By Hector Cisneros
Courtesy of Flickr |
Around 2010 internet marketing
had reached a crossroads where what had once worked for getting found in Search
had reached a tipping point. A perfect storm if you will. If you did your research, you’d know that Google
had reached Search Engine dominance by partnering with Yahoo in 2000, acquiring
key web properties like Blogger (2003) and YouTube (2006) and launching its AdSense
platform. Google also fortified its position by acquiring many other useful web
properties, tools, and add-ons. Google topped this off by winning the latest
browser wars with Chrome, which finally displaced the internet Explorer after it
had held the dominant position for over 14 years. This was the coup de gras for its competitors,
and today its search dominance is so strong that it is almost impossible to displace.
However, the internet has evolved into a multi-segmented arena. Fast forward to
2017, and you have the search engine market,
The social Arena, the video arena, the news arena, the blogging market, email marketing,
digital press releases and much more. Today’s Search Marketing has evolved way past
on-page search engine optimization. It now requires a lot of off web page work to
build a brand, drive traffic, create buzz, build credibility and make sales. Google
has stated publicly that you must provide
the best user experience for the visitor. This
is also true in the social arenas in blogging
and any other venue you're engaged in when marketing. In this episode of Working
the Web to Win we will dissect the current
state of Search Marketing, discuss it’s must-have elements, its segmented arenas and provide the reader with tips and techniques
to achieve search marketing success. So, get
into your Zen posture, and get ready to start taking notes as we study the Zen of
Search Marketing.
Courtesy of Pixabay |
Today
any would-be internet marketer has a number
of options. We personally like the versatility
of blogging because it is a multi-media rich medium that is the perfect fodder for
the social networks. Speaking of the social nets,
the top five social nets reach more than 3 billion people daily, which seems like
a great place to fish for prospects, right? At Working the Web to Win, we believe there is no magic bullet to achieve
search marketing success. There are no magic beans you can buy to propel you to
internet stardom. It’s hard work producing
high-quality content on a day in and day out
basis. Yes you can engage in pay per click
marketing and garner traffic and achieve results, but this will do little to help
you achieve a long term high organic ranking. Daily content production will attract
and build the credibility needed to sway and engage today's tech savvy consumers. Today’s internet shopper has lots of choices, and they know how to search for not just the best prices, but
the best product based on its social reputation and consumer ratings. Today the
consumer experience is the primary driving factor that leads to online success.
Yes, you can trick all of the search mechanisms (Google search, Facebook Graph search, etc…) for a short while, but when you get
caught, its’ walk the plank and keelhauling for you and your business that the search
engines will serve up.
Here's what Google Web Master has to say about SEO.
Work on Pleasing the audience,
not the Search engines – It’s the quality of the overall Audience experience that
counts today not how you can trick the search engines. The best content is mobile
friendly and will work on all digital devices. It has to be authoritative and tied
back to your web properties. This content must be a full multi-media, be high quality,
relevant, timeliness, usefulness, educational and maybe have some entertainment
value. Above all, it must be useful to the
end user. It doesn’t matter how cool we think our content is; the consumer determines what is hot and what
is not. Forget trying to pack the perfect
keywords into your articles, or using black hat SEO tricks. Concentrate on telling
a great story, delivering a clear and compelling message or providing a high production
value video, blog or podcast. People are starved
for high quality, relevant, timely and useful information. Give them what they want, and they will reward you with positive comments,
shares, testimonials, and sales. If you
want to build a big audience check out: The Secrets to Building
an Audience for Your Business.
Courtesy of Max Pixel |
Video
has a Major Advantage –
If you have an issue with writing, then video could be your
best bet. In fact, online
video has a major advantage over many types of content. Most of the US population
who uses search has a preference for video. Four out of five people who see a video
listed above the fold in search will click on the video first. Most Google search
listings only show one or two video listings per page. If your video is the one
listed above the fold, 80% of the people searching for that term will pick your
video. Online video has some other advantages today. It’s mobile friendly. It’s
also easy to create videos. Almost every smart phone today has a built in HD video
camera. Editing software even comes free with
some smart phones. You can also acquire free or next to free video editing apps
on both app stores. YouTube and Facebook have built in editing capabilities as well.
The video should be either short, say 60 to
90 seconds long, (when used for testimonials, about us, and USP messages) or 5 to
30 minutes long if you are producing streamed shows or tutorials. Also, let's not
forget to repurpose these videos. You can create podcasts from them; they can be used to reverse engineer blog
articles and vice versa. Don’t forget to try and produce evergreen content as well.
If you produce high-quality evergreen content,
you have a marketing message that can be recycled
for a very long time. This lowers your cost
of marketing substantially and helps build credibility as well. To learn more
about video marketing, check out: The Changing Face of Online Video.
Courtesy of Pixabay |
Social Networks Drive the
Market - Today we live in the age of the consumer. Great reviews
from consumers can launch a thousand successful
products. Negative reviews will sink your product line and possibly your company.
If the negative aspects of your business are not
addressed, any dissatisfied consumer not pacified or made right, is likely
to post a scathing review. If you want to know more about social network and reputation
building, read: Top 12 Marketing
Secrets for Filling the Credibility Gap.
