Naomi Hunter
Posted on Jul 09, 2020
The SEO Works
1 Review
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The Digital Growth Experts
The SEO Works are an award-winning provider of digital marketing, web design and paid social for leading brands and prospering SME's across the UK. We have worked for more than a decade with one key goal in mind - to get businesses more customers online.
We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver real, measurable results for businesses - no vanity metrics, no jargon.
Our expert team of content pros, web techies and experienced digital marketers deliver top-quality results that are founded on proven techniques, intricate technical knowledge, and cutting-edge creativity. We truly are the digital growth experts.
With a raft of national and international awards for our work, we’re a safe pair of hands. We want to build long-term partnerships and provide businesses with a solution that’s going to provide a tangible return - to us, nothing else can be called success.
The SEO Works is a certified Google Partner for search advertising (SEO) and Google Adwords (PPC). We are also part of the exclusive Google elevator programme which focuses on helping SME’s.
“Best B2C marketing campaign” - Drum Search Awards
"Marketing Effectiveness Winner" - Summit International Awards
“Excellence in Professional Services” - Chambers of Commerce Awards
"Platinum Award for B2C" - AVA Digital Awards
United Kingdom
Fountain Precinct, Balm Green,
Sheffield,
England
S1 2JA
08002922410
United Kingdom
Bellerive House, 3 Muirfield Cres, Isle of Dogs,
London,
London
E14 9SZ
08002922410
$50 - $99/hr
50 - 249
2009
Service Focus
Industry Focus
- Automotive - 10%
- Education - 10%
- Healthcare & Medical - 10%
- Legal & Compliance - 10%
- Manufacturing - 10%
- E-commerce - 10%
- Business Services - 5%
- Consumer Products - 5%
- Financial & Payments - 5%
- Government - 5%
- Information Technology - 5%
- Retail - 5%
- Enterprise - 5%
- Industrial - 5%
Client Focus
75% Small Business
5% Large Business
20% Medium Business
Detailed Reviews of The SEO Works
1 Review
- All Services
- Advertising
- Relevance
- Most Recent
- Rating: high to low
- Rating: low to high
Client Portfolio of The SEO Works
Project Industry
- Healthcare & Medical - 33.3%
- Hospitality - 33.3%
- Real Estate - 33.3%
Major Industry Focus
Healthcare & Medical
Project Cost
- Not Disclosed - 100.0%
Common Project Cost
Not Disclosed
Project Timeline
- 51 to 100 Weeks - 100.0%
Project Timeline
51 to 100 Weeks
Portfolios: 3
Executive Interview of The SEO Works
Ben Foster
CEO
Kindly share your feedback on how GoodFirms has been doing so far in increasing your visibility among potential clients.
GoodFirms is a great resource for businesses looking to assess service partners. With their intuitive interface, it makes it easy to shortlist potential providers to work with. We’ve found it a great source to generate new inquiries for our business.
Please introduce your company and give a brief about your role within the organization.
We are the Digital Growth Experts. As an award-winning provider of digital marketing and websites to leading brands, we’ve worked for more than 15 years with one key goal in mind - to get businesses more customers online.
Our mission is to measure, understand, and maximize our client’s online potential. Digital is now essential for ANY business and as a team of digital natives at the top of our game, we help our clients grow online.
Our mission is to measure, understand, and maximize our client’s online potential. Digital is now essential for ANY business and as a team of digital natives at the top of our game, we help our clients grow online.
This focus on providing a real return on investment is the foundation of our agency, and it’s what motivates us. But this focus on ROI has also caught the attention of awards panels, earning us prestigious accolades… like being named SEO Agency of the Year three times!
As CEO, I’m responsible for the overall success of the business, including the vision, mission, direction, and overall strategy. But I always say it’s not about me - it’s ultimately about the team, as they are the people who continue to lead and deliver. We’ve got a strong culture of ownership and transparency, meaning people are encouraged to be in control of their own time and responsibilities.
Our company values are Drive, Adaptability, Passion, Integrity, and Loyalty. Integrity is huge for me - delivering what you have promised (and being honest about mistakes) builds trust amongst those you work with. Adaptability is also really important for our sector - things change all the time and being agile helps keep us relevant. It’s key to continue to champion these values and reward or celebrate examples of when these happen.
What is the story behind starting this company?
Our Founder started an e-commerce venture aged 24, retailing large white goods online. The business grew very quickly and most of the success was on the back of the great Google rankings he achieved. This was before SEO was a well-known marketing channel! The site ranked number 1 for hundreds of phrases, including “kitchen appliances” “cookers” and other high-volume search terms. It became clear after 3-4 years that there was little or no margin in the industry, so he started The SEO Works from a small office in Sheffield. The mission was to help other businesses to gain the traction he had achieved online.
What are your company’s business model–in house team or third party vendors/ outsourcing?
All of our work is delivered in-house. As digital marketing is a continually changing industry, we have a huge focus on training and development to ensure our team remains up to date. Whereas many agencies rely on outsourcing, we’re proud to say that all of our digital practitioners are full-time employees.
