What is Digital Marketing ?

What is Google's view on guest blogging for links?

What is PPC? An Introduction to Pay Per Click Marketing

Importance of SEO and SEM Software for Small Businesses

Search engine optimization (SEO). Search engine marketing (SEM). Is there a difference? And do real people really market to search engines?

If you’ve been in the SEO/SEM industry for any amount of time, you may have already rolled your eyes at the “market to search engines” question. Then again, it’s a valid question, particularly if coming from somebody who is new to the space.

Just so we’re on the same page here, let’s address the question, shall we?

First off, it’s not the search engines per se that marketers cater to. SEO and SEM are, in fact, a form of customer service, in as much as more and more people use the search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others) to search for information, including reviews and expert opinion, about businesses, products and services prior to making a purchase or commitment.

All told, this type of marketing is bringing to people what they’re looking for through the search engines.

SEO and SEM – is there a difference?

Chelsea Adams, the Senior content writer of Bruce & Clay Inc has written an article about the eternal question: “Does SEM include SEO?”

She goes on to explain that when SEM was originally coined by Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land in 2001, it was a term that included all forms of search engine marketing, paid or otherwise. Recently, however, SEM has come to mean paid search advertising, such as PPC (pay per click), CPC (cost per click), and geo-targeting, while SEO became more focused on the organic (or unpaid) side of search marketing.

So, yes, there’s a difference, but they don’t have to be mutually exclusive, as most online marketers would suggest, If you’re about to squeeze the maximum benefit from your search engine marketing campaigns, you need to be aware of every Tips to drive traffic.

SEO and SEM software – the advantages

Because search marketing is undoubtedly a vital component of online marketing, it’s no surprise that the market is teeming with various tools to simplify the process and make it more efficient.

Here are some of the known benefits of SEO/SEM software:

1. Better search marketing insight through analytics

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Whether or not you subscribe to this premise, the fact remains that analytics is an indispensable feature of SEO/SEM software. In the case of web traffic analytics software, like Google Analytics and SimilarWeb, you’re afforded a clear view into how your website is performing in terms of traffic: which pages get the most views, where your site visitors are coming from, which channels (e.g., social media, search, and display ads) are sending you the most traffic, even the keywords searchers use.

All these are information to help you understand if your SEO strategies are on point, which keywords to target in your next PPC/CPC bid, among others.

2. Brand awareness/visibility

Brand visibility isn’t something that freely falls from the skies. It’s a result of careful planning and strategizing, and a combination of a whole spectrum of marketing activities, including SEO and SEM. As Neil Patel from QuickSprout describes in his article ” How to Build Brand Awareness for Your Business ”, there is no hard-and-fast rule to building brand awareness, as “it varies from business to business.”

But as the number of Internet users continually rises, not taking advantage of various online marketing platforms to boost your brand’s visibility can be a costly mistake.

3. Increase in targeted traffic

Visibility into the results of your search engine marketing activities allows you to take the necessary mitigating actions when your website traffic objectives aren’t being met. While backlinks are no longer the only factors to achieve optimum search engine ranking, backlink analyzers, such as Ahrefs and Open Site Explorer, help spruce up a site’s link profile by evaluating the quality of a link, anchor text variance and usage, total links versus linking domains, among others.

These, plus the information provided by your traffic tool, afford you the knowledge to better optimize your site for search engine users, a task that can ultimately bring more traffic to your website.

4. Better conversion rates

There are two types of traffic: traffic and targeted traffic. People may come to your site through the keyword “women’s clothing.” However, if your site specifically caters to “clothing for pregnant women,” expect some of them to exit the site as soon as they find there’s nothing for them there.

With targeted traffic, your conversion rates have a better fighting chance, and software can help identify the keywords to match your SEO/SEM objectives.

5. Lower costs

Although there usually is some form of financial investment involved when using an SEO/SEM software, the ROI benefits are far greater than when you’re blindly strategizing your search marketing initiatives, not knowing whether any of your previous and current efforts work or not.

SEO and SEM software – some examples

We have created our Cloudswave Awards 2014 for the 10 Best SEO and SEM Software but here a few of them to check out right now :

1. Ahrefs is a website analysis toolset with features that include Site Explorer, Backlink Checker, Batch Analysis, Domain Comparison, and Crawl Reports.

