Why Most Businesses in Wakefield Struggle With Digital Marketing in 2026 And How to Fix It

James Dooley: If you're a company based in Wakefield and looking to grow in 2026, what digital marketing strategies should you be doing to acquire more customers and generate more enquiries? Should you be using a Wakefield SEO agency, a PPC agency based in Wakefield, or looking for a freelance lead generation service that can generate more leads for a Wakefield based business? Before you start spending any money on digital marketing, Kasra, what advice would you give to business owners and entrepreneurs based in the Wakefield area?

Kasra Dash: For business owners in the Wakefield area, the number one thing I always recommend is setting up KPIs. You want to know exactly how much money you are spending on your lead generation or digital marketing campaigns, and also per campaign. Then you want to know how many leads have been generated per campaign. Maybe you are spending money on Facebook ads and SEO. You want to know exactly how many leads have been generated from those channels. From the leads that have been generated, the next thing I would be looking at is the contact rate. How many of those leads have you been able to contact? The last thing I would look at is from the contacted leads, how many of them have been converted into paying customers or paying clients for the business. Once you have those figures in place, digital marketing becomes a lot more predictable. You can increase spend on campaigns that are working or switch off campaigns that are not profitable. So James, for Wakefield based businesses, what are some digital marketing strategies they should be looking at?

James Dooley: Step number one for me has to be branding or brand SEO and making sure you look good online. You need a strong reputation. Everything should start with a positive brand SERP of who you are and what you do. SERP stands for search engine results page. Getting that branding right across the board can lead on to other marketing strategies. It improves conversion rates on paid ads or social media. When leads research your business at the final stage before making a decision, branding becomes very important. That is why it is the first thing businesses need to get right in any digital marketing strategy. My next strategy is AI visibility. More companies are starting to look into this. What do ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Perplexity say about your brand or business? Is it positive or negative? You should also look at what those platforms say about your competitors and try to improve your own positioning. Some people call this AI SEO, some call it GEO, and others call it LLM optimisation. This will be a major factor in digital marketing during 2026 and beyond.

Kasra Dash: I agree. AI visibility is becoming a huge marketing strategy as more people use AI tools for research. The next strategy I would mention is filling in the form at Fat Rank or Promo SEO. They offer commission based lead generation services for UK companies looking to grow. Businesses should always work on generating their own leads through digital marketing, but outsourcing some lead generation can also create diversification. If one channel slows down, another can still produce enquiries. Head over to fatrank.com and fill in the form to see if they can supply enquiries with no risk. Promo SEO also provides a similar performance based lead generation service, so it is worth checking both companies to see if a third party can help top up enquiries and support business growth in 2026. The next strategy is Google Business Profiles. These are Google Maps listings and form a big part of local SEO. You build out your business profile and collect more reviews in your local area. There are pros and cons. The main benefit is that once your listing ranks well, it can consistently generate leads. However, getting from zero to the number one position can be difficult if competitors already have dozens or even hundreds of reviews. That means you may have a review deficit. To get reviews you need leads, but to get leads you often need reviews. It is a chicken and egg situation. Even so, having a Google Maps listing is important for brand visibility and credibility.

James Dooley: Absolutely. If your business serves a local area, you want those local map rankings. Another key strategy is organic SEO. This means improving your website so it ranks higher in search results. For example, if you offer services in specific areas, you could create location based pages such as plumbing in Manchester. Those pages can then be linked to your Google Business Profile. Organic search has huge demand because people constantly search for services online. Businesses should publish quality content, build topical authority and secure third party backlinks to strengthen their website and improve organic rankings.

Kasra Dash: Another important strategy is organic social media. Organic social media is very much a numbers game. Businesses need to produce content that their audience actually wants to watch or read. Many companies publish a few posts and then disappear for years. That approach will never drive sales. Instead, businesses should post useful content such as guides, tutorials, before and after projects or demonstrations of their services. When people see valuable content, they are more likely to click through to the website and submit an enquiry. Although organic social media does not require ad spend, it does require consistency. Posting three or four times a week can make a big difference.

James Dooley: Paid social media advertising is also very powerful. If you are already posting content regularly, spending a few pounds to boost those posts can increase reach and visibility. Businesses can promote case studies, awards or customer results through boosted posts. Retargeting ads are also very effective. If someone visits your website but does not convert, you can show ads to them later on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Paid social ads can also run on YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and even Reddit. In many cases, paid social media remains an underused digital marketing strategy.

Kasra Dash: The next channel is PPC advertising. This includes Google Ads or Bing Ads, where your website appears in the sponsored search results above organic listings. Some businesses love PPC while others hate it. Many owners have spent ten or twenty thousand pounds without results, while others have spent hundreds of thousands and scaled their business dramatically. The difference often comes down to how the campaigns are managed. PPC requires proper optimisation. Businesses need a proactive negative keyword list, protection against click fraud and a high converting landing page. Competitors sometimes click ads repeatedly, which wastes advertising budget. That is why click fraud software and banned IP lists are important. Businesses also need a responsive sales team because PPC leads should be contacted quickly. When these systems are in place, PPC can perform extremely well.

James Dooley: PPC can generate instant leads, but it can also burn through budget quickly if it is not set up properly. That is why businesses need to track performance carefully. Another strategy to watch is paid advertising within AI platforms. It is not fully rolled out yet, but ChatGPT and other large language models may introduce paid placements in the future. If companies adopt these platforms early, they could generate leads at a lower cost compared with traditional channels.

Kasra Dash: Another source of visibility is online forums such as Reddit and Quora. Brand mentions on these platforms can influence buying decisions. When customers talk positively about your business in forums, it can drive enquiries and recommendations. While you cannot fully control these conversations, encouraging happy customers to share their experiences can help generate additional leads.

James Dooley: Forums like Reddit also appear frequently in AI search results and AI overviews. Positive discussions about your brand can therefore strengthen AI visibility. The final strategy is using tradesman websites or lead generation platforms. These include sites such as Checkatrade, Bark, Rated People and MyBuilder. Businesses can also partner with specialist lead generation companies. As with every marketing channel, it is important to track KPIs and return on ad spend. If platforms such as Checkatrade or Bark generate profitable leads, businesses should continue using them. Lead generation companies may use SEO, PPC or social media ads to produce enquiries on behalf of their clients. If they generate leads that produce a positive return on investment, they can be a valuable addition to a marketing strategy. Once again, companies such as Fat Rank and Promo SEO offer performance based lead generation. They only earn when their clients generate revenue, which reduces the risk for businesses. You should still generate your own leads through marketing, but outsourcing some lead generation creates diversification and removes a single point of failure. Including lead generation partners as part of your digital marketing strategy could help businesses grow in 2026.

Kasra Dash: Thank you very much.