While many are preaching the “death of SEO”, I’m still a firm believer. Sure, it’s harder to get great search engine rankings than it was five years ago, especially for small brands. But organic search still drives more eyeballs to your site than anything else if you implement an integrated marketing program that plays by Google’s rules. And if you are in B2B, you HAVE to pursue page one rankings for relevant key phrases – even if you can only get niche phrases ranked.
A recent report from BrightEdge shows 73% of global traffic to business services company websites came from organic search. OK, sure BrightEdge is a SEO services company. But our agency can back up their research in what we see both for our own agency and client lead generation. Over 70% of our new leads come from organic search and we run email, social, paid search and other campaigns. Other than referrals, our highest quality leads come from search. Organic search lives…
So what can you do to improve your rankings in the new world order of Google algorithm updates?
- Do keyword research using both keyword volume services and test AdWords/paid search campaigns. Ask your clients and prospects what they searched to find your site. Be diligent about asking.
- Generate relevant, quality content that your audience would actually PAY for. Distribute it widely.
- Get a branded link to your site wherever possible. I mean wherever…if you donate to your Little League team, ask if they have a website and will give you a link. Most non-profits have websites these days.
- Offer a small college scholarship and issue a press release covering the details. You’ll get a bunch of links off highly-regarded .edu websites.
- Pick a couple of social media channels and participate.
- Make sure you have business listings on the main social marketing sites (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, etc.). Get listings on any sites covering your industry.
- Get editorial coverage via an aggressive PR program. Some publications will offer a link if you byline an article. Press the publication for this.
These are just a few ideas to get you started on improving your search engine results. The rules are simple: if it’s too easy, it’s probably black hat and you’ll get caught and punished by Google.
To see what our healthcare marketing agency has done to increase organic search visibility for our B2B clients, read some of our testimonials or case studies. Call 877-887-7611 to request a quote.
