How to integrate Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Marketing

Key Points

In order to gain competitive advantage online it is important to implement SEO marketing
The more social media pages and websites your business retains, the more the links that will appear on the search engine results page
Search engines have automated robots that search websites to find key words; thus, it is important for you to understand your target markets’ search habits
In order to continually experience a high return on investment (ROI), businesses must be willing to keep updated on SEO tactics.

Introduction

Good news! Since you are interested in how to integrate SEO in your business’ marketing plan, you have obviously realised the importance of doing so. This means your business could be on the way to experiencing increased targeted traffic with a great ROI. However, in order to effectively implement SEO, the steps below should be completed.

Spread fresh content

The more social media pages and websites your business retains, the more the links that will appear on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). This is significant as when individuals post negative content on social media, this content may appear on a page in search engine results. However, if your business provides positive brand content on a regular basis this will overcome any unwanted information. As well as this, spreading fresh content all will lead to a higher chance of brand awareness and conversion. Harvard Business Review (2014) stated that content leads to strong relationship marketing due to the emotional connection it delivers. Therefore, providing regular fresh content will lead to more clients, greater conversion and will increase positive knowledge about your business. Relevance and popularity

As stated above, it is important to spread fresh content all over the web; however, in order for this content to have a positive effect on your business’ SEO, it must be relevant and popular. Search engines move links up the SERP through examining the relevance of incoming links to a webpage and the popularity of the site based on clicks from a SERP or number of likes on an online media page. Thus it is essential to provide relevant pages and information for potential customers to search; as the clicks from a SERP and engagement increases due to the relevant information, ultimately shifting your business upwards on the SERP. For example if a business advisory company has many credible sites linked to it (such as business blogs similar to Harvard Business Review), Google assumes it is highly relevant and popular and will move it to the top of the SERP. Optimize content

Search engines have automated robots that search websites to find key words, which most commonly include: headings, page titles, URL names, meta-tags, words that appear in the tab at the top of your page, or phrases in large fonts. Therefore, it is important for you to understand your target markets’ search habits so you are able to incorporate those key words and phrases in your business’ website and online media pages. For example, if a business includes thirty words in their meta descriptions, only three of these words could be included in top of the SERP. In order to obtain top positions in the SERP, a business needs to revise its key words to be used throughout its content. Use a vanity URL

In order to differentiate your business from others in the SERP, it is important to have a vanity URL. A vanity URL refers to a unique domain name branded for marketing and promotion purposes i.e. http://www.pln.com.au. Most businesses have a vanity URL; however, not all businesses integrate these URL types throughout all of their website links. Using this page as an example, the vanity URL is http://www.pln.com.au/articles/how-to-integrate-search-engine-optimisation-seo-marketing, whereas an older format URL would be something like http://www.pln.com.au/articles/-038dhry8362ubsjcvs782. As you can see, the first URL is much easier to understand as it is clearly defined and explains what the webpage involves; this thought process is similar for your potential clients. Research shows that vanity URLs are easier to remember and read than any other URL type, thus they are more likely to be clicked when seen in search results (Strauss and Frost 2014). Further to this, vanity URL’s should also be used for any link related to your organisation, such as your business’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ URL, for the same reasons. Integrate online media pages such as Twitter and LinkedIn

Many search engines recently added social marketing activity to their organic search rankings*. This means any online media post that has over five hundred likes, will influence that business’ position on the SERP more so than a post with ten likes. Therefore by including content on online media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+, businesses will see a change in their position on the SERP and in turn will begin to experience more traffic to their website or related pages. Keep up to date with SEO tactics

In order to continually experience a high SEO ROI, businesses must be willing to keep updated on SEO tactics. Search engines such as Google, are renowned for changing its search algorithm (more than one hundred times a year!) to improve search results whilst making sure corrupt site owners cannot spam the system. For example some dodgy organisations are known for placing key words in white text all over a white background so that search engine software can read it but individuals cannot. This means business owners that are serious about SEO integration, are required to continuously change and update their SEO strategy in order to keep their site moving up the SERP. *Organic in marketing terms usually refers to unpaid advertising or marketing. This is best reflected through when you search something on Google, there are two sets of results. At the top there is paid advertising demonstrated through having the ‘’ symbol before the link address. The results under these paid advertisements are the links produced purely off your search, known as organic search rankings.

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References:

Sorofman, J and Frank, A 2014, ‘What Data-Obsessed Marketers Don’t Understand’, Harvard Business Review, 25 February, viewed 6 July 2016, https://hbr.org/2014/02/what-data-obsessed-marketers-dont-understand.

Strauss, J and Frost, R 2014, E-Marketing, Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ.