How to keep your website on top of Google Search?
There is enough awareness today about the factors that affect website search rankings. In addition, tools like SEMRush, MOZ that are helpful in identifying technical issues such as page load speed, broken links and missing titles that might be negatively affecting your website ranking. B2B technology marketing has technical skills available within the organization to fix these issues. Also, technology marketing managers understand these factors enough to get external help to get these issues resolved.
Why SEO should be your A Game?
Search Engine Optimization is not a one-off task. Fixing technical SEO issues gives marketing managers a solid stage and then build upon and create content for their target audience. All technical SEO efforts ensure that your content and marketing assets are not wasted because of poor searchability and are visible to the intended audience. For all gym goers, the analogy is easy. You must put in extra effort initially to get your body in shape, but a regular exercise regime is important to sustain fitness.
Add value to your business by regularly maintaining Search Engine Ranking!
In the context of websites, this means creating valuable content. Regurgitating content with corporate wordage doesn’t count. You can manage to stuff keywords into a piece of content inspired by some other article or blog, and it might even pass the Google test, but it will fail miserably when your intended customer reads it. On the other hand, content written simply to provide insight into a common problem that your customers face will lead to dialogue between you and your prospects.
Know your Customers’ Search Patterns (Keyword Research)
It’s important to do your keyword research before you start spending time, effort and money on content. How does your intended audience search for? Ask your customers, search for questions they ask in meetings and see if the search results are relevant. Use keyword tools such as Google Keyword Planner or paid tools such as WordStream to get insights into search terms that are most relevant for your business. Incorporate these keywords into your content strategy. This will ensure that the content you create is searchable.
Businesses often mistake keyword research as a onetime exercise. I would be recommending verifying your search terms every three months for B2B/technology marketing and even quicker for local businesses. Some trades are specific and may not need to revisit keywords for a year such as “locally certified electrician”. A very few chances we will search that differently. On the other hand “business process automation use cases” was replaced by “intelligent process automation examples” in a short space of time.
Create valuable & effective content regularly (Create a content calendar)
It is easier said than done. I often get asked questions like how much content should I write, how many words should be in the blog, what should we write about? I have answered these questions below. However, the length and frequency of content might vary by industry. For example, for technology marketing, one insightful article a month, marketing new technology solution, could be effective whereas for a beauty therapist business or any impulse purchase category a post a day with latest offers would be a minimum requirement.
There is no escape – Content Writing!
I know content creation is not easy. You wouldn’t have time to write blogs and content writers might not necessarily understand your customer base to understand the problems they are facing and create valuable content. I have come around this problem by providing my customers a “scribble template” which they use when they are on a train or when an idea strikes on the golf course or a kid’s football practice session. It takes a couple of minutes for them to register their thought and share it with me. I receive all sorts of notes – a conversation they had with their customer, an idea discussed in a meeting, something they have read, something that they saw. Inspiration is all around us! This makes it possible for a content writer to create valuable content for prospects.
How much content should you write?
Google gives very high weightage to websites being updated regularly. So, the more content you create, the better. The cost and time to create is often a consideration but try out the model I have described above. Your content writer is like a therapist/counselor, essential for your business success. They keep the spirits high! Therefore, the length varies. Google measures the intent of the content and its effectiveness in answering your prospects search query. If you can answer that in 500 words that’s good but usually, explained content pieces like this one easily exceed 1500 words. Please don’t take this as a prescription. It is the quality that wins over quantity here!
What should be your content publishing platform?
Your own website and blog are the first place to start. But don’t stop there. Use your social media platforms to syndicate this content and identify all media channels your customers will be active on. You want to get your thought leadership in front of your prospective customers.
Monitor Website Performance monthly
You cannot improve what you cannot measure. Monitor the performance of your website using google analytics or any other tool you prefer. Understand where the traffic is coming from and which content is bringing them to your website. Your marketing strategy should be guided by the numbers you see here. For example – if you are creating campaigns around “Intelligence Process Automation” but your customer is searching for “how to automate claims processing using robotics” you might need to change the marketing message that appeals to your audience. As I said at the beginning of this blog, search engine optimization cannot be a one-off effort. Use insights like the above to create more relevant marketing content. You need to keep testing and changing course in line with customer behavior.
Publicize your Credentials (PR is important)
Link building is a dirty word in marketing. I believe in genuinely promoting the good work you have done in platforms where your intended audience is present. That will give your website the much talked about link juice without adopting any black hat activities. I have always stayed away from agencies who claim they can create twenty authority back links and improve your search ranks in a month and for technology marketing, even three months is a stretch.
Having said that any opportunity to promote your thought leadership, technical expertise, the good work you have done should not be missed.
Google ADS: a necessary evil
If you have recently noticed, the Google search results page has changed. Above the fold space (premium web real estate) is occupies by sponsored content. If this is going to continue, unfortunately, Google ads will become a necessary evil for monetizing your online presence. Especially for technology marketing, it is recommended that some percentage of your marketing budget is set aside for paid ads.
Local SEO for local businesses
If you are a local business, optimizing your local searchability might be all you need. Optimizing local search is topic for another discussion but in short, your local business page should be a mini reflection of your website with reviews from your customers and links to other local directories. I have also seen local search optimization work beautifully for technology marketing as well. If a technology company can offer localized offers it is easy to maintain a global presence and local appeal at the same time.