Caroline Phillips: We Are Experts at SEO and Would Like To Be Known as Such

Caroline Phillips of Alba SEO Services.

Where in Scotland are you located?

Edinburgh

Tell us about yourself?

I’m the owner and founder of Alba SEO Services. Prior to this I worked in IT in a bank and before that I was a scientist working in a lab.

What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you?

That you need to call in specialists to do the bits of running a business that you have no expertise in. You can’t know everything and trying to do it all in order to save money just makes life more difficult. So if you can, hire a bookkeeper, copywriter, web developer etc and don’t try to DIY.

If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Not all great business ideas work out and you need to be flexible and learn from the experience.

A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?

In the early days, yes that was the case. And actually to make things work you need to put in the long hours in the first few years. But nowadays, as I am more experienced and established I can have a better work life balance.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

This business started when I realised that I needed to use SEO in order to get another business I owned ranking well. I successfully established a health related business on page 1 of Google a few years ago and realised that with this knowledge I could offer to help other businesses reach page 1 and so Alba SEO Services was born.

What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?

The team is very experienced and stable and we have extensive knowledge. We are also very personable and we like to think our client service is one of the best.

How have you found sales so far? Do you have any lessons you could pass on to other founders in the same market as you just starting out?

Sales are consistent and the best thing that you can do is to develop relationships with fellow marketing experts as referral sales make up a lot of our work.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in your business, and how did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge was working out how to grow the business successfully. Initially I thought getting more staff was the way to go but that brings challenges. Today we are a small team by choice because we can focus on our customers and have a 1-2-1 relationship with them. As a team gets bigger you can sometimes lose that relationship.

What do you consider are the main strengths of operating your business in Scotland?

We have most of our clients in Scotland but also a few in England too. Scotland offers a good work life balance. Just 20 minutes outside of Edinburgh and you can be in a very rural location away from everything which gives you the chance to switch off from work.

What if any are weaknesses of operating your business within Scotland?

I don’t think that there are any weaknesses. Online businesses like mine can attract clients from all over UK.

What influence does being part of the UK have on your business?

I guess it means that any business throughout the UK can be a client of ours since we all work under the same regulations and payment is not complicated.

What do you want to accomplish in the next 5 years with your business?

I’d like the business to grow and become one of the most respected SEO companies in Scotland. We are experts at SEO and would like to be known as such.

How has Brexit impacted your business (if at all)?

BREXIT has had no direct impact on my businesses but one or two of our clients have had some challenges from BREXIT.

And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?

They can go to our website –https://www.albaseoservices.co.uk to read more about us or give us a call on 0131 235 2188

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