2. Moz Analytics. A marketing analytics software that provides robust API for social influence and link data, Moz Analytics is an all-in-one tool offering marketing insights, custom reporting, and actionable recommendations for better performance.

3. SEO Toolkit. Microsoft’s SEO Toolkit helps hosting providers, web developers, and site administrators via recommendations to improve their websites’ relevance and search engine performance.

4. Screaming Frog SEO Spider. The Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop tool that fetches key onsite page elements (links, images, CSS, apps, and scripts) for SEO analysis. The data is presented in tabular form and can be exported into Excel.

5. Link Prospector. Link Prospector helps marketers find quality link opportunities via niche directories, link pages, sponsorships, guest blogging, and more.

6. Monitor Backlinks. As its name suggests, Monitor Backlinks notifies SEO practitioners and marketers when their backlinks are removed, changed, or about to expire.

7. SEOprofiler offers a suite of SEO tools for keyword research, link building and management, competitive intelligence, and website audit.

http://www.business2community.com/seo/importance-seo-sem-software-small-businesses-growth-01125204

Should Your Company Join Pinterest in 2015?

It’s a simple enough question: Is it worthwhile for small businesses to embrace the social marketing power of Pinterest?

And at first blush, there would seem to be several reasons to answer in the affirmative. If you know anything at all about Pinterest as a marketing tool, you know that it’s uniquely powerful in reaching women; that its image-heavy nature lends itself well to photogenic products; and that Pinterest tends to empower a lot of social sharing.

With that said, it’s also easy enough for small business owners to think of Pinterest as too time-consuming, or as less powerful and important than Facebook and Twitter. As such, many small business owners will enter 2015 without a Pinterest strategy in place—yet according to a recent Search Engine Journal article, that may be a mistake

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/pinterest/company-join-pinterest-2015-01114647#8ctersHXpYE0Dmoi.99

The article, by Jean Dion, comes with a simple premise; its title promises ‘3 Reasons to Use Pinterest in 2015.’ Those three reasons are worth taking one at a time:

1. First, there’s the familiar reason for joining Pinterest: It’s a great way to reach women. This is something we all know by now, yet it’s important enough to stress it here, which Dion does: “If your business sells a product that’s made just for women, you’ll need to go where they like to go, and push your products on the sites they like to use.” What you may not realize is just how well Pinterest works when you want to reach women; according to Dion, 80 percent of the social network’s users are women, and more than 90 percent of its pins (“shares”) are made by women. The point is simple: If your business wants to reach women but it doesn’t employ Pinterest, it’s missing out on a significant tool.
2. Dion goes on to note that, on Pinterest, it’s okay to post on weekends. We take a minor issue with this; we have noted just recently that “off-hours,” including nights and weekends, can actually be ideal times for posting to Facebook, as well. Nevertheless, what Dion shares about Pinterest is compelling: “The best time to post on Facebook is between 6am and 8am, Monday through Friday. But on Pinterest, the best time to post is Saturday morning. Clearly, if your only open time is on the weekend, you really should be using Pinterest.”
3. Dion ends by noting that, if your products or services lend themselves to photography, then Pinterest is simply a must. This is especially true of companies that work in food and drink, crafts, home décor, and DIY projects.

So should your small business be on Pinterest? If any of the above three points sound like significant advantages, then the answer is probably yes. The Grammar Chic team can help you make this decision, and also help you formulate the best Pinterest strategy.

http://www.business2community.com/pinterest/company-join-pinterest-2015-01114647

Will backlinks lose their importance in ranking?

Online Marketing Resolutions You Should Make In 2015

2015 is here, and you know what that means – New Year’s resolutions! But, let’s resolve to do more than just lose our guts, get back into the gym, and avoid the candy aisle. Let’s make some resolutions and commitments for our business’ marketing initiatives as well.

After all, we all know that we need to set serious goals for more than just our bodies. We need them for business and online marketing efforts too. Because without them, you and I both know that nothing will get done.

And what’s on the line? A lot.

How well you market your business online could literally change the course of your company’s destiny. Instead of struggling for new business and leads, if you do your online marketing correctly, you could be basking in all the leads your business needs to thrive.

So let’s do this! More traffic, more leads, more sales. In other words: business growth as a direct result of your online marketing efforts. That’s what this all is.

