But how do brands achieve this coveted spot?

With search engine optimization, or SEO, of course. If a business is the proverbial needle in the internet’s haystack, search engine optimization could be the magnet that pulls it to the surface.

However, effective SEO takes time and effort. The best SEO services require a deep understanding of algorithms, keyword strategies, audience behavior, content production, and competitive landscapes, combined with a constant fine-tuning of the invisible strings that impact a website’s ranking.

The sheer enormity of the task is why many brands and small business operations turn to SEO companies to champion their digital initiatives with their expert SEO service and SEO strategy. But in a crowded marketplace, choosing the right digital marketing agency is a challenge, to say the least. To that end, brands should take the time to look into the best SEO companies before making a decision.

#1 Power Digital

• Specialty: SEO, PR, Social Media, Content Marketing, CRO, PPC/Paid Media, Influencer Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Email Marketing, Partnerships, Amazon, Paid Social Advertising, Web Design & Development, Digital Creative Design & Rapid Ad Creative, Diligence (PE/VC), Marketing Operations, Programmatic, Tiktok
• Industries: B2B SEO, B2C & eCommerce SEO, beauty, fashion, private equity (due diligence), retail media
• Strengths: Custom marketing playbooks, proprietary technology, consumer values, 2.4x faster growth
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: San Diego, California
• Notable Clients: Casper, Catalonia Crunch, Honest, MyFitnessPal, Bob’s Red Mill, Gorjana, Smart Sweets, Lord & Taylor, Puravida, Kate Somerville, Taylor Guitars

Power Digital stands as a beacon for innovative growth marketing. They serve as SEO expert consultants at the crossroads of brand and growth, driving visibility and revenue through tailored strategies that include full SEO services, a proprietary technology platform, and a fully-integrated marketing team. And the effectiveness of their team speaks for itself—companies that partner with Power Digital report growth 2.4x faster than the industry average, earning the agency a top spot in SEO company and best SEO agency rankings.

#2 Growth Plays

• Specialty: B2B Content Strategy, SEO Service, Machine Learning
• Industries: B2B and investment funds
• Strengths: Generating revenue pipelines, real-time monitoring for technical SEO issues, expert writers recruitment
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
• Notable Clients: Hopin, Podia, Heap, Lattice, Launch Darkly, Cortex, Gremlin

Growth Plays focuses on generating actual revenue pipelines, not just pageviews. The company does this by using a unique two-part, 9-week process to map and rank for critical search terms while enabling the creation of top-tier content. Growth Plays further serves clients by offering additional services like competitive analysis, writing team recruitment, 24/7 site monitoring and reporting, and content opportunity assessment, making them one of the best SEO company choices out there.

#3 Directive Consulting

• Specialty: SEO, Paid Media, Design, Lifecycle Marketing, Video, Strategy
• Industries: Tech
• Strengths: Data-backed marketing strategies, proactive communication, results-driven processes, $1 billion in revenue generated
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Irvine, California
• Notable Clients: Adobe, Amazon, Uber Freight, Snap Inc. Sonar, DBT Labs, Zero Fox, Arctic Wolf, Bill.com

Directive Consulting is a specialized customer generation agency for tech companies that promises to deliver meaningful results. With more than 150 expert tech marketers in the firm, Directive provides one of the best SEO services available and has served as the growth architects behind more than 200 technology companies, ranging from early stage to mature.

#4 Delante

• Specialty: International SEO, SEM, Content Marketing, Technical SEO
• Industries: CBD, software house, hospitality, travel
• Strengths: Predictable traffic growth, complete SEO process, 100+ years of combined industry experience
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: New York City, New York
• Notable Clients: Best Western, Fellowes, Douglas, Youniq, Mugga, Botland, Nebbia, Molehill, Ovoko, Paul Rich

As a hands-on SEO agency specializing in driving predictable traffic growth, Delante isn’t just another SEO expert consultancy—they actively implement the complete SEO process from beginning to end, working across 25+ countries and 30 industries. Aside from the SEO expertise they bring to the table, the team at Delante is known for their transparency, communication, and can-do approach to all challenges.

#5 CEEK

• Specialty: SEO, Social Media Marketing, Paid Targeting, Influencer Marketing, Web Development, Content & Creative
• Industries: Hospitality, eCommerce, small business, luxury
• Strengths: Outsourced solutions, OCMX methodology, ROI-focused strategies
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: London, England
• Notable Clients: Tinder, Radisson, Clever, Various Eatiers, The Lookout, Diet Starts Tomorrow, The Savoy, Carte Noire

CEEK is your in-house marketing team, outsourced. Although they have a passion for working with start-ups in particular, the London-based marketing firm offers comprehensive outsourced SEO and social media solutions designed to help businesses of all sizes. And with dedicated teams for all areas of marketing—including SEO, influencer marketing, content creation, social media marketing, and paid targeting—CEEK ensures that brands can easily (and successfully) navigate the complex world of marketing.

#6 iPullRank

• Specialty: Audience Research, Content Strategy and Marketing, Technical SEO, Generative AI Services, Content Engineering
• Industries: Finance, eCommerce, media/publisher
• Strengths: $2 billion in incremental revenue, JavaScript SEO, audience-driven strategies
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: New York City, New York
• Notable Clients: LG, Citi, Polo, Complex, MLB, Beats, American Express, DocSend

Founded by Search Engine Land Marketer of the Year, Mike King, iPullRank is a leading digital marketing agency specializing in technical SEO and content strategy for enterprise and mid-market brands. Why does the company place in the top ten? Because their team balances innovative technical expertise with creative content engineering while maintaining a people-first approach. All of these aspects work together to create value for their clients.

#7 Graphite

• Specialty: SEO, Data Science, Content Marketing, Conversion Optimization, Data Analytics, App Growth
• Industries: B2C, B2B, finance, tech
• Strengths: Growth-stage focus and growth strategy, SEO strategy, technical SEO
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: San Fransico, California, with remote teams across North America, Latin America, and Europe
• Notable Clients: MasterClass, Medium, Robinhood, Upwork, Reforge, Thumbtack

Graphite has made a name for itself by creating sustainable, scalable growth engines for both consumer and enterprise companies. By prioritizing user needs and experiences alongside SEO, the company is able to build impactful, intentional strategies that deliver real results. For instance, in just three years, the agency improved MasterClass’s organic traffic by over 400%, resulting in revenue growth of over 10M per month.

#8 Pearl Lemon

• Specialty: Local Services SEO, WordPress SEO, Technical SEO, eCommerce SEO, International SEO, SEO Auditing, PPC Services, Link Building, Website Migration
• Industries: B2B, B2C, eCommerce, finance, law, business, home goods
• Strengths: Effective organic traffic growth, brand awareness, conversion, analytics and reporting, SEO consulting, 25+ years of combined SEO experience
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: London, England
• Notable Clients: Clad Home, Indie Law, Elevano, Lina, Selfie Booth, ASTTERIA London, Book Like a Boss, Applicant Tracking Systems, SeniorGuidance.org

Pearl Lemon is a globally remote, award-winning SEO team based in London, England. Bootstrapped into a 7-figures-per-year company in less than 2 years by founder Deepak Shulka, the company knows a thing or two about rapid growth. Pearl Lemon provides extensive international and local SEO services to brands across industries, with results that have earned them top rankings on platforms such as Clutch, Design Rush, and Agency Spotter.

#9 Panem Agency

• Specialty: SEO, PPC, Targeted Advertising, Web Analytics, SEO Auditing, Digital Planning, Google Smart Shopping, Full-Service Digital Marketing, Startup SEO
• Industries: Web and mobile development, retail, SaaS SEO
• Strengths: Customer-first approach, data-driven SEO, competitor and niche analysis, content strategy and roadmap building, reputation management
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Lviv, Ukraine
• Notable Clients: Visengine, Qubstudio, Avenga, Otakoyi

In just seven years, Panem Agency has grown from a company of two passionate SEO and business specialists to a large team of full-service digital marketing experts who build custom SEO strategies that align with each client’s unique needs and goals.

#10 uSERP

• Specialty: Link Building, Digital PR, SEO
• Industries: SaaS, finance, education
• Strengths: Authority backlinks, brand mentions, digital PR marketing, organic search
• Pricing: Link building plans cost between $10,000–$20,000+ per month. Link building plus content services are available for between $20,000–$40,000 per month.
• Headquarters: Denver, Colorado
• Notable Clients: Monday.com, ActiveCampaign, Crowdstrike, Freshworks, Preply, Breadcrumbs, Nav, Propel, EarlyBird, MOS, Reply

uSERP relies on high authority backlinks and coveted brand mentions to drive rankings, traffic, and revenue growth for ambitious companies looking to outrank competitors and establish themselves within their industry. And this strategy has proven incredibly effective—on average, uSERP is able to increase organic search traffic for their clients in as little as two months.

Partnering with the best SEO company

In the mercurial digital landscape, top international SEO and local SEO companies are crucial allies for brands striving to boost their online presence. By offering a multifaceted approach—including but not limited to strategic analysis, on-page optimization, specialized SEO, and continuous monitoring—the experts from the best digital marketing agencies can help brands rank higher on search engines by delivering high-quality traffic, leads, and sales.

If you’re looking to gain a competitive edge in your industry by optimizing your online presence, partner with a top enterprise SEO agency, like Power Digital. With experience serving clients across a variety of industries, Power Digital can help fuel your brand’s growth with data-driven insights and strategies tailored to your unique business goals.

Reach out today to learn more about what a partnership with Power Digital could look like.

Sources:

1. Forbes. Six Reasons Good SEO is a Long Game. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/02/23/six-reasons-good-seo-is-a-long-game/?sh=518833441080

The post 10 Best SEO Companies appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

But for companies looking to partner with the industry’s best, who are the best content marketing agencies making waves and producing results today?

This content marketing company guide breaks down ten of the best content marketing agencies working in the digital space right now. These industry content marketing service leaders are building brand-new ways to connect with customers and skyrocket brand awareness.

#1 Power Digital

• Specialty: Full-funnel digital marketing
• Industries: B2B, B2C, eCommerce, fashion, private equity, retail
• Strengths: SaaS, B2C, eCommerce, or B2B content strategy and organic search growth
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: San Francisco, California, USA
• Notable Clients: Casper, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Bob’s Red Mill

Brands looking for a top content marketing agency leveraging the latest technologies to produce tangible growth should explore Power Digital’s extensive slate of services.

Power Digital’s content marketing service scope exceeds that of a traditional search engine optimization or SEO company—the brand’s expert content marketing strategy team offers full-funnel marketing services, boosting interactions at every stage of the customer journey. Plus, their strategies are powered by nova Intelligence, the company’s proprietary, data-driven marketing intelligence application, offering a roadmap to digital growth across channels and stages through a comprehensive content marketing campaign.

For companies looking for a SaaS, B2C, eCommerce, or B2B content marketing agency, Power Digital should be at the top of the shortlist.

#2 Column Five

• Specialty: Brand development, content marketing
• Industries: SaaS
• Strengths: Content marketing campaign ideation, strategy
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Southern California, USA
• Notable Clients: Charles Schwab, Intuit, VISA

Column Five offers digital marketing services in four major areas:

1. Brand strategy
2. Content strategy
3. Content creation
4. Distribution strategy

When it comes to content marketing, their team offers everything from campaign planning and keyword strategy to creative consulting and customer journey mapping.

Column Five is a content marketing company that’s laser-focused on narrative, leveraging storytelling concepts to increase brand awareness and attract lifelong customers. Perhaps most importantly, they’re a SaaS-specific services provider, meaning their approach may not be compatible with a retail, food and beverage, or apparel brand.

For companies looking for a SaaS-aligned, story-focused, data-driven content marketing agency to reach the right audience and cultivate a strong brand narrative, consider Column Five.

#3 Fractl

• Specialty: Organic search
• Industries: B2B, B2C
• Strengths: Organic growth strategy, content development, technical SEO
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Delray Beach, Florida, USA
• Notable Clients: Discover, Care.com, Indeed

Companies looking to hyper-focus on organic search engine growth via the best SEO companies, consider Fractl—one of the industry’s top content marketing agencies specializing in search engine marketing.

In practice, Fractl is highly focused on two key metrics in search engine optimization (SEO):

• Ranking – Fractl ideates, designs, and installs content tailor-made to rank in search engine results. The brand also manages content refreshments to keep sites competitive.
• Linking – Fractl touts a wide network of media outlets, publications, universities, and other entities, and focuses on linking as an organic growth strategy in tandem with ranking.

For businesses looking for a content marketing partner with extensive SEO experience and expertise, Fractl might be an ideal partner for organic search growth and SEM strategy.

#4 Foundation Inc

• Specialty: Data-driven content marketing
• Industries: B2B, SaaS, manufacturing
• Strengths: Content marketing industry thought leadership
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Remote
• Notable Clients: Webex, MailChimp, Canva

A 100% remote content marketing agency, Foundation Inc specializes in content strategy, creation, and distribution in a few specific sectors:

• SaaS
• B2B
• Manufacturing
• Other traditionally “boring” industries

While Foundation recognizes that there’s no such thing as a “boring industry,” their team focuses on developing solutions and sharing insights for brands in traditional or old-school sectors that want to leverage digital marketing.

To that end, the brand also offers data-driven market insights via The Foundation Lab, their proprietary thought leadership and industry learning hub. The Foundation Lab is designed to be a resource for both marketing professionals and business owners alike.

For brands working in software, industrial, or traditional niches, Foundation Inc might be a strong contender for a digital marketing partnership.

#5 Codeless

• Specialty: SEO
• Industries: SaaS, service
• Strengths: Content production, content exporting management
• Pricing: $10,000-$20,000
• Headquarters: Remote
• Notable Clients: Robinhood, Freshworks, Monday.com

Offering SEO services 100% remotely, Codeless is a content marketing agency with two key arms:

• Codeless content engine – Codeless strategizes, produces, and optimizes content for brands looking to grow their presence and improve their search engine rankings.
• Wordable – Codeless’s proprietary publishing product, Wordable, automates formatting for seamless copy publication.

In addition, they offer free training video content to marketers and other industry players.

Codeless touts a focus on long-term ROI through SEO, content management, and public relations services. The company specifically works in the SaaS, service, and affiliate website niches, catering to both B2B and B2C products.

Brands looking for 100% remote services, upfront pricing, and a focus on long-term growth might find a compatible match in Codeless.

#6 The Content Bureau

• Specialty: B2B content marketing
• Industries: Tech, finance, professional services
• Strengths: Retention and longevity
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Orinda, California, USA
• Notable Clients: Adobe, American Express, Microsoft

The Content Bureau proclaims that content is queen. Focused on providing B2B content marketing specifically to technology, finance, and professional services clients, B2B has had a foothold in the content marketing space since 2000.

The woman-led brand is uniquely focused on longevity, in both:

• Client retention – The Content Bureau touts two-decade partnerships with select clientele, and their customer service model is focused on long-term relationship-building.
• Creative staff retention – As part of their effort to provide outstanding service, The Content Bureau invests heavily in talent retention and employee experience.

The company’s content offers run the gamut from ads to social media marketing to white papers. Brands looking for a long-standing content partner, The Content Bureau is a strong contender.

#7 Builtvisible

• Specialty: Organic growth
• Industries: Travel, financial services, eCommerce
• Strengths: SEO, organic emphasis
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: London, England, United Kingdom
• Notable Clients: Iceland Air, G4S, Red Hat

Builtvisible is a UK-based content marketing agency deeply focused on organic growth approaches via SEO, digital PR, and custom tooling and workflow applications.

Their organic specialty lies at the heart of all of their work, and they primarily leverage organic approaches to build customer loyalty and make a long-term impact on their clients’ bottom lines.

Builtvisible is also highly tech-aligned: they aim to combine the best of human resources and automation power to produce tangible digital growth.

For brands looking for a tech-savvy, organic-focused partner with experience across a variety of industries, Builtvisible might be a good fit for content marketing services.

#8 Optimist

• Specialty: Organic growth, product-led clientele
• Industries: SaaS, B2B, B2C
• Strengths: Organic SEO, strategy
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Remote
• Notable Clients: Submittable, Hellosign, Kubera

Optimist is an organic-focused content marketing agency focused on servicing product-led clientele. So, most of their clients are B2B, B2C, and SaaS..

Strategy is the backbone of Optimist’s approach to content creation. Investing heavily in strategy before content creation begins, the team defines a clear set of goals and needs before developing a roadmap to growth.

In addition, Optimist is focused on delivering quality content—insightful assets that meet end-users’ needs and guide them along the customer journey throughout the funnel. To this end, they’re laser-focused on delivering value, efficiency, and tangible results.

The company brings a team of five to seven marketers, strategists, and experts to each project, offering clients a wealth of expertise and full-service support.

Optimist might be a good fit for businesses that want to take a hands-on, strategy-heavy approach to content marketing and digital growth.

#9 Grow and Convert

• Specialty: Conversion-focused SEO & PPC
• Industries: B2B, B2C, SaaS, service, eCommerce
• Strengths: Conversion and sales growth
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Remote
• Notable Clients: Yelp, Rainforest, Brandfolder

Grow and Convert is a full-service content marketing agency focused on tangible business development—specifically, content that produces conversions.

With an emphasis on demo-based SaaS providers, Grow and Convert leverages a large, remote writing team to produce conversion-centric content that promotes demo sign-ups. In addition, they seek to enhance accountability for conversions and other metrics in the content marketing field at large.

Grow and Convert also offers a content marketing strategy course that both:

1. Provides businesses and marketers with tips and strategies for high-conversion content.
2. Connects participants with a community of marketers and business leaders for long-term relationship-building.

Grow and Convert might be a compatible content marketing partner for businesses looking for growth-focused experts with ample experience in the SaaS and demo space.

#10 Compose.ly

• Specialty: Content writing
• Industries: Finance, fitness, legal, medical, tech
• Strengths: SEO-friendly content
• Pricing: Starting at $999/month
• Headquarters: Remote
• Notable Clients: WebMB, Constant Contact, Calendly

Compose.ly focuses on delivering SEO-friendly, high-quality content efficiently and at scale. With a large network of writers, Compose.ly offers a highly scalable service to brands large and small.

Their content writing offers include:

• Blog posts
• E-books
• Ghostwriting
• Press releases
• Technical content

In addition, they also offer:

• Fully managed content writing
• A writer marketplace for direct writing team recruitment
• Content editing services

With a wide-ranging industry scope, a large outsourced team, and an SEO focus, Compose.ly can deliver high volume without sacrificing quality.

Brands looking for a hands-on or hands-off content generation experience from a provider that can easily scale might be a good match for content marketing services from Compose.ly.

Partner with the best in content marketing at Power Digital

Today’s top content marketing companies are leveraging powerful technologies, remote work, and niche industry knowledge to produce high-quality content that converts current and prospective customers.

But if you’re looking for the best of the best in content marketing, partner with Power Digital. With a robust team of seasoned digital marketing agency experts and a high-octane, proprietary strategy engine (nova), Power Digital is the growth marketing firm that can help you unlock your brand’s full potential.

Take your marketing to the next level and explore innovative content solutions with Power Digital.

The post 10 Best Content Marketing Agencies appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

From a business standpoint, potential customers can support a company by clicking on either. But each has its associated pros and cons, and knowing the difference is crucial for brands seeking to hit a new stage in their growth.

No need to Google any further. Businesses looking for answers on how paid and organic fit into a successful digital marketing plan will find the full breakdown below.

Organic and paid search, defined

When a user types “why is my cat so painfully unloving towards me?” into a search bar, they’ll be whisked off to a page full of all the grumpy cat-related content they can hope for. Along with answers that closely meet their query, they’ll also be met with some advertisements.

