Search Marketing Can Increase Web Traffic

by Fronetics | Jul 13, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing

Using search marketing as part of your content strategy can increase web traffic and, thus, visibility for your business.

Search marketing, formerly “search engine marketing,” uses both paid (SEM) and unpaid strategies (SEO) to increase traffic to your business’ website. These two efforts work together to improve the likelihood that potential customers searching the internet will find your content.

Let me explain. When an individual searches for something on a search engine like Bing, Google, or Yahoo, the query brings him/her to a Search Engine Results Page, or “SERP.” Since we read from top to bottom, the person first sees the results that fall at the top of the SERP. Studies overwhelmingly show that the further down on the page that a link falls, the less likely someone will click it. What’s more, people rarely click on results beyond the first page. Thus, it is critical to rank as highly as possible on SERPs to entice potential customers to click through to your site.

So, how do you rise to the top? This is where search marketing fits into your content strategy.

SEO (Unpaid)

SEO (search engine optimization) is optimizing your content to improve how it ranks in search engine listings. This requires gaining a basic understanding of how and why search engines classify webpages and then catering to those factors where possible.

The search engine’s goal is to bring the most relevant results to someone who enters a search query. They use complex algorithms to determine how relevant a website is based on the query. So, if you type “best restaurant in Boston,” the search engine will scan the entirety of the internet to bring you a list of websites, in order, that are most likely give you an idea of the best Boston restaurants.

Each engine’s algorithm is slightly different, highly sensitive, and a closely held secret to keep websites from maliciously optimizing their content. Google, for instance, uses about 200 factors in its search algorithm, some of which are public knowledge, and most of which are not. This makes SEO somewhat of an art.

The best bet for optimizing your content is to consider those known factors while remaining true to your content. You want the people who are looking for you to find you. Here are some tips.

1) Use keywords throughout your content.

Algorithms crawl the internet to scan text of all kinds (websites, PDFs, documents, etc.) to find content that matches search queries. Identify several keywords that someone who is looking for products or services like yours might use in a search query, and use them throughout your content. It is likely even more effective when you use keywords in URL titles, headings and subheads, and paragraphs near the beginning of the page.

2) Use keywords in meta tags.

Webpages contain data, called meta tags, that search engines read to understand the main idea of the page. These are invisible to the average reader (unless you know where to look). Most important for SEO are the title tag and the meta description.

3) Distribute content through social media.

Social media is increasingly important to search algorithms because these platforms help determine what content people are using and engaging with organically. Post on your social media channels with links back to your website to improve your social media referral traffic metric and, thus, your SEO.

4) Encourage inbound links.

To understand how trustworthy and authoritative a particular website is on a certain subject, algorithms consider inbound links, or other sites linking to the website. HubSpot has some excellent advice on how to grow inbound links.

5) Make your site mobile-friendly.

As web traffic increasingly derives from mobile devices, search engines are rewarding websites that are mobile-friendly. If your website is not responsive or, at least, optimized for mobile, your search ranking will suffer.

6) Create frequent, quality content.

When you regularly publish content that is valuable to your target audience, search engines will “learn” that you are a trustworthy publisher with up-to-date information. Also, the more your content resonates with your target audience, the more they will post and share it, which means more referral traffic and inbound links, which likewise increase SEO.

SEM (Paid)

Search marketing through paid methods like pay-per-click (PPC) or paid advertising helps get your content in front of your target audience, regardless of how it would rank organically. Google AdWords is the most popular paid search platform used by marketers, followed by Bing Ads.

Google AdWords will show your advertisement to people who search with predetermined keywords. You pay per click, meaning you pay a fee for every person who clicks on your advertisement, regardless of how many people Google shows your ad to.

You can imagine that a number of advertisers vie for the same keywords. Google actually auctions off ad space with each search, ranking ads by bid (how much you are willing to pay per click) and quality score (does your content answer the searcher’s need?). To increase the success of your PPC you should:

Identify relevant keywords that potential customers might use when searching for your products or services.
Conduct comprehensive research of keywords with tools like Keyword Planner.
Speak your audience’s language with dynamic keyword insertion.
Determine which words you wish to bid on, and create groupings of these words to pair with ads.
Identify and eliminate irrelevant words unlikely to appear in keyword searches.

Remember, search engines cater to the searcher. So, the more relevant your content is to someone who is searching for you, the more likely they will find you and want to do business with you.

