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Tag: Search Engine Optimisation

  • Guest article: Here’s how to create an impact on your millennial customers

    Guest article: Here’s how to create an impact on your millennial customers

    Mumbai: The first generation to surf the internet was the millennials. Those people, who were born between 1981 and 1996, rely primarily on search engines to find the information they need. In fact, a survey reveals that Google searches are the origin of almost 90 per cent of millennials’ online experiences. Therefore, millennials are a fantastic demographic to target with search engine optimisation (SEO). Millennials should be perceived in the following ways:

        They are keyword-driven, meaning they search for specific, brief terms.
        More inclined to think that a highly ranked website indicates a company’s reliability and dependability.
        Frequently access internet information on mobile devices, such as aesthetically pleasing web designs.
        Use email frequently.
        Utilise social media often.
        Frequently look for video content.

    Though less dependent on technology than Gen Z, this generation nonetheless prioritises technology. Millennials place a great deal of attention on SEO because they frequently use search engine results to locate the information they’re looking for.

    Like prior generations, they also use email and social media sites more frequently. Although not as frequently as Gen Z, millennials were the first generation to utilise mobile phones to access the web and watch videos.

    You need a plan that binds several marketing channels and content types together in order to promote them. Develop your social media presence, publish videos, send marketing emails, and make sure your website is mobile-friendly.

    Why use SEO to reach millennials?

    Following statistics reveal typical millennials traits and consumer behaviour:

        A study showed that more than 90% of internet experiences begin with a Google search.
        More than nine out of ten Millennials (93% of those aged 23 to 38 this year) own a smartphone.

    The “go-to” place for practically everything for millennials is search engines:

        Between 5 and 10 hours of information are read online each week by 23% of millennials.
        When it comes to connecting with millennial consumers, SEO is without a doubt the best option for brands. 65% of smartphone users, regardless of the brand or business that offers them, look for the most pertinent information when conducting Internet searches.
        The most effective way to increase brand awareness for millennials is through SEO.
        A higher search engine ranking increases credibility, trust, and brand recall.
        Users of search engines convert more frequently than users of social media. 61% of local searches result in purchases, and 72% of those who do them go to the local businesses.

    Creating effective SEO strategies for millennials

    Be present in both places at once:

    You must be present everywhere you may be in order to be found and remembered, including both online and offline platforms. Engage millennials by posting SEO-optimised material on well-known channels including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, desktop, emails, blogs, and more. To develop a better content strategy, find out which platform is preferred by each age group.

    For instance, millennials are big on Facebook and Instagram. According to studies, these should be the top two social media sites to employ when marketing to those under 35. Additionally, studies show that LinkedIn might help you reach more male millennials than Twitter because LinkedIn makes creative use of short hashtags and phrases.

    The millennial generation can be attracted to you by achieving top rankings on Google or other search engine pages by default, and constant branding and link development can draw attention to your brand website.

    Focus on high-quality content:

    Visibility is crucial, but so is the quality of the content. Millennials will be interested in rich content that is combined with clever SEO. Since research demonstrates that most purchasing decisions are driven more by an emotional connection than by rationality, it must be both educational and motivating.

    Furthermore, information must not be preachy, protracted, or boring because millennials strongly dislike all of these things. Another strict no-no is traditional hard selling or push marketing. Make sure to produce original content that speaks to their liberal and empathetic viewpoints. Ultimately, you need to provide content that reflects the ideals that your audience can relate to.

    Be mobile-friendly:

    For millennials, smartphones are a way of life. One of the most crucial SEO advices for millennials is to focus on SEO while creating content that is mobile-friendly.

    Focus on voice searches:

    Use voice searches; they are growing significantly thanks to Siri, Cortana, Echo, and Google Home. Instead of the more conventional writing style of typed sentences, voice searches require a more relaxed, conversational approach. Additionally, voice search terms may be longer on average because speaking is simpler than typing, giving you more room for content. Get a plan for voice search going that is based on natural language phrases since it’s an excellent SEO trend for millennials.

    Final Thoughts

    The bottom line is that effective SEO techniques increase brand recognition and sales. It’s critical to understand both what to do and what not to do when creating SEO content for millennials. Avoiding an autocratic style and working to personalise the content as much as you can are the keys to capturing the attention of millennials.