The first few results will display an ad tag hidden somewhere inconspicuously near their metadata. These are paid ad results and differ from the organic search results  beneath them. But what separates them, and how do they receive their respective spots?

• Organic – So, what is organic search? Organic searches operate solely by comparing the content of the user query with the information available on the searchable internet. Search engines like Google use complex algorithms to determine the best matches between what the user is looking for and the quality content available online.³
  
• Paid – Paid searches connect companies that invest in organic SEO (search engine optimized) advertising with users who look for similar products or services. These results will generally pop up due to specific keywords the company has targeted for its advertising, even if they aren’t as closely matched to user queries as the organic results.⁴

In practice, that user who typed “why is my cat so painfully unloving towards me?” may first see semi-related cat-centered advertisements, like paid spots for wet pet food brands. This would likely occur due to a company choosing “cat” as a target keyword for advertising. After scrolling past the paid results, they may see something more obviously relevant, like how-to pages outlining how to convince a cat to like you.

How do paid and organic search compare for brands?

There are countless reasons for companies to invest in paid and organic advertising online, but let’s take a look at the unique benefits of each and why it matters for businesses.

The benefits of organic search

Whether they intend to or not, every website that standard web crawlers access participates in formulating organic search results. If their content is publicly visible, Google and other search engines take them into consideration when assembling results—even if they end up on the third (or twentieth) page. 

Optimizing organic searches presents a myriad of benefits to businesses, including:

• Cost-effectiveness – It can cost exactly $0 for a company’s page to show up as the first organic option on a search engine results page (SERP). You read that right: there are no inherent costs associated with Google selecting a company’s page as the top result. That said, brands who keep up with SEO trends and invest in SEO marketing services are best poised to earn that coveted position (but more on that later).
  
• Earning user trust – Put simply, most people do not like being advertised to, with a whopping 96% of consumers reporting believing ads to be untruthful.⁵ That means, when they see that tiny sponsored tag next to a result, they’re highly likely to scroll past it. The numbers don’t lie, either: 94% of SERP click-throughs occur on organic links, even if users have to venture past the top results to get to them.⁶
• Perpetual returns – Paid search can be useful, but when a company stops paying for Google’s top spot its pages will quickly fall to wherever their place in the organic order is. An organic result that ranks highly on SERPs, though, can drive traffic for the entirety of its lifespan on a website.

Even more impressive? Highly-ranked organic results can have a snowball effect on website traffic, as the vast majority of users click on one of the top few results.⁶ 

How does organic search work?

The higher a business’s page appears on SERPs, the more website traffic will come its way. Maximizing organic traffic flow is a strategic method of driving curious customers to a company. Users who come across a page organically means that they are sincerely invested in their query and, correspondingly, will probably be more interested in whatever the business is offering. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the name given to the game of trying to appear at the top of searches. Both organic and paid searches employ SEO tactics. SEO refers to a field of consistently changing, complex techniques that can help a page rank higher on SERPs. 

Writing posts and pages to outrank others is a complicated task, and that’s why many businesses opt to hire an SEO company to get the most out of their search results.

The benefits of paid search

Google and most other search engines offer paid options for companies to promote their pages via sponsored search results. The prices each engine offers vary, but the benefits hold true across different platforms:

• Skip the line – When a company pays to have their search promoted to users, it appears as the first (or one of the first) results on the SERPs. Browsers who crave quick results are likely to click the first link that pops up on their screen. Ergo, paid searches can be a method for driving traffic to a company’s site. A study from Google itself noted an 80% increase in brand awareness for companies that used paid search advertising.⁷ 
• Matching user queries – Paid searches generally return results based on specific keywords typed into the search bar. Promoting relevant language centered around a company’s products and services means that customers will see ads that are more likely to align with their interests or the problem they want to solve. 
• In-depth analytics – Google will give you a basic breakdown of the traffic driven to a company’s page through organic searches. But if a business is after a richer, more nuanced analysis of how often their ads are being viewed, who’s seeing them and what keywords are prompting users to click through, a paid search package is how they’ll get that data.⁸

How does paid search work?

One of the primary ways businesses can purchase ad space on SERPs is through Pay Per Click (PPC) auctions. 

PPC auctions function similarly to other auctions, but with a few twists (also, no auctioneers). To begin:⁹

1. Advertisers create accounts and campaigns with search engines detailing specific keywords, markets, and demographics they want to target in paid results. 
   
2. Companies decide how much they’re willing to pay to reach their target audience and set the rate on their profile.
3. When a user searches, the engine determines how well their keywords and profile match the requisites of different companies with similar targets.
4. The displayed paid searches are those of the companies willing to pay for that particular customer, and they get billed for the click if the user decides to navigate to their site.

Determining how much to bid on ads and which keywords and demographics to target are the primary tasks of advertisers considering paid searches. When these queries become too complex for in-house staff, consulting a digital marketing agency or content marketing agency can help businesses steer their campaigns. 

Find your SEO spotlight with Power Digital

Whether you’re paying to be the top search engine result on Google or anxiously waiting for your page to explode organically, customers will be quick to click away from your company’s site if they find the content drab, boring, and uninspired.

If you want to revitalize your brand’s online presence with click-worthy ads and electrifying content, join our roster of clients who’ve seen over 700% increases in traffic to their sites. At Power Digital, we specialize in the full suite of digital marketing services, from Search engine optimization to the creative that’ll earn you new traffic and captivate your current followers.

Want more info on what we offer (paid and organic)? Schedule a consultation to hone your online presence and start getting cozy in those top SERP spots.

Sources: 

1. Pew Research Center. Search Engine Use 2012. https://www.pewresearch.org/
2. Internet Live Stats Google Search Statistics. https://www.internetlivestats.com/
3. Search Engine Journal. What is Organic Search?. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/
4. Search Engine Journal. What Is PPC & How Paid Search Marketing Works. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/
5. Forbes. 7 Reasons People Hate Your Ads And What To Do About It. https://www.forbes.com/
6. Search Engine Watch. Organic vs. Paid Search Results: Organic Wins 94% of Time. https://www.searchenginewatch.com/
7. Think With Google. New research shows search ads drive brand awareness. https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/
8. Google. About measuring paid and organic searches. https://support.google.com/
9. Search Engine Journal. What Is PPC & How Paid Search Marketing Works. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/

The post Organic search vs paid Search: what’s the difference? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

A 2019 survey of American consumers found that 41% of poll participants access three to five pieces of branded content before ever reaching out to a sales rep, making the case for content marketing.¹ of content marketing.

So, what exactly is content marketing? And why should you invest in this long-term marketing strategy?

Let’s demystify this concept and explore the nine benefits of content marketing that your brand can reap as you navigate your way to success.

What is content marketing?

Firstly, what is content marketing? Withholding the jargon and buzzwords, content marketing is a few concepts in one:

• It’s a plan to create and release unique and relevant content that resonates with your target audience
• It’s a method that attracts potential customers to your site by providing useful content they want
• It’s a highly branded, consistent messaging campaign that shows your potential customers that you have what they need (brand awareness)

The term “content” deserves its own TED Talk. But put simply, it’s the stuff your brand puts out into the world that isn’t always your product—your social media posts, website, blog post, email newsletter, email marketing, video content, billboard and everything else that has your name on it.

In a content marketing strategy, great content needs to accomplish two critical tasks:

1. Your content has to provide valuable information to your viewers, visitors and readers.
2. Your content needs to convince your audience that you have the product they need.

Content marketing is multifaceted, complex and evergreen—just like your brand.

9 advantages of a content marketing strategy

We’ve explored what content marketing is—but what can it actually do? Let’s break down nine benefits of content marketing that just might convince you to drop everything and start creating.

#1 Content marketing will teach you about your clients

One of the first steps in a content strategy is to build your brand’s persona—the voice your brand uses to send its messages.²

A robustcontent marketing strategy needs a unique voice that authentically connects with your audience —one that’s trustworthy, approachable and distinct enough to embody your brand. To create that voice, you’ll need to find out what kind of voice your customers want to hear. Do they prefer listening to, seeing and reading content that’s:

• High-level or in-depth?
• Quippy or to the point?
• High-brow or casual?
• Fast-paced or leisurely?
• Sarcastic or polite?
• Edgy or wholesome?

As you explore what your clientele wants to hear, you’ll learn more about them—information that can help you tailor your content and refine your products.

#2 Content marketing can scale with your brand

Content marketing is ultra-scalable.

Why? Because there are so many avenues for sending content out into the world and countless genres of content you can utilize.

Let’s explore a hypothetical:

• You run a small greeting card business. It’s a small business—you have just a few employees, you’ve recently become profitable and you want to grow your website traffic, sales, and existing customers by 10% in the next 12 months.
• You start producing blog content for your website with help from an SEO company, and you accomplish your sales growth goal within the expected timeline.
• With that extra revenue, you invest in your business. You buy another printer, hire another graphic designer or purchase real estate. But, to keep funding these investments, you need to grow a little faster.
• In addition to your blogging efforts, you decide to start making informative TikToks or running TikTok ads about greeting card etiquette, personalized stationery and other relevant topics. Your videos direct customers to your eCommerce site, and your website traffic and sales grow even more.

SEO and content marketing go hand-in-hand to help your business gain visibility and drive sales. The cycle continues—and as you grow, so does your content marketing strategy. There’s limitless potential.

#3 Content marketing makes your brand more visible

In the hypothetical above, the content marketing strategy grew your greeting card business because it introduced more people to your brand—people who will remember your logo, your voice or your unique product and return to you when they need what you offer.

One of the most important functions of a content marketing strategy is increasing your brand’s visibility. Two elements of content marketing make this possible:

1. Content quantity – The more you put out there, the greater the chances that a potential customer will stumble upon it.
2. Technical tactics – Content marketers use highly specific strategies to draw in visitors to your content. SEO, or search engine optimization, is one example.

Content marketing should be robust, but it should also be well-choreographed. Both efforts can help to increase your brand visibility.

#4 Content marketing encourages transparency

A 2022 poll discovered that about 72% of consumers prioritize a brand’s transparency when choosing between two similar products.³

And, as you develop your brand’s persona and put out unique, high quality content, you’ll share more information than ever before about:

• Your brand’s origin story
• Your product, what it’s made from and how it’s made
• How your brand conforms to (or rebels against) industry standards
• How your product reflects your brand’s values

The more specific you can be, the better—and content marketing presents a massive opportunity to be transparent with consumers. Trustworthiness brand loyalty.

#5 Content marketing creates a more informed consumer base

A major project for content marketers is discovering what information customers want at each stage of the sales funnel—and giving them just that.⁴

If you make it a priority to share high-quality, well-sourced information in your content, you aren’t just helping a few customers learn about one small part of your product or industry. You’re also helping your end users (and consumers in general) become more informed.

That effect flows through the entire economy, improving the market for the better:

• Transparent brands put out useful content featuring high-authority information.
• Potential customers view that content and learn more about the product they need.
• Armed with intel, they choose the best available product. And, when they can’t find one that meets their standards, they explicitly tell brands what’s missing from the available options on the market.

Informed customers demand better products—a phenomenon that challenges your brand to create the best money can buy.

#6 Content marketing is another opportunity to serve your customers

When a potential client searches one of your brand’s keywords and discovers your high-authority listicle, infographic or how-to video, you’re meeting their immediate need right away. They want information, and your content delivers.

And, whether or not they “like and subscribe” (or make a purchase), consumers will remember your brand the next time they think about the topic they were researching when they stumbled across your content. You met their needs once, and that increases their confidence that you—or your product—can do it again.

#7 Content marketing is customizable

Content marketing isn’t like traditional marketing—you aren’t limited to a 30-second TV spot, a 2” x 3” newspaper ad or even the seemingly-massive canvas of a roadside billboard.

You set the rules for:

• How your content looks.
• The tone you want your brand to embody.
• How much (or how little) you want to write, photograph or record.
• The topics you want to discuss.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to content marketing, and you have the freedom to craft a bespoke strategy.

#8 Content marketing can establish your brand as an industry expert

Did we mention that your relevant content should be high-authority?

When you post video content, make an infographic or write a thought leadership blog post that cites quality sources and acknowledges the good, the bad and the ugly of a topic, you establish your brand as a knowledgeable industry expert.

In a landscape where consumers can access intel on their own, committing to spreading reliable information is a feather in your cap—one that your future clients will certainly notice.

#9 Content marketing generates high-intent leads

At its core, content marketing is about lead generation—putting your brand in the periphery of customers with high intent to buy. And statistics show that content marketing works.

Let’s consider video content alone. In a 2021 study of over 500 consumers:⁵

• 98% said they had watched a video while researching a product or service.
• 88% said that a brand’s video convinced them to make a purchase.
• 78% said that, after watching a video, they were convinced to download software or a mobile app.

When your target audience is on the hunt for product comparisons, reviews or industry knowledge—even if they’re on the fence about buying any brand’s product—your high quality content could be the last push they need to whip out their wallet.

Dive into content marketing with Power Digital

The benefits of content marketing are clear—releasing relevant, informative and quality content to your customer base can boost your bottom line, increase brand awareness and so much more.

If you’re convinced of the power of content marketing by now, you’re living proof that the concept works. When you’re ready to develop a high-octane strategy to draw in new customers, turn to the experts at Power Digital.

Our digital marketing experts use their tech savvy, industry know-how and content acumen to develop strategies for today’s top brands. Companies like AirBnB, Casper, Beyond Meat and Peloton trust the Power Digital team to drive growth and brand affinity.

Your brand is ready to grow—our content marketing agency is here to help.

Sources:

1. Forbes. Five Factors of Effective Content Marketing. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2022/04/04/five-factors-of-effective-content-marketing/?sh=25e82d3b588d
2. Investopedia. What Is Brand Personality? How It Works and Examples. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand-personality.asp
3. The Food Institute. Report Shows Modern Consumers Demand Transparency from Brands. https://foodinstitute.com/focus/report-shows-modern-consumers-demand-transparency-from-brands/
4. Forbes. 16 Top Content Marketing Trends to Stay on Top Of in 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2022/01/24/16-top-content-marketing-trends-to-stay-on-top-of-in-2022/?sh=448266585c84
5. Wyzowl. The State of Video Marketing 2022. https://wyzowl.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdfs/Wyzowl-Video-Survey-2022.pdf

The post 9 Benefits of Content Marketing appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

What is link building exactly? And why does it matter?

This beginner’s ultimate guide to link building will show you how you can implement an often overlooked, but supremely powerful, SEO tactic that improves your rankings, drives traffic and bolsters your website’s authority.

What is link building?

Link building is an SEO strategy that involves incentivizing other websites to provide links to your website’s homepage, landing pages or blog posts to increase the SEO authority of your domain.

In SEO, these links are known as backlinks. What is backlinking? Backlinks are one of many signals Google uses to gauge a site’s quality and authority on a topic.

The Google algorithm’s ultimate goal is threefold:

1. Understand the root meaning of a user’s query.
2. Analyze what content holds the information most relevant to that query.
3. Prioritize the content that is most helpful in the final search result.

When a prominent website links to your site, a measure of their authority is passed on to yours. This is considered a high quality backlink. When dependable sites link a page, it indicates to site visitors (and Google) that the information on your site is trustworthy.¹

For example, let’s say you moved to a small town and asked your neighbors to help you choose between doctor A and doctor B. If everyone suggested doctor B, you could feel reasonably confident that the more popular medical provider was the better option. You may not have any experience with that person, but others do. Therefore, with no other information to base your decision on, your best choice would be to side with the majority.

In short, SEO link building is a human and algorithmic heuristic.

Google’s journey to prioritizing link quality

In the early days of Google’s search rankings, the total number of backlinks was the primary factor in the ranking equation. But this incentivized brands to pursue strategies that focused on acquiring as many backlinks as possible, even if they were from spammy or irrelevant sites.

Google has since changed those ways by shifting the focus to link quality. Now, Google views a quality link as an organic link that exists on an established and authoritative domain or website.

For instance, if Ink.com published a report that linked to a newly established website, Google would consider that a vote of confidence for the new site. As a result, the algorithm would pass on a portion of Ink.com’s authority to the new site.

In other words, the more authoritative the domain within the backlink profile, the better.

Breaking down the attributes of a link

Before we can dive into the nuances of link building or discuss strategies for fostering backlinks, you must first understand how a link is made and read. The vast majority of links can be broken down into three attributes.

For example, consider the following link and its corresponding parts:²

<a href=”https://www.w3schools.com”>Visit W3Schools</a>

1. Anchor tag – The “<a” informs the browser that the link will open a different page.
2. Link referral location – The “href” is short for hyperlink referral. The text within the quotation marks points to the URL to which the link will go.
3. Anchor text of the link – The “Visit W3 Schools” is the text that a user would see on the page and click to open the link. The text is often bolded and/or colored to make it evident that the link is clickable.

Types of links

As you approach an SEO link-building strategy, you should be aware that not all links are created equal. There are several different types of links. Some are more valuable to your authority than others.

• Follow links – A follow link is a standard backlink that informs Google that the link should pass on authority and page rank to the trusted site. Doing so helps search engine bots better understand what the content entails—and helps increase your site’s authority.
• No-follow links – A no-follow link is given the attribute rel=”nofollow.” This tells Google that you want to link to another site, but would prefer the search engine not crawl the site. Typically this is done to link to a site you don’t wish to endorse or for a sponsored link, such as an ad or banner ad. In other words, no-follow links are necessary at times, but will not strengthen your SEO authority like a follow link will.
• User-generated links – User-generated links are widely considered to be a low-quality linking tactic that rarely transfers any site authority. User-generated linking can be done in user profile pages, advertisements, blog comments or embedded infographics. (Think “user-generated content” for links.)
• Organic links – Organic, or natural, links are the crown jewel of backlinks. These occur when a person on a different website—without any incentivization—links to your site in their blog, videos, posts or web copy to provide their site visitors with valuable, informative content. (All the more reason for you to publish quality content on your website.)

Benefits of link-building

Manual link-building tactics can positively impact a website in more ways than one. By deploying this SEO strategy, your brand can:

• Bolster brand credibility – Google search engines measure domain authority by evaluating the quality and quantity of backlinks (among other things). When a trustworthy publisher links to your content, that signals to Google that you provided information that another site thought would improve their user’s experience. That link functions as a third-party reference that says your domain is an authoritative source. Over time, more high-quality links lead to an increase in credibility.
• Improve SERP rankings – In most cases, the higher your domain authority ranking, the more likely your site will rank highly in search results pages (SERPs). And we probably don’t need to tell you about the benefits of appearing on page 1 of Google as opposed to page 56.
• Increase web traffic – Link building can drive web traffic directly and indirectly. When backlinks to your site exist on more sites across the web, and those links are clicked on, those clicks turn into website visits. Indirectly, as your site becomes more visible in search results, more organic traffic will follow.
• Create positive feedback loops – Successful link building can create a self-perpetuating cycle of linking. Once you get the ball rolling, it can create a positive feedback loop; the more backlinks you receive, the higher your credibility reaches, which leads to—you guessed it—more backlinks.
• Boost brand awareness – Backlinks fall into the word-of-mouth marketing category. When another page links to your site, it encourages the reader to learn more about your brand. If the reader clicks the link and enjoys the content, you generate a positive initial touchpoint with a new site visitor.
• Support revenue growth – More traffic, improved authority, and increased rankings result in more potential customers interacting with your brand. This affords you access to a larger swath of potential consumers. And a wider net? This means more visitors cycled into your sales funnel.
• Foster partner relationships – Although link building can occur naturally, more often than not, it’s the result of your direct outreach and relationship building with industry influencers and like-minded brands. Over time, these relationships can strengthen your brand’s trust and influence. Guest posting is an example of that type of partnership.

