Anyone who has built and launched a website has likely encountered an oft-repeated acronym: SEO (search engine optimization). And while you might not have ever done SEO yourself, you've benefited from it in the past: Every day, search engines like Google employ complex algorithms to sift through more than 400 billion web pages and deliver the most relevant results.
Website owners like you use SEO techniques and strategies to get their websites to the top of the search results for relevant user queries. But SEO is not a one-time endeavor — Google and other search engines change often, and ongoing SEO ensures your website stays in front of the people you want to reach. Just as a physical storefront requires regular maintenance and updates to stay competitive, your website needs ongoing SEO to remain visible amidst the ever-changing digital landscape.
The ABCs of SEO: What is Ongoing SEO and Why Does It Matter?
Don't let the techy jargon intimidate you. HubSpot — considered one of the gold standards for SEO and digital marketing advice — defines SEO as simply a collection of strategies and tips that "expand a company’s visibility in organic search results'' and help "drive more visitors to the company’s website, increasing their chances for more conversions which leads to more customers and more revenue."
SEO Connects the Search Engine Algorithms With Your Website's Content
Regardless of your website's goal or industry niche, all SEO techniques have one thing in common: They look at ways to optimize your website's content, keywords, and links to help search engines rank your website higher in the search results when someone searches for something related to your keywords, content, or brand name.
According to HubSpot, SEO needs to address the key factors that all search engines use to determine the value of your website's content — and therefore how high in the search results your website or specific landing page should appear:
- The intent or meaning behind why someone is searching for a specific term or question
- The relevance between what someone searches for, and the content on your website
- The quality of your content (for instance, a website about physical exercise written by certified personal trainers is deemed by Google to be higher quality than a website where the articles are written by non-experts)
- The performance of your website, such as how long it takes a page to load and whether it works well on mobile devices
Static SEO Versus Ongoing SEO: Why It Matters to Stay Fresh and Keep Your SEO Updates Current
As users' web behavior changes and technology evolves, search engines proactively adjust their algorithms.
If you aren't conducting ongoing SEO maintenance and upgrades, a well-optimized website today can quickly become obsolete tomorrow, causing your search rankings to drop and attracting fewer organic visitors. Google itself updates its algorithms several thousand times per year, including significant "major" changes every few months that dramatically change how it crawls and ranks content. For example, Google's infamous Panda update changed how it ranked how-to lifestyle content on the Internet, causing one major content publisher to lose a whopping $6.4 million of traffic and advertising nearly overnight.
How Ongoing SEO Influences Your Website Strategy
Staying abreast of changes to SEO techniques and strategies provides important guidance to your content, marketing, and overarching website strategy. For example, it can dictate or influence:
- How much content you publish, and the content's format, length, and focus
- How you incorporate other forms of media on your website, including images, video, and audio
- How you organize content on your site, including landing page layouts and your site's navigation
- What keywords and target users your website focuses on
Embrace the Power of Ongoing SEO
Caroline Forsey, an expert in thought leadership and marketing content, looked at the survey results from more than 400 of the world's leading web analysts to predict the biggest SEO trends of 2024. According to her data, some of the top changes in SEO strategies this year include:
- A heavier emphasis on expertise, meaning the content on your website should come from experts in your related field (including bylines and author bios that demonstrate the author's credentials and experience on the topic they're writing about)
- A renewed emphasis on first-person, credible content, especially as more websites generate high volumes of low-quality AI content (Google itself has announced upcoming changes to tackle low-value articles created by AI)
- A priority on websites that are deemed trustworthy, such as e-commerce sites with well-rated customer service, or content sites that do a good job of citing trustworthy research and statistics
- Bonus points on content that is creative and original and doesn't simply rehash content found on other sites
Of course, these SEO trends will inevitably change every year, and ongoing SEO will keep you competitive no matter what Google, Bing, and other search engines do. No matter your website's industry or content strategy, ongoing SEO requires that you:
- Focus on keeping your content fresh and high quality, including new blog posts or regularly refreshing and updating old product descriptions or articles
- Conduct keyword research often, since the terms or phrases that your core audience uses will evolve over time
- Maintain your website's overarching performance, such as mobile-friendliness as mobile devices evolve, and page load speed
- Build a diverse portfolio of high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites within your niche, which may include outreach campaigns, getting others in your industry to write guest blogs, and participating in online forums or communities
- Keep on top of technical and performance metrics, such as scanning your site for broken links (and fixing the links you uncover) and using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track organic traffic, keyword rankings, click-through rates, and conversion rates
- Stay on top of algorithm changes so you can adapt your SEO strategy in real-time
Some website owners think of SEO as the first step of their promotional strategy. But it's less a first step, and more an ongoing journey to ensure you, your brand, and your content stay relevant in such a competitive atmosphere. Whether you choose to go it alone and take a DIY approach to SEO, or you choose to consult with a digital marketing and SEO agency, check in often and make sure your SEO evolves as the world around you evolves.