The following are the most important online marketing new years resolutions your business needs to make happen in 2015:

Resolution #1: Commit To Content

A very wealthy man once declared:

“Content is king.”

You couldn’t be more right, Bill Gates.

When it comes to marketing your business online, content is king. After all, it’s content that people notice and share. It’s content that search engines discover and rank. It’s content that is what you share with your social followers. It’s content that you use to email your prospect lists. And these days, it’s content that develops your brand and ultimately builds your business.

It’s time to commit to creating killer content in 2015. It really is the most important thing you can do for you online marketing efforts.

Resolution #2: Get Serious About SEO

SEO is a big deal.

Imagine if your company website was showing up in front of the hundreds, thousands and even millions of potential prospects searching directly for what you offer?

Would this be valuable to your business? Of course it would! It could literally change the course of your business’ destiny.

In 2015 it’s time to get serious about SEO and making things happen. No, this doesn’t mean you go out and hire the first SEO agency you talk to that says the right things. It means you get serious about educating yourself on SEO and what it takes to gain the favor of Google, and then take action. For your business this could mean that you do SEO yourself, you hire someone, or you outsource your efforts to a reputable and trustworthy agency.

SEO needs to be taken seriously if you are to ever get real results. The time is now!

Resolution #3: Build A Better Website

If your company’s website sucks, your 2015 online marketing efforts will fall flat on their face; your website is the foundation and center piece to all of your efforts.

So how do you know if you need to build a better website? Here’s a list of questions that will help you start to objectively evaluate whether it’s time for a face life, or complete overhaul:

1. Is your site conversion focused? Are visitors inspired to take action? (Be honest!)
2. Does your site articulate your company’s story?
3. Has your website been coded for search engines?
4. Is your website mobile responsive? Does it resize for mobile visitors?
5. Does your website have clear messaging that influences prospects? (Again, be honest!)
6. Is your website built for blogging? Is your blog seamlessly integrated?
7. Does your site use the latest in coding technology? (CSS3, HTML5, JavaScript components)

If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, it’s probably time to build a better website.

Resolution #4: Automate Your Marketing

Marketing automation is the newest trend in online marketing, and for good reason. Marketing automation has been around for along time in a more primitive state, but it’s gotten much more sophisticated in recent years.

Companies like Hubspot, Infusionsoft, and Marketo have developed quite amazing tools that make it easy. With lead scoring, automating emails and work flow, if set up correctly it can transform a business’ ability to capture and convert leads.

The idea is simple: you need to get in front of prospects a number of times before they are ready or willing to buy your product/service. With the right marketing automation software, you’ll be able to pull this off completely hands off.

Resolution #5: Demand Better Data

If you want to win in 2015 you need the best and most accurate data you can get. I know what you’re thinking “but we already have Google analytics installed.” That’s just the surface of what I’m talking about here.

Yes you need analytics, and you need to be able to interpret your analytics into actionable insights. But even more importantly, you need to get serious about data on your competitors.

Take a break from obsessing over your business and obsess over your competitors. Doing so will often answer hard questions and provide answers to questions that you are not asking in the first place, but should be.

In 2015 make it a goal to use a type of competitive analysis tool set or platform. Some notable options are:

• Bright Edge – Bright Edge has the most comprehensive web-based tools on the market. It’s a full fledged enterprise SEO marketing platform every business could use.

• Moz – Moz is an industry favorite and will allow you to analyze exactly what your competition is doing, why they’re beating you and what you need to do to close the gap.

• Little Bird – this social tool will allow you to track what your competitors are doing social media wise and see what content is the most successful for them. Valuable information!

• SEM Rush – To put it plainly, you can track everything your competitors are doing in paid search and get very accurate insights into their successes in organic search too.

Resolution #6: Commit To Constant And Never-Ending Improvement

Finally, this may be the most important resolution of them all: when it comes to your online marketing efforts you must commit to constant and never-ending improvement.

Nothing is going to get fixed over night. And in 6 months the internet might be forever changed in some way that no one ever foresaw. However, if you adopt this attitude and way of being into your business, you’ll be fine.

Everyday ask yourself “What needs to be done? What can we improve upon? What are our competitors doing better than we are? What can I do right now to make our efforts more effective?”