How To encourage link building

Every brand would like to increase its volume of high-quality backlinks without having to lift a finger. Unfortunately, that’s not quite feasible. Brands that boast an impressive list of quality backlinks rarely reach that point by accident. Instead, they deploy careful link-building strategies to improve both the quantity and quality of links, such as:

• Performing link outreach – Similar to cold-calling, link outreach involves messaging websites related to your niche and requesting that they link to your content. One approach could be to identify the sites that link to your competitor’s sites and see whether they would also link to your site—or better yet, boot out your competitors and link to yours instead.
• Partaking in guest blogging – Some sites invite other industry experts to contribute to their blogs. Or, they may accept guest blogging queries. Either instance presents a unique link opportunity to plug your website and establish your authority via high-quality content. If you create a piece that readers consider valuable, you may well enjoy a rush of new backlinks and site visitors.
• Creating visual assets – Visual assets are pieces of content that are easy to link to and provide sites with valuable content that they may not want to create themselves. Images, infographics, diagrams, and charts are all wonderful options. Plus, you can use them in your own social media efforts and sales collateral.
• Leveraging social media – When you have new blog posts or visual assets, share them on social media, engage in the comments, and tag relevant brands and influencers to nurture a conversation. If you provide valuable content or interesting discussion, there’s a high likelihood that readers will share your blog post or link on their channels.
• Uncovering unlinked brand mentions – If your brand has been mentioned online—whether in the news, on social media or in the trades—it’s not uncommon for a publisher to forget to link to your site. Fortunately, there are social listening tools that notify you whenever you’re mentioned but not linked. In such cases, you could reach out to the person or brand and ask them to link the content.

Jump start your link-building strategy with Power Digital

When a link building tactic is properly deployed, it can increase your site’s total number of backlinks. That, in turn, could improve your overall authority and rankings, leading to more traffic, brand awareness and revenue.

But managing and monitoring a backlink strategy is no small feat. It’s important to partner with content strategists who know the ins and outs of requesting, building, monitoring and optimizing backlinks. That’s where our growth marketing agency can help your team break the mold. Our digital marketing experts can elevate your brand’s presence with bespoke content strategies that make an impact. We are both an SEO company and content marketing agency, delivering growth solutions you can rely on.

If you’re ready to take the first step toward growth, get in touch with us today.

Sources:

1. Google Support. How Results Are Automatically Generated. https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/how-search-works/ranking-results/
2. Beter Programming. The Anatomy of HTML Links. https://betterprogramming.pub/a-primer-on-html-links-af632c4857e0
3. Search Engine Journal. How to Use Guest Blogging for Natural Link Building. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/link-building-guide/guest-blogging/#close

The post What Is Link Building: A Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

While the definition of organic search is relatively straightforward, it’s another thing to learn how to implement organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices that can reward you with quality website traffic and leads.

Read on to learn what organic search is, some common types of organic search results, and some tips for optimizing your own website content so it can climb those search engine rankings (organically, of course).

What is organic search?

Organic search refers to results displayed by a search engine due to their apparent relevance to the search term. Unlike ad boxes above or to the right of them, organic search results are not paid search results.¹ In other words, you can’t pay to place your organic search results on page 1 of Google. The search engine’s algorithm decided they earned a spot based on merit alone.

Figuring out what factors search engine algorithms reward is an ever-evolving process as changes are made over time., they reward websites with the information they deem most relevant to a user’s search query.

Mysterious as those algorithms might feel at times, there are proven strategies you can employ to boost the traffic of your own website—and we’ll get to those soon.

First, let’s establish how taking the time to capitalize on organic search traffic can benefit your business.

How does organic search affect your business?

Capturing referrals to your website from organic searches is especially appealing for businesses because it’s traffic you don’t have to pay for.

Don’t get us wrong, there’s plenty of value in pay-per-click. But sending a quality piece of content off into the search engines and watching it soar to page 1 for no cost except for what it took to create it? That’s pretty satisfying.

Organic search traffic isn’t just beneficial because it’s free. Its value also comes from its ability to convert higher than many other forms of marketing traffic. In fact, one report on average conversion rate in 2021 reported that B2C organic search traffic converted higher than any other marketing traffic.²

Website conversions like form completions or chat engagements are the nutrients that fuel your sales funnel. Simply put, more organic traffic means more conversions that lead to more sales.

Types of organic search results

These days, “organic search” actually exists in several different formats—it’s no longer confined solely to those quintessential blue, underlined links below the search bar.

A masterful organic search or organic SEO strategy should aim to garner not just one, but several kinds of organic search results. They exist to be helpful to users, and landing in those spots makes your brand that much more visible to potential customers.

Types of organic search results include:

Featured snippets

Featured snippets have prime real estate on Google. They appear in a box at the top of the search engine result page and feature a piece of content that appears to answer the question a user is asking. That content could include:

• YouTube videos
• Tables from an article
• Snippets of text from a certain article or page

When a user clicks on the link to the content, Google will shoot them directly to that portion of the web page, as long as their browser is compatible.³

You can capitalize on featured snippets by anticipating questions your potential customers commonly have about your products, services or industry. Then, create quality content that answers those questions and makes strategic use of SEO organic keywords. Google will have the final say in what gets the coveted featured snippet box, but these efforts will certainly persuade in the right direction.

Video carousels

Some information just comes across better in film-form. As if videos weren’t already ubiquitous, younger audiences are increasingly using video-based platforms like TikTok and YouTube as their primary search engine, and Google is taking note.⁴ For that reason, video search results will likely gain increasingly more prominence in organic search results in years to come.

Google tends to rank YouTube videos, including YouTube Shorts, highly, so if your brand manages a YouTube channel, you’ll definitely want to optimize your uploaded videos to take full advantage of website traffic opportunities that can come from organic searches.

Image carousels

Similar to video carousels, image carousels simply display photos that appear relevant to a search query. To help your visual content appear in these image carousel positions, be sure to tag every image on your website with alt and title tags.

Top stories

Top stories is a space just below the search bar that features recently-published information about a subject, primarily from news sources.

Top stories typically come from:

• News outlets
• Publications
• Media sources
• Other PR sources

People also ask

Do not underestimate the power and potential for Google’s “people also ask” section. Not only is this section helpful for users to find the exact answer they’re looking for; it’s also an invaluable tool for gaining SEO insights.

If you type a question in your Google search bar, the people also ask box will show you questions that other users have searched that are related to your topic. The rankings work similarly as a featured snippet: if Google finds your content valuable and relevant, it will pull your snippets or pages into these results.

How to Grow Your Organic Search Traffic

Some aspects of Google’s and other search engines’ algorithms are a bit of a mystery for proprietary reasons, and others are subject to change, but there are a number of SEO strategies that are proven to be effective in climbing those search engine results pages (SERPs).

What is SERP? Click on the link to learn more about the importance of ranking highly on SERPs.

Here are a few practices you can adopt to grow your business’s organic search traffic.

Create relevant content

The key word when it comes to ranking highly in organic search results is relevance. The search engine’s goal is to help the user find the information they’re looking for, so it’s going to reward content that offers that.

As you plan your brand’s content strategy, make sure landing pages, blog posts and other materials incorporate SEO keywords that apply to the subject. But don’t overdo it and delve into spammy territory. Make your content just as readable as it is SEO-friendly.

To create relevant content, focus on these factors:

• User intention: What do you believe the user wants to know?

• User knowledge: What does your target know, and what don’t they know?

• User language: How will your target audience pose this question?
• User need: What problem is your target audience trying to solve?

Another piece of advice: don’t try to position yourself as an authority in areas outside your brand’s expertise solely for SEO. If users visit your website and are disappointed with what they find and quickly leave your website, it could cause an adverse effect on your rank—and your credibility.

Not sure where to start? Consider working with a content marketing agency to roll out an effective SEO content plan.

Add FAQ sections to content

An easy way to increase the odds of climbing those SERP ranks is to capture common SEO questions in a “frequently asked questions” (FAQ) section. Here, you can appeal to related search queries in one spot with brief, relevant and informative answers. This format also makes it easier for Google bots to find and index your content.

Keep content fresh

Another aspect that search engine algorithms reward: current content. Have a set schedule for publishing new content as well as optimizing existing articles with the latest information.

Optimize, optimize, optimize

Search engines tend to reward websites that appear to be relevant and usable. The work of managing a website is, of course, never done. Use tools like Google Search Console and enact the advice given to tune up your website’s performance.

Ask questions like:

• How are my page loading speeds?
• Is my website usable on mobile devices?
• How secure is my website’s platform? Does it adequately protect users’ data? (URLs beginning with “https” as opposed to “http” are actually favorable in the SERPs.)

In the content itself, beyond keywords, take time to optimize the seemingly smaller details, like metadata. Two crucial components of metadata include:

• Title (how your page title appears in an organic search result headline)
• Meta descriptions (how the description under your title appears in a search result)⁵

Invest in your brand’s SEO success with Power Digital

If you’re new to the world of SEO and content marketing, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Partnering with an SEO team that knows the in and outs of SEO trends and best practices can save you valuable time and resources.

That’s where hiring a digital marketing agency or an SEO company comes in. At Power Digital, we strive to be the SEO and content marketing agency behind your SEO success while feeling as tight-knit as an in-house team. Your success is our success. And we can’t wait to help elevate your brand to its fullest potential with the power of organic search.

Sources:

1. Google. Organic Search Result. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6054492?hl=en
2. First Page Sage. Conversion Rate by Traffic Source. https://firstpagesage.com/seo-blog/conversion-rate-by-traffic-source/
3. Google Search Central. Featured snippets and your website. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/featured-snippets
4. The New York Times. For Gen Z, TikTok Is the New Search Engine. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/technology/gen-z-tiktok-search-engine.html
5. Michigan Tech University. Five Ways to Improve your Site’s Ranking (SEO) https://www.mtu.edu/umc/services/websites/seo/

Additional sources:

• https://ahrefs.com/blog/organic-search/
• https://seochatter.com/what-is-organic-search/

The post What is Organic Search and How Does It Affect Your Business? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

But what is content marketing? What are the benefits of content marketing? And why should using it to its full potential live near the top of your to-do list? We’ll be answering these questions—and so many others—as we make our way through this ultimate guide.

What is content marketing?

On paper, content marketing is easy to define: It’s content (blogs, videos and more) used for marketing purposes. In general, content marketing casts aside traditional advertising in favor of more entertaining or informative assets.

In practice, however, content marketing is more of an all-encompassing philosophy. It represents a shift in the way brands interact with consumers. It’s a transition from the “old way” of marketing (selling products or services to the public) to the “new way” (entertaining and informinga specific target audience).

Content marketing is all about providing value to existing and future customers. By creating and sharing content that is fun, funny or informative, brands can naturally build trust with their target audience. Compared to the traditional media approach—which is disruptive and often in-your-face—content marketing is the approachable, more organic path to building loyalty and boosting revenue.

The different types of content marketing

Although its goal of “increasing sales without feeling sales-y” remains the same, content marketing takes dozens of different forms. Broadly speaking, all types of content marketing fall under one of five categories

Visual content marketing

Our forefathers drew on cave walls and we’ve been basically scrolling visual content ever since. , it has played a role in marketing and advertising since the dawn of Madison Avenue.

But now, when billions of people have high-quality cameras and editing software in their back pockets,² visual content and video marketing are more prevalent than ever. The three most typical forms of visual content marketing are:

• Video – Arguably the most important (and most viewed) form of content marketing, video content is king. In 2022, Americans watched 6.8 billion hours of online video.³ While pre-recorded videos are the bread and butter of streaming platforms and social media, live streaming on platforms like YouTube and Twitch is seeing a meteoric rise.⁴
• Images – From gorgeous landscape photos to intentionally rudimental memes, pictures really are worth a thousand words. While they may not be as visually stimulating as video, still images remain a smaller-budget solution for visual content marketing.
• Infographics – The infographic is the ideal marriage of visual and written content. Colorful charts and diagrams offer a more aesthetically-pleasing way to distill information than a lengthy whitepaper.

Audio content marketing

Podcasts currently dominate the audio sphere, with 57% of Americans over 12 identifying as listeners.⁵ But let’s not discount other audio mediums. Anything from an audiobook to an ASMR video content can be an auditory vessel for your brand’s message.

For a more extreme example, there’s the hip-hop EP We Beefin?⁶ Released by the fast food chain Wendy’s (seriously), the mixtape is a masterclass in creative audio content marketing—even if it won’t be winning a Grammy any time soon.

Written content marketing

In a world where attention feels like an ever-shrinking commodity, the written word often takes a backseat to more engaging content format. However, writing still holds a sizable sway in content marketing. For anything that requires authority or detailed context, written content remains number one.

There are several kinds of written content marketing, including:

• Blog posts
• Listicles
• Whitepapers
• Case studies
• eBooks
• Checklists

Written content marketing is fundamental to search engine optimization (SEO), the strategy that helps brands rank higher on search engine results pages. SEO and content marketing work together to increase visibility and drive engagement.

Social media content marketing

Much of the content on a social media platform is visual, audio and written. For that reason—as well as the enchantment that social media has over consumers—social media content marketing deserves its own category.

Thanks to the ever-evolving nature of platforms like TikTok, Instagram marketing, Facebook and YouTube, social media marketing can be either:

• Temporary content – Instagram stories and Snapchat messages are ephemeral media, lasting 24 hours at most.
• Static posts – Photos and videos posted to a page or timeline are more immortal. Static posts include everything from three-word tweets to 10-minute TikToks.

User-generated content marketing

Yet another category that defies categorization, user-generated content (UGC) can be any of the above. UGC is any engaging content that a member of your audience makes (typically without remuneration).

Most commonly, UGC is a social media post or story, but it can also show up as:

• A testimonial
• A video tutorial
• A product or brand review
• A blog post or comment

Encouraging UGC from your supporters is one of the easiest ways to cushion your marketing budget while leaning into organic content marketing.

Others include email marketing and other outbound marketing and advertising practices.

How to approach content marketing

No matter which type of content you feel suits your brand, the approach to building (or refining) your content marketing strategy stays largely the same. Here’s a quick blueprint for developing a content marketing strategy.

Step 1: Define your audience

Like any other marketing effort, your content marketing framework should start with a target audience deep-dive. Who are your existing customers? Maybe you already know who your target audience is. But do you know what kind of content they prefer?

Start by ensuring your buyer persona is up to date. Along with your ideal customer’s age and income bracket, you’ll list their likes and dislikes, hobbies, preferred media sources and lifestyle choices. Prepare for plenty of research (or a partnership with a digital marketing agency).

When you have a picture of your perfect persona, you can create content that speaks directly to them—and deliver it to them wherever they are.

Step 2: Examine your current content

Chances are you’re already producing relevant content that you can use for content marketing. Whether its brand blogs, tweets or live streams, you’re on the right track.

If you’ve published content in the past, there’s also likely some valuable data waiting at your fingertips. Most platforms provide performance metrics to gauge past content performance.

Look back at all of your relevant content from the past year and note the number of:

• Views
• Likes
• Clicks
• Comments
• Shares

You now have a much clearer understanding of which valuable content lands well, and which doesn’t. From there, you can set goals for your upcoming content marketing campaign and measure success in a more meaningful way.

Step 3: Plan your upcoming content

The biggest mistake brands make when creating content is embarking without a content strategy. With a target audience and a set of KPIs at hand, you’re already a step ahead. But you’ll still want to plan out your content for the best results.

For written content creation, preparing typically means building topic clusters and relevant keyword research before writing. For videos, you’ll want to spend time writing scripts and scouting locations. Other types of content will require different arrangements.

Your plan should also include how and when you’ll disseminate your content. Which channels will you utilize? Will you add paid media to your strategy? How frequently do you want to post? Depending on your budget and goals, this part of the plan will vary.

Step 4: Produce and publish your new content

Finally, it’s time to write, record or re-share your content. Thanks to your thorough planning, this should be the simplest step of the process. Once you’re happy with the final product, you can start sharing it as per your plan.

It’s worth noting here that one piece of quality content can easily become several. Repurposing content is one of the best ways to ensure your marketing well never dries up. For example, one long-form blog post could also become:

• A series of social posts
• An infographic
• A video summary
• A section of a whitepaper

Repurposing your valuable content also allows you to cover multiple channels simultaneously—without spending a ton of extra time or money.

Step 5: Analyze and react

Your content marketing campaign doesn’t end when you press “Publish.” Using built-in analytics tools and third-party dashboards, you can track every aspect of every post to see what’s working and what isn’t.

Most importantly, when you notice a trend, pounce on it. Data is only as useful as the actions it prompts. If a video series isn’t bringing you the ROI you hoped for, don’t be afraid to pivot. If a one-off podcast generates significant buzz, be prepared to write an entire season. Successful content marketing is all about flexibility—but knowing when to be flexible comes from analysis.

Learn more from the masters of content marketing

In the end, content marketing is the marketing strategy du jour. But it’s far from a fad. Content marketing is here to stay, and if you want to see lasting growth, you need to see it through.

While this is an ultimate guide, there’s so much to know and learn about content marketing—far more than can fit in a blog post. For insights and info that go far beyond the surface, there’s our digital marketing agency.

Part SEO company, part content marketing agency, and all growth marketing firm, Power Digital exists to help brands reach their full potential. Whether you need a nudge in the right direction or a total overhaul, our team of experts can take your brand where you want it to go.

To chat more about our content marketing and other services, get in touch today. We’re ready to hit the ground running. Are you?

Sources:

1. Ahrefs. 63 Content Marketing Statistics for 2023. https://ahrefs.com/blog/content-marketing-statistics
2. Statista. Number of smartphone subscriptions worldwide from 2016 to 2021, with forecasts from 2022 to 2027. https://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/
3. Statista. Cumulative monthly time spent watching video content in the United States from March 2019 to March 2022 (in billion hours), by device. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1327396/cumulative-time-spent-watching-online-video-us/
4. Forbes. Going Live Online: The State Of Live Streaming And The Opportunities For Brands. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/02/04/going-live-online-the-state-of-live-streaming-and-the-opportunities-for-brands/
5. Forbes. Podcasts Are A Powerful Storytelling And Advertising Tool. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jiawertz/2021/12/31/podcasts-are-a-powerful-storytelling-and-advertising-tool/
6. Wendy’s. The Wendy’s ‘webeefin’ Mixtape Story. https://www.wendys.com/blog/wendys-mixtape-story

Content marketing is on the rise and not slowing down any time soon. With 82% of content marketers actively using vlogs, podcasts and other creative content to reach audiences,¹ this attention-grabbing approach to digital marketing and advertising is here to stay. Content marketing and digital marketing have eclipsed traditional marketing in the last couple of years.

But what is content marketing? What are the benefits of content marketing? And why should using it to its full potential live near the top of your to-do list? We’ll be answering these questions—and so many others—as we make our way through this ultimate guide.

What is content marketing?

On paper, content marketing is easy to define: It’s content (blogs, videos and more) used for marketing purposes. In general, content marketing casts aside traditional advertising in favor of more entertaining or informative assets.

In practice, however, content marketing is more of an all-encompassing philosophy. It represents a shift in the way brands interact with consumers. It’s a transition from the “old way” of marketing (selling products or services to the public) to the “new way” (entertaining and informinga specific target audience).

Content marketing is all about providing value to existing and future customers. By creating and sharing content that is fun, funny or informative, brands can naturally build trust with their target audience. Compared to the traditional media approach—which is disruptive and often in-your-face—content marketing is the approachable, more organic path to building loyalty and boosting revenue.

