SLC | SEM: What Works & What Doesn’t in 2014
SLC | SEM put on a great event today at the Adobe building in Lehi, Utah. Boostability was proud to have 30 eager-to-learn employees there to see what Search Engine Land’s Elisabeth Osmeloski had to say about what does and doesn’t work in marketing today.
When it comes to online marketing, Elisabeth stands strong in her expertise, saying, “There will always be an opportunity for SEO experts to improve their basic SEO skills.”
In our own words, here are some key points she made about link building and content strategy:
Get The Basics Right
Some of the best advice we’ve ever heard and now we impart this great advice to you, “Stop chasing the algorithm…” You don’t want to live in constant fear of what the next big update will be. If you get the basics right, new updates to Google, Bing, or Yahoo’s search algorithm won’t be the end of your world as you know it.
Be smart about these updates. If 80% of your traffic comes from Google and you place all your focus on how Google assumes search, then 80% of your traffic is at risk of your update-to-update changes. Learn search engine optimization basics, many of which we discuss here.
Be Transparent
Let your content breathe. Be human with your content. Get off the “Buzz Words” train and reach out to people with a personal and genuine touch. Nobody wants to build links with a format email sent to thousands of people without a simple grammar check or recent, personal note.
Be Unique
The rhyme and reason behind marketing and sales hasn’t changed in hundreds of years. People want to know what you can do for them. Be unique in the way you deliver new content and how you engage with your audience.
Don’t Be Automated
You know we’re getting down to business with Elisabeth says repeatedly, “Stop bad guest blogging requests…” Whether you’re automating for press, sending out the same generic email for link building and guest blogging requests, or auto-direct messaging every new follower on Twitter, put down the robot and go over what we just talked about. Be transparent! Be unique!
Have Good Quality
Elisabeth might make you laugh, but she is quite serious when she says, “Guest blogging – is it dead, is it not dead? I’m so over that conversation.” Let me explain. If your content quality is good, people will want to share your content. If you rise in ranks as an industry standard, people will want to share what you have to say. If you’ve successfully stopped chasing the algorithm, then you no longer fret over the discussion of whether or not guest blogging is dead. Truth be told, if you’re doing everything right, people will want to hear from you; guest blogging, press, interviews, and all manner of marketing exposure that now exists on the Internet will come to you. Take advantage of it!
Be Mobile
Do you have a smart phone? Do you browse the Internet on the train? Do you ask Google or Siri for directions to the nearest…? Well, so do your customers! Be mobile. Be sure that your website is optimized for mobile viewing so you can continue to provide information and capture leads regardless of screen size or internet connection speeds. Consider these factors when you develop your website or share on social.
Use Natural Language
Last but not least, “How people speak searches will become very critical.” We just touched on this subject. More and more users are using their mobile devices to search. With Google Now, Google Glasses, Siri… voice commands are not just the new rage, but the new standard.
Google’s Hummingbird update was heavily based on how people naturally speak and ask questions. Does your content answer questions? Is that content optimized for questions? In search engine history, one or two simple keywords would suffice. For example, my content is about: SEO Tools. Today, we need to think in Q&A terms and gear our optimization skills more towards the real question: Where can I find the latest SEO tools? See how that works?
Attending the meeting was a blast. Who can resist a free meal and riveting, Internet-nerd driven conversation about exciting topics like search engine optimization and content marketing? Boostability employees are all over that sort of thing! Is ____ dead? will continue to be a question buzzing through the interweb. But, when is any aspect of marketing ever dead?
From the beginning of time, marketing a business meant being seen and providing a service or product that people would want to share with their families and friends. Marketing basics have not changed. How we deliver the content will always change. That is simply the nature of business.
Yesterday, we had fliers, newspapers, and magazines to tell our story as a business. Today, our fliers exist as social media content, our newspapers become simple to use web applications, and our magazines exist both on the stands and on the Internet with those same, time-practiced headlines: “10 Hot Tricks For…” Yesterday, your goal as a business was to send out engaging press to back up your latest ad with a credible interview. Today, we look to increase conversation on business topics in very much the same way.
If ever you feel lost, stick to one, general rule: Market like it’s 1999. Pass out your “fliers.” Get in the hottest “magazines.” Setup that next “newspaper” interview. Your content marketing strategy is hot off the press. Search engine algorithms respect marketing values that have stood the test of time. Stop your desperations and automations. Get BACK to business!
