Search is no longer tactical, technical or just a hygiene requirement. Its core to marketing success, and while CMOs don’t need to know the algorithms, they do need to know what is important when it comes to developing a strategic approach to Search Marketing. Here are five points to get started.
Search Optimization, Organic Search, Search Marketing – these are undeniably crucial themes in the digital marketing and content marketing driven world we operate in today. However, while a part of every marketing plan, Search is often seen as esoteric – something the ‘search guys’ can figure out. Its is often relegated to the ‘hygiene features’ list on the marketing plan rather than seen as strategic to the success of the plan. Are marketing leaders asking the right questions about search aside from ‘are we on Page 1’? How can they engage more meaningfully and purposefully with Search? We checked in with Fernando Angulo, Head of International Partnerships at SEMRush. He agrees that search is still ‘a mystery for lots of CMOs’, but stresses on what he does see with the most prepared CMOs: setting up SEO teams, hiring specialized agencies that can help the Brand keep up with the constant changes in the industry, or leveraging the right tools and platforms for online visibility management, content marketing and metrics. Search engines have become a critical resource for any brand, determining their sales and financial results. The development of a robust SEO strategy should be a major priority for all business leaders. Read on for Fernando’s top five when it comes to developing a strategic approach to Search Marketing.
1. Get your basics set up for Search outcomes
The most typical mistake I see marketers make with Search – both paid and organic – when it comes to using it strategically to drive marketing outcomes is not knowing what you want. Without clearly defining your objectives at the start of a marketing campaign, it’s incredibly tricky to get relevant results .
For example, you might have an online store without any criteria and with poorly organized products and product categories. When I spot these SEO discrepancies, I always stress to retailers and brands that it’s like going into a physical store and finding that everything’s messy. What would you do? You’d leave. In a similar manner, Google wouldn’t spend long there either.
Faced with this problem, the first thing you need to do is clean up the categorization. If you want to sell a pair of shoes, you can’t put them next to razor blades. It doesn’t make sense. When you go to the supermarket, everything is organized according to a specific set of principles, and customers are used to expecting this. That is one of the main mistakes I see marketers making.
Also Read: Are These 3 Lesser-Known SEO Problems Holding You Back?
2. Include Search data into marketing decision making
By paying attention to web analytics, businesses can enjoy a host of benefits across different parts of their organization. Web analytics insights can advise business decisions, from product development to optimizing consumers’ journeys on your website . It can tell us how a user makes first contact with a company, by showing us which page they first land on and at what point they decide to leave.
With all the data you’ve collected, classified and correctly interpreted, you can determine what’s really working for you and giving you good results. At the same time, you can see any aspects that are not serving the interests of your business and correct them. Popular tools, like those provided by Google or even social networks like Facebook, offer comprehensive statistics when it comes to the different areas of online marketing. However, it’s always worth being more strategic and choosing a professional tool, specialising in SEO optimization, that can cater more to your business’ needs.
With analytics tools, marketers hold the power of looking into the behaviour of users when they access a platform (be that a website, corporate blog or social network etc.). The main metrics you can access are visitor numbers for each page, the average length of visit, bounce rate, number of page views, etc. You can organize this data in many different ways, for example by the time period examined and the number of users.
3. Integrate Search into your omnichannel marketing strategy
Search is fundamental to the success of any business. Nowadays, Search is no longer just a technical concern – it is about customers, revenue and business growth .
Search is essential for optimizing the omnichannel experience, especially for large companies executing comprehensive marketing strategies . Search’s importance lies in its potential to help connect you with the people you want to reach. By carefully integrating search engine data into your marketing strategy, you will contact more potential customers with relevant content, and therefore boost sales and drive revenue.
Also Read: 8 SEO Pitfalls to Evade in 2018
4. Get the search metrics right
Information is power. If you know your audience, you can improve your content, create customer loyalty, capture leads and generate sales. First, you need to determine your main objective, then you can choose the appropriate metrics to focus on, in order to achieve it.
Search metrics are not only useful for SEO specialists, as they need to be shared between all the departments: SMM, PR, Content, Advertising.
The biggest misconception with search metrics is that data doesn’t need to be shared among departments , no matter how big or small the organization is. Today every company with an online presence should be investing in web analytics and its analysis. Without web analytics, the rest of your marketing strategy will be blind.
For SMBs, SERPs – Search Engine Result Page on Google – is a crucial metric to help punch way above their weight.
5. The future is now: understand the relevance of Voice, Vertical, Visual and Mobile search for your business
SEO 2019 search engine trends are marked, fundamentally, by the emergence of new search models: voice search and visual search, which are beginning to gain ground. The inclusion of Google Assistant and Google Lens on Android devices democratizes other types of searches to the detriment of the use of written words. These changes will define a new way of working on SEO strategies.
Voice: Put simply, marketers need to know how to make sure that their website shows up when a voice query is made via a mobile device or desktop. Snippets are key – currently both Google Home and Google Assistant read highlighted snippets when they respond to voice queries. A good general rule of thumb is to write great copy. Utilize voice search insights to see which questions your customers, or potential customers, are asking; what language and tone they’re using. These insights can also be used to optimize your overall SEO.
Vertical search engines are platforms specializing in a specific market segment. For example, vertical search engines in tourism are Booking.com, Kayak, Hotels.co etc. Having a presence in good and quality search vertical engines can give you visibility, even if they do not generate links. Why miss that opportunity if there are millions of potential customers searching on these sites for deals every day?
For certain categories, Vertical search engines have emerged on a par with mainstream search engines–when we talk of having a presence in ‘search engines’, we refer to global search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, etc.; and also, to the vertical search engines that can help you increase Brand visibility.
Image optimization: While it is not always effective, it does not require great effort, so it is worth investing in because it can give an advantage both in terms of its positioning in the search results, as well as in terms of the volume of traffic attracted to your website. Leveraging Google Images for authorized use on digital marketing material can also be useful for search outcomes.
Mobile: Mobile also already has a great influence on the strategy of organic positioning, not only in terms of content on this device, but also in terms of in-app SEO. It’s definitely worth keeping in mind that mobile will continue being at the forefront of all marketing strategies for the new year and beyond.
Also Read: Top 10 Search, SEO and CRO Articles Handpicked by the MarTech Advisor Team
So, there you have it — five aspects to think about in 2019, as you try and figure out how to make Search a more strategic component of your business. They should help you fulfil Fernando’s parting thought (or is it wish?) that we will see Marketers ‘taking bigger risks and betting on new channels and technologies, in order to boost SEO in remarkable ways’. As we like to say at MarTech Advisor, we will be tracking that space!