Today’s
consumer is not only the most tech savvy ever; they
have several huge advantages
when making buying decisions. First off, they
have their social networks where they can find reviews, comments, and testimonials on just about anything. Most also have smart
phones, essentially a handheld computer that allows them to do their research anywhere,
including in the store aisle. Ask any consumer today,
and they will all tell you that they make decisions based on social comments, shares,
recommendations, rating and reviews, period! If your business does not have a process
in place to build and implement a way to generate positive, reviews, all that remain
are negative reviews. This is because a dissatisfied
consumer is ten times more likely to post a negative review than a happy consumer
is to post a positive one. We regularly create these programs for our clients. Building
a positive reputation, builds trust, strengthen your brand and creates sales. You
must have a process in place to build positive
reviews, recommendations, and testimonials.
This is
a critical marketing element that is needed
in today’s tech savvy consumer world. Consumers have easy access to tons of product,
service, and company research at the blink of their smart phones. If you want
to know more about the benefits of social media, read: Seven Valuable
Benefits Social Networks Provide and Social Media Marketers Covet.
Courtesy of Flickr |
Landing Pages Convert &
Websites Educate –
Earlier in this article I said that there is more than one way to skin a search
market. Well along this same train of thought, there are many ways to create a website.
In fact, any web property that is branded
to your company, its
products or service is in essence, a website. This includes Fan pages in the social sites, Blogs,
video channels and pod cast sites. When talking about traditional websites, we have
three main types. We have Nexus sites; these are the original websites with a home
page and many informational pages. They are designed to educate the consumers about
your company, products, and services. Then
we have eCommerce websites that are more like online catalogs where a person can
click and buy products and services. And lastly but very important are marketing
web pages. These are often called landing pages, splash pages, and micro sites. Regardless of what you call them, their purpose
is to narrow the consumer focus towards making a buying decision without having
to leave that page. These pages must be designed
with a simple, easy to use and understand navigation bar. They must prominently
display your contact information, including
a video testimonial, a USP message (unique selling proposition), a compelling offer
and a call to action all above the fold of the web page. These landing pages can
be tied back to your eCommerce and nexus sites, but it is imperative that the landing
page includes everything needed to make the buying decision. There are also hybrid
sites that blend these three types of websites plus there are other venues that
I mention earlier. Now in case you missed my comment that any web property can be
a website, then pay attention now. Understand, that social sites, blogs, and even video channels can also be eCommerce
and landing page sites. The web only has websites that are accessed or viewed in
different ways. It's up to you to make sure you are reaching your customers where
they live and play. And when you do, make sure they have everything they need to
make a buying decision while visiting. If you want to learn more about websites
that convert, check out: What Your Webmaster Should be Telling You!
Courtesy of Pixabay |
Being
Found is Not the Be All to End All -
Getting found is only one-third of the success
equation. The other two-thirds are generating positive buzz and conversion. Your web
properties need to be branding, creating traffic, producing leads, testimonials,
and conversions all at once. Each of your web properties may be engaged in all or
just some of these marketing goals. However, the more aspects you address, the better your chances of success. Remember
that there are different strokes for different web-folks. That is, some people love
Google Search, some love to watch YouTube videos, some live on Facebook, while others
love Twitter or Instagram or maybe even LinkedIn. But no matter where they find
you, you must give them what they want, provide them with high-quality content, products, and services. You then
have to ask them to make and share positive reviews, recommendations, and testimonials. No amount of slick marketing will
sustain sales if you’re not providing a true value-add for your customers. No amount
of PR will save your company if you are providing poor customer service. Today the
consumer rules. Trickery may produce short term results, but it will ultimately
end in failure once the word gets out. Of the three aspects of consumer marketing
today, being found is the easiest. Building a good reputation and converting visitors
into sales are the two elements you will have to work the hardest on. To get a broader perspective of the many
ways to reach prospects, read: The Evolution of Touch Marketing in the 21St
Century.
Courtesy of Pixabay |
Courtesy of Pixabay |
When executed correctly,
content search marketing can be like being in the zone. This article is called
the Zen on Content marketing because you have to acquire Zen like focus and
engage in a daily Zen like practice of
doing what has to get done, day in and day out. My many years of marketing
experience has taught me that, producing
high quality, relevant, useful and timely content, on a daily basis, wins the
marketing battles. And if you do it long enough, you will win the title of best
in your industry.
That’s my opinion; I look forward to reading yours.
In this article, I have provided
an updated view of what it takes to be successful in search marketing today. We call this
approach the Zen of Content Marketing
because the steps always lead us to produce positive results. By following these tips
and methods, you will achieve a strong, long
term, high ranking organic position in any internet marketing platform you engage
in.
Get your FREE copy today! |
If you feel your business could use some help with
its marketing, give us a call at 904-410-2091. You can also fill out the form in the
sidebar of this blog. It will allow us to
provide you with a free marketing analysis to help you get better results. Our claimed to fame is that we are one of a few
companies who actually provide real
guarantees.
If you found this article useful, please share it with friends,
family, and co-workers. I recommend checking out the links in the blog, along
with checking out other related articles on our Show Notes Page. Don’t forget to
listen to the BlogTalkRadioshow on thissubject. If you have a related useful comment or
opinion about to this article, leave it in the comment section of this blog.
Also, don’t forget to plus us, on Google+ and share us on Facebook,
Twitter, and LinkedIn as well.
Hector Cisneros is COO and Director of Social
Media Marketing at Working the
Web to Win, an award-winning
Internet marketing company based in Jacksonville, Florida. He is
also co-host of the weekly Internet radio show, "Working the
Web to Win" on
BlogTalkRadio.com, which airs every Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern. Hector is a
syndicated writer and published author of “60 Seconds to Success.”
Related articles
Great read! Especially like the comment about 'Being Found is Not the Be All to End All'. After we engaged in conversion rate optimisation on our site we increased our conversion rate by a further 15%. Seriously amazing!
ReplyDelete