    The author of this article is Auburn Digital Solutions co-founder & managing director Ashish K Tripathi.

  • GUEST ARTICLE: LinkedIn creates new marketing avenues in the digital space

    GUEST ARTICLE: LinkedIn creates new marketing avenues in the digital space

    Mumbai: As a business leader, you know that the world of marketing is constantly evolving. The advent of digital technology has created new opportunities for reaching potential customers, and LinkedIn is one venue that should be on your radar. LinkedIn offers unique features that can help you connect with more prospects and create powerful relationships with key decision-makers. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the advantages of LinkedIn marketing and show you how to get started. So read on to learn more.

    Exploring the digital space to create new marketing avenues 

    In today’s digital age, businesses need to find new ways to reach their target audiences. Social media, online advertising, and email marketing are all effective tools for connecting with customers. However, businesses must also be proactive in exploring new digital spaces to ensure that they are not missing out on potential opportunities. For example, platforms like Snapchat and Instagram have become increasingly popular in recent years. Businesses can reach a whole new audience by creating content specifically for these platforms. Similarly, businesses can use data-driven insights to identify emerging trends and develop innovative marketing strategies to stay ahead of the competition. The key is to always be on the lookout for new ways to connect with customers and stay ahead of the curve.

    Top 5 digital spaces to explore while creating new marketing avenues 

    Digital marketing has revolutionised the way businesses reach and engage with their audiences. There are many digital spaces to explore when creating marketing campaigns, and the options can be overwhelming. To help you get started, here are five of the top digital spaces to explore:

    1. Social media: With over 2.8 billion active users, social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools available. It allows you to connect with your audience on a personal level, build relationships, and boost brand awareness.

    2. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is vital for driving traffic to your website and ensuring that your content is visible to your target audience. Optimising your website and content for search engines can increase your visibility and help you reach potential customers.

    3. Email marketing: Email is still one of the most effective marketing channels available. It allows you to reach a large audience with personalised messages and keep them updated on your latest products and offerings.

    4. Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is a great way to drive targeted traffic to your website. By bidding on keyphrases relevant to your business, you can ensure that your ad is seen by people who are interested in what you have to offer.

    5. Content marketing: A successful digital marketing campaign requires high-quality content. Creating informative and engaging content can attract new visitors to your site and build trust with your audience.

    Linkedin as one of the best digital spaces to explore as your marketing avenue 

    With over 650 million users, LinkedIn is one of the largest and most popular social networking sites available today. LinkedIn provides a platform for networking, building relationships, and sharing information with other business professionals. It can also be an effective marketing tool. When used correctly, LinkedIn can help you build your brand, generate leads, and connect with potential customers. If you’re looking for a digital space to explore as your marketing avenue, LinkedIn is definitely worth considering.

    Value-add provided by LinkedIn 

    LinkedIn can be an extremely effective tool for marketing, provided it is used correctly. One of the key advantages of LinkedIn is that it allows businesses to target a very specific audience with their marketing messages. Through its networking features, LinkedIn also provides businesses with a way to build relationships with potential customers. In addition, LinkedIn can be used to generate leads and drive traffic to a company’s website. Finally, LinkedIn offers businesses a way to track their marketing campaigns and measure their return on investment. Used consciously, LinkedIn can be an invaluable tool for any business looking to reach a wider audience with its marketing messages.

    Other ways in which LinkedIn can be put to use by companies are:

    • LinkedIn allows users to connect with other professionals in their field and develop relationships that can lead to business opportunities.
    • Individuals and companies can use LinkedIn to establish authority and credibility.
    • LinkedIn can also be used to post job openings, which can attract new applicants. It also helps build brand awareness, boost employee advocacy, and create specialised company pages for different products and services.
    • In addition, LinkedIn has groups and forums where users can discuss industry news and trends.

    This makes LinkedIn an ideal platform for marketing purposes. By creating a profile and engaging with other users, businesses and individuals can create a presence on LinkedIn that can lead to new opportunities.

    LinkedIn is a powerful tool for B2B marketers and should be included as part of your social media marketing mix. With over 500 million users, LinkedIn offers a wealth of opportunities to reach your target market. If you’re not using LinkedIn, now is the time to start. 

    The author of this article is Vajra Global CEO Ganapathy Sankarabaaham.

