Build relevance & personal connections
Last time we introduced the first three of our 6 SEO Power Tips for 2019, and we established that key phrase research, well-written HTML titles & meta descriptions, and fresh content should be at the heart of any successful SEO campaign. Now we’ll complete our list, and continue to focus on relevance, and creation of personal connections with our audience. Get your notepads ready because we’re going to give you some actionable tips you can get started with right away!
4) Link Building
Google treats links like votes for your website. The relevancy and number of these links (especially from unique domains vs. lots of links from one domain) help elevate your website versus your competitors. If you want to compete online in your local area, here are two effective ways you can obtain local links:
DIY: You can get started with your link acquisition by reaching out to local publications and pitching articles to them about your business. Use how-to and helpful angles that don’t necessarily emphasize your business until the bio section at the end. You can also write actual advertorials as long as they are identified as such; or, ask if a publication would interview you as a subject matter expert. What you’ll want in exchange for your expert information is a link from the local publication back to your website. Check if these publications have blogs; they may be looking for local experts to weigh in on topics of interest to their readers.
Professional link building: With the competitiveness in today’s search results (vying for position vs. ads, aggregator sites, and service listing websites, for example) it pays to have a professional link building team spend dedicated time every month on your link campaign. A regular program of link acquisition shows Google that your site keeps getting ‘voted’ as relevant for the topics discussed on your web pages. These repeated signals to Google help keep your website in the mix against competitors who are also working to position themselves in the top of Google’s results pages.
Bonus tip: With the heavy competition in local search, your investment in professional local link building is a key component of an effective digital marketing campaign. [Want to know more? Ask us about what we’ve accomplished for our clients’ link campaigns and how you can add our professional link acquisition services to your digital marketing.]
5) Personalization Marketing: Combining SEO with Social & Email
Don’t restrict your SEO strategies to your website! Use your mission critical key phrases (and some long-tail ones, too) in your social posts and email marketing messages. You researched those phrases and found that they are the phrases that your audience is querying right now on Google. So feel confident that these words will help you spread your message not only in blogs and web copy, but on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, too. Use keywords in email subject lines to entice more opens. Use them in calls to action in all your content to motivate people to convert.
Suppose your main key phrase is ‘men’s leather jackets.’ If your company sells men’s leather jackets made from premium cowhide, then you can emphasize that fact in an email subject line, like this:
Our Cowhide Leather Jacket Screams Quality
The latest research shows that the optimal number of characters (including spaces) for effective email subject lines is 41. If you write your email subject lines in this range, they won’t be cut off in iPhone email or mobile Gmail; which is important, since those are the main ways people access email today. Another key to a successful email subject line is to entice click through without your message appearing like spam. This can be difficult, but the more you know about your recipients, the better you can target your subject line and email copy.
Bonus tip: Repurpose your email subject lines in social posts. Add a bit more context and a link to your product page, to complete the social message; like this:
Our Cowhide Leather Jacket Screams Quality! Compare it to other leather jackets – you’ll be impressed by its incredible softness, beauty and durability. Plus, get 15% off your first order https://www.acmeleather.com
Personalization marketing continues to evolve. You can create personalized campaigns as you get to know your audience, and their habits. Then you can match your messages to meet their needs.
6) Mobile Perfection
Since personalization and local search are of paramount importance today, it follows that you should focus your digital marketing on local/mobile (unless you have a national focus; in which case the mobile emphasis still applies). These key factors help create a great mobile experience for your audience:
- Page speed
- No horizontal scrolling
- Easy to use navigation buttons
- Rich experience on the small screen
- People like to read long articles on their phones (this may seem counterintuitive, but with increasing mobile screen size and resolution, it is becoming more common).
Page speed is the #1 priority because people will rapidly click away if they perceive that your website isn’t loading quickly enough. If people do not stick around to click through to your website, then the copy, images, videos, etc. that you have waiting there for them will never be seen. Since we live in a mobile-first world, it’s important for you or your web team to ensure a fast loading website, especially on mobile.
After ensuring page speed, additional mobile optimization points need attention; including sizing and placement of navigation links and buttons and any problems with horizontal scrolling. The goal is to provide an exceptional experience on mobile devices, not a stripped down version of the desktop site. Many websites today are responsive (they render well on all devices). The next phase is to step up the quality, so users not only find the information they want, but get a rich experience that rivals or surpasses what they’d receive on a larger screen.
Set Your Sights High with Engine-ius Marketing
Our list of 6 SEO Power Tips can get you the online visibility you want! They’ll definitely take some effort to deploy; but you don’t have to go it alone – Engine-ius Marketing is here to help! With over two decades of digital marketing experience, we can create and execute any size campaign. Set your sights high – Engine-ius Marketing can help you achieve your goals. Contact us today to get started (800-781-3074 strategy@seooutsourcing.com)!
