experts use in their daily language (mainly just for posturing and to assert their dominance).

The trouble is that SEO jargon can alienate the rest of us, which is a side effect that some agencies relish. After all, if you don't understand what's happening, who are you to question their results?

Unfortunately, this type of relationship has become quite common with an old-hat SEO contract, but as an agile marketing agency we like to do things a little differently!

We don’t judge ourselves on criteria that our clients don’t understand. Instead, our aim is to work with you to achieve the overarching goals of your company. Working in this way allows us to provide genuine value, through a range of fluid marketing services tailored to your needs. This approach gives the benefits to the client, rather than the marketing agency doing the work.

As search marketing is an important part of the services an agile marketing agency offers, we want to help you to understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. It’s inevitable that sometimes we do use some language you may not understand but the bottom line is that SEO isn't as confusing as you might think! With our Jargon buster; we’ll help you to understand what SEO can do for you.

Algorithm

In the context of search engine optimisation, 'algorithm' refers to a search engine’s process, criteria and system of ranking a website in its search results. These algorithms are highly complex and are constantly updating. Google, for example, rolls out 500 to 600 minor updates a year with the occasional major update such as ‘Hummingbird’ earlier this year. For search marketers, staying up to date with these changes is crucial, as the spammy way in which SEO was undertaken before 2011 is an entirely different process to today’s content and user driven model.

Keyphrase

A 'keyphrase' is the query, search term or phrase which users type into a search engine. Researching what key phrases your customers are finding you for and identifying new opportunities is one of the most high-return activities in SEO. Optimising and ranking for the right keyphrases is an ongoing process which we aim to refine and develop over the course of a campaign to make sure that we’re bringing the right traffic to your site.

SERP

A SERP is the acronym for the Search Engine Results Page, meaning the results returned from a search engine in response to a users organic search. In search marketing, high rankings on the SERP page is the dominant term for search engine success. The majority of traffic (33%) coming from Google is through the number one result, meaning that achieving this elusive position will usually result in high levels of traffic. However, whether or not this is the right traffic for your site depends on your key phrase research, for example a luxury sock website achieving the number one position for ‘cheap socks’ is not useful to anyone and unlikely to result in conversions!

Domain Authority and Page Authority

Domain Authority is the predictive ranking system scored from 1-100 to reflect how likely your overall site or specific page is to perform in the search results. This metric is calculated through combining a number of metrics which include the number of links, the quality of these links and your social profile which acts as a way of predicting how trustworthy your site is - and how high up it will in appear in the search results. Domain Authority and Page Authority should only be used as an indication but, if these metrics are high this usually corresponds with high search rankings and increased levels of traffic!

Link Building

We like to think of links as votes or recommendations - the more links a page has, the more likely the page is to rank highly in the search results. In basic terms, links indicate to search engines the popularity, relevancy and importance of a page through factors known as link signals which determine whether links to a page are genuine and trustworthy. Link building and solicitation is therefore a key strategy and an essential component of any SEO campaign but also one of the hardest to measure as it's impossible to know the exact amount of trust that's passed from one link to another.

Content Marketing

Content marketing refers to the generation of blogs, articles, videos, eBooks and so on, with the purpose of 'shareability' and the creation of inbound links. Google’s latest update, Hummingbird, focuses on the relevancy, trust and authority of content; which signals the importance of content marketing in SEO as well as the future of marketing. Link building is still important, however, a high number of links combined with a lack of social sharing can now negatively affect a website’s ranking. This focus on content marketing signals a change from ‘spammy’ SEO into engaging, customer focused marketing. In this new age of SEO, content is King.

We’re sure that you’ll come across many more phrases as you delve deeper into the world of search marketing, but as we use the phrases and techniques on a daily basis we hope these explanations are of use to you. Check out the rest of our blog for more tips and tricks, and let us know if you find this useful or if you have any suggestions!

Herdl are proud to be taking part in Movember 2013 to help raise awareness of the health issues that men face. By growing a moustache or “mo”, we hope to raise money to support this worthwhile campaign.

We’re excited to be teaming up with our client, H Squared Ltd, this year and together change the face of Men’s health

Please donate to our campaign by following this link - MOTEAM.CO/H-SQUARED-GENTLEMENS-CLUB

Social media provides brands with a unique opportunity to communicate with their audience. Anyone who works in social media is aware of the enormous array of benefits that can be gained from utilising social channels. However, managers and content creators must also remain vigilant to the numerous mistakes which can undermine a brand. Many brands are making the same errors when it comes to social media marketing - are you one of them? To help you avoid these pitfalls we’ve compiled this list of what we think are the 5 most common mistakes brands are making in social media:

1. Not Having a Plan

Social media, along with any marketing activity, needs to have a plan. Your social media plan needs to be aligned with your wider marketing strategy in order to create a fully integrated campaign. This aligns your brand communications, allowing you to measure the success and performance of each channel in regard to your overall objectives.

2. Inconsistency

Keeping up with the constant increase in social platforms whilst staying active in your existing profiles can be a time consuming and difficult task. But consistency across your social channels is key, from how regularly you Tweet to how you address your customers on Facebook. This is what solidifies your social presence, conveys your personality and communicates your core values to your audience. To this end, it’s important not to vary too much across the platforms you choose to engage in or be inactive in one whilst you post daily in another. This can lead to alienating a section of your audience and reducing your social influence.

3. Dishonesty

The idea of brands being transparent and authentic is not new or innovative. Social media doesn’t just make it easier for customers to see when brands are being dishonest - it gives them the power to say something back. If a customer isn’t satisfied or if your brand doesn’t meet their expectations, customers can complain and you are expected to respond. Unlike traditional channels, by using social media, both the complaint and response can spread one-to-one or one-to-many in an immediate and far reaching way. The immediacy and reach makes it the perfect channel to expose brands which are not being honest. This allows one dissatisfied customer to communicate with a network of potential customers, letting them know that you’re doing something wrong and you’re not doing anything to remedy it.

4. Broadcasting

Treating social media like any other media channel is a dangerous mistake to make. Rather than joining and engaging in direct and personal conversation, a huge number of brands use social media as a broadcasting tool in the same way that they use traditional media. Yes, social media is a conversation starter, but acting in this way denies the essential component of social media - feedback and dialogue. Using it in this way is effectively shouting at your audience rather than aiming to interact with them through relevant hashtags and seeking out conversations which are meaningful to them. Acting in this way can make your audience lose interest and prevents you from creating a meaningful and lasting relationship which ultimately enables you to gain priceless consumer insight into their behaviours and preferences.

5. Selling

The value of social media lies in relationship creation rather than product promotion. Your audience is aware that any brand entering into social media has an ulterior motive and they expect to be rewarded for entering into a dialogue with them. Competitions, giveaways and discounts have become the trend as a way of moving away from direct promotion whilst providing the audience with a benefit that involves the brand. However, this overt method is becoming too common and less appealing. To truly engage your audience you need to focus on interesting content, as people need to be engaging with you for a reason - because of the experience not just because you’re bombarding them with a sales message or because they want a 10% discount.

There are hundreds of examples of social media gone wrong, and whilst these mistakes aren’t necessarily large scale ‘fails’, they devalue your social presence and weaken your brand. What mistakes have you seen trending?