  • GUEST COLUMN: SEO trends that can be game-changers for the business

    GUEST COLUMN: SEO trends that can be game-changers for the business

    Mumbai: Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the practice of improving your site’s data to increase its traction when people are looking for products or services that are related to your business in search engines such as Google, Firefox, Bing. Yahoo, etc. This is facilitated by the result pages that pop up when a person types a particular keyword in relation to their search. The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you are to garner attention and attract prospective and existing customers to your business.

    How does it work?

    Major search engines such as Google and Yahoo use virtual bots to crawl through different web pages, collecting and analysing data that is then refined into an index. This index acts as a bank of information that possesses data collated from web pages. The algorithms within this index then categorise the collected data by filtering the information that is requested by the user. The final results page is a result of hundreds of ranking factors or signals, determining the order of the pages that should appear in the search results for a given query. This intensive process is carried out in helping the user find an exact match to their keyword search. The success of your SEO depends on how user/keyword-friendly your website data is.

    How important it is from a marketing perspective

    SEO plays a critical role within digital marketing because people search for a trillion things in a day, often with a commercial interest in a certain product/service. ‘Search’ is a primary way of generating digital traffic towards your website, making it an essential part of your digital marketing strategy. Greater visibility and higher search rankings than your potential competitor can have a material impact on your ultimate goal. To summarise, SEO lays the foundation of a holistic marketing ecosystem.

    Changing Trends

    Since the internet culture is so dynamic, its tools and practices are constantly evolving. SEO is no exception as the concept is subject to so many technological advancements on a daily basis. The algorithms change frequently, keeping the businesses and digital marketers on their toes. This is why being aware of what’s coming down the pipeline is extremely important. It can help a business plan prevent possible penalties or a massive drop in its site’s ranking.

    Mobile SEO: With an uncontrollable smartphone penetration, more and more people are getting their hands on a smarter cellular device. The one that allows them to do more than just calling, texting people. Billions of people conduct searches via their phones, making it a key target area for digital marketers. It has now proven to become one of the more influential SEO areas than a desktop. If you’re doing SEO for desktops and not for mobile, it might have a better impact on your desktop rankings however, your mobile rankings could be abysmal. Moving forward, marketers will have to focus on both desktop and mobile SEO to maintain their positions in the search pages.

    Voice Search: With virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa getting smarter by the day, voice-search interaction is definitely going to be the next big thing within the SEO market. It is going to revolutionise the way you interact with search engines. Virtual assistants and AI are on their way to making the search process more user-efficient by providing answers to questions prior to users asking them. This path-breaking technology is expected to transpose the SEO landscape for many businesses.

    Intentional Content: This SEO trend/technique is evergreen. It creates the basis of your search results ranking. Unless you have content that is meaningful and relevant to the consumer, no level of optimisation could help you attract traffic to your website. A digital marketer needs to curate best-in-class intent content by keeping the user in mind. This can only be achieved after a comprehensive study of current keyword trends, followed by rigorous competitor analysis.

    Video Content: YouTube has been increasingly impacting the SEO rankings of many businesses. This makes one realise the importance of effective video content within a digital marketing strategy. Analysts and marketers highly suggest that these videos should promote the target keywords and be optimized for search. Embedding a video on your landing page that targets the same keyword could also prove beneficial in this regard.

    (Anoushka Adya is founder of Di-mention Studios, a digital marketing agency. The views expressed in the column are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • Content marketing most tightly integrated with Search Engine Optimisation: Study

    Content marketing most tightly integrated with Search Engine Optimisation: Study

    NEW DELHI: The year 2013 was marked by updates that have altered search marketing irreversibly.

     

    Post-hummingbird, marketers are forced to think of organic search in a whole new light – with practice such as link-building taking a back-seat and SEO becoming more content-centric than ever before. Social signals are being taken seriously by brands.

     

    According to a study by Regalix, 56 per cent marketers integrate content marketing with search engine optimisation while 61 per cent marketers use responsive web design as a part of their mobile SEO.

     

    A total of 76 per cent marketers use social media to support and boost SEO, and 71 per cent marketers use broad-based information keywords to capture leads at the top of the purchase funnel. Around 47 per cent of B2B marketers believe that growth of mobile ads and mobile content is not significant to them.