One of the benefits of using us is the access to a wide variety of specialists, each expert in the distinct areas of each digital channel. Rather than one person is responsible for everything, our campaigns typically run with several team members, with one being the dedicated point of contact for the client.
How does your company differentiate itself from the competition?
We are very commercially focussed and work at the “business end” of marketing, something some agencies shy away from. Rather than vanity metrics and fluffy campaigns that might look great but don’t generate any results, we aim to deliver real growth to businesses - and this requires a vigilant focus on return on investment.
Digital is the most effective channel for measurement and we use our experience in data to demonstrate that impact. For a relatively ‘new’ and quickly changing industry, our 15+ years in business is a long time. This longevity has only been possible through delivering and displaying real results for our clients and retaining high standards of output.
What industries do you generally cater to? Are your customers repetitive? If yes, what ratio of clients has been repetitive to you?
The good news is that digital marketing is relevant to all businesses and sectors - the majority of sales and inquiries all start with a search engine. We believe that the most successful organizations will be those that succeed in developing digital as a core part of their business activity.
Over time, we’ve been able to develop specialisms in certain sectors. We have a lot of clients in Professional Services, Education, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and E-Commerce. However, we are able to provide the benefits of what we do to pretty much any business, as long as they have a website.
Please share some of the services that you offer for which clients approach you the most for?
Our services are all designed with one mission in mind: to get you more customers online. They work really well together to amplify visibility or can also be taken as separate services.
Our SEO services help customers get found for relevant searches on Google, in the organic listings. This can take time to achieve but once page 1 rankings are achieved, the returns can be fantastic.
Our PPC services and paid social media advertising services will complement this approach, by targeting your ideal customers and featuring your business wherever they are on the web. Paid advertising offers results sooner, and optimizations over time will help improve your ROI.
The newest service we provide is Digital PR. This takes a journalistic approach and gets you topical coverage in major online publishers. Increased coverage brings a stronger brand profile and it also helps strengthen the authority of your site by obtaining backlinks.
Finally, no business should be without a high-performing website. Our website design services ensure you have a stunning online presence. Uniquely, our approach “bakes in” SEO from the very start of the process, meaning your site will not just look great but it will help you win more business.
What is your customer satisfaction rate according to you? What steps do you take to cater to your customer’s needs and requirements?
We like to listen to our customers and support them - for us, we aim to be an extension of their marketing team, all working towards the same goals. Generally, when a client is more engaged in our services we tend to see the best results. We’ve also supported our clients through things like COVID by offering extended pauses so they could focus on getting through those challenging times.
We always ask for feedback so we can gather trends and work to continually improve what we do. Online reviews are also really important to us, to show the outside world that we are delivering a top class service.
What kind of support system do you offer to your clients for catering to their queries and issues?
Consultancy and support come as part of the service - we really get to know your business, your USP, and the unique challenges and needs of your customers. With over 60 practitioners in our wider team, the broader experience and support are phenomenal. If there is a current issue that is challenging a client you can be sure that one of our team has experienced it in some form or another in the past - this ‘hive mind’ really helps.
What kind of payment structure do you follow to bill your clients? Is it Pay per Feature, Fixed Cost, Pay per Milestone (could be in phases, months, versions etc.)
We see search marketing as a medium to long-term investment. It’s also an ongoing process and not a one-time event. This is because the market, the competition, and the companies that set the rules – search engines – are constantly changing and evolving. To best service this, we work on an ongoing monthly retainer basis.
Do you take in projects which meet your basic budget requirement? If yes, what is the minimum requirement? If no, on what minimum budget you have worked for?
We work with businesses that we feel we can genuinely help grow online and that have an appropriate budget to support this. Whilst we aren't the cheapest in the sector, we certainly aren't the most expensive. We're competitive on price for the quality of service you are receiving.
It’s tempting for businesses, particularly those with tight budgets, to opt for cheap SEO services. Remember that the cheapest is unlikely to be the best. If it was easy, fast, and cheap then everyone would rank number 1 for the terms they want! High-quality, experienced, and skilled SEOs will charge more due to the refined skills and knowledge they have to offer you and benefit your business’ visibility.
Where do you see your company in the next 10 years?
We want to continue our growth and become a global leader in marketing services in a digital-first world. Our customers will trust us implicitly to help them grow their business and happily recommend us because of our service, accreditations, and results. We’ll continue to invest in our team so that they are the most talented digital practitioners across the UK.
We’re achieving significant year-on-year growth and are well on our way to achieving our goals. This is mainly down to the incredibly talented team we have, and the supportive culture we have built. We have also implemented a structured strategic planning process that involves the whole leadership team, with adaptability as one of our core values. This has helped us to evolve year after year, building on our strengths and addressing our weaknesses.
We are always interested in speaking with other businesses who feel they are not getting enough from digital, and want to invest in a quality outcome. Reach out to us today!
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