These are the types of questions that will lead you toward constant and never ending improvement.

In Conclusion

2015 is about to happen and it’s time to make all your wildest online marketing dreams come true. Let’s get serious about these 6 resolutions: commit to content, get serious about SEO, build a better website, automate your marketing, demand better data, and commit to constant and never ending improvement.

Do these things and win in 2015.

http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/online-marketing-resolutions-make-2015-01111083

5 easy backlink tactics for Realtors

Your website was meant to be seen. Unfortunately, a lot of websites just like yours hardly get any traffic and yield poor results.

How can you improve your website’s results? Many Web operators use backlinks, which prove your website’s worth to Google by improving your domain authority and page authority. They can be a quick and easy way to increase your search engine placement. In other words, these link sources are a great way to impact your business quickly.

Here are five of my “secret sauce” SEO backlink tactics, which come from authority and untapped resources. Most of the tactics are completely scalable.

(Before we get into this: These tactics work best for websites that already have some domain history and a decent amount of original content.)

1. Work with charities

It doesn’t take much to get on the first page of Google in most cities. A search for “Kansas City real estate” turns up websites with a domain authority of 20 and page authority of 20. These authority levels are relatively easy to achieve with backlinks.

Charities provide a great way of doing this. There are two main ways to go about getting a link to your website from a charity:

• Donate to a charity that has a sponsor page. This is the easiest way. The organization already has a structure in place for placing links to your website. You can get these links quite easily for less than $15 in annual donations. You’ll probably need about 10 of them to see significant improvement in your SEO. That means that for less than $200, you can greatly improve your SEO.
• Sponsor a website. Most charities do not have a sponsor-page program in place. So, what you can do is offer to sponsor a website redesign project for them. This is quite easy with the advent of Squarespace.com or custom themes assembled through outsourcing help on oDesk.com. For less than $300 a year, you can help that organization update the look of its website. This makes it only natural for them to link to you! After all, your generosity is the reason they implemented the website redesign. Sponsoring a site like this is very powerful for you. You might suggest having the “Sponsored by John Doe Real Estate Team” in the footer of every page. This gets you many links from just one website.

This technique is a huge win-win. Plus, everyone who is remotely attached to that organization will be sure to hear about your company and generosity. There are multiple spillover bonuses from using this method.

2. Write testimonials

Websites for local services have testimonial sections, and most of the time the testimonials have a slot for your URL. As a Realtor, you interact with individuals like plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians and contractors. These people have websites, and the majority of their sites have terribly out-of-date testimonials.

To start, reach out to your inner circle of contractors. Write them a simple email like this:

Hi <First Name>,
I was on your website the other day and saw that you still had that same old testimonial up there. You’ve really impressed me with your work over the years, so I took the time to write you a newer one.
[four- to five-sentence testimonial]
John Smith
www.johnsmith.com
Let me know when you post it so I can share on my social channels.
- John Smith

As you can see, there are several elements at play in this email. You are never asking for a link to your website. You’re giving value 100 percent of the time by praising their work, offering a new testimonial and telling them you’ll share it.

This type of approach gets a much higher conversion rate. The links you get from this method will really boost your SEO rankings. They have a high contextual trust ranking to Google and count for more than offshore links.

3. Fiverr.com

Want a method that doesn’t require you to reach out to others? Fiverr.com is basically the black market for Internet marketing. Most of the SEO services out there can get you banned from Google in two clicks. However, there are a few quick (and cheap) ways to purchase links from this website. And they will help your SEO (albeit not as much as some of the other methods mentioned).

Here are the two things I look for from a Fiverr.com gig:

• Guest posts on an authentic blog related to real estate: The majority of the time, people on this website are running spam blogs. These websites are easily distinguishable by their low-quality content and multiple orders. Read the description to determine whether a gig is an authentic blog or a spam blog. If the gigs talk about the SEO benefit of their site, chances are it’s spam. If it sounds like an honest bloke trying to get content for his site, you’re most likely fine. You can search for these posts by typing in phrases like “real estate guest blog” or “real estate blog.”
• New to the marketplace: Another key factor is looking for people who are new to Fiverr.com. This will make sure their blog isn’t overrun by too many guest posts. Blogs with too many outbound links to suspect sites lose their effectiveness in ranking your website. This tactic helps you get the most bang for your buck.