The different types of content marketing

Although its goal of “increasing sales without feeling sales-y” remains the same, content marketing takes dozens of different forms. Broadly speaking, all types of content marketing fall under one of five categories.

Visual content marketing

Our forefathers drew on cave walls and we’ve been basically scrolling visual content ever since. , it has played a role in marketing and advertising since the dawn of Madison Avenue.

But now, when billions of people have high-quality cameras and editing software in their back pockets,² visual content and video marketing are more prevalent than ever. The three most typical forms of visual content marketing are:

• Video – Arguably the most important (and most viewed) form of content marketing, video content is king. In 2022, Americans watched 6.8 billion hours of online video.³ While pre-recorded videos are the bread and butter of streaming platforms and social media, live streaming on platforms like YouTube and Twitch is seeing a meteoric rise.⁴
• Images – From gorgeous landscape photos to intentionally rudimental memes, pictures really are worth a thousand words. While they may not be as visually stimulating as video, still images remain a smaller-budget solution for visual content marketing.
• Infographics – The infographic is the ideal marriage of visual and written content. Colorful charts and diagrams offer a more aesthetically-pleasing way to distill information than a lengthy whitepaper.

Audio content marketing

Podcasts currently dominate the audio sphere, with 57% of Americans over 12 identifying as listeners.⁵ But let’s not discount other audio mediums. Anything from an audiobook to an ASMR video content can be an auditory vessel for your brand’s message.

For a more extreme example, there’s the hip-hop EP We Beefin?⁶ Released by the fast food chain Wendy’s (seriously), the mixtape is a masterclass in creative audio content marketing—even if it won’t be winning a Grammy any time soon.

Written content marketing

In a world where attention feels like an ever-shrinking commodity, the written word often takes a backseat to more engaging content format. However, writing still holds a sizable sway in content marketing. For anything that requires authority or detailed context, written content remains number one.

There are several kinds of written content marketing, including:

• Blog posts
• Listicles
• Whitepapers
• Case studies
• eBooks
• Checklists

Written content marketing is fundamental to search engine optimization (SEO), the strategy that helps brands rank higher on search engine results pages. SEO and content marketing work together to increase visibility and drive engagement.

Social media content marketing

Much of the content on a social media platform is visual, audio and written. For that reason—as well as the enchantment that social media has over consumers—social media content marketing deserves its own category.

Thanks to the ever-evolving nature of platforms like TikTok, Instagram marketing, Facebook and YouTube, social media marketing can be either:

• Temporary content – Instagram stories and Snapchat messages are ephemeral media, lasting 24 hours at most.
• Static posts – Photos and videos posted to a page or timeline are more immortal. Static posts include everything from three-word tweets to 10-minute TikToks.

User-generated content marketing

Yet another category that defies categorization, user-generated content (UGC) can be any of the above. UGC is any engaging content that a member of your audience makes (typically without remuneration).

Most commonly, UGC is a social media post or story, but it can also show up as:

• A testimonial
• A video tutorial
• A product or brand review
• A blog post or comment

Encouraging UGC from your supporters is one of the easiest ways to cushion your marketing budget while leaning into organic content marketing.

Others include email marketing and other outbound marketing and advertising practices.

How to approach content marketing

No matter which type of content you feel suits your brand, the approach to building (or refining) your content marketing strategy stays largely the same. Here’s a quick blueprint for developing a content marketing strategy.

Step 1: Define your audience

Like any other marketing effort, your content marketing framework should start with a target audience deep-dive. Who are your existing customers? Maybe you already know who your target audience is. But do you know what kind of content they prefer?

Start by ensuring your buyer persona is up to date. Along with your ideal customer’s age and income bracket, you’ll list their likes and dislikes, hobbies, preferred media sources and lifestyle choices. Prepare for plenty of research (or a partnership with a digital marketing agency).

When you have a picture of your perfect persona, you can create content that speaks directly to them—and deliver it to them wherever they are.

Step 2: Examine your current content

Chances are you’re already producing relevant content that you can use for content marketing. Whether its brand blogs, tweets or live streams, you’re on the right track.

If you’ve published content in the past, there’s also likely some valuable data waiting at your fingertips. Most platforms provide performance metrics to gauge past content performance.

Look back at all of your relevant content from the past year and note the number of:

• Views
• Likes
• Clicks
• Comments
• Shares

You now have a much clearer understanding of which valuable content lands well, and which doesn’t. From there, you can set goals for your upcoming content marketing campaign and measure success in a more meaningful way.

Step 3: Plan your upcoming content

The biggest mistake brands make when creating content is embarking without a content strategy. With a target audience and a set of KPIs at hand, you’re already a step ahead. But you’ll still want to plan out your content for the best results.

For written content creation, preparing typically means building topic clusters and relevant keyword research before writing. For videos, you’ll want to spend time writing scripts and scouting locations. Other types of content will require different arrangements.

Your plan should also include how and when you’ll disseminate your content. Which channels will you utilize? Will you add paid media to your strategy? How frequently do you want to post? Depending on your budget and goals, this part of the plan will vary.

Step 4: Produce and publish your new content

Finally, it’s time to write, record or re-share your content. Thanks to your thorough planning, this should be the simplest step of the process. Once you’re happy with the final product, you can start sharing it as per your plan.

It’s worth noting here that one piece of quality content can easily become several. Repurposing content is one of the best ways to ensure your marketing well never dries up. For example, one long-form blog post could also become:

• A series of social posts
• An infographic
• A video summary
• A section of a whitepaper

Repurposing your valuable content also allows you to cover multiple channels simultaneously—without spending a ton of extra time or money.

Step 5: Analyze and react

Your content marketing campaign doesn’t end when you press “Publish.” Using built-in analytics tools and third-party dashboards, you can track every aspect of every post to see what’s working and what isn’t.

Most importantly, when you notice a trend, pounce on it. Data is only as useful as the actions it prompts. If a video series isn’t bringing you the ROI you hoped for, don’t be afraid to pivot. If a one-off podcast generates significant buzz, be prepared to write an entire season. Successful content marketing is all about flexibility—but knowing when to be flexible comes from analysis.

Learn more from the masters of content marketing

In the end, content marketing is the marketing strategy du jour. But it’s far from a fad. Content marketing is here to stay, and if you want to see lasting growth, you need to see it through.

While this is an ultimate guide, there’s so much to know and learn about content marketing—far more than can fit in a blog post. For insights and info that go far beyond the surface, there’s our digital marketing agency.

Part SEO company, part content marketing agency, and all growth marketing firm, Power Digital exists to help brands reach their full potential. Whether you need a nudge in the right direction or a total overhaul, our team of experts can take your brand where you want it to go.

To chat more about our content marketing and other services, get in touch today. We’re ready to hit the ground running. Are you?

Sources:

1. Ahrefs. 63 Content Marketing Statistics for 2023. https://ahrefs.com/blog/content-marketing-statistics
2. Statista. Number of smartphone subscriptions worldwide from 2016 to 2021, with forecasts from 2022 to 2027. https://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/
3. Statista. Cumulative monthly time spent watching video content in the United States from March 2019 to March 2022 (in billion hours), by device. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1327396/cumulative-time-spent-watching-online-video-us/
4. Forbes. Going Live Online: The State Of Live Streaming And The Opportunities For Brands. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/02/04/going-live-online-the-state-of-live-streaming-and-the-opportunities-for-brands/
5. Forbes. Podcasts Are A Powerful Storytelling And Advertising Tool. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jiawertz/2021/12/31/podcasts-are-a-powerful-storytelling-and-advertising-tool/
6. Wendy’s. The Wendy’s ‘webeefin’ Mixtape Story. https://www.wendys.com/blog/wendys-mixtape-story

The post The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

Whitepapers are well-researched fact-based advertisements on a specific topic. They are often considered gated content because they often require readers to sign up or fill out a form to access them. They are an essential part of a comprehensive content strategy.

Whitepapers may involve a deep dive into a company’s secret sauce, a thesis on the core tenets of the business or an evaluation of a given industry.

So, how do you craft an authoritative and persuasive marketing messaging strategy? We have you covered in this blog post.

What is a whitepaper, and what is its purpose?

When used in commercial settings, a whitepaper is an informational document shared by an organization for sales and marketing purposes. They’re often used in business-to-business (B2B content marketing) contexts.

While a whitepaper is geared toward marketing purposes, its primary goal is to inform a potential customer or target audience about something an organization wants to offer them, which can include:¹

• Products
• Processes
• Best practices
• Case study
• Thought leadership content
• Services
• Proposed solution to a problem
• Research results

Whitepapers are also commonly used to share findings after an organization has conducted original research in their industry. Essentially, a whitepaper presents an opportunity for your organization to share and display its expertise while establishing a sense of credibility with its readers.

A well-rounded white paper is able to balance subtly persuasive language (when appropriate) with factual evidence from reliable sources. In doing so, they establish the organization as an authoritative source.

Types of whitepapers

You have plenty of options when it comes to deciding how you want to organize a whitepaper. What’s most ideal for you will depend on the information you’re writing about and what your goal is.

The following frameworks are commonly used to write whitepapers for businesses and nonprofits:

• Technical or backgrounders – The backgrounder is arguably the most traditional type of whitepaper. The main goal is to explain a new or unfamiliar concept or technology to a particular audience—often one that has technical knowledge in the industry field. The paper may go further and outline the benefits of using said concept or technology.²
• Numbered lists – Numbered list whitepapers are appealing because they can break down concepts and processes into more easily digestible steps.
• Problems and solutions – A problem/solution whitepaper dissects a problem the intended audience faces, then uses persuasive elements supported by factual research to present them with solutions—ideally ones the organization can provide.

How to prepare a whitepaper

As you gear up to write your whitepaper, reading other whitepapers published within your industry will help you gain a sense of what consumers are looking for and how you can construct effective promotional and quality content.

Whitepapers often use an academic or authoritative tone that still aligns with your brand voice. For example, a company that sells outdoor gear with story-driven marketing campaigns would need to balance its narrative voice with an expert tone to formulate a successful and persuasive whitepaper that appeals to and informs its customer base.

To create a compelling whitepaper, heed the following:

• Research extensively – Essentially, white papers are research reports, with a persuasive twist. To maintain an authoritative tone, it’s critical to use reliable sources and cite them throughout. When looking for factual evidence to cite, try to go beyond what the customer would find on their own with a quick internet search. Instead, prioritize primary sources that provide first-hand knowledge of the topic you’re speaking to. If sources in your whitepaper are hyperlinked, be sure to include a list of them at the end of your paper for readers who might print out your report or read it offline.³
• Get visual – Make use of visual aids, like graphs or charts (when appropriate) to make the paper more visually appealing and more digestible for the audience. Graphics can improve the readability of your whitepaper and deepen the reader’s understanding of complex topics.⁴
• Prepare for the long haul – While the nature of the information you’re sharing will dictate your whitepaper’s length, most whitepapers fall between five and six pages, or just around 2,500 words.⁵

How to write a whitepaper

Once you’re ready to dive into the content, there are eight steps you’ll want to follow. Think of them as the yellow brick road of whitepapers.

Step 1: Identify the purpose and audience

Essentially, the purpose of a whitepaper is to influence the decision-making of prospective customers. To do that effectively, you’ll need to identify your audience and how to best appeal to their wants and needs.

To determine your scope, ask yourself questions like:

• What is the information that needs to be communicated?
• What problem does this product or service solve?
• What were the major findings in recent surveys/studies?
• Who is this being written for? What are their primary concerns and challenges? What’s appealing to them?

Honing on these specifics allows your business to speak directly to those most likely to be interested in—and benefit from—your product, service, or solution.

Step 2: Conduct your research

Once you’ve answered your “why’s” and your “who’s,” it’s time to take a deep dive into the research process and gather your “what’s”—also known as the material that will support your key arguments.

Identify your key sources—ideally primary ones—that support, expand upon, or provide vital background information pertaining to the topic of your whitepaper. This could include:

• Case studies
• Statistics
• Academic articles

Once you feel like you have enough information on your hands, you can also collect and build any relevant visual aids, like charts, graphs, or photos to supplement your research.

Step 3: Choose your framework and draft your outline

Once you know your purpose, audience and visual material, you can pick the whitepaper structure that’s the best fit for organizing your information.

Typically, you’ll want to include the following in the outline:

• Introduction – In the first section, you’ll provide a big-picture overview, or summary, of the topic and what you aim to explore.
• Background – The background will provide context for the topic you’re speaking to, identify a particular issue (if applicable) and provide evidence to support your findings or claims.
• Solution – Using well-conducted research, you’ll provide a solution to the problem that was introduced.
• Persuasion – For commercial organizations, an advertisement that aligns with your research will follow the solution proposition to inform the reader of a specific product, service, or value proposition.
• Conclusion – Provide one last summary of the information discussed to enhance your audience’s understanding.
• Sources – At the end of your whitepaper, you’ll cite your sources.

Step 4: Craft your introduction and conclusion

Plenty of how-to lists will place writing your introduction higher on this list, but hear us out—numerous changes can happen during the writing process, and introductions are often more effective, concise and informative when constructed around information that’s present within your whitepaper.

Once you know where your whitepaper’s path leads, you can then summarize your research, value propositions and product details in a final call-to-action. This must strike the perfect balance between persuasion and information to maintain the integrity of your document—a flashy endorsement can delegitimize the credibility of your whitepaper.

Step 5: Choose an eye-catching title

Once you know all your whitepaper’s contents, it’s time to pick a title that pulls readers in and helps them understand what they should expect to take away from reading it. It can also address the problem being discussed within the document.

Consider your brand voice and the key defining moments in your white paper as you look for title inspiration. Oftentimes, longer titles are most effective in grasping audience attention.

Step 6: Review, revise and repeat

As technical as it might be, writing a whitepaper is also a fluid and creative process. Once you’ve finished your first full draft, it’s beneficial to read through the whitepaper to ensure it serves its intended purpose and aligns with your brand voice.

While you revise, pay special attention to:

• Structure
• Style and formatting
• Organization and flow
• Readability
• Sources and visual aids

With each new read, you might find yourself bouncing back and forth between the steps above, and that’s okay—it’s part of the process. Once you’ve finished polishing your project, you can pass it on to other stakeholders for a final stamp of approval—or maybe just a few more tweaks.

Stakeholders can provide insight into certain aspects of your messaging and ensure it aligns with company values and expert knowledge.

Grow your marketing strategies with Power Digital

A whitepaper is a solutions-based document that promotes an organization’s offerings through in-depth research and persuasive voice. At Power Digital, we’re solutions-based, too.

Power Digital is a growth marketing firm and digital marketing agency that uses data-rich user insights to create a multi-channel marketing campaign that speaks to your company’s needs and brings brand awareness to your business.

Working as both an SEO company and a content marketing agency, we deliver growth solutions you can rely on. Get in touch with Power Digital today.

Sources:

1. Purdue Online Writing Lab. White Paper: Organization and Other Tips. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/professional_technical_writing/white_papers/organization_and_other_tips.html
2. Stanford University. Definitions of White papers, Briefing Books, Memos. http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Definitions-of-White-Papers-Briefing-Books-Memos-2.pdf
3. University of Massachusetts Lowell. White Paper Style Guide. https://libguides.uml.edu/whitepaper_style
4. Investopedia. What Is a White Paper? https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/whitepaper.asp
5. Zapier. What is a whitepaper? And how to write one. https://zapier.com/blog/what-is-a-whitepaper/#definition
6. Corporate Finance Institute. White Paper. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/white-paper/
7. Master Class. White Paper Guide: How to Write a White Paper. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/white-paper-guide#how-to-write-a-white-paper

The post What Is a Whitepaper? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is your best tool in making that magic happen.

When you effectively combine SEO and content marketing, the result is far greater than the sum of its parts. To help you understand how to combine these strategies in an effective content marketing campaign, we’ll first define both SEO and content marketing. Then, we’ll highlight specific techniques you can use to integrate them and help your business grow.

What is SEO, anyway?

Before we can combine SEO and content marketing, we first need to understand our two ingredients. So, let’s define SEO.

Search engine optimization (SEO) encompasses all of the processes and techniques you can use to increase your visibility on search engines.

If you have a question—for example, “how to combine SEO and content marketing effectively”—then your first thought will probably be to Google it. When you type in your query, pages and pages of answers appear almost immediately. For you, the process is pretty straightforward. But a lot goes on behind the scenes to decide what answers appear first.

Google and other search engines have to create order out of the billions of web pages on the internet. To combat this chaos, search engines use a three-step process:¹

1. Crawl – Picturing digital spiders crawling through the internet? You’re not far from the truth. Search engines first use bots to “crawl” web pages and collect information.
2. Index – Search engines then put the information collected during the crawling process into online indexes, much like how librarians organize books.
3. Rank – Finally, algorithms use hundreds of factors to analyze the web pages and decide what order they should appear in when you search for something online.

If you have a website, you want it to appear first on search engines so that you can drive more traffic. That’s where SEO comes in. If we gave a full lesson on SEO, we’d be here all day—so for now, know that there are three primary types:²

1. On-page SEO – It’s in the name: on-page SEO involves all of the content on your website, from blogs and product copy to title tags and internal links.
2. Off-page SEO – Similarly self-explanatory: off-page SEO involves elements that aren’t on your website, like backlinks or social media marketing.
3. Technical SEO – Finally, technical SEO involves backend strategies like optimizing your website for mobile devices or decreasing file sizes.

We could opine about SEO forever—but those are the basics you need to know to build a synergistic SEO content marketing strategy.

What about content marketing?

Before we can whisk together our ingredients, we need to define content marketing. Content marketing is the inbound marketing strategy du jour. Traditional marketing uses an outbound strategy (think TV ads, billboards or cold calling), but those strategies aren’t always successful anymore for two major reasons:³

1. Return on investment (ROI) – Data suggests that content marketing is less expensive than traditional marketing while also bringing three times as many leads.
2. Consumer trends – More and more people now use ad-blocking software, dramatically reducing the number of views on online advertisements. This represents a larger trend in the ways consumers avoid traditional ads.

Rather than consuming traditional ads, one report found that consumers now view at least three pieces of related content during their sales journey. As a result, the popularity of content marketing continues to rise. This inbound strategy organically drives traffic by producing high-quality content that consumers want, such as:³

• Blogs
• Ebooks
• Podcasts
• Videos

Your SEO content marketing strategy shares the goal of high-quality content.

3 best practices for combining SEO and content marketing

When done correctly, content marketing and SEO are mutually beneficial—SEO brings more visitors to your content, while your SEO content increases your search rankings. But what must you do to achieve this perfect partnership? There are many strategies you can implement, but to get right to the heart of it, we’ll break it down into three best practices.

#1 Prioritize content quality

You can bake a cake with a few simple ingredients—milk, eggs and sugar—but the quality will certainly differ if you use an expired carton of milk or eggs vs. fresh milk and eggs from a local farm.

SEO and content marketing are the same. Your final output and its success depend on the quality of the inputs you use. This is why high quality content should be at the top of your list when combining SEO and content marketing.

When it’s time for search engines to rank your web pages, content quality is one of the most crucial ranking factors. Put simply, whether it’s a sales page or a blog, better quality content is more likely to rank higher.⁴

So, what does high quality content look like?

Search engines may not be human, but their algorithms are built with humans in mind. Always remember that the end-point user of your content is a real, live person with a question that needs to be answered.

As a result, search engines like Google design their algorithms to reward content written by real humans and optimized for real readers. Creating your content with this in mind ensures that both your SEO and content marketing strategies are sound.

