Well, there’s no denying it: We’re in the thick of the Digital Age, and we’re not leaving it any time soon. The allure and utter convenience of the internet has managed to hook all of us, from impressionable and mischievous toddlers to your wise and wistful grandparents.
As a business owner, this is good news. Digital marketing is a veritable treasure trove of conversion opportunity… Just as long as you know how to use it. By implementing the Digital trifecta of SEO, PPC, and Social Media into your strategy, you can grow your audience—and subsequently, your business—by leaps and bounds.
Let’s break down the fundamentals of each to see how they tie together!
SEO: Algorithmic Excellence
Google wears many hats. It can be a teacher, a mechanic, a doctor, and so much more. Whenever a question or simple curiosity pops into your head, you need only open your phone, laptop, or computer and type in a query. In some cases, you only need to voice it, and voila! You’ve got an answer.
Search Engine Optimization, commonly referred to as SEO, is the act of tailoring your website and content to ensure you rank highly in related search queries. These organic search results are made to ramp up both the quantity and quality of traffic to your website.
What makes a search result organic?
The Google system is something of a wonder, built with its own crawlers that scan the web over for content relevant to a search. The crawlers push the pinged content through indexes and algorithms to ensure the user gets the most helpful results possible.
What ultimately shows up on the search engine results page (SERP) is a list of related content. At the top and along the side, you may see paid ads designated by a green “Ad” box. Below that is all the content that wasn’t paid for—content that ranks of its own informational merit. This is your organic result.
How can you get your page to rank highly?
The Google content vetting process is deceptively complex, assessing both on the page-level and domain-level (and beyond). Before you even begin churning up content, you’ll need to consider the efficacy of a domain name, along with the simplicity of your website’s navigation, how it looks on mobile, and more, as all these factors can sway ranking.
When it comes to page-level optimization, the frequency and consistency of content posted can all effect traffic. More specifically, in every piece you’ll want to:
- Include useful KWs that Google can easily pick up on
- Use strong title tags and meta descriptions to tip off the search engine
- Judiciously choose internal and outbound links
The Key SEO Takeaway
Google is ever-changing. A strong SEO strategy starts and ends with its algorithm. You need to research it and understand it tirelessly to help your website rank.
PPC: Paid and Precise
SEO allows businesses to draw traffic in the organic arena. If you’re strategic, you’ll be drawing a lot of traffic, and quality hits at that. However, we should never discount those paid ads displayed at the top of the SERP.
PPC is Pay-Per-Click Advertising. The name is self-explanatory: You’ll end up paying (in some cases a nominal amount) each time someone clicks on your ad.
Paying for each click may sound like an odd concept, but as long as you make sure the people clicking are the right people, it can yield massive gains on your part.
How can I make sure my ad is seen by the right audience?
When it comes to ad visibility, a lot of businesses have sort of a knee-jerk instinct. They assume that if they throw enough of their own money behind the ad, everyone will see it. Well, here’s the reality, in two parts: First, it does not work that simply. Second, even if it did, it wouldn’t necessarily behoove you anyway.
There’s an automated “Ad Auction” in Google to determine the relevance and validity of ads. In order to get your ad to the forefront, you need to be using the right keywords.
What are the right keywords for my campaign?
You’re going to have to bid on your keyword terms, so make them great. The easiest way to do so is to make them as specific as possible.
Remember how we said that getting everyone to see your ad wouldn’t really behoove you? What we meant was that having a bunch of people mistakenly click on your ad when your product or service isn’t actually related to them won’t yield conversions. They mosey on over to another ad, and you’re left picking up the tab for that empty click.
Using specific keywords sends relativity skyrocketing. For example, if you’re a baker offering a book to help newbies become professional cake-makers (like yourself), you don’t want to choose something broad like “Cake Baking Book.” Too many other people will be doing the same. Instead, try “Beginner How-To Cake Baking Book.” You ought to have more luck with that.
The Key PPC Takeaway
All PPC campaigns are made and broken by keywords. By choosing terms that are irrelevant or simply too broad, you’re setting yourself up for a failed ad.
Social: Grow Your Connections
Social media is one of those worldwide phenomenons with something of a polarizing reputation across generations. Either you love it, or you hate it. Regardless, if your goal is to build an effective digital strategy, you can’t do without it.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. are all great for personal entertainment. On a professional level, however, they’re fantastic for:
- Promoting your service or product
- Connecting with an audience directly
- Managing your reputation
Social media is special, and as such, it allows you some more creative avenues to manage your reputation and promote your brand.
How can you stand out from the social crowd?
When it comes to growing social media presence for your business, there is a lot of competition to contend with. In order to stand out from the pack, you need to take a more unique approach.
We’re sure that you’ll be using social media to share (and share frequently, if you’re smart) news, events, special promotions, and more. However, you can also engage in the shared culture of your audience and the internet sphere.
As an example, many businesses on Twitter adopt a more humorous or conversational tone for their posts. Strike enough of a chord, and your tweet could go viral. Go viral, and you’ve got free traffic.
What does it really mean to manage your reputation via social?
Customer service is king. Many aspects of the business world have changed, but this immutable fact has not and will not.
Social media allows you a platform to connect with your audience directly. This could mean that you’re sharing in the praise and celebrating your product together. It could also mean that you’re hearing concerns and publicly working to improve the customer experience.
Your followers will notice both. It’s sometimes the latter that will impress them more, however.
The Key Social Takeaway
PPC and SEO are very Google-focused (though the end result always leads back to the user). Social is your chance to make things personal and connect with the people.
Infuse Your Digital Strategy with the Gusto it Deserves
On their own, SEO, PPC, and Social can all be powerful tools. When you’re poring your time and intellect into all three, however, you can end up with an airtight strategy literally crafted for a satisfying ROI.
You know your brand like no other. You likely know your audience pretty well, too. But do you know how to work with Google’s algorithm or how to choose the right keywords for your paid campaign? If not, you may want to turn to the experts for assistance.
The Stream Companies team is proud to offer comprehensive digital services to strengthen all three pillars of your online strategy. Contact our team to learn more.