Finally, the gig seller will always show you their site after you purchase. If their website has a domain authority and page authority above your websites’ domain and page authority, consider purchasing an ad slot from them. This will often cost less than $50 a month and give you great SEO benefits. Your ad will be shown on multiple pages. And small blog owners usually include additional posts, social mentions and email blasts about their dedicated sponsors. All this means more traffic for you!

4. HARO

Help a Reporter Out, or HARO (HelpAReporter.com), is a service that sends you emails every day. These emails contain queries from reporters who need expert advice. Real estate queries are found almost daily in these emails. As a small-business owner, you can also provide useful information to queries about other business-related topics.

It helps your SEO when a reporter decides to use your information in their publication. Reporters often include a link back to your website and a bio. Additionally, these reporters are writing for websites with a lot of authority on the Internet. It is a great way to score a very powerful link to your website in exchange for only five minutes of your time.

The main pitfall with this strategy is lack of persistence. Will you open up every single email HARO sends you and write an honest answer back to the reporters asking for the advice you can provide? If you’re able to work this into your daily schedule, it’s a very easy way to build up your link portfolio.

5. Newspapers

Newspapers — specifically the ones in your locale — need content daily. As a Realtor, providing content about neighborhoods, reporting on the quality of schools, interviewing teachers at local schools, and taking video or photo tours of the area are things you should be producing for your website. This type of content will get you found and provide great value to your website’s visitors.

However, it also may lead to partnership opportunities with local news organizations.

Local newspapers and television stations are much more likely to trust you writing for them if you have content that is outside the typical “tips for real estate buyers.” You can become the online authority for these specific neighborhoods with a surprisingly limited amount of content. Then, you can simply approach local reporters and ask them if you can write similar content on their website. They need content and most of the time will welcome the opportunity to work with you.

Try connecting and contacting these people via LinkedIn. I’ve experienced the best response rates when messaging people directly through LinkedIn rather than via email.

Some of these backlink tactics are more time-consuming than others. However, if you spend a little bit of time on one or more tactics every week, you’ll start to see dramatic results in your Web traffic numbers

http://www.inman.com/2014/11/25/5-easy-backlink-tactics-for-realtors/

Digital marketing: experts reveal their trends and predictions for 2015

Uriel Alvarado, chief marketing and public relations officer, Saxo Capital Markets

Consolidation of the semantic web: This year, the most effective marketing campaigns were content driven, multi-channel, personalised and agile. We now have the tools – using cookies, algorithms and programmatic marketing – to run huge automated and personalised campaigns more intelligently. I believe that in 2015 and beyond we will see these tools being further integrated with the internet of things.

However, the web has never been more fragmented, particularly as mobile and app use continues to grow. In 2015, I think we will see new agreements by large web conglomerates looking into ways to re-integrate the web. Could the semantic web be one of the points of the agenda behind Zuckerberg’s internet.org project?

Whatever the outcome, there is currently a window of opportunity for marketers who would like to stay ahead of competition online by investing not only on content but also on building relationship capital, which will be the key factor driving brand strength.

Teresa Arbuckle, marketing director UK and Ireland, Grundig

Content is still king: Recent changes to Google algorithms mean that content is still very much king. However, it is looking at what the content is, where it sits and what it says that is absolutely crucial to driving the success of your business.

Refreshing the content on your website on an almost daily basis is no mean feat, but in today’s online purchasing world it is key to ensure you do not slip from the crucial first page of Google. However, this is not the only, or by any means the most important, route to getting your brand noticed. In a world of social media, optimising what you say and communicate through your owned channels is equally important.

Consumers are more savvy to brand messaging than ever before and they are very vocal about brands that push self-serving content on them all the time. In order to build a real relationship with your customers online, you need to be offering them content of real value to them, be that a cool video or offers not available to the general public. It is not search engine optimisation (SEO) versus social media optimisation (SMO), but both working in tandem that lead to success.

Allan Blair, head of strategy, Tribal Worldwide, London

Everthing will be personalised: Brands have finally figured out how to use big data and I predict that personalisation will be the marketing buzzword of 2015. Anything and everything that can be personalised in 2015 will be.