To that end, your major considerations for quality should include:⁵

1. Readability – We said it before (like a paragraph ago), but we’ll say it again because it is so important: real humans will be reading your SEO content. Designing your content around your target audience is therefore key—and should affect everything from your voice and tone to the length of your sentences.

• Structure – Similarly, how you structure your content is integral to how both humans and search engines respond to and navigate your content. Both look for content structure that is logical and easy to follow. You can quickly improve your structure by effectively utilizing headings and breaking up large blocks of text.⁶
• Format – As with structure, the right format for your content can define the user experience. Rather than reaching a specific word count, focus on establishing the scope of your topic so that you directly answer the question readers searched for—and do so as quickly as possible. The topic you’re covering and the level of detail required should decide the length of your content.⁶

Ensuring that all three facets of your content sing can help to ensure your readers stick around—and your SEO rankings do, too.

#2 Weave in keyword strategy

Back in the early aughts, much of keyword strategy involved plastering keywords on a page—as many as could be included—with the hope that more keywords would achieve more search results.

But today, our search engines are smarter. Which means your relevant keyword strategy must be, too.

Building content around keywords that are woven in naturally can help to ensure that your content not only includes those vital words and phrases, but also provides valuable information to the reader. That content should be created both to encourage readers to visit the page and stay there to enjoy the full experience.

Your content quality goes hand in hand with this strategy. But utilizing effective and relevant keyword research tools or partnering with a digital marketing agency can help you to pinpoint which ones can help you produce real growth.

#3 Don’t forget about links

Links are another vital consideration when combining content marketing and SEO. When we talk about links, SEO and content marketing, it’s important to distinguish between several different kinds:

• Jump links link to different sections on the same page. These can make it easier for readers to navigate your content, especially long-form content. They encourage readers to stay on your website as opposed to becoming frustrated and leaving because they can’t find the answer they’re looking for.⁶
• Internal linking refers to links from one page of your site to another. This is one of many ranking considerations that search engines use, and can help search engines understand the structure of your site. Internal links also help to keep your readers on your website and allow them to find additional relevant content—thereby increasing the value of your page.⁶
• External linking, or links that send readers to another website, may send readers away from your page—but they’re still useful because they communicate to both readers and search engines that you’re an expert who creates well-researched content.⁶
• Backlinks, finally, are one of the most vital tools for increasing your search rankings. These are links on another website that lead visitors to your page—and they help to show search engines that your content is valuable, authoritative and trustworthy.⁶ Creating relevant and high-quality content is one of the most crucial ways to encourage backlinking.

Advantages of combining SEO and content marketing

Now, it’s time to mix SEO and content marketing together—and reap the delicious benefits of this irresistible pairing. With the right strategies in place, you can expect to benefit from two key advantages:

• Increased traffic – Research estimates that a staggering 68% of website traffic is a result of searches.⁸ The benefits of this traffic are twofold. First, you attract more potential customers to your website. Second, well-written content communicates to your audience that you’re an expert in your industry.⁴
• Boosted brand awareness – A better SEO strategy can increase your brand awareness and visibility by increasing your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPS). The top five spots have the best click-through rates (CTRs). That means more organic traffic directly to your website.⁴ It also means that people will begin associating your brand with specific industry keywords and phrases. To capitalize on the benefits of better brand awareness through SEO, it’s essential to produce quality content that will rank well.⁴

Build a comprehensive marketing strategy with Power Digital

The recipe for SEO and content marketing success may sound straightforward. Sprinkle in a little linking, a dash of keywords, a heaping spoonful of quality content. And voilà—you’ve got yourself a delectable SEO and content marketing strategy to drive traffic to your website and boost your brand’s visibility.

In practice, however, these strategies can take some trial and error. That’s why you need a content marketing agency and an SEO company in the creative kitchen with you.

Power Digital works with you to help realize your full potential. We bring together marketing, consulting and data intelligence to help companies across the world grow faster and build brand recognition. Get in touch today to learn how our team can elevate your SEO and content marketing strategies.

Sources:

1. Search Engine Land. What Is SEO / Search Engine Optimization? https://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo
2. LinkedIn. What are the 3 Types of SEO? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-3-types-seo-harry-sanders/
3. Search Engine Land. What is content marketing? Defining marketing’s present and future. https://searchengineland.com/what-is-content-marketing-388970
4. Search Engine Land. How SEO and content marketing work together. https://searchengineland.com/seo-content-marketing-388978
5. Forbes. How SEO And Content Marketing Work Together To Fuel Your Online Success. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/07/03/how-seo-and-content-marketing-work-together-to-fuel-your-online-success/?sh=225a8e3016bf
6. Search Engine Land. 25 tips to optimize your content for people and search engines. https://searchengineland.com/tips-optimize-content-people-search-engines-388271
7. Hubspot. 11 Creative (But 100% White Hat!) Ways to Earn Backlinks in 2022. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/backlink-strategies
8. MediaPost. Google Crushes Facebook As Commerce Traffic Generator. https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/347378/google-crushes-facebook-as-commerce-traffic-genera.html

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GA4 will be the only Google Analytics system available in about a year..

What is GA4? And how are we supposed to handle this?

What is Google Analytics 4?

GA4 is the new version of Google Analytics that’s already been released. It’s Google’s way to handle the cookieless future in digital marketing. We all know how much of an impact iOS14 had on Facebook’s tracking ability (click here if you don’t) – this is Google trying to avoid their own tracking fiasco.

This new version of GA is currently used for tracking apps and app-based websites, aka webapps, and is based entirely on event tracking. No cookies involved.

What will change with GA4?

The main differences can be summed up with two phrases: event tracking & machine learning.

Event tracking – GA4 will no longer track sessions, bounces, goal completions, and many other metrics that we’re all used to. Everything will be based on events. Pageview events, conversion click events, etc.

That also means that your conversion funnel tracking needs to be entirely rebuilt by an event-tracking expert.

Machine Learning – This is what I’m personally most excited about with the new platform. ML is one of Google’s main tools to combat the increasing privacy expectations of consumers. They will use ML to “fill the gaps” in tracking to ensure that businesses still have a good feel for the trends of their business, while also protecting specific users’ privacy.

It will also unlock a host of new analyses for marketers to use – looking at a more detailed purchase funnel, customer cohorts, lifetime value of users, etc.

What will happen to our current GA data? Will it carry over?

The short answer is.. we don’t know yet.

If Google made the GA4 swap today, the answer would be no. None of the historical data would carry over due to GA4 structuring data differently than UA.

They have also not announced any official plans to try and migrate the data from the old GA to GA4 – so our best is to plan like all historical data will be wiped, and start tracking in GA4 asap.

My personal opinion – I have a hard time believing that Google will just throw all of that valuable data away. It just wouldn’t make sense. Not for the users, not for Google. Time will tell.

So.. should we implement GA4 as soon as possible.

YES. Mentioned it in the section above, but if UA data won’t carry over, it’s your responsibility to get GA4 tracking as soon as possible, for a few reasons:

• You will be armed with at least 12mo of data by the time UA is obsolete
• The more data the GA4 Machine Learning model has, the more value it will drive for you
• Your competition is most likely doing this right now, so if you aren’t, you’re behind

Official quote from Google on the subject..

Make the move over to Google Analytics 4 as soon as possible to build the necessary historical data before Universal Analytics stops processing new hits.

Doesn’t get much more clear than that.

Why is Google doing this? I don’t like change!

I get it. We’re all human, we like to be comfortable with our tools and routines.

The truth is, a new era in digital marketing and online business has begun. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are the new trailblazers and the best way to improve these models are to hand it out to the public to gather as much data as possible.

UA had many flawed metrics, and obsolete data collection methods that no longer apply to the new age of multi-device users. It fell behind user privacy laws. Although there will be a learning curve, GA4 seems to be future proof (for now).

As you implement GA4, I would caution you to compare the metrics between UA and GA4 to familiarize yourself with what the changes will mean to your day-to-day work. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to our experts at Power Digital. We’ll make sure you’re set for the next tech wave in digital.

The post Google Analytics 4: What You Need to Know appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

The oft-quoted “Content is King” has long been a tenet of marketing strategy, and still is. However, how do you craft content to effectively reach this regal status? The answer lies at the intersection of quality and SEO optimization. No matter what type of content you’re developing – product copy, blog articles, about page description, lead magnets – providing relevant, valuable, and engaging content is a foundational step for success. Build upon that with strategic optimizations of the content that align with the intent of user’s searches and you’ll also be well-positioned in the search engine. Read on for general guidance and tactical recommendations of how to achieve this within your own content.

How To Build Quality Content

Building quality content on your website is crucial to creating a strategic SEO strategy. However, understanding what resonates with your target audience may change your strategy over time, so in the meantime, stick to these three simple steps when you first start building out content to set yourself up for success:

1. Develop brand voice guidelines and stay consistent with them. Establishing brand voice, style and value guidelines is an important step in creating unique, quality content. Sticking to these guidelines throughout your content strategy will help you stand out amongst your competitors and build brand awareness for your website. 
2. Keep your audience’s interest in mind when writing your content. If you have a good idea of who your target audience is and what they’re interested in reading, ensure you tailor your content to them. The quality of your content is ultimately determined by your audience, so conduct keyword research prior to developing your content strategy to better understand what topics and keywords users are searching for and implement them into your strategy. 
3. Ensure your headline and first paragraph are compelling. In order for readers to be interested in your content and prevent a high bounce rate, you need to grab their attention within the first 50 words of your content. Utilize your brand voice guidelines to do this to ensure you’re staying consistent with your verbiage.

Quality Content: Do’s and Don’ts 

Quality content is when SEO tactics and customer-focused content consolidate. It’s the perfect marriage of analytical and creative and can result in increased search rankings and increased organic traffic.  Google defines quality content as focusing on the user rather than the algorithm itself. When it comes to creating quality content, there are must-have features you’ll want to include in your content as well as some things you’ll want to avoid. 

Quality content do’s: 

• Follow E-A-T guidelines: EAT stands for expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. 
• Use keyword research to find topics your target audience is interested in
• Make sure your content is primarily for users, not the search engine 
• Make sure your content is truthful and not deceiving: If your metadata describes content focussed on how to wash curly hair, make sure the bulk of the article is focused on how to wash curly hair. 

Quality Content Don’ts: 

• Avoid duplicate content – duplicating content or taking content from another site will be flagged 
• Avoid keyword stuffing – make sure the content sounds natural and organic 
• Don’t add content just to add content – make sure the content is intentional and helps the user
• Refrain from including any sneaky redirects 

Ultimately, don’t try to fool Google. Search engines can decipher between quality content that’s intended for customers and content that is jam-packed with outdated tactics. 

Modern SEO Best Practices

Search engine optimization is constantly evolving and marketers should expect that Google will continue to roll out algorithm changes. It’s your job to account for these changes, reassess and refine. Now, that being said, it can often still feel daunting to keep up with the latest best practices. However, we’ve consolidated some modern SEO best practices to help keep your content strategy strong. 

1. Create a meaningful FAQ page. This is key for prioritizing the user experience by answering questions in a concise manner that’s easy for the user to digest and understand. Plus, you’ll get bonus points from Google for showing customers that you care.
2. Make sure to organize your content by topic. And again, it all circles back to the user experience. This is another way to create a seamless experience for users to get to the information they’re looking for quickly. It’s important to note that as your website architecture changes, you’ll want to update how your content is organized as well. 
3. Focus on building relationships and providing value with link building. Link building is an incredibly effective SEO tactic that takes time. However, the immediate focus for link-building success goes back to the basics: building meaningful relationships. You’ll want to be selective and develop relationships with domains that support your audience. During this process, make sure to take advantage of Google Search Console to guide who you reach out to. 

As with all SEO strategies, it’s important to recognize that building authority doesn’t happen overnight and Google will continue to change in ways that you can’t predict. But, as long as you continue to prioritize the user experience, you’ll be rewarded.

How to create quality content

As you can see, creating quality content is a multifaceted process… But a very important one! Our list of dos and don’ts will help keep even the most confused on the right track. But if you’re still unsure, put yourself in the shoes of the user and consider whether you’re just writing for rankings or if you’re truly writing to provide an answer to someone’s question. If you choose the latter, you’ll always come out on top!

Sources:

1. https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2020/06/23/modern-seo-strategy-three-tactics-to-support-your-efforts/

The post Balancing SEO and Quality Content appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

E-A-T is an acronym for “Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.” These three essential elements can help increase your website’s SEO value from a digital marketing agency’s perspective. Let’s dig a little deeper into what each of these attributes signifies. 

• Expertise: Gives users peace of mind knowing that the information they are getting is backed by research, written by credible experts and referenced by scholarly sources. 
• Authoritativeness: Showcases those industry experts, particularly those that have relevant credentials and are backed by relevant testimonials, reviews or case studies. 
• Trustworthiness: Shows users that the site they are visiting is safe, credible and reliable, especially through badges, certifications and SSL verification.

Why Should You Care About E-A-T?

While E-A-T guidelines have always been important for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) websites, recent algorithm updates have shown that websites incorporating strong E-A-T signals tend to outperform competitors.

Whether users are searching for wedding cake themes or skincare tips, search engines understand that users want information backed by sources and credible experts. Websites belonging to the YMYL category should definitely make it a priority to incorporate strong E-A-T metrics, but brands in other non-traditional industries should make an effort to implement these recommendations, too.

How to Improve Your Website’s E-A-T In 4 Steps

1. Add Sources

Including sources in your content, especially for sections that are being quoted or written by another author, is a great way to boost the perceived authenticity and credibility of your content. It’s also a very natural way to create a relationship with high authority domains or personalities in the eyes of Google. 

How Do You Know If a Website or a Person Is Good to Include as a Source In Your Content? 

When considering a person as a source, Google determines their credibility by looking for other work written by that person, not statistics or other machine-compiled information. In section 2.6.2 of Google’s quality evaluator guidelines, it states that “news articles, Wikipedia articles, blog posts, magazine articles, forum discussions, and ratings from independent organizations can all be sources of reputation information. Look for independent, credible sources of information”. As long as a person has additional accessible and acknowledged works on the internet, this boosts the likelihood he/she is a credible source to include in your content.

When looking at a website’s credibility, most organizations, institutions, news publications and government agencies are usually safe bets to source. As a general rule of thumb, well-known brands or companies are typically credible in the eyes of Google and good options to include as sources in your content. 

2. Add Author Information

It’s important to make it clear who is responsible for the content of your site. Search engines ​wants​ ​to​ ​see​ ​that​ ​it​ ​is​ ​obvious​ ​who​ ​is​ ​responsible​ ​for​ ​the​ ​site’s​ ​content.​ ​​While​ ​it​ c​​an​​ ​be acceptable​ ​for​ ​a​ ​site’s​ content ​to​ ​remain​ ​anonymous,​ ​this​ ​is​ ​not​ ​recommended.

To provide visibility into an article’s authorship, implement the following three key elements to your site.

Add an Author or Reviewer Section to All Posts 

All articles on the site should either be written or reviewed by an individual contributor. In the author section, make sure to highlight the contributor’s credibility and expertise, including information on relevant credentials, industries and years of experience. It’s also helpful to structure this linking towards relevant external profiles such as LinkedIn, and include an author headshot.

Create Individual Author/Reviewer Pages for Each Contributor

Similar to the author sections on each blog post, these individual author pages should include information on the contributor’s expertise, years of experience and industry knowledge. 

Tip: Be braggy! ​If​ ​the​ ​author(s)​ ​on​ ​your​ ​site​ ​have​ ​awesome​ ​qualifications,​ ​then​ ​write​ ​about them​ ​on​ ​either​ ​their​ ​bio​ ​page​ ​or​ ​about​ ​page.​ ​Include​ ​any degrees,​ ​credentials​ ​or awards, and use​ ​words​ ​like “​x ​years​ ​of​ ​experience​”​ ​or​ ​​”…for​ ​[x]​ ​years​.” Make sure to feature all of the articles written or reviewed by the author, as well as links that point to external profiles that highlight other areas of relevant expertise. 

Create a Meet the Team Page 

This page should link out to the individual author pages mentioned in the bullet above. Similar to the other elements, this page should include information that highlights your team’s credibility and expertise. Add links to external profiles, awards, testimonials and positive press. 

3. Add Disclaimer Statements and Affiliate Statements When Applicable

Website transparency is key. For any news or blog-type content, editorial guidelines should be spelled out clearly so that visitors can trust that the information they are reading is up-to-date and free of ethical concerns, conflicts and misinformation. In the age of fake news, online content will be scrutinized more than ever. Publishers should be transparent about their commitment to fact checking and process for making corrections for any false and/or updated information. As discussed earlier, any sources of information should be readily accessible to the reader, and any opinion-based views should be clearly defined by the author, as well as any group affiliations, relationships and sponsorships.

Disclaimer and affiliate statements are especially important in building website trust and following Google’s E-A-T guidelines. Any product or service review should clearly state if the item or service was gifted to the publisher, or if any other incentive was provided that might sway the author’s review. Similarly, if a publisher gets a commission from any purchases from affiliate links within the page content, that should be clearly outlined as well so that the reader understands that the author might have a motive to push a particular brand or product. 

Any affiliate links should be tagged appropriately as defined by Google. Disclaimer and affiliate statements do not need to be anything big or flashy; a simple statement at the beginning or end of an article works fine, as long as it is visible to the reader. Disclaimers, affiliate statements and editorial guidelines are all great ways to build the trust of a website in accordance with Google’s guidelines.

4. Avoid Unnatural Backlinks and Over Optimization of Backlink Anchor Texts 

A seasoned SEO Company knows that backlinks are a major factor that come into play as Google awards ranking positions to web pages. Not only do they help build up Page Authority (as well as overall Domain Authority), they also significantly impact a site’s E-A-T score. 

Similar to how natural, relevant and strong backlinks can help push a web page’s keyword ranking up on search engine results pages (SERPs), backlinks can also send E-A-T indicators (both good and bad) to Google. Let’s dive a little deeper into how backlinks influence the E-A-T score that Google bestows upon a website:

1. Expertise: It’s common knowledge that if your page has been shared by other reputable websites in or near your niche, it sends signals to Google that these people know what they are talking about.
2. Authoritativeness: Somewhat of a carryover from how Google had traditionally viewed backlinks as they have always been seen as “authority” signals. If an authoritative website features a backlink to a page on your site, some of that authority is passed to the page (and, if structured correctly) throughout the rest of the site. 
3. Trustworthiness: Backlinks from trusted sites tell Google that this is a site that can be trusted to deliver accurate and relevant content to searchers (bonus points if they come from .org, .us, .gov, .edu, etc.).

As you might be beginning to see, off-page SEO techniques play a very important role in establishing your E-A-T profile once all proper on-page elements have been put into place.

Now, you might be thinking that an easy way to improve your E-A-T score would be to just score as many backlinks as you can. Unfortunately, that technique has largely gone out-of-date with the contemporary belief of “quality over quantity” taking its place. 

It’s hard to compare the power of links, but it’s commonly understood that one powerful backlink from an expert, authoritative, and/or trustworthy link is worth more than a multitude of weaker links. Thanks to the Penguin and Medic Google updates, the power of strong backlinks is steadily growing as weaker backlinks continue to lose the SEO/E-A-T firepower they once had.

How to Use Backlinks to Improve E-A-T Score

In order to really improve your E-A-T score, your website’s off-page strategy should first focus on the quality of the content itself. You won’t be able to build backlinks that will improve E-A-T score if the content you put forward is lackluster (even if you have proper on-page E-A-T optimizations). 

Next, plan on embarking on a personal outreach campaign to promote your content to authority leaders in your niche that would see your content as a valuable complement to what they are publishing. Although a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, the outcome of even a few powerful links can have a tremendous impact on your site’s E-A-T score in Google’s eyes.

