Organic search is an essential part of the digital marketing mix

An organic search strategy is as essential a part of a brand’s marketing mix as paid search and any other online tactic, particularly because the race to the top of the Google page is purely based on spend and not relevance to search.

At a time when clients are more empowered with knowledge about the search ecosystem than ever before, and are holding their digital agencies more accountable, it’s vital that brands wanting to attract attention from potential customers include organic search in their SEO strategy and spend in 2022.

That’s the view of David Jenkins, co-founder of Mickey Llew, a specialist performance marketing and SEO agency, recently named Best Small Integrated Search Agency at the annual MENA Search Awards.

‘There needs to be a golden thread of intentional alignment across all the elements and tactics that form a digital campaign, rather than separate teams and departments all working in isolated silos,’ Jenkins says. ‘The strategy and spend for creative and messaging across all platforms – paid and organic – needs to be aligned to achieve the best possible results.

‘The reality is that very few agencies adopt this fully integrated approach – they’re buying for the budget, rather than doing what’s in the client’s best interests. Doing what’s best for the client, and not just what’s best for the agency, is the most ethical, and the most likely to achieve the results that they’re hoping for,’ Jenkins adds.

Evidence of the success of this integrated approach was clear with a new client the agency worked with in December 2021: Mickey Llew took the client’s social media strategy and aligned it with Google Search, yielding a 114% growth in traffic and a 168% growth year on year in conversions from social alone, despite budget and media spend being the same.

With its unique approach to organic search as a key component of digital strategies, the South African home-grown agency with teams in Australia and the United Kingdom supporting clients in those countries.

‘Brands and agencies in both these countries are happy to work with us, because they know we offer value and achieve great results,’ says Mickey Llew co-founder, Chris Avery. ‘The new world of work has little to do with location, and everything to do with capability and delivery – and we’re well poised to work with clients in any location.’

As an owner-run business of world-class specialists in paid and organic search marketing technologies and tactics, the agency has more than doubled its staff complement in the last year. It has also grown its client portfolio by 50% and its revenue by 80%, and has become one of the biggest organic search agencies on the African continent – if not the biggest.

‘Having our industry peers and leaders recognise our work is a meaningful and impactful endorsement for our agency and our work,’ says Avery. ‘We are even more driven to produce world-class work that sets our clients apart – wherever in the world they may be.’