Search Marketing Services To Improve Your Online Visibility
Here are 5 most important search marketing services to use for your website.
While the ‘traditional’ methods of online search marketing like SEO and quality content are just as important as ever, there is an increasing trend towards a more customer-centric approach to marketing. With social media, businesses have the opportunity to reach out to new customers in real time, and posts can get dozens, even hundreds of responses, in a matter of minutes. Indeed, data such as Twitter followers and Facebook shares can provide valuable insight into how customers are engaging with your business.
1. PPC (Pay Per Click) Marketing
The way PPC works is that a business is charged a fee each time someone clicks on their ad. If the click results in a high conversion rate, advertisers can make a considerable profit, but if the click delivers a very low conversion rate, the advertiser may end up losing money. It takes time to develop a strategy for PPC, because you must make sure the ad has an effective mix of keywords and that the PPC landing pages provide a maximum conversion rate.
Fortunately, Google and other search engines offer incentives for advertisers who do achieve a high conversion rate. For example, they may reduce the click fees so you can achieve an even higher ROI. You can also test new products and find out how they are being perceived by your audience, or test other keywords for their conversion performance.
2. Search Engine Optimisation
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) still plays an essential role in any marketing strategy. If your customers can’t find you on popular search engines like Google, you will struggle to compete for customers online if your competitors have a much stronger online visibility. Content, keyword optimisation, customer engagement and responsive website design all play a key role in SEO.
3. Social Media Marketing
Get as many organic followers as you can on Twitter and Facebook so you can market your business far and wide. Jayson DeMers, founder and CEO of the SEO and social media marketing company AudienceBloom, argues that ‘less is more’, but ‘better is better’. He notes that people now prefer content that is ‘hyper-relevant’ as opposed to regurgitated, suggesting that it is better to create fewer, higher-quality posts. For example, a Twitter account with 100,000 followers and hundreds of automatic updates each day may be outperformed or perceived to be lower quality than one with just 1,000 followers and a handful of informative, relevant posts written by a human on the spot.
4. Strategy
Before you start working on your website marketing, you must have a strategy – this is something that search marketing services will help with. Working without a clearly defined plan would be like making a recipe with any mix of ingredients, hoping that the meal will somehow taste good. Look at how your campaign will engage with your target audience and make sure it is in line with your business plan.
5. Content
You may have heard the phrase ‘content is king’, which has been used in hundreds, if not thousands of marketing articles, and was probably first dubbed by Bill Gates in the 1990s. The same rules still apply in 2016: good-quality, informative content gives your website credibility and helps you connect with your customers. Avoid waffle and long sentences: keep your content interesting but concise. Try to make a point in the fewest words possible, and write so that the customer is inclined to read more.
If you use all of these methods in your online marketing plan, you will stand a very good chance of beating the competition across multiple platforms and for a variety of search phrases.
Danny Hall is the co-director at FSE Online, which provides search marketing consultants to businesses all over London and the East.