Now that you have solid content on your site and are working with authoritative, trusted and expert websites to have a backlink included, it’s time to begin cleaning up your existing backlink profile. For better or for worse, backlinks can be made to your pages on your site by other websites, scrapers/bots and even malicious actors. While you may receive the occasional beneficial backlink, more often than not your going to naturally attract toxic backlinks that will harm your site. 

Consistent review of the backlinks your site earns to identify potential problems will allow you to produce a disavowal list to submit to Google. (Google Search Console’s Links section will be your new best friend.) Since Google knows that the web is often an unfriendly place, you can use the disavowal list to tell it which backlinks to ignore.

Sources:

• https://ahrefs.com/blog/eat-seo/
• https://www.semrush.com/blog/eat-and-ymyl-new-google-search-guidelines-acronyms-of-quality-content/
• https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf

The post 4 Ways to Improve Your Website’s E-A-T appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

Tip #1 What to Include in Product Pages

The page must include all the information about the product to help customers make a decision. Educating and informing the user about the product in a straightforward way can help increase product sales. Our digital marketing agency suggests including the following: 

• Product name
• Image(s) of the product
• Enlarged view of the image(s)
• Price, including any additional product-specific charges
• Clear product options, such as color and size, and a way to select them
• Availability of the product
• A straightforward way to add an item to the cart
• Make the checkout process easy and quick
• Concise and informative product description
• Security of the user’s data
• Reviews
• Fast load time

Tip #2 The URL Structure of the Product Page 

Product pages are one of an e-commerce site’s most valuable assets as they are where the user ultimately converts into a customer. The key to successful PDPs (aka product development pages) is to ensure they’re optimized from both a user experience and SEO service perspective. If you have the right keyword strategy in place, but your on-site visuals and user experience are a mess, that defeats the purpose. Likewise, if your PDPs offer an impeccable page experience but no organic means for users to access your e-commerce site, that won’t serve your purpose either.

As we will discuss in further detail in the latter part of this article, content is crucial in digital marketing for bringing in SEO traffic and converting visitors. The unique structure of building an integrated content marketing strategy is equally as important. In other words, don’t templatize or regurgitate the same copy on your PDP content. Not only is this a mundane user experience for shoppers browsing multiple products, but Google may also flag this duplicate content and cannibalize your keyword rankings. One instance that is particularly prone to this issue is when e-commerce sites create individual URLs for color variations of different product SKUs. Most e-commerce sites recycle the product development page details on each variation and only change the headers to accommodate those color variations. 

For example, a makeup company with a variety of matte liquid lipsticks in 12 different colors has 12 different URLs for that product based on each color variation. You may think this is an excellent opportunity to rank for long tail keywords like “purple matte liquid lipstick” or “red matte liquid lipstick,” and, if done correctly, there is such an opportunity. However, if these SKUs’ content is nearly identical, the risk of cannibalization for the keyword “matte liquid lipstick” far outweighs the potential benefits of these individual URLs. Creating unique content for each of these individual colors is an arduous task and often isn’t scalable for large e-commerce websites.  

Individual URLs for all product color variations may also impact your site speed and crawl budget. If users are required to sift through multiple URLs for each of the product variations, the user experience can easily be disrupted as switching between variations requires an entirely new page to load. This multitude of pages also exponentially increases a website’s sitemap, potentially forcing Google down a rabbit hole of crawling and indexing versus allowing the engine to focus on your high-level priority pages.

Cannibalization potential, site speed, and crawl budget are a few of the many reasons why dynamic product pages with a single URL for color, size or quantity variation. Once you have the proper shell for your PDPs, it’s vital to fully understand how to optimize your content for SEO success.

Tip #3 Picking the Right Keywords for E-commerce Websites

Keyword research for an e-commerce site can seem deceivingly simple, but Google’s algorithm updates have made major changes to the SERP landscape over the last few years. A large portion of keyword ideas that we would traditionally think of as transactional keywords have shifted to become more informational. Google seems to have recognized that when someone is searching for a broad product keyword, they are probably still in research mode. Because of this, the search results continue to show more and more listicle articles. These allow users to read about a list of products or brands. The benefit of listicles is that a user can do comparison shopping, much like they would if they were in store. For example, if you walked directly into a Nike store, you may never know that Adidas shoes fit your feet better. Listicles create a more educated shopping experience that is most likely why the results for keywords like “running shoes” have changed over the years. 

Keeping this information in mind, it is vital that you manually search any primary keyword that you’re considering targeting to evaluate what the search landscape looks like. The goal is to find relevant keywords that are showing other e-commerce sites on page one of Google. If the search results are only showing listicles, then it will be very challenging for you to rank on page one for that keyword. The entire search result doesn’t need to be e-commerce sites, but you want to find keywords that are showing at least a handful of e-commerce business sites on page one. 

The health and wellness industry comes with its own set of challenges for e-commerce keyword research. When you search the name of most foods or health products, it’s likely that the search results will be filled with “health benefit” articles. For example, if I Google “chia seeds,” the search results show all informational articles and no websites that I could buy chia seeds from. You will most likely need to search for long tail keywords for the actual product or category page, so it’s crucial to lean into a strong blog strategy to be sure that you have a page that answers the question that Google believes users are searching for. 

Tip #4 Detailed and SEO Optimized Product Descriptions with Keywords

Although many e-commerce stores base their layouts on major retail websites, this isn’t always the most useful format for SEO service purposes. Yes, Amazon and Target rarely need an SEO-focused written copy for their product descriptions or category pages simply because they can rank on links and branded popularity alone. But where does that leave the rest of us? Most clients you may work with or your own website may not have as much authority as these larger sites and will require a strategic focus from an SEO company to compete with the big dogs. So how do we achieve this?

By utilizing the correct search intent principles, we can carve our non-branded keyword opportunities for both product descriptions and category pages. Revising the product description or category page written copy is your opportunity to hit many relevant keywords that help give you increased relevance to Google. You can utilize many online tools for this specific task, and some will even give you a cumulative score on content improvement. 

By targeting these non-branded opportunities for your product or category page, you give the product/category a chance to rank for something other than the direct branded term. For example, a category such as a “record player” has the opportunity also to target longer tail keywords like “Bluetooth turntable” or even “vintage style record player,” depending on the products.  This is your best shot at pumping additional organic traffic into these pages. So while we love improved UI and a clean layout, we also love written page content even more for SEO  ranking purposes.  

Tip #5 Clear and Easy User-Experiences 

The user experience design plays a pivotal role in the success or failure of any e-commerce website. It is essential that you make it easier, not harder, for customers to purchase your products on your e-commerce site. 

Best Practices:

1. Clear Call-To-Actions (CTA’s): Make the “Add to Cart” or “Buy now” buttons clear, consistent and highly visible on the page. These CTAs must be buttons rather than a hyperlinked text. Additionally, use a color that helps them stand out on the page.
2. Product Photos: Product photos are vital to give the consumer vision of the product they are buying. Investing in great photography will help increase purchases. Additionally, provide access to multiple views and photos so the consumer can see different visuals of the product.
3. Product Description and Content: Having quality content is important to help the user make an informed decision, and it is also vital to help the products rank. A great product page copy will include things like price, availability, sizes/colors, delivery options and more. Keep copy product pages concise and highlight the high points. Bullet points can help visitors read and digest the information quickly. 
4. Reviews: 70% of buyers are looking for reviews of products on online stores or forums before making a purchase. Therefore, if your site does not have reviews, you are missing a significant percentage of customers. 

There are some key benefits to have reviews on your product pages: 

• Customers are creating free and unique content on your website. Product reviews help solve the difficulty of providing unique content for product pages. 
• Updating your site more frequently can have a great impact on your SEO efforts. Reviews help with this.  

Tip #6 Product Schema Markups 

Now it’s time to look beyond the human eye and discuss a simple code element of product listings. E-commerce SEO Tip #6 is about schema and how it offers rich snippets for Google and other search engines. 

What are Rich Snippets?

Rich snippets are a feature of Google search results that offer detailed product information — sometimes including images and often including price, availability and review ratings. The benefit is that potential customers are served valuable information about your product directly on search engine results pages.

What is Product Schema?

Product schema, also called structure data, is a type of structure markup that helps search engines better understand web pages’ content. The schema markup tells search engine’s what the webpage entails. It also helps drive signals of trust and authority back to your website.

How to Create Rich Snippets using Product Schema?

Product schema is a script applied to the product information on a webpage. The script details the product information using programming languages such as HTML Micro-Data or JSON-LD.

Schema.org and Google Search Central are great resources for developers, SEOs or e-commerce enthusiasts to reference and see product schema examples. 

Implement product schema dynamically or in a way that the script will automatically generate once new product pages or webpages are created on the website. Most CMS platforms offer apps or plugins that will quickly inject structured data scripts into the website’s code with ease. While there is no limitation in schema generator tools for Shopify, we like JSON-LD for SEO, and for WordPress, we like Yoast SEO with WooCommerce. However, there are plenty of other fantastic apps or plugins that offer product schema. 

Why are My Rich Snippets Not Showing Up?

It is crucial to note that while schema markups are very beneficial for e-commerce SEO campaigns, rich snippet features are not a guarantee for every search result on Google or other search engines. Often rich snippet features are offered only for web pages that rank on page #1 for a specific search term. To troubleshoot why rich snippets or schema markups are not showing up on Google, check Google’s Rich Results Testing Tool for errors in the schema script’s code. If there are no errors, concentrate your ecommerce SEO efforts on Tip’s #1 – 4 of this article. 

Final E-commerce For SEO Tips For Increase Search Rankings and Organic Traffic

SEO success is not easy or fast. However, it is vital for improving the content marketing funnel and building organic growth from search results. An SEO strategy takes time to see the improvement of ROI — depending on how your business defines ROI. Where PPC campaigns could drive traffic to a website in a day, an SEO campaign could take months. 

That said, with a solid SEO foundation using tips in this guide, your website will have plenty of stones to cast against competitors and the Goliath of e-commerce.

The post E-Commerce SEO: 6 Quick and Crucial Tips for Business Owners appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

For example, if your brand makes athletic shoes, there are a large number of search terms that will be relevant to bringing in traffic at each stage of the funnel. Transactional and commercial keywords like ‘running shoes for sale’ and ‘workout shoes for women’ are great for bringing in search traffic for users that are ready to make a purchase. Informational search queries like ‘streetwear essentials’ that speak to the lifestyle of your customer base can be a great top-of-funnel initiative to introduce new users to the brand. However, keywords like ‘data analytics’ or ‘portable phone charger’ are not relevant to your brand and would ultimately result in users bouncing from your site. 

This is where search intent comes into play. We do not just want to rank for a large amount of keywords, we want to rank for the keywords that are relevant to your brand AND match the user’s intent.

What is Search Intent

When it comes to identifying keywords with the correct search intent, it’s important to understand, first and foremost, what search intent is. Search intent (also referred to as user intent or keyword intent)  is defined as the purpose or goal of a user’s query in an online search engine. In other words, what are users trying to achieve through their search? Are they looking for general information? Are they trying to figure out how to do something? Are they looking to purchase a product or service? It is important to consider these questions when assessing search intent as understanding the intent behind users’ search is one of the most important factors to consider when building a well-optimized SEO strategy.

Why is Search Intent Important

Search algorithms are constantly recalibrating to deliver the best and most relevant search results. This is exactly why grasping users’ search intent (and optimizing towards said intent) is paramount in conducting a successful SEO strategy. Ultimately, the pages that display at the top of the SERPs are those most relevant to the query. Identifying search intent and properly aligning it with relevant queries will thus dictate the quality of traffic to your site.  The more qualified the traffic, the more likely that traffic is to convert. 

Why the Wrong Intent Can Hurt Your Site

To fully grasp the importance of search intent, it helps to understand the potential adverse impacts of mismatched search intent. For example, imagine you’re an eCommerce brand selling women’s shoes. You think “best shoes for women” sounds like a perfect query to attract your target audience. You want people to know your shoes are the best! What’s wrong with that? If you type this query into Google, however,  you’ll notice the following: 

The results for this query have one thing in common: they show options for shoes of various brands and styles and are almost exclusively information-based and not transactional. Although you may like to think your store has the best women’s shoes, Google, unfortunately, probably doesn’t think so. The potential impacts of ranking for a keyword that doesn’t quite have the right intent include:

• Not Ranking in a Competitive Position – We know, you really want to rank for “best shoes for women,” but the likelihood of your store ranking on page one for this keyword is slim to none. You’re better off finding longer-tail keywords suited to the transactional intent of your page such as “comfortable women’s work shoes.”  

• Low CTR – If you’re lucky enough to even begin ranking in a competitive position for a keyword with mismatched intent, users may not even click on your search result since your metadata may not speak directly to the intent behind their search (i.e options, variety, information).
• High Bounce Rate – Maybe users do click on your result, but they will likely bounce immediately upon realizing the page does not address their goals (they want options and your shoes are all the same brand).

Now that you understand keyword search intent and why it’s so important, let’s look at how to choose the right keywords for your business. 

How to Choose the Right Keyword & Search Intent 

Choosing the right keyword can be the difference between traffic and traffic that actually CONVERTS. Usually, there is one extremely high-volume keyword within a given SEO landscape that is “the dream” to rank for on page-1; however, it’s also inherently the most difficult to rank for. Moreover, it might not even be the most conversion-friendly keyword that you should be targeting. So how should we think about choosing the right keywords? 

To break it down simply, performing this manual check of the SERP results will help you select keywords that match the users’ search intent:

Determine your page’s intent.

Research and collect your target keyword list.

Manually check your list by viewing the SERP results.

Revise Target Keyword List based on SERP intent.

So let’s perform this check with a hypothetical situation of optimizing a lightweight high-end rain jacket category page for a relatively un-optimized ecommerce client. 

• Take a look at the category page, very straightforward… sell jackets.
• Right away we’ve determined to avoid any keywords where the SERP results are a majority of blogs or other resource-type informational pages. 
• We are purely looking for keywords that lead to transactional category pages.
• Determine current rankings and see if there are any quick target keyword opportunities to leverage for the page. 
• Select initial keywords based on volume, priority, and relevance to the product category page.
• We notice unoptimized general metas. Right off the bat, we would much rather rank for “rain jackets” vs “jackets”
• Research the category page for additional keywords for targeting and notice common words like “weather proof” and “shell” to incorporate into strategy
• The further we go down into detail, something like ”all weather jacket” “rain proof shell jacket”
• Use the list of potential target keywords and perform a manual search of each term. This will help us determine if this category page will even rank for the term.
• If you only see blog posts in the SERP results for a term, move on. Look for other competitor rain jacket category pages and mark down the keywords with correct intent in your list.
• Utilize this groomed list to optimize the category page’s meta data, on-page content, and overall site’s internal linking. 

This quick exercise should be applied to all of your priority pages when optimizing or re-optimizing your priority pages to avoid wasting time and effort in the future.

Essentially, delivering a search result that matches the user’s intent increases the likelihood of someone clicking on your SERP listing. But there are occasions where even Google is unsure of the intent. There are times where mixed intent or even shifting intent comes into the SEO equation. With mixed intent, the SERP results will be an array of transactional, product, and informational pages…not one of them dominating the other. Generally, this should not be your main priority keyword…its best left on the backburner until intent starts becoming more consistent. This way you don’t waste your efforts on a keyword that ends up completely switching intent.

Mixed intent can be frustrating but the best way to think of your content is to write “for humans”.  Now that Google has implemented BERT, it is “self learning” and therefore attempts to calculate intent. This means, intent will always be reanalyzed regularly and can shift at a given time depending on what users are finding more useful. A good example of this is “Workout Classes” pre and post COVID. Pre-COVID, people were most likely searching for local workout classes…so Google displayed those on page-1. Now that COVID has caused many gym closures, the intent shifted to online workout classes….even though the search keyword itself did not change. Now, this is more of an extreme outlier situation, but the concept holds true… Google will try to match user search intent to the page’s intent…even if the users change their intent over time.

4 Types of Search Intent

 Now that we understand how to choose the right keyword and the adaptive sequence of searches that users go through, we are ready to place pen to paper and determine the different types of search intent and their characteristics.

When building keyword research or a ‘keyword map’ for a website, determining the intent of each primary keyword is crucial to the success of rankings and click-thru rates from search engine results pages to your web page.

Determining intent or analyzing search intent could be accomplished in a simple spreadsheet, as seen in the example below:

This type of analysis helps us think carefully about how to serve different kinds of searchers or people based on their individual intentions. The goal of the analysis is to determine how we want to focus our efforts or keywords alongside the most relevant content of the website. In search we know that users are most likely to formulate queries using only a handful words, therefore an SEO company has to determine search intent with precision, plus understand human curiosity for a specific topic or query. 

#1 Navigational

Navigational is a specific search query where the intent is likely to be led directly to a specific website. In some cases, the exact URL might not be known and the search engine serves as the “white pages” or directory.  Example queries: ‘Alaska Airlines’ or ‘RTIC Cooler 45 Blue’.

Opportunities – This is investigatory traffic. Brands should attempt to dominate ‘brand searches’ so they are not outranked by a competitor. In contrast, this might be an opportunity to steal traffic from a competitor. 

High Traffic Value – This search is one that will lead users directly to your website, brand or exact product, as the searcher is already aware of the company. Click-thru rates from search engines is high for the intended brand and low for others.

#2 Informational

Informational intent queries could be a simple check of the weather or a search for ‘who won the Super Bowl in 1981’. Informational queries might not lead to sales or conversions, but it could lead to a share or sign up. Informational search intent keywords should educate or help searchers obtain the informative content they were seeking. This could be blog or article content. With informational queries, users might return to your site later to make a related purchase.

Opportunities – Capture the minds and spark curiosity around your brand. Become an industry ambassador and knowledge leader. 


Medium Traffic Value – Searchers might not be ready to purchase, but they could potentially share the information. This is ‘top-of-funnel’ traffic, where users might return to the funnel later with a more targeted search. 

#3 Commercial

This is the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), where the searcher or consumer researches a product prior to purchase. The commercial search intent is to help facilitate a decision of the purchase or transaction. Example queries: ‘Best camping coolers’, ‘Reviews of RTIC Coolers’, ‘RTIC Vs Yeti’, and ‘RTIC Cooler Coupons’. 

Opportunities – Searchers are in the discovery and awareness stage of the buying cycle. It’s your brand and website’s time to shine. 

High Value Traffic – This searcher has zeroed-in on their ‘solution’ or ‘product decision’ and now they are looking into the options available to them.

#4 Transactional

Searcher is seeking where to find or purchase a product, service or local business. This query takes the searcher/prospect /customer into the First Moments of Truth, where the searcher is informed and ready to buy. These queries could include the exact brand and/or product name or they could be generic.  Example queries: ‘Ethiopian Restaurant near me’, ‘buy a RTIC cooler’, ‘affordable cooler’, ‘cost of RTIC cooler’, ‘edible CBD for sale online’ 

Opportunities – The searcher’s mindset is action-oriented, they are ready to purchase or ready to get to a website where there will be the next interaction step – i.e. ‘buy’, ‘download’, or ‘register’.

Very High Value Traffic – When combined with page relevance, top-ranking search results have the best possible chance of conversion.  

Writing Blog Content to Match KW Intent 

Blog content can be a major driver of new organic traffic visitors to your site. Brands can broaden their organic presence and introduce themselves to new audiences who may not have known they needed the product or service. It is important to note that searchers landing on these pages are top-of-funnel and will be less likely to transact on the first visit. The informational intent behind the search seeks educational content, not commercial content – and Google knows the difference!