Consumers will be offered the opportunity to create, share and buy personalised products and services, and brands will be using the big data they have been collecting on their customers to then serve customers relevant individual content wherever they are in their user journey (website, customer relationship management (CRM), social and in-store).

Every brand will be clamouring to do this and by the end of the year we will be asking questions about brand intrusion (is it creepy) and brand consistency (does it lead to fragmented brand messaging).

Lisa Thomas

Lisa Thomas, CEO, M&C Saatchi Group

Stop thinking of digital as separate to marketing: Digital now accounts for over half the media spend in the UK. I think that 2015 will be the year that the industry prepares itself to stop talking about it as something special and start using it with an imagination and scale that we haven’t seen before. Don’t sensationalise it, don’t compartmentalise it and the world of digital will evolve from being a bolt-on to the focus of any decent marketing campaign. In summary, I hope we all stop thinking of digital as separate to marketing, and start seeing the future of marketing as one and the same as the future of digital, with no distinction made.

Charles Wells

Charles Wells, chief marketing officer, JustGiving

Treat customers as individuals: No more segments. Marketers have dined out for years on segmentation: message A goes to segment A etc. Marketing now has the ability to understand the behaviour of individual users in much more detail thanks to the explosion in data from social and mobile. 2015 will be the year where we stop insulting our customers by entrapping them in a segment and start treating them like an individual. This means personalised experiences, notifications rather than email and showing people what their friends are doing.

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2014/dec/16/digital-marketing-trends-predictions-2015

How To Get Backlinks using Free Traffic System

SEO: How Do I Get My Website To Show Up In Google?

It’s a question as old as the search engine, and one we’ve been answering a lot lately: how do I rank in Google? What is the perfect SEO combination?

And the answer to the question changes all the time. Search engines have become smarter. They are better at giving users answers to questions.

Search engines want to provide accurate, helpful information to the searcher.

Which makes ranking in the prime spots on an SERP a difficult task. The truth is that it can take years of dedicated content creation to rank in one of the top spots on a search engine results page.

That’s right. Years.

Photo Credit: h.koppdelaney via Compfight cc

I know you totally just groaned at that.

Before you start to panic or freak out, take a deep breath, and know that ranking in the top spots on Google, or Bing, or any other search engine (are there any other search engines?) isn’t necessarily going to make or break you.

The common factor in having a website that works for you and ranking in the top spots on a search engine results page is remarkable content, and lots of it.

Depending on your business, your website is either an online shop or it’s a place for potential clients to get information about your products and services or it’s both. Either way, you need to provide a lot of content to help answer questions that your clients might have.

Here is a list of five steps to get started on the path towards top SERP ranking for your site’s target keywords.

1. Decide what your goals are for your website.
   • Are you trying to generate leads for your business? More sales? How is your website supposed to work for you? Compare your site to others in your industry.
2. Set up a blog.
   • A blog will give you the space to add lots of content quickly that you can share on your social media profiles.
3. Do some keyword research and narrow down a small list of 5-10 keywords for which you want to rank.
   • Google has a free Keyword Planner Tool that you can use with a Google Adwords account.
4. Use an editorial calendar to pre-plan blog and social media posts.
   • You can download a free editorial calendar that I made to use for this blog and Plan8 Studios’ social profiles. Click here to download it now.
5. Test, test, test.
• No website is set it and forget it. Use analytics software, like Google Analytics, to compare your most and least successful pieces of content or offers on your website. If you're looking for a more robust analytics software, check out Hubspot, or other paid tools.
• http://www.plan8studios.com/blog/how-do-i-get-my-website-to-show-up-in-google?utm_content=8990456&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin

Why No One’s Reading Your Marketing Content

There’s been plenty written about how to create smart digital marketing content. But less attention gets paid to what happens after you click “publish” and whether your videos, infographics, social media posts, and other pieces of content are actually reaching the right people. According to Altimeter, only a quarter of content marketers actually invest in distribution, even though more than half recognize that it’s a critical need.

Having a smart distribution model is just as important as developing good content in the first place — it’s how you bring in more business. So I’ve put together a distribution strategy refresher. Here are the critical steps for getting your content where it needs to go.

