Fatrank Podcast

James Dooley: If you're a company based in Guildford and looking for different digital marketing strategies in 2026 to grow your customer base or generate more enquiries, should you be teaming up with a local SEO agency based in Guildford? Should you be working with a PPC agency based in Guildford, or looking for a Guildford lead generation service specifically? These are questions we get asked quite a lot when businesses are looking for a return on investment. But Kazra, before people get started on what digital marketing strategies work best in the Guildford area, what advice would you give to business owners and entrepreneurs?

Kasra Dash: The biggest piece of advice I would give to Guildford based business owners is to set up some KPIs before spending any money on digital marketing. You want to know exactly how much money you are spending per campaign or per channel. Maybe you are spending money on Facebook ads, YouTube ads or other social media channels. The next thing I would look at is how many leads have actually been generated. From the leads that are generated per channel, I want to know what the contact rate is. For example, are five out of ten enquiries contactable or only two out of ten? Then from the contacted leads, I want to know how many of those have actually turned into paying customers for the business. Once you have those figures in place, digital marketing becomes a lot more enjoyable and far more predictable.

Kasra Dash: James, what would be the first digital marketing strategy you would recommend for a Guildford based business?

James Dooley: Step number one for me has got to be branding or brand SEO and making sure you are looking good online with a strong reputation. Everything should start with that foundation. You need a positive brand SERP of who you are and what you do. A SERP stands for search engine results page. Getting that branding right across the board can lead to other opportunities in digital marketing. It can improve the conversion rate on paid ads and social media campaigns. When people are deciding which business to go with, branding becomes extremely important at that final decision stage. So that is the first thing people should get right.

James Dooley: The next strategy is AI visibility. More and more companies are beginning to focus on this. What do platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Perplexity say about your brand or business? Is the information positive or negative? You should also look at what these platforms say about your competitors and then work on improving your own visibility. Some people call this AI SEO, others call it GEO or LLM optimisation. Whatever the name, it will become a major factor in digital marketing during 2026 and beyond.

Kasra Dash: I think that is a huge strategy people need to start looking at with artificial intelligence. The next option is filling in the form at FatRank or Promo SEO. These companies offer commission based lead generation services for UK businesses that want to grow. It is still important to generate your own leads through your own marketing, but if you can outsource part of that process you create diversification in your lead flow. Go to fatrank.com, fill in the form and see whether they can provide a no risk supply of enquiries. Promo SEO also offers a performance based lead generation service that may help businesses generate additional leads in 2026.

Kasra Dash: The next strategy is Google Business Profiles, also known as Google Maps listings. This is a form of local SEO where you build your Google Business Profile and try to get more customer reviews. There are pros and cons to this. The biggest advantage is that once the listing ranks well, it can generate leads consistently. However, if you are starting from zero, there may already be competitors with sixty or even a hundred reviews. That means you need leads in order to gain reviews, which creates a chicken and egg situation. Even so, it is still important for brand visibility and reputation.

James Dooley: If you are operating in a local area, appearing in Google Maps results is essential. Businesses should aim to be omnichannel and visible across multiple platforms. Another strategy is organic SEO. This means building your website so it ranks in search engines. If you operate locally, you might create pages targeting your services in different areas. For example, a plumber in Manchester might create a page for plumbing in Manchester. You can also write blog content that answers common questions people search for. The goal is to create high quality content, build topical authority and gain third party backlinks to strengthen rankings.

Kasra Dash: Another channel is organic social media. Organic social media is largely a numbers game. Businesses need to create content their audience actually wants to see. I often see brands that have posted four or five times on Instagram and then stop posting for years. That will not generate sales. Instead, create guides, tips or before and after examples. Content like that encourages people to learn more about your business and fill out a contact form. Organic social media is free, but consistency is essential. Posting three or four times per week is a good starting point.

James Dooley: On the subject of social media, paid social advertising is also powerful. If you are already posting content regularly, boosting those posts with a small budget can significantly increase their reach. Case studies, testimonials and awards often perform well when promoted. You can also run retargeting ads so visitors who have already been on your website continue to see your brand afterwards. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Reddit all allow paid advertising. Paid social media remains an underused digital marketing channel.

Kasra Dash: Another strategy that often creates mixed opinions is PPC advertising. This includes Google Ads and Bing Ads, which appear above organic results as sponsored listings. Some businesses spend ten, fifteen or twenty thousand pounds and see no results. Others spend large budgets and say PPC transformed their business. The difference usually comes down to how the campaign is managed. Successful PPC requires a strong negative keyword list, protection against click fraud, high converting landing pages and a sales team that responds quickly to enquiries. Without these elements, PPC can waste a lot of budget.

James Dooley: While we are talking about paid marketing, another opportunity may appear with advertising on AI platforms. It has not fully launched yet, but platforms like ChatGPT are exploring advertising models. Claude and Perplexity may also introduce ads in the future. Businesses that adopt these platforms early could benefit from lower advertising costs and cheaper leads.

Kasra Dash: Another channel that can influence visibility is online forums such as Reddit and Quora. Businesses cannot completely control these conversations, but positive feedback from customers can generate enquiries. Encouraging happy customers to leave reviews or share recommendations can help increase brand visibility.

James Dooley: Forums like Reddit also appear frequently in AI generated search results. Positive discussions about your business can therefore improve AI visibility as well. The final strategy I would mention is using tradesman websites such as Checkatrade, Bark, Rated People and MyBuilder, or partnering with a third party lead generation company. The key point across all of these strategies is understanding your KPIs and return on ad spend. Businesses should track the time and budget invested into each channel and compare that with the revenue generated.

James Dooley: Lead generation companies may use SEO, PPC or social media advertising to generate enquiries. If they deliver a positive return on investment, they can be a valuable part of your overall marketing strategy. FatRank and Promo SEO offer commission based or performance based lead generation services that guarantee a return on investment. Businesses should still build their own marketing channels, but having multiple lead sources reduces risk and supports growth.

Kasra Dash: Thank you very much James.