As new audiences may not be aware of your offering, it is important to provide education and information on adjacent lifestyle themes. By widening the range of topics that the site addresses, you expand the reach of prospective customers. For example, instead of focusing on a specific product keyword like ‘high tech suitcase’, a luggage brand could write towards “10 Tips for the Modern Digital Traveler” or “How to Keep Your Phone Charged on an Airplane”. Since the prospect might not be aware of your high-tech suitcase that meets all of their travel needs, it is best to provide the education around related information they are seeking. 

How to Nurture and Convert Blog Traffic

Conversion comes in many forms – Like, Click, Share, Subscribe, and ultimately BUY! Once you have attracted visitors with educational blog content to match informational search intent, it is now time to move visitors through the funnel without bombarding them with commercial content. Two methods of conversion on blog posts are internal linking and an effective call-to-action:

• Internal Linking – Your blog content should also internally link to relevant Product and Category pages, with the caveat that these visitors will have a lower conversion rate in comparison to commercial intent queries.  
• Stylized CTAs Including a branded call-to-action to subscribe to Email is a great way to nurture this top-of-funnel traffic and keep them informed about how your products and services meet their undefined needs. 

Optimizing Your Content for Search Intent

Thorough keyword research is the first step in optimizing your website. Rather than just looking for keywords that have decent search volume, matching your pages to the right user intent is going to be the most beneficial for your brand. This can be accomplished by doing a few searches on your own to see what the search landscape looks like. When a keyword displays search results that are similar to your website, you have found the right search intent. If the search results look completely different from your site, then it is not a good keyword to target because the intent is misaligned. 

In the end, matching the right search intent is going to bring qualified traffic to your site and put you in front of people who are actively searching for your products or services. Having the right traffic to your site is going to allow you to scale and grow your business organically.

Other Example Images: 

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1. Keyword Research
2. Meta Data
3. On-Page Content
4. Images – Size & Alt Text
5. Internal Linking
6. External Links
7. Technical SEO

Although there are many elements and strategies to SEO, by following this checklist created by our digital marketing agency, you are bound to see rankings improve. Within two to three months of implementing these strategies, you can expect to see results from organic traffic. 

Why is an SEO Checklist So Important?

Search Engine Optimization, since its inception, has been constantly evolving. With what seems like monthly algorithm updates and highly debated (and ambiguous) John Mueller tweets, the strategies that allowed you to rank your website #1 on the search results yesterday, may simply not work today. This is why having a comprehensive and up-to-date SEO checklist interwoven into the fundamentals of your SEO strategy is an absolute necessity for today’s success in the SEO landscape. 

If you were looking for a comprehensive (yet concise) SEO checklist made by experts who are battling in the SEO trenches every day, then you have come to the right place. 

Hitting all elements on your SEO checklist is a balancing act of optimizing for the search engines while providing the best possible user experience possible. After all, the goal of search engines is to give users the best answer for their query. Before we get into the specifics, like any craftsman, you need the proper tools of the trade in order to become an SEO expert.

What are Valuable SEO Tools?

There are a plethora of SEO tools on the market, and every SEO will have their go-to tools. For us, there are a few must-have SEO tools to audit and refine any SEO strategy. 

• Screaming Frog – a cornerstone tool for every SEO, Screaming Frog allows you to crawl your website as the search engines would to identify issues that could impact performance. From success codes (can the pages be found and indexed) to duplicate content to metadata, Screaming Frog is a must-have technical SEO tool.
• SEMRush or Ahrefs – whether you choose SEMRush or Ahrefs it comes to preference but these are two powerful and useful SEO tools worth the investment. While there are pros and cons to each, both can help you uncover valuable insights from keywords to backlinks and more. One of the most valuable features is competitor insights. Whether you want to dive into how your competitors are ranking or how many backlinks they have, both tools can help you do so. 
  • Pro-tip: traffic estimates in these tools are just that, estimates. Always rely on first traffic party data (ie Google Analytics) when possible.
• Google Analytics & Google Search Console (GSC) – the goal of any SEO strategy should be to drive qualified traffic to the website. In order to assess if you’re hitting this goal, you need analytics and data. 
  • Google Analytics helps you understand what channels (SEO or Paid) are driving traffic, to where on the site (what pages people go to from the search result), and how users are converting (if goals are set up correctly). 
  • GSC allows you to monitor how your site performs in the search results from what queries (keywords) are driving clicks and impressions. Google Search Console has been constantly adding new features. Some of Google Search Console’s latest additions are insights into how various types of rich snippets are performing. 
• Google Trends – helps you understand trends impacting your website’s performance (positively or negatively). For example, not sure why website traffic is declining but keyword rankings have stayed the same? Perhaps there is not as much interest in the product or service you provide. 
• SEO Meta 1 Click – our favorite, free SEO tool. There are countless free SEO tools that allow you to easily check metadata but SEO Meta 1 Click is one of the most robust by far. Not only can you easily view the metadata, but also header structure, images including image optimization opportunities, and more. 
• Google My Business (GMB) – if you run a local business, GMB is one of the most important local SEO tools you need. Key steps to helping your business show up in the coveted map results include: making sure you’ve claimed your business, confirming the information is correct, and optimizing your profile based on Local SEO best practices. (There are a few more steps involved, but GMB will help you get started). 
• Bright Local – a great tool for Local SEO from building citations to tracking local keyword rankings. With 4 major data aggregators and a plethora of directories to choose from, Bright Local makes building citations in bulk manageable. 
• Local Viking – is a great tool for local SEO keyword reporting. One of the difficulties of local SEO is that keyword reports vary so much depending on the searcher’s location. Local Viking uses “geogrids” which overlay your local SEO rankings onto a map to help visualize how your rankings are doing, based on where the search is being conducted from. 

SEO Checklist for Success

Now that you have the tools for SEO, are you ready to create a successful SEO strategy? Here’s our detailed SEO Checklist for success:

#1. Keyword Research

The goal of keyword research is to find which keywords and phrases you want to target and optimize for. To do so, it’s important to understand search intent, making sure that you are targeting the right keywords based on the purpose of the page. 

What is Search Intent?

Search intent understands the why behind a user’s query. For example – are users searching for an answer to a question? Or are they looking for a potential product to purchase? Knowing the purpose behind a user’s search will determine the types of keywords to search for. In some cases, a relevant keyword might have a lower monthly search volume, but the search intent is so strong that it helps to drive more qualified traffic to the site.   

Different Types of Keywords – Informational vs. Transactional

While there are many different types of search intent and keyword clues that can indicate the “why” behind a user’s search, the two primary types of search intent Power Digital generally focuses on are informational and transactional search queries. The type of search intent should determine the keywords to look for as well as which type of landing page and content would make the most sense to target for organic growth. 

Informational

Informational search intent refers to users that are looking for more information, especially making searches to find an answer to their question. These searches are informative and instructive; examples of informational searches include “how to make french press coffee,” “french press coffee recipes,” “what is french press coffee.” For these informational keywords, it would make the most sense to target these keywords on an information-focused landing page or blog post.  

Transactional 

Transactional search intent refers to users that are actively looking to make a purchase. These searches are action-oriented, and should be targeted on product pages, collection pages, or other transactional landing pages for users to buy, download, sign up, or register. Examples of transactional keywords include “buy french press coffee” or “french press coffee collection.”

Once you determine the type of keywords to target, keyword research is an important step in creating a foundation for your organic search strategy. To find keywords, we recommend utilizing helpful SEO tools such as SEMRush, Ahrefs, and Keyword Planner to find keywords that people may be searching for to land on your page. It’s also a good idea to take a look at what top competitors are ranking for to better understand the overall search landscape and find related keywords with additional targeting opportunity. 

#2. Meta Data 

Metadata plays a key role in describing what your website is about. It also helps search engines understand how to rank your page within the search results. In this way, it’s important to optimize metadata using SEO best practices, while still being mindful of user experience. To do so, make sure the metadata is rich with keywords, while still being conversion-focused. Overall, when it comes to optimizing metadata information, Power Digital utilizes SEO best practices to optimize title tags, meta descriptions, and H1s. 

Title Tags

Title tags are critical to organic rankings. When optimizing for organic growth, be sure to include the target keyword within the title tag as well as a branded component to let users know whose page they’re about to click on. Also, avoid keyword stuffing and be mindful of character limits. We recommend keeping your title tag below 80 characters to make sure none of the text is cut off. 

Meta Descriptions

Although meta descriptions do not directly impact organic rankings, they can impact user experience and click-through rates to your site. Meta descriptions provide users a brief glimpse of what your page is about, so make sure the information is interesting and click-worthy. We recommend including your targeted keywords within the meta description as these keywords show up bolded within the search results. This bolded text can help your search result stand out from others, especially since it relates back to the user’s initial search. Other helpful practices include utilizing a catchy CTA (such as: shop now, read more, discover, explore, etc.) or unique selling proposition in the description. For example, if your brand offers free shipping or special deals, be sure to let users know! This info can help incentivize users to click and learn more. 

#3. On Page-Content  

When talking about an SEO checklist, having high-quality content on the page should be at the top of the list. Content is one of the most important ranking factors, and thus a necessary element of your SEO strategy. It is crucial that the content is high-quality, written with the targeted keywords in mind, flows naturally, and isn’t “keyword stuffy.” This can look different for blog articles, collection pages and even landing pages. 

Blog Content

Blog content is probably one of the more obvious ways to improve your Content Marketing & SEO strategies to grow organic traffic. To support your SEO efforts, blog content that you choose to publish on your site should be backed by keyword research and data. When writing content for blog articles, it’s important to include relevant keyword topics and semantic terms that are related to the overall subject. It’s also important that the blog article has an organized header structure (H1, H2, H3, etc) or numbered and bulleted lists if applicable. This content marketing strategy not only makes your article more digestible to your readers, but also organizes the content for the search engines. 

Collection Page & Landing Page Content

On the other hand, content on collection pages and landing pages might look a bit different. When you are doing your keyword research, you might find that there are keywords that have a strong monthly search volume that warrant creating landing pages strategically for SEO. In other cases, you might already have the collection or landing page created, it simply needs supporting content added to it. 

Whether you prefer to add your content to the top of the page or the bottom of the page, you want to keep the user experience in mind, while also including the relevant content needed for the search engines. This can look a bit different depending on the industry. For some eCommerce websites, the content explains the USPs of the brand and the specific collection while optimizing for the targeted keyword. For other eCommerce sites, the content might be held within the FAQs at the bottom of the page. 

The bottom line is that on-page content is an important ranking factor for your targeted keywords. No matter where you choose to place your content, the important thing is that you have content on your pages that is optimized for the targeted keywords. It’s also important that the content flows naturally and that you don’t include the target keyword every chance you get (as this is referred to as keyword stuffing and can result in search penalties). By adding content to your pages, chances are you might start to see keyword ranking improvement within 1-2 months of implementing the content. 

#4. Images – Sizes & ALT Text 

Image Formatting & Sizes

When adding images to your content, it is important to make sure to adhere to best practices for image formatting and sizes. These best practices will help the look and feel of your content, as well as the performance of the page. The format and size of images can have a big impact on the speed with which a website page will load on a user’s browser, as well as how efficiently Google is able to understand and index the page. Common image formats include PNG’s, JPG’s, and Gif’s. 

Although image size is an area where there is much more to dive into, a quick rule of thumb is to understand the aspect ratio of the image you are uploading. Here is a quick guide for different pixel amounts for common aspect ratios¹:

Image ALT Text

It is also important to add image ALT text to the images you are uploading. Google uses image ALT text to help the visually impaired understand what an image is portraying without the use of screen readers. Knowing this, always be sure to accurately describe the image in a short and succinct way. Image ALT text is also a good way to add in relevant keywords to support your SEO efforts. Just be sure to do so in a natural way that helps give more context to the image description. 

#5. Internal Linking 

Internal Linking

Another important element to be sure and focus on for your on-page strategy, is the strategic use of optimized internal linking. Internal links will serve to boost the page’s copy in a two-pronged approach. It will help your page from a keyword ranking standpoint, and a user-flow standpoint simultaneously. 

Internal Linking Keyword Improvements 

Utilizing targeted anchor text for your internal links will help garner improved keyword rankings to the page you are linking to. What does that mean specifically? It means that you should place the link on a main keyword or keyword phrase that is already ranking on the page you are linking to (AKA the destination page). This will give that destination page a boost to the keyword(s) you place the link on.

To better understand this concept, here is a quick hypothetical example; 

If you are setting up a link on a blog post discussing “grain-free dog food options for older dogs,” you may want to include a link to your website’s /adult-dog-food page. If the adult dog food page is ranking for the keyword set “grain free dog food,” then you would place the link from the blog post on that exact keyword set, sending traffic to the adult dog food page. Google will see these two pages as being topically related, and reward the destination page with an improved keyword rank for the “grain free dog food” keyword set.

Internal Linking User Flow Improvements

Google’s algorithm updates often include strategies to improve the user experience. In this way, taking that same user-centric approach with your internal linking strategy should also help you find SEO success. A good way to think about this, is to simply ask yourself the question of “would you as a user, feel satisfied exiting the page you are currently on, to land on the page being linked to?” You should always add internal links to relevant pages so that you can foster growth in the user’s journey on your website. Internal links are a great way to direct users farther down the marketing funnel in subtle ways, while reinforcing what they are currently engaged with from a content or topical perspective.

#6. External Links 

External links or backlinks are one of the top two ranking factors confirmed by Google. Backlinks are essentially votes of trust for your site and the key is quality over quantity as not all links are created equal. As such, it doesn’t matter if you have thousands of backlinks but they’re all from spammy websites. Additionally, you want a backlink profile that is diverse – meaning links should not only come from a few sites. After all, if your website is producing good quality content, other sites will naturally link to your website. 

As part of the SEO checklist, assess the site’s backlink profile. (Ahrefs is a great tool for assessing your site’s backlink profile and those of competitors). The goal is to have a strong backlink profile which means you have a large percentage of high-quality backlinks – links from authoritative websites. For example, a link from the New York Times which is highly authoritative and trusted will carry more weight than a link from Jo’s blog. However, if Jo is a vet and seen as an established expert on dog nutrition and links to your dog treat website, it’s highly relevant and passes more value (also known as link equity). 

#7. Technical SEO 

Think of Technical SEO as the foundation of your house. Without a strong foundation, your walls will collapse. So, what is Technical SEO and what’s included? It looks at how search engines crawl your website – the technical aspects of your website, elements that most people won’t see or notice. Technical SEO covers everything from metadata, links, JavaScript, structured data, Href lang, page speed, site structure, and more. 

Essentially, a Technical SEO analysis looks at your site to assess if it is easy for search engines to find pages and information on your site? For example, if your site has a lot of pages that are not linked to any other page, search engines will likely have a hard time finding all of these pages. This is an issue because these pages can have a lot of valuable information but if they’re not easy to find, the search engine robot is going to move on, meaning they won’t get seen or indexed (shown in the search results) and not drive website traffic. After all, there are millions of websites and only so much time search engines can spend on your website (this is known as your crawl budget). As such, it’s critical to make sure that your website has a strong technical foundation. 

SEO Best Practices for Long-Term Success

Successful long term SEO requires a defined strategy but also allows for flexibility for when the checklist items change. SEO success is a moving target and the teams that can consistently hit the target are always scanning for the newest information available and trying new strategies while still keeping in mind seo basics. The most reassuring fact about the target is that we all know the bullseye – provide the most relevant and best user experience possible. Keep that in mind when crossing off the above SEO checklist items and you’re bound to be heading in the right direction! 

Wondering how your site stands when compared to the SEO checklist? Let our SEO company conduct a complementary SEO audit! Learn more. 

Sources:

1. https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/common-aspect-ratios-photo-image-size

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As a result, SEO best practices have to evolve, too. 

If you want to reach and then stay on top of search rankings—whether it be for Google, Amazon, or another search engine altogether—this is why SEO is important. You have to stay up to date with the best and worst of SEO marketing: implement the most effective SEO methods and avoid the biggest SEO mistakes. 

Let’s dive into seven of the most common SEO mistakes, as well as ways to avoid these digital faux-pas as much as possible in your SEO strategy.

#1 Operating Blindly Without an SEO Gameplan 

When you set out on a road trip, you don’t usually leave home without a map—or, in the current age, a GPS-enabled smartphone app. The same holds true for figurative, rather than literal, journeys; for example, setting out to optimize your web content and climb the search engine rankings. 

Do you want to get more conversions? Rank higher on Google’s home page? Increase your sales? It’s very difficult for your company to hit these lofty goals if you don’t have a strategy to reach them. Incredibly, 70% of small businesses didn’t have an SEO strategy prepared in 2020.¹

If that sounds all too familiar, this is an opportunity for you to shift gears and create a competitive advantage to avoid this common seo mistake. If you instill a pointed SEO plan—one that’s embraced from the top down—you’ll actually arrive at your intended destination (rather than a random rest stop hundreds of miles away).

The Solution

A successful road trip usually involves a packing list. Take inventory by gauging your competitors and their metrics, including: 

• Rankings
• Content
• Keywords
• Performance 

Studying other companies’ strategies can help you better approach your own by targeting overlapping customer bases, keywords, and types of content in your own (more effective) way. You can also find automated technologies that improve workflows and drive seo performance or optimization. 

#2 Not Understanding Your Audience or Considering Their Search Intent

SEO’s underlying goal is to help the search algorithm connect the user to the most relevant, accurate, and up-to-date information, regardless of their query. Put simply, Google’s rankings favor websites that meet the user’s search intent. 

When it comes to SEO, far too many companies fail to understand their audience. 

Your SEO efforts should be geared towards funneling your target audience down the specific channel you want them to go. Content should be positioned to satisfy their search, whether they’re in the market to buy, sell, schedule, invest, or simply learn something. 

The Solution 

Although you may see your product or service in a certain light, it’s more important to know how a visitor would search for or refer to them. For instance, users and search engines prefer a long-tail keyword (longer and more specific) and yet, businesses still underutilize or ignore them completely.

To address this, consider taking advantage of Google keyword planning tools. Look at your historical and real-time data to understand your market and consumers therein. Apply these insights about consumer intent to your keyword strategy. 

#3 Ignoring Analytics 

SEO isn’t simply about driving organic traffic. It’s also about converting that traffic into sales. 

Far too often, businesses hyperfocus on high-traffic keywords when there are low-traffic keywords that might have better conversion rates due to their specificity. But you won’t know how effective your SEO and content marketing efforts are unless you track and analyze the numbers.  

Making decisions without consulting the numbers is not unlike operating without an SEO strategy. You have no way of knowing what is or isn’t working or how best to use your resources. Some people wrongly estimate how long does SEO take and assume that SEO is a set-and-forget type of process when in reality, it requires constant tweaking and continual SEO optimization. 

The Solution 

Tracking and regularly reviewing your analytics is the best way you can optimize your site along with ranking factors. There are a variety of automated tools and seo tactics available (both free and paid for), including: 

• Google Analytics and Google Search Console to gauge your site’s performance  
• Platforms and tools that can handle competitive analysis, SEO management and workflows, keyword research, and link management and measurement  

These digital software-as-a-service tools can increase your SEO performance and efficiency. That said, your time and money might be better spent enlisting the services of a digital media agency. These SEO experts have the knowledge, skills, and tool kits to build and then drive your SEO campaign for you. 

#4 Not Focusing on Mobile 

Worldwide, mobile search accounts for just over 50% of all web traffic.² Over the past decade, Google has placed a much greater emphasis on websites that are mobile-friendly. Despite this, far too many businesses rely on an outdated web design that has not been optimized to support a mobile experience. 