     

    Interestingly, 96 per cent marketers use search engine marketing to provide informational/educational content and 68 per cent marketers use paid search to accelerate lead generation.

     

    Regalix senior vice president Nimish Vohra said, “Search is a foundational channel within the marketing mix and it plays a crucial role in making purchase decisions. For any marketer, it is obviously profitable to adopt a cost-effective marketing strategy.” He added, “Marketers today are forced to re-think and re-invent strategies for paid search, with the increased usage of mobile devices and hence mobile ad formats.”

     

    Detailed findings of the report include an analysis of marketers’ goals for using organic and paid search and various tactics used to effectively attain those goals.

     

    The survey found that paid search marketing is being used at the top of the purchase funnel, majorly for enhancing lead generation. Around 68 per cent marketers use paid search to accelerate lead generation; while 63 per cent marketers use it to sell products and services online.

     

     Marketers use a variety of tactics for lead generation as a part of paid search marketing. The majority, around 71 per cent marketers, use broad-based information keywords to capture prospects at the top of the funnel.

     

    A total of 61 per cent of marketers reported using “exact match” and “negative keywords” to avoid appropriate/irrelevant clicks.

     

    The survey found that the top three goals for search engine marketing are providing educational/informative content (96 per cent), getting established as thought leaders (86 per cent), and enhancing brand reputation and awareness reported by 83 per cent marketers surveyed. As many as 95 per cent marketers were found using search engine marketing for promoting satisfaction and inducing loyalty among their existing customers.

     

    It was demonstrated in the survey that Search Engine Optimisation is used by marketers to advance prospects and buyers through the purchase cycle and is not directed to any one stage in the purchase funnel. However, different keywords are used to target prospects/buyers at different stages.

     

    The survey found that 76 per cent marketers use generic informational keywords to enhance awareness around brands, products and services and direct prospects to their site.

     

    A total of 52 per cent marketers use keywords directing prospects to comparison pages on site to help prospects compare their solution with their competitors, and 43 per cent marketers also use keywords illustrating specific features such as cost, benefits etc.

     

    Only 15 per cent marketers use special offers or discounts to provide them with the necessary push to make a purchasing decision, while 46 per cent marketers use the same keywords directing prospects to comparison sites.

     

    The survey demonstrated that 50 per cent of marketers use keywords indicating discounts or special offers to induce purchase.

     

     It was found that only 9 per cent marketers make use of keywords that direct prospects to blog posts easing the consumption process.

     

    A total of 19 per cent marketers surveyed use keywords that direct buyers to blog posts that create a positive impression in the minds of their customers, hence leaving them content and satisfied with their purchase.

     

    Around 53 per cent marketers use keywords that direct to blogs where buyers can engage with the brand directly.

     

    A total of 25 per cent marketers use keywords with special discounts and offers to existing customers to make them purchase more and keep returning to the brand.

     

    Content marketing was found to be most tightly integrated with search engine optimisation. With SEO becoming more content-centric, it was found that 42 per cent marketers apportion 20 to 40 per cent of their budgets towards content marketing. Less than 20 per cent of budgets are apportioned towards display, paid and organic search.

     

    The survey also found that organic search marketing will see increased investment this year, while at the same time paid search will see reduced investment. Thus, 48 per cent marketers reported that they will increase investment in search engine marketing by 10 to 30 per cent in 2014 while 80 per cent marketers indicated a reduction in paid spends by 10 per cent. 

     

    The survey found that the top three metrics for gauging PPC campaigns’ performance are directly related to conversion rates. A total of 84 per cent marketers were found using conversion rates to measure the success of PPC campaigns, 72 per cent were using the number of leads and 50 per cent marketers cost per click metrics to determine the return on PPC investments.

     

    When it comes to organic search marketing, 92 per cent marketers were found using site traffic metrics to determine the success or failure of Search Engine Optimisation efforts. Since SEO is used to target prospects/buyers during each stage of the buying cycle, marketers also use conversion metrics to determine its performance.

     

    The survey was conducted by Regalix and respondents included CMOs and mid-level marketing professionals from leading B2B companies. The State of Search Marketing 2014 was compiled using the survey results and covers the latest search marketing trends, tactics, metrics and challenges faced by B2B marketers in today’s dynamic market environment.

     

    Regalix is an award-winning Global Innovation company that leverages technology and marketing to help companies grow.