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Microsoft/LinkedIn Product Synergies Should Floor B2B Marketers

by Fronetics | Jun 20, 2016 | Blog, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy

Source: Microsoft

The $26.2-billion acquisition could result in the customer-targeting solution(s) B2B marketers have been waiting for.

Microsoft announced on June 13 that it would purchase LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, a deal set to close by the end of 2016. Though LinkedIn will operate “as a fully independent entity within Microsoft,” the union will strengthen their shared mission to “connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”

Both Sadya Nadella and Jeff Weiner’s letters to their employees beam with excitement over the possibilities for product synergies. “Think about it: How people find jobs, build skills, sell, market and get work done and ultimately find success requires a connected professional world,” writes Nadella. “It requires a vibrant network that brings together a professional’s information in LinkedIn’s public network with the information in Office 365 and Dynamics.”

Obvious opportunity lies in enhancing Microsoft’s existing solutions to improve user experience. For example, videos from Lynda.com, a website for training videos that LinkedIn bought in 2015, could be accessible throughout the Office suite, such as an Excel document.

But for B2B marketers, the most exciting possibilities involve “new opportunities … for monetization through individual and organization subscriptions and targeted advertising,” as Nadella puts it.

New opportunities for monetization

Jenny Sussin, a Gartner research director, proposes that LinkedIn’s value to Microsoft lies in its algorithms and user data. Successful integration into Microsoft’s existing products could be a game-changer for the B2B sphere, in terms of targeting customers.

First let’s consider the algorithms, two of which Sussin claims were the main attraction for Microsoft. “No. 1 was the algorithm that creates the connection graph, the social networking graph,” she says. “No. 2 was the algorithm that determines the information most valuable and most actionable to you.” Essentially, with this acquisition, Microsoft has the ability to map how professionals are connected and determine what content is most relevant to each individual user.

Secondly, LinkedIn has the most comprehensive, up-to-date personal data about its 433+ million global users of any professional network. And that data has not been available to other companies — LinkedIn even refused access to Google for ad sales — until now. The value of this information to any B2B organization is indisputable.

Now consider that there are 1.2 billion users of Office and 4.4 million users of Dynamics CRM. Microsoft can now combine the information it knows about those professionals with LinkedIn’s user data, map their relationships, and offer customized content within these products. Imagine being able to reach your target customer within the very tools s/he uses most every day.

And those are just two of Microsoft’s products. Skype, Yammer, MSN: there is no shortage of targeted advertising opportunities.

Taking on Google?

Perhaps the most exciting of these secondary properties for B2B marketers is Bing, Microsoft’s search engine. Bing Ads are attractive to marketers because of the low cost per conversion. The problem, of course, is volume, as Google dominates the market share.

But with LinkedIn’s data and algorithms, Bing could become “what search is sorely lacking today for B2B targeting,” says Marketing Mojo CEO Janet Driscoll Miller.

“Search marketing is great for determining intent — for understanding what a person wants,” Miller explains. “But social media platforms, like LinkedIn, tell us who the person is. Marrying the two pieces of data — who and what — brings us to the sweet spot of marketing and targeting an ideal audience. LinkedIn provides us with demographic targeting based on business and professional user information.”

Targeting could include factors like company size (e.g., spending capabilities), so marketers would not waste impression dollars advertising products that are far beyond the buyer’s price point. Fold in other LinkedIn solutions, like Lead Accelerator, to improve retargeting, and Bing Ads could really compete.

Google may have a leg up in terms of search volume, but without detailed data on users’ professional demographics, Bing could corner the market as the most effective B2B ad targeting platform.

Cause for caution

While the marriage of LinkedIn and Microsoft’s capabilities shows great promise, hold off on celebrating just yet.

Part of LinkedIn’s value to Microsoft derives from user-provided information. And part of Microsoft’s value to B2B marketers lies in its products’ ubiquity. But what if people stopped contributing their personal details to LinkedIn because of the way it was being used across the Microsoft suite? And what if businesses stopped using Microsoft products over privacy or data security concerns?

Here’s why those are both real concerns: Nadella suggests that your LinkedIn newsfeed could show relevant articles based on the projects you’re working on offline. Taking information from my desktop?! That’s problematic from both a personal and proprietary standpoint. Issues around invasion of privacy and the breech of secure business information could present major roadblocks to success.

How would you feel if a software product you researched yesterday appeared in your Outlook today? If, while preparing a PowerPoint for a client meeting, a pop-up suggested you contact a connection in your LinkedIn network who is an expert on the topic? With the deal projected to close before the end of the year, users reactions to these concerns over the next few months could be telling.