Some of the biggest SEO mistakes businesses make on mobile include:

• A non-responsive web design
• Slow website speeds
• Slow loading times for videos and pictures
• Incorrect or missing local information
• A difficult navigation system

The Solution

As Google continues to move toward a mobile-first search index, it would be wise to follow their lead. Neglecting more than half of your daily potential customers will only jeopardize your ability to rank highly and expand your reach. 

A website redesign—one that utilizes a responsive cross-platform design—is a worthwhile investment. Done right, it will immensely improve the user experience. Not only does this create a happier customer base, but it also means users will spend more time browsing your site. These prolonged interactions will increase your SEO ranking over time.

#5 Sub-par Content 

Yes, Google search results are controlled by a complex computerized algorithm, but the search engine monolith can be surprisingly judgmental when it comes to the content you’re putting out. Google’s algorithm is interested in providing high-quality content only—your users want the same. 

Relevant keywords are important, but not at the expense of a poorly constructed, low-quality website. Far too many companies make glaring SEO mistakes when it comes to their content, including:

• Creating useless content with heavy keyword stuffing rather than valuable information
• Plagiarizing other websites’ content 
• Trying to optimize for too many keywords in a single article 
• Building content that is inaccurate or untrustworthy
• Scarcely posting, or following an inconsistent posting schedule

The Solution

Blog content is a great way to drive SEO value, but its fundamental purpose is still to provide readers with valuable information. Your articles and web pages should champion your authority and trustworthiness, including potential customer solutions. 

To that end, strong SEO efforts is a byproduct of good content (not the other way around). 

Here are a few ways to ensure your keywords are surrounded by top-notch content, rather than fluff and inaccuracies:

• Work on your content strategy and SEO strategy in tandem
• Brainstorm hyper-relevant pillar topics then variate around these main themes to create content clusters that cover a wide variety of topics
• Outsource your copywriting to professionals who aren’t just SEO content machines, but can produce high-quality writing

#6 Failing to Include Essential SEO Elements 

Your written content, chock full of relevant keywords, is the face of SEO—it’s what your customers see and interact with, and is an important piece of the puzzle. 

But behind every successful blog post is powerful backend SEO optimization.

The Solution

Equip each user-accessible post or web page with fully fleshed-out backend features that the algorithm will read and prioritize, including:

• Title tags for every page
• Meta descriptions that are informative without being overly wordy
• Intentional use of keywords in titles and descriptions
• Alt text on embedded images
• Algorithm-friendly URL structuring 

These seemingly small details make a major impact on the search engine algorithms. They help the program better understand the content and its context. For instance, search bots can’t view the actual images, but they can “read” the alt text you attach to a picture, which helps them appropriately index your page.

This finesse is what often separates great from good in the world of SEO. 

#7 Incorporating Optimized Anchors

In the past, optimized anchors were one of the easiest ways to improve SEO results. These anchor links were embedded into keywords that companies were hoping to rank for. You’ve almost certainly seen this technique used before, even if the concept doesn’t immediately sound familiar. Here’s an example according to Google:³

“There are many wedding rings on the market. If you want to have a wedding, you will have to pick the best ring. You will also need to buy flowers and a wedding dress.”

Wedding rings, wedding, best ring, buy flowers, and wedding dress are all relevant keywords for a bridal shop or wedding planner. In theory, these links would lead to internal pages and increase the SEO rating. But Google caught on to this somewhat underhanded technique.

Now, they’ve banned the practice of link scheming, which includes any URLs that are intended to manipulate page ranking rather than provide useful links.

The Solution

There are safe anchors you can use, including naked URLs, branded URLs, and long phrases. Focus on link quality over link quantity to use these tastefully without algorithmic penalization. 

Avoiding SEO Mistakes

In all likelihood, you’ve already made at least one of these SEO mistakes. And these are just a few of the major SEO issues companies struggle with, especially small businesses. But here’s the good news: no matter how many errors you’ve made, you can always course-correct to put your website back on Google’s good side.

Whether you’re just starting out or hoping to right a few SEO wrongs, the path to search engine success starts with the creation of a company-wide SEO strategy and a dedicated team.  

Sources:

1. Search Engine Journal. The 10 Most Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/10-common-seo-mistakes/178734/#close
2. Statista. Percentage of mobile device website traffic worldwide from 1st quarter 2015 to 3rd quarter 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/277125/share-of-website-traffic-coming-from-mobile-devices/
3. Google Search Central. Create good titles and snippets in Search Results. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/appearance/good-titles-snippets?visit_id=636880082951453933-4272044119&rd=2
4. Goolge Search Central. Link Schemes. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/link-schemes?hl=en&visit_id=637491883999349897-3802708151&rd=1

The post 7 SEO Mistakes to Avoid appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

An SEO strategy is an undeniably powerful tool—it led you here, for starters.

However, as more people learn about why is SEO important, they often set out to optimize their content strategy with unrealistic expectations. They want their posts to rank high and they want it now. In reality, it takes time and consistency to yield meaningful results. 

During the initial stages, many business owners can’t help but grow impatient, wondering: how long will it take for SEO to start working? 

The answer is—drumroll, please—that it depends. 

Okay, so that might not be the straightforward answer you were hoping for. Unfortunately, SEO ranking isn’t perfectly straightforward either. That’s what this article is all about. Let’s delve into the specifics about when you can expect to see results from your SEO work and efforts. 

How Long Does it Take For SEO to Work?

In the early days of digital marketing, SEO success was simple. After making a few tweaks here and there, a website could rise up Google’s rankings in a matter of weeks. However, that was then, and this is now. 

In the golden age of digitalization, SEO is significantly more competitive. With 1.8 billion websites and counting on the internet,¹ competing for a first-page spot on Google takes hard work. The right SEO tactic can help you accomplish this goal, but it won’t magically happen overnight. 

In that way, it’s a lot like starting a new fitness regime. You sign up for one-on-one professional training, you sweat your heart out at the gym, then you wake up the next morning hoping to see a whole new person in the mirror and… nothing. 

Just like lifestyle changes, SEO results take time and consistency.

The Factors That Impact Your SEO Timeline

The specific amount of time it takes to see SEO results depends on several factors, including:

• The age of your website – As they say, age before beauty. Older websites have an immediate advantage over new websites because they often have higher domain authority, more backlinks, and a baseline of website traffic. In other words, they’ve established themselves and their SEO foundation. 

In contrast, a brand-new website is like a fresh-faced college graduate entering the workforce. It can take time to establish their legitimacy, gain some experience, and join the ranks of an older website.

• The SEO-friendliness of the web design – Even if your website has been live for a long time, it may not be SEO-friendly yet. Contributing factors include its initial web design, CMS system, and URL structure. Overhauling these elements to make your website SEO-ready could push your results back by a few months. 
• The competitiveness of your keywords – The more competition you’re up against, the longer it can take to rank for your target keywords. After all, your competitors are most likely investing in SEO, too. 

Targeting search terms like “medical-grade computer-based rehabilitative equipment” versus “car insurance” can be the difference between graduating into a niche subfield of biomedical engineering and, let’s say, business. With less competition, you’ll likely secure a job offer—and rank higher on search engines—much faster.

• The quality of your backlink profile – Backlinks are incoming links from another source to your website. Starting with a foundation of high-quality backlinks—from sites that Google deems “reputable”—can lead to quicker SEO results. In contrast, if you begin your SEO campaign with an abundance of “toxic” backlinks, it could set back your SEO. These are common seo mistakes. Cleaning up your backlink profile takes time.
• The quality and consistency of your new content – Some websites publish new content weekly. Others follow a monthly or bi-weekly publishing schedule instead. Both the quality and consistency of your content impact how quickly you can move the needle on your SEO results. 

When you have a dedicated SEO consultant or team on your side, they can determine the optimal publishing frequency for your niche. They can also develop a data-driven content strategy to capture your target audience’s attention. By posting unique, useful and quality content, you’ll also be more likely to earn high-quality backlinks from other websites reposting or linking to your content as a source.

• Whether or not you have penalties from Google – Dabbling in “black hat” SEO strategies or anything that goes against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines could earn you a penalty.² Early on, people would buy spammy backlinks or stuff their webpages with unnatural keywords to manipulate the SEO ranking system—needless to say, it didn’t work, and actually had the adverse effect by causing strikes against you. Until you resolve the issues that got you this penalty, your SEO progress may hover at a standstill.
• Whether or not you hire a professional SEO team – SEO professionals know how to achieve results and fast—or at least faster. Hiring an SEO consultant or team is like investing in a personal trainer. With their expertise and structured plan, you can reach your fitness goals faster than you could by yourself. Likewise, a professional SEO team will dedicate their workday to studying your competition, developing data-driven strategies, and updating your website accordingly. 

But Seriously, How Long Does SEO Take?

Okay, okay, we know the burning question is still on your mind. There’s still no such thing as a simple answer, but there are general timelines that may apply to your SEO efforts:

• How long does it take to see initial results? — Within four to six months, you can expect to see a rise in your impressions (the number of times people see any of your web pages listed) as well as an uptick in traffic (actual interactions with your website). 
• How long does it take to see more significant results? — Within nine months to a year, you can expect to see much larger results from your SEO investment. 

These estimates display another important feature of SEO: Like a snowball rolling down the mountainside, the impact of SEO tends to accelerate over time.

This tracks based on everything we know about SEO results:

• With proper optimization, your web pages slowly start to rank higher in search engines
• The higher they rank, the more people interact with them
• The more people that interact with them, the higher they rank
• And so on and so forth in an endless cycle, as long as you maintain your SEO efforts

While you can expect to see initial results as early as four months in, these results will pale in comparison to what you see during month 12 and beyond. 

An SEO Campaign Timeline: Month-by-Month

To give you some behind-the-scenes insight into why SEO takes a while to get going, let’s review what a typical campaign looks like during the first six months (while keeping in mind that every website’s timeline is slightly different):

• Month 1 – The initial groundwork is laid. Your SEO team will do a thorough audit of your current website to pinpoint areas of improvement. They may also conduct a competitor analysis and keyword research. Based on their findings, they’ll create a structured timeline for all the tasks that need to be done in the coming months.
• Month 2 – During the second month, your SEO team will start optimizing your technical SEO. If your website just needs some basic optimization, this process can be completed relatively quickly. If your website needs to be redone from the ground up, this process could last a few months. At this point, content creation and link building will also be put into action. These efforts will yield results down the line, but not right away. 
• Month 3 – By the third month, content creation should be in full swing. As you publish blogs consistently and optimize your webpages for target keywords, the Google algorithm will start to take notice. In turn, you may see a slight increase in search rankings by the end of the month, but likely not a ton of new leads just yet. 
• Month 4 – By month four, your SEO team will start fine-tuning their SEO strategies based on the influx of data they’ve been collecting. As they adjust their strategies,  you’ll start noticing more powerful results, like an increase in website traffic and lead generation.
• Month 5 – During month five, optimization efforts will continue, resulting in more traffic and more qualified leads. Your SEO team should have enough data to start optimizing your conversion rate at this point. This will set you up to gain more customers down the line. 
• Month 6 – After half a year, chances are that your SEO strategies will have yielded new customers, increased conversions, and a steady influx of traffic. These results should continue to improve over time but you’ll likely start to feel that your SEO efforts are “working” at this point. 

Search Engine Optimization is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

In a culture of immediate gratification, we’re conditioned to want and expect instant results. But just like fad diets and “miracle cures,” quick fixes don’t offer long-term solutions.

As with all healthy lifestyle changes, SEO takes time. 

By understanding the month-to-month process that goes into an effective SEO strategy, you can manage your expectations and stick with it long enough to experience the enduring results that will actually elevate your online presence.

Sources:

1. Internet Live Stats. Total number of Websites.  https://www.internetlivestats.com/total-number-of-websites/
2. Google. Webmaster Guidelines.  https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/webmaster-guidelines

The post How Long Does SEO Take? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

Okay, you must be thinking, who is this miracle employee and how do I get them on my team—yesterday, if possible? But it’s easier than you think. 

This salesperson’s name is “Search Engine Optimization.” But you can call them SEO for short. 

You’ve most likely heard of SEO before, but you may still be on the fence about investing your time and money in it. But an SEO Strategy really is that important in today’s world—we’ll explain why. 

What is SEO?

When you search a phrase on Google or other search engines, you immediately get pages and pages of results. Naturally, they have to be presented in some kind of logical order. That order is based on their relevance to your search terms. 

Thus, SEO is the process of optimizing your website to show up higher and higher on search engine result pages (SERPs) for these relevant keywords. Getting your website in Google’s good graces requires a combination of SEO tactics as well as understanding how long SEO takes, including:

• Making your website mobile-friendly
• Designing your website with the user experience in mind
• Optimizing your website’s structure
• Targeting keywords that your potential customers are searching for
• Placing these keywords strategically throughout your website
• Publishing useful, quality content on a consistent basis
• Getting links to your website on other sites that Google deems “reputable”

As Google’s algorithm evolves, SEO strategies must adjust to remain effective. As a result, SEO is often best left to seasoned-professionals who are up-to-date on the latest SEO best practices and aware of avoiding any and all common SEO mistakes. 

When you look at everything that goes into SEO marketing, you may wonder, how important is SEO for my company? It doesn’t take much consideration to answer this question: very. 

The answer to your hypothetical follow-up question—why?—is a little more nuanced.   

Why is SEO Important?

Whether you run a small business or a national corporation, effective SEO can take your company to the next level (or, more accurately, the next page of the search results). 

Here’s how. 

#1 SEO Helps You Get Found Online

These days, most people spend a ton of time online (like you, right now). Whether you’re currently swiping on your smartphone or scrolling on your laptop, it simply proves that the internet is the go-to resource for information. 

Online experiences are only becoming more integral to our day-to-day lives—not to mention the fact that 93% of all online experiences start with a search engine.¹

If you want to get your website in front of potential customers (who might be online at this very moment), you need to show up on SERPs. 

#2 SEO Boosts Your Website Traffic

Showing up on search engines is one thing—ranking on the first page of Google is another. SEO helps you bridge this gap. 

Ideally, you want your website to rank somewhere within the first five slots on the first page of Google for your target keywords. Most people don’t scroll further than they have to, which explains why these top results get 75% of clicks for any given search.² 

Over time, SEO can help you score these valuable, high-ranking positions. As you climb up the SERP ladder, an influx of website traffic will follow. With more traffic coming your way, you’ll be able to attract more leads and customers. All of that translates into more money for your business—and even better search result rankings. 

#3 SEO Boasts an Impressive Return on Investment (ROI)

Speaking of money, SEO stands out for its powerful ROI. ROI is the most important metric to consider when you’re trying to decide if you should invest in something. If an investment can increase your revenue and boost your bottom line, it would be a mistake to pass it up. 

SEO falls into this category. 

Compared to other marketing strategies, SEO offers a sustainable, long-term ROI. Let’s compare SEO with its digital marketing cousin, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising:

• PPC offers immediate, short-term returns. After launching a PPC campaign, you may notice an immediate boost in website traffic. However, all of that traffic will come to a screeching halt as soon as you stop funding the campaign. If you want more returns, you’ll need to funnel more money into your investment. 
• SEO provides long-term, sustainable returns. While it takes a few months to set up a solid SEO campaign, it eventually yields a gradual uptick in website traffic, leads, and conversions. Best of all, these improvements will compound over time—and you don’t need to spend any extra money to see these accelerated results. Your SEO investment will pay you dividends for years to come.

#4 SEO Helps You Attract Interested Customers

Nowadays, shopping starts at home. In fact, 88% of American consumers do online research before making a purchase in-person.³ During this online research period, consumers can size up companies and compare them with competitors in just a few clicks. 

If your company doesn’t capture consumers’ attention and win them over, it’s unlikely that they’ll make the trip to your physical storefront or purchase something through your eCommerce platform.

And if you never actually make it on their radar, you just don’t stand a chance.

So what does this mean for your company? If you want to earn someone’s patronage, the first step is usually to appear in their search results.

#5 SEO Builds Brand Awareness

Nike, Apple, and Starbucks are all brands we recognize immediately. That’s because they’ve developed outstanding brand awareness over the years. 

Many companies strive to develop this level of brand awareness through television commercials, billboard advertisements, strategic partnerships, and event marketing. However, in the age of the internet, SEO may be your best brand-building tool.

SEO can boost your brand awareness by:

• Leading people to your brand from other websites – Link-building is an important part of SEO. Getting other trustworthy, relevant websites to link to yours increases your traffic sources. It also serves as an endorsement for your credibility, both in the eyes of the consumer and Google’s ranking algorithm.
• Offering potential customers value that they’ll appreciate – Purchasing a flashy billboard is one way to get noticed as a brand. However, there’s a more meaningful way to stand out to your target audience: by helping them. 

Creating content that’s useful to your target audience can attract the right people to your website and win them over with your industry expertise. After they find themselves on your blog, they may be more compelled to look into your products and services, especially if your content satisfied their search query. 

• Giving you a chance to interact with potential customers – Once a new visitor lands on your website from a search result, you can entice them to join your email list or sign up for a free consultation. If they sign up, you’ll get many more opportunities to interact with them and build your relationship. With each positive interaction, you’re strengthening your brand awareness.
• Offering you an online space to customize your branding – Unlike your Yelp reviews page or Amazon Store, your website is yours and yours alone. You can tailor it to reflect your company’s distinct identity, from the web design to the content to the user experience.

#6 SEO Can Help You Build Trust With Your Target Audience

Have you ever come across a website straight out of the ‘90s, complete with unattractive web design, poor functionality, and an unbearably slow loading time? Not only do these types of websites perform poorly on search engines, but they also scare away visitors. Considering that 75% of consumers judge your credibility based on your web design alone, you don’t want to fall into this category.⁴ 

After investing in SEO, you can put your best foot forward with a beautiful, user-friendly website that showcases the type of content your audience is searching for. Such a website will instantly cultivate consumer trust. In turn, your target audience will perceive you as a credible company. 

Showing up on Google’s first page will also bolster your credibility. After all, Google’s job is to show the best search results. If you’ve made the cut, you must be a company consumers can trust.

#7 Your Competition is Probably Already Using SEO

If you’re not implementing SEO strategies, someone else is—and they’re scooping up your potential new customers. Since so many people turn to the internet to find companies, you don’t want to give up this valuable space without a fight. 

On the off-chance that your competition isn’t using SEO tools yet, beating them to it can give you a major advantage. All of their potential traffic will funnel your way, as they remain in online obscurity. Either way, you need to invest in SEO to keep up in the current marketplace. 

The sooner you do, the better off you’ll be. 

SEO: Your Next Employee of the Month

An effective SEO strategy can help you achieve many of your business goals, whether you want to attract more customers, build your brand awareness, or crush the competition. 

Best of all, SEO is the gift that keeps on giving. It only becomes more effective as time goes on.

Sounds like the kind of employee you need on your team, don’t you think?

Sources:

1. Forbes. How To Optimize Your SEO Results Through Content Creation. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2017/08/30/how-to-optimize-your-seo-results-through-content-creation/
2. Search Engine Watch. No. 1 Position in Google Gets 33% of Search Traffic [Study]. https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2013/06/20/no-1-position-in-google-gets-33-of-search-traffic-study/
3. Fashion United. 88 percent of US consumers research products online to buy in-store. https://fashionunited.com/news/business/88-percent-of-us-consumers-research-products-online-to-buy-in-store/2018010919074
4. Business.com. Just Say No: 7 Website Design Mistakes That Can Hurt Conversion. https://www.business.com/articles/7-website-design-mistakes-that-can-hurt-conversion/

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