It seems as soon as you’ve gotten your page ranking up, something bumps you back down again. Search engine optimization (SEO) and inbound marketing can seem at odds with each other, one working to undermine your best efforts with the other. SEO’s constantly evolving nature only seems to reinforce this idea. But the two forces, working together, can actually create fantastic opportunities to reach your target audience. A good understanding of how search engine optimization and inbound marketing work together can help you reach your marketing goals. Let’s look at a few ways to get search engine optimization to give your inbound marketing strategies the most bang for your buck.
Have a Keyword Strategy
Having a good keyword strategy is important to getting your pages up in the search engine results pages (SERP)s. There have been sketchy ways to do this in the past – awkwardly padding sites with keywords or phrases, putting white text on white backgrounds to include keywords, and needless repetition. Google bots and web crawlers (those fickle creatures that search and rank your pages) outsmart these sneaky fakes at every turn. So, what does having a keyword strategy mean? Basically, know your audience. What words do they use to search for information you have? What words do they associate with your products or services? You can use a tool like Google's or Hubspot’s to identify the most popular keywords and phrases people use to search for what you have. Identifying these brings us to the next step…
Implement Keywords into Content
Take these keywords and implement them into your content – again not padding, but using the words that prospects use so they can find you! Essentially, make it as easy as possible for them to locate you and your fantastic content. For example, if you’re a law firm and frequently use the word attorney, but everyone looking for legal services types ‘lawyer’ in the search bar, you might be hiding yourself in lower page rankings. Take a hard look at your customers. Identify your target audience, define your buyer personas, and then speak their language! Use these keywords in your blogs, videos, ebook titles, photo captions, in your infographics and on your website. Prospects will thank you by visiting your pages, reading your content, and (if you’ve done your homework) eventually giving you their business. Now, how else do you get your name out there? The answer, again, is to look to your prospects. When we find something great, we like to share – particularly on social media…
Create Shareable Content
With social media and sites like YouTube, the amount of information available online has skyrocketed, and so have our sharing capabilities. We may not want to share our dessert, but we love passing on a tasty infographic! Take advantage of this increased propensity to share information by creating shareable content. Craft helpful and informative infographics, blogs, and slideshare presentations that feature options to share on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and more. When your audience shares your content, they help you build quality links that boost your SEO efforts and make it easier for others to find you too. It’s a win-win. They get information they’re looking for, and you gain greater reach and capture the interest of more leads looking for your knowledge and expertise.
In a nutshell: Have a keyword strategy that focuses on the words your online audience uses to search for you. Implement these keywords into your content. Create shareable content, and make it easy for people to pass it along. And your inbound marketing efforts will thank your SEO for the boost!
Did you find this article helpful? You might also enjoy, Create Buyer Personas for Content Marketing to Increase Sales.
(Article featured on Project Eve)
About Digital Impact Agency
Digital Impact Agency is a creative firm specializing in interactive media and inbound marketing strategies for manufacturing and technology companies, professional service firms (architectural, engineering, construction, legal and consulting), nonprofits and enterprise companies. We are a team of innovative entrepreneurs focused on creating the most strategic and effective communication channels for our clients.
