There are Lots of Online Marketing Tools...
The Key is Making Them Work Together.
Marketing professionals are constantly challenged to keep up with new opportunities for telling their companies' stories, targeting relevant audiences, and forging stronger relationships with customers and prospects.
Over the past few years, a lot of the buzz has centered around comparisons of Inbound vs. Outbound marketing strategies. Too often I hear people say that they are changing from old Outbound strategies to new Inbound strategies. In many cases, they also refer to their SEO program as if it is a separate standalone effort.
In reality, both Inbound and Outbound are key intertwined elements that should work together - and every single online activity should also take your SEO objectives into consideration.
Following is a very brief overview of some key elements to consider and how they can work together to drive your SEO success:
Social Media: Search algorithms now factor in links and activity from social media traffic on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., so not only are these outlets growing in importance for engaging with target audiences, they're also helping drive SEO as well. Even job postings on your company's LinkedIn page can help drive SEO. It's also becoming clear that creating a Google+ Company Page can deliver some extra credit for your Google search rankings.
Email Marketing: Well-designed and sustained email marketing programs provide an excellent blend of Outbound and Inbound tactics. As your opt-in list grows and you gather data on Opens, Clicks, Forwards, etc., a sustained email marketing program enables you to deepen the engagement with your target audience and to tailor communications to recipients who have shown special interest. Every email blast is also an opportunity to drive up your SEO with embedded links to key content on your web site.
Press & Media Relations: Often underestimated as old-style Outbound strategies, press releases, media coverage, contributed articles, and analyst reviews all play key roles in both building your company's reputation and driving up your SEO quotient. Every external link and third-party pickup of your content not only adds to your credibility, it also boosts your search rankings.
Content, Content, Content: You've probably heard it a hundred times but it's true: "Content is King" when it comes to SEO rankings. You can't fool today's search algorithms by simply embedding a bunch of key words in the metadata for a page unless the actual content reflects the same topics. It's not only bad practice, it can actually penalize your rankings. Besides, if you've got a real story to tell, it should be reflected in every web page you create.
The Bottom Line: Ultimately Inbound, Outbound and SEO activities all feed into a healthy marketing program just as maintaining good diet and exercise practices feed into a healthy body. You can only achieve optimal results by treating it as a way of life; not just by dabbling in it now and then. The good news is that a reasonable level of sustained efforts can yield consistent improvements across the full breadth of your marketing program and your SEO rankings.
