The landscape of search engine optimization is constantly evolving. In recent years, there has been a big shift away from link building and toward inbound marketing strategies and link earning. Gone are the days when websites could purchase links, spam email inboxes, and implement other obnoxious techniques and still get results. Today, every website has to map out a clear marketing strategy that focuses on quality content that provides each visitor with something of value.
Here are just a few inbound marketing techniques that will help you improve your rankings, attract more visitors, and increase revenue:
Review Your Web Content
If you aren’t moving up the search engine rankings as fast as you would like, it may be time to take a look at your website and see if there is any room for improvement. While you don’t want to stuff your landing pages with keywords, you do want to make sure that you are using keywords intelligently. Your website should accurately portray your business and be as reader-friendly as possible. Don’t leave out alt text tags, be sure to use headings throughout pages and posts, and incorporate images whenever possible. Having a well designed website with quality content is a key component of being a leader when it comes to search engine rankings.
Go Mobile
Not only do major search engines look at your website’s load times, they are also now paying attention to whether your site is mobile-friendly. More and more people are surfing the web on mobile devices. In order to stay competitive, you must have a mobile-friendly design that can be easily viewed on a wide range of devices. Google in particular is increasing its efforts to reward sites that are keeping up with the times and responding to an increasingly mobile audience.
Focus On Link Earning
Link building strategies that used to be common practice will now result in penalties. In order to stay on the good side of major search engines, you have to be willing to put the time and effort into link earning. Typically, this takes the form of link sharing between major websites. While this can happen organically, it is a good idea to reach out to other popular sites, establish a working relationship, and offer to do guest blog posts. The more you are able to earn links on quality sites that are considered authorities in your field, the more you will be able to build your own reputation. This type of networking can take time, but it will provide you with solid links that will stand the test of time.
Create And Maintain A Company Blog
Get to know your audience and craft blog articles that will appeal to the right demographics. Your main goal should be to offer informative and interesting articles that encourage people to like, share, and comment on each post. If your blog is full of fluff pieces, you won’t see results. If you provide readers with valuable information, not only will they be more likely to share it on their social networks, they will also view you as a trusted resource and keep coming back.
If you are a busy business owner and not much of a wordsmith, it can be all too easy to let your company blog fall by the wayside. However, it is important that once you start your blog, you put time and energy into maintaining it and posting on a regular basis. Publishing a new post every few months tells readers that you aren’t up-to-date on the latest happenings in your industry. That may actually do more harm than not having a blog at all. Search engines will reward sites that have current blogs that are publishing fresh, relevant content.
Be Active On Social Media
Social media provides a great way to interact with potential customers and help shape your brand image. Posting, sharing, and liking other posts makes you seem more human and appeals to search engines. The more active you are on social media, the more likely people are to share your posts, which ultimately spreads links to your website and encourages visits. The more link juice you have out there on the Internet, the more likely you are to be noticed by search engines.
Promoting your website and improving search rankings relies entirely on your ability to successfully execute inbound marketing strategies. This means creating high quality content, networking with other websites, and staying away from any practices that simply sound too good to be true. Yes, moving up the search engine rankings can be a slow process, but if you put in the time and effort, you will be able to enjoy the view from the top.