Email marketing is undeniably one of the best ways to promote brand visibility, increase website traffic, and drive sales. With an outstanding Return On Investment of $38 for every $1 spent, it is no surprise that in 2021, 64% of small businesses used email marketing to reach customers. An effective email strategy requires expertise, dedication, and a lot of hard work. As a busy entrepreneur or small business owner, you may not find the time or have the skills and resources to execute a successful email campaign. This is why partnering with an experienced digital marketing agency is your best option. This blog discusses ways digital marketing agencies help businesses succeed with email marketing.
Why you should outsource your email marketing
Digital marketing experts that specialize in email marketing leverage cutting-edge technologies and vast experiences to develop unique email marketing solutions for clients. They manage the entire email marketing strategy, from designing, building, and launching to reporting the success of each campaign. They use their experience and industry knowledge to determine the best tools and resources to take your email marketing campaigns to the next level.
6 ways a digital marketing agency help you succeed with email marketing
The following are some of the ways a digital marketing agency can help optimize your email campaigns:
1. Help with market research
Email marketing starts with a comprehensive analysis of your market and target audience. You may not have the time or resources to conduct effective market research that informs your strategy. Whether you are a start-up or a seasoned business, a marketing agency will research your customer base, determine the platforms they use and figure out their specific needs. This will provide valuable insights you need to create a solid strategy for reaching your target audience and converting them into subscribers and, eventually, sales.
2. Email design
Experts recommend you create a professional and user-friendly email design to increase conversion rates, improve branding and build trust. Your design should also align well with your brand and messaging. Working with a seasoned agency is a great way to create a mobile responsive email design that creates interest from your prospects. An experienced agency can help create a custom design or leverage a template that works best for your venture.
3. Content creation
Content is king when it comes to digital marketing. However, you may not have time to create valuable content for your email newsletters. A professional agency can help generate appropriate content for your niche and optimize it for SEO. Having worked for similar businesses as yours, these professionals understand the tastes and preferences of your target subscribers. They will factor in this insight when creating high-performing content for your campaigns. The agency can also curate content from your blogs to create highly engaging newsletters.
4. Sending welcome and follow-up emails
Getting sales out of your email list requires building trust and working on long-lasting relationships. You begin this process by sending welcome emails to introduce your brand to prospects and outline what happens next. A well-crafted email translates to higher open rates and lower unsubscribe rates. Apart from helping you create highly engaging welcome emails, an email marketing expert can create a sequence of follow-up emails that are sent directly to your new subscriber's inboxes at pre-determined intervals. Follow-up emails foster long-lasting relationships and convert many of your initial subscribers.
5. Analytics and split testing
Successful email marketing campaigns require constant testing for their effectiveness. You need to perform robust analytics every so often to determine what you are doing wrong and areas you need to improve. For example, if you see a low open rate, you may need to use more eye-catching subject lines. Similarly, if you realize high open rates but low click-through rates, you may need to use more persuasive emails or leverage more prominent and better-designed CTA buttons. A seasoned email marketing professional can help handle all these things so you focus on improving your bottom line. They leverage top-notch tools to track open rates, clicks, send successes, and conversion rates.
6. Access to the right tools
Getting the most out of your email marketing campaigns requires you to deploy the right tools, which you may not have. Generally, tools used to build emails, monitor clicks, schedule calendar integration, and A/B testing require expert-level knowledge. Reputable email marketing agencies can help you identify and utilize the right tools based on your specific marketing strategy and budget. They will also help manage and operate these tools to ensure optimal return on investment.
Improve your email marketing results today
A well-executed email marketing campaign can drive online results for your brand. Properly investing in a digital marketing agency can help you get the most out of your email campaigns and improve your ROI. Strategic email marketing provides you with creative messages to promote engagement and create conversions. If you need help getting started with your email campaigns, contact us today.