Thu, 24 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMT
As mankind delves into greater levels of technology and innovation, the face of marketing is rapidly evolving and advancing. No longer are companies competing in the concrete jungle alone, but in the extensive "digital marketplace" too! Similarly with "revenue maximising strategies" for most progressive SMMEs – these must now also consider the hugely competitive online market in order to be most effective.
In our first article of this series we introduced "Search Engine Optimisation" and its significance in helping your business to rank higher on major search engines for relevant search terms or keyword searches. We also touched on some of the primary SEO techniques, which are now explored in greater detail below:
- Keyword-rich content for your website – This involves the creation of original content that, while being relevant to your business sector and offering, also has primary and secondary keywords strategically dispersed throughout the content. As you may have guessed these keywords are the same as the major search engine terms. This content is used directly for your main website copy, possibly other landing pages if they exist, and in the form of individual articles that you load onto an articles section of your website.
This method certainly remains prolific, and lies at the heart of effective and sustainable SEO – as fresh content is also needed in several other key SEO techniques.
- Creating pages for social media platforms – You can also create pages for your company on social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+, through which you can create posts that also include the keywords you wish to rank for.
- Backlinks – This basically refers to "hyperlinks" which when clicked will redirect your browser to a new page or website. The basic idea is that the more links you have to your main website or social media platforms, the more hits you will receive, leading to more leads and potential sales of-course!
- Dynamic content – A key factor of major search engines is the fact that website rankings are also influenced by the frequency of updates and addition of fresh content. This is why most SEO packages and online marketing campaigns are based on producing ongoing content that is both current and keyword-rich.
- Volume of content – While many website developers still prefer minimal content for the sake of simplicity, this needs to be considered with caution. In order to enhance your ranking you will need an adequate number of pages and sufficient content on each page to gain credibility or improve your online reputation.
A combination of these strategies, together with a close eye on SEO trends, can help you get higher rankings and therefore, more visits to your website. However, while an understanding of SEO certainly helps you appreciate its benefits, SEO and content creation are individual disciplines on their own. So, it is advisable to enlist the services of professional SEO experts and copywriters, although you can still contribute towards the direction of the SEO strategy for your business! A well planned SEO and content marketing strategy will definitely help you gain more visibility and turn more queries into cash!