How to master a cross-agency paid and organic search strategy - Brilliant Noise

How to master a cross-agency paid and organic search strategy

By Brilliant Noise, July 2018. Posts

Pay per click (PPC) and search engine optimisation (SEO) are very different parts of the same discipline — search engine marketing. Despite these differences, they’re often linked together in workstreams.

At Brilliant Noise we have an SEO team but to deliver a joined up approach to search, we rely on collaboration with external paid search agencies. So we’re used to working across agencies, across teams and with multiple stakeholders to produce fantastic search strategy results.

Get ready for some helpful insights and advice on how to achieve effective cross-agency outcomes.

Communication is key

Communication is the most important way of keeping a joined up approach when working with different agencies. You’re relying on each other to share updates and developments. For example, any on-page changes made as a result of SEO activity could impact PPC ads and, if they are using them as landing pages, their quality score. It’s a great idea to have regular calls and face-to-face catch ups to discuss what projects are coming up and what key milestones or events you all need to work towards.

It’s also a great way to build team morale. After all, you’re working towards the same end goal — your client’s success. In every situation the main focus is to achieve that objective, remember that if inter-agency niggles arise.

Don’t be afraid to test and learn

Testing everything is essential. The search industry, particularly SEO, can be cloaked in ambiguity and changes constantly. Also, the markets our clients operate within are never static. What worked one month might bomb the next, so keep making changes and run tests. Be flexible and open to experimentation.

Know your specialism

Rand Fishkin (founder of Moz) said: ‘Specialize deeply’. With search specialisms, we couldn’t agree more. But we don’t let our specialist status go to our heads — optimisation may be our skill but we need to understand other areas.

It is essential not to get caught in silos. As breaking out of silos is tough, even within the same organisation let alone two different agencies. We combat this with good communication and not being afraid to ask the tough questions. We often find that we’re the intermediary who is challenging the status quo.

Being a specialist in SEO is where our strengths lie and the paid search agencies that we work with are also experts in their field, we keep our humility and work collaboratively.

Knowing each other’s responsibilities and core purpose helps to support and action the overall search strategy and enables us to work together to create a joined up approach.

We make sure not to tell the experts how to do their job and expect the same humility from the agencies we work with.

We are a digital transformation partner for brands — this is why clients choose us and why we never rest on our ‘search’ laurels.

If you want to find out more about how our SEO team can help elevate your search strategy then contact us today.


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