Businesses are constantly bombarded with the newest “strategy”, app, or service that claim to be the next best thing for business owners. How do you determine what will actually work for growing your business?

If you’re feeling lost in the stream of countless methods and tools available, you might also want to consider whether traditional marketing methods are still relevant. It’s common for anyone to question if strategies like search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) still work.

SEO is still the most important tool in your website toolbelt, even though the practices and methods have evolved. For example, in their BERT update Google pushed SEO professionals to focus on optimizing content not on keywording, but on search intent.

Localization of Client Acquisition

If you are targeting clients local to your business, SEO is still one of the best strategies for increasing sales and customer acquisition. Outranking your local competitors is the best way to bring customers through your front door (or to your website).

With local SEO, prospective clients and customers can be reached through targeting users that are searching in your area. Google adapts its results based on the geographic location, so if you are optimized properly, your website can dominate the local search results in your field.

You can begin to optimize your locally focused business website by injecting local keywords into your copy, completing your Google My Business profile, gathering positive reviews from past clients and conducting backlink outreach to increase your visibility on localized searches.

Optimizing for Search Intent Through Site Content

In late 2019 Google implemented the BERT update to their search algorithm. This update shows us that Google is focusing on understanding the context of searches and the intent behind them. Using this knowledge, you can now assume that by publishing content that matches what users are actually searching for, your site will gain higher priority within the algorithm. The key takeaway from this is to focus on the intention behind the search, not just keyword frequency.

Try to create content that is optimized to provide answers to users’ questions and provide value. For example, if you are trying to rank for “B2B Lead Generation” do a Google search of this term to see what content is holding the highest rank within the current search results. Does this content consist of service pages from hundreds of marketing agencies? Or is it full of blog articles describing what B2B Lead Generation is? By looking at what is currently ranking you can gain a deep understanding into what you need to do to rank. Use this knowledge to create your content, whether it’s a service page that breaks down all of the lead generation services you offer, or a blog that gives your opinion on the newest trends for B2B lead generation.

How to Adopt a Multichannel Approach

There’s an old adage “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket” and it certainly applies to marketing. If you rely on a single channel to drive business to your website, you’re putting your future at risk. What happens if that stream were to dry up? Is your runway long enough to restart from zero traffic?

Google isn’t going to stop using organic SEO anytime soon, smart business owners would benefit by using SEO alongside their existing traffic channels. By taking this approach you can continue to generate leads through your existing channels, while boosting what would have previously been “organic” traffic.

SEO is not a “set it and forget it” strategy, but it does show great promise to drive traffic and leads on autopilot. We can manage your SEO and/or your content creation so you can attract organic traffic without taking time away from your primary business activities.

Brand Authority and Reach

It seems that many buyers are becoming more resistant to traditional marketing tactics like cold calling, email spam and even paid targeted ads. There’s a mistrust brewing from the mainstream knowledge of the buying and selling of user data, devices that always listen, and spam calls that never go away.

Through SEO, businesses can reach these people where they have qualified themselves as buyers – search engines. SEO works as a form of inbound marketing that naturally attracts customers to you rather than interrupting their natural scrolling with targeted ads that leave them wondering how you knew they wanted your service.

You can expand on this by targeting long-tail keywords that attract highly-targeted traffic. Ranking for comparative or question based keywords will solidify your brand as an expert on the topic and better position you against your competitors.

Conclusion

Unlike other marketing fads that come and go, SEO will always be here to stay. Just as companies used to register themselves with names like AAA Health, so they would appear first in the phone book, you can produce content that will put you at the top of Google’s search results.

Remember, even if a potential client remembers part of your brand after viewing your advertisements, they will never find you again if you don’t rank on Google.