Not that long ago, the most effective online marketing strategy came with Link Building. If you were determined to bring more visitors to your website, attract new visitors, and build a bigger customer list, you turned to Link Building to accomplish just that. Today however, things don’t work the same; in fact, they have changed drastically.
Google has cracked down on its SEO radar, making it extremely challenging to dominate rankings based on link building, and rightfully so! With the recent implementations Google has released the Panda and Penguin updates, which makes it evident that Google emphasizes the need for quality and fresh content. What better way to increase your SEO than with the help of blogging? Bottom line, if you want your company to be noticed online you should be placing blogging at the top of your SEO Strategy.
Here are 4 reasons your SEO strategy should based around blogging:
#1 Blogging Surpasses Link Building
The whole purpose behind link building is to direct search engine robots literally to your website. While this method still works to an extent, search engine robots have gotten much smarter. Now these robots normally figure out you’re providing too many signs, with the obviousness behind link building. With blogging, you can incorporate links internally to and from other blogs and web content, giving search engine robots even greater guidance. All in all, blogging does a greater job of helping search engine robots locate you.
It’s not that links are irrelevant, but Google can differentiate between link building and quality content; it’s valuable content that surpasses link building when it comes to greater SEO.
#2 – Blogging Is About Key Words
Keywords are the foundation of any SEO strategy. It’s crucial to know what your potential customers are searching for online to establish an effective SEO and marketing campaign. But your keywords no longer have to be so cut-and-dry. You should use blogging to incorporate valuable key words, but not for the sake of “going after” 50 or 100 target key words. As Google continues to evolve, it’s beginning to notice the difference between a key word that‘s thrown into a blog with no relation to the topic versus key words that are used appropriately and add value your content. It’s important to be aware of this difference when using key words. Otherwise, ensure you are using keywords that make sense for your business, but don’t “over-optimize” or your content may be swept aside by Google because it’s lacking valuable information.
Blogging allows you to publish frequent posts about several topics related to your business and market. If you’re updating your blog regularly, you’re touching on crucial keywords over time, and you’re ensuring the content is valuable.
Reason #3 – Blogging Feeds Your Social Media
Today more than ever, social media is an online marketing king. Businesses and individuals are using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to socialize and to update their friends/customers on promotions, new products, and tips. Social Media is the fastest and easiest way to share information. When your business blogs, you’re not only sharing valuable information on your website, you also have the means to share it on social media as well. Unfortunately many companies are missing this opportunity, and its easy exposure that takes very little effort. Social Media is most valuable (just like SEO) when it’s organic. That means you need to post quality content on your blog, so people can organically find your content and then share your content. Now you’ve created buzz!
#4 – Blogging Helps Conversions
While website conversions aren’t directly associated with SEO, the whole purpose behind your SEO efforts should be to attain those conversions. The whole reason for SEO and Web Marketing in the first place is to attract visitors to your website, turn them into leads, and in turn hopefully customers. Blogging is one of the most effective means of adding new visitors to your website sales funnel.
When you blog, you are more likely to attract and convert website visitors. If you’re doing it right, blogging is a perfect way to provide free information, free resources, and free content to your prospects. When you share and give, your prospects are more open to doing business with you. The nice thing about blogging is that it opens up the conversation with your prospects in a manner that is not aggressive or sales-oriented. At this point it’s easier to move blog readers from your blog post, to your email sign-up forms or order pages.