Optimize for search and for mobile. This step is essential. According to one study, search contributes about a third of the traffic that websites receive. The principles of good search-engine optimization (SEO) must be applied to every piece of content as you create it, not just after-the-fact, in the metadata. Who is your audience? What answers are people looking for? What keywords will they use to find those answers? That’s what you need to know on the front end. You can certainly extend your reach by crafting sharp headlines, managing the on-page SEO, and building a diverse but relevant link portfolio — but you extend it all the more when the content itself follows best SEO practices. Also create content with mobile in mind. Think carefully about how the length of your message, the formatting, visual elements, and links will shape user experience. The better the experience, the more likely customers are to stick around and absorb the message.

Design a modular but cohesive content plan. You can increase your impact by creating “content modules” — small bits of content, each with a targeted purpose, that can be used in a variety of ways. For example, a blog post can be excerpted to provide social media status updates, included in your e-mail newsletter, syndicated on LinkedIn, and more. But each module should also plug into a clear narrative arc. In a screenplay or a novel, that arc follows the hero’s journey; in content marketing, you use it to guide the buyer’s journey. The typical arc goes from broad (for instance, who we are and why our brands can help solve people’s most urgent problems) to narrow (the differences that define a superior product or service). To build a cohesive user experience, map out how you’ll use these modules to tell your story from beginning to end.

Segment your audience. Use customer data to personalize your message. Is your email newsletter a blast to everyone who signed up for your list? Or do you tailor your distribution? The latter approach will yield much better results. You can send existing customers exclusive information about an upcoming feature release, for instance, and leads can receive content that’s designed to move them toward a purchase. Personalization — whether it’s based on interests, demographics, or where customers are in their journey — gets you noticed and persuades people to take action. The more relevant your content is to them, the more effective it will be. And by targeting certain outlets or platforms, such as Facebook for B2C sales and LinkedIn for B2B sales, you’ll increase your relevance even more.

Create relationships with branded publications and sites. The term “brand journalism” is a controversial one, but it nicely encapsulates where content creation has gone: using good writing and storytelling techniques to create high-quality marketing messages. As customers are exposed to your content — particularly through publications and websites they respect — they’ll learn more about your brand and begin to trust your authority in whatever space you’re playing in. To build relationships with other sites, try writing guest posts for niche or industry sites, again with a clear focus on relevance. These often have a relatively open contributor policy, in that you apply and are able to blog there, but each piece undergoes editorial vetting. (Business2Community is a good example.) Blogging for sites that allow contributors to run columns on a case-by-case basis requires more persistence and even stronger writing, but such outlets generally have more engaged, more targeted, and often larger audiences, as well as more credibility. You can also connect with journalists and other bloggers, in hopes that they’ll link to your content in their own columns and posts. Sharing original research or creating an infographic that they can write about is a great example of this approach in action.

Pay for distribution. Paid distribution can work well for a variety of formats, including entire stories (newswire-style), headlines, videos, links, and social media updates. Tools such as Outbrain enable you to get your content onto major platforms in the form of “suggested posts” that appear below the site’s own content. Sponsored posts and status updates are also gaining in popularity. They’re essentially ads that allow you to exploit the extensive data that websites and social networks collect about their users.

Share with relevant communities. After publishing your content, share it in communities where it’s likely to be of interest. For example, if you’re writing about inbound marketing techniques, you might reach out to BizSugar.com, Inbound.org, and relevant subreddits on Reddit.com. Make choices based on relevance and value so you can generate interest and discussion in communities where your ideas will matter. You don’t want to spam any community.

Reach out to influencers in your market. The idea here is simple: you create content that’s potentially interesting to leading figures in your market and their audiences. As you’re compiling your list of influencers, think about the opportunities that you’re seeking. For instance, do you want them to review a book you’ve written? Be clear about how you’d like to benefit and what you can offer in return, such as a review of one of their books or a plug on your company blog. Once you’ve established these important connections, strengthen them by sharing influencers’ content through your channels and commenting on their blog posts and social updates. Focus on building relationships rather than conducting one-time transactions.

While a successful content strategy starts with publishing exceptional content, the strategic distribution of that content is the real key to positive ROI. (You can measure impact through various metrics, but I recommend starting with Google Analytics.) Broaden your distribution capabilities by building relationships with media, understanding your audience, and tailoring your social media activities to humanize your content and reach your audience in a way that’s relevant to their interests.

https://hbr.org/2014/11/why-no-ones-reading-your-marketing-content