[Hot] Organic SEO: Two More Timeless Strategies
Last week we discussed how SEO has evolved with the Internet to help online businesses deal with the byzantine challenge of marketing to a global audience. And yet, SEO is relevant today because it relies on timeless marketing strategies. Marketing is about communication, and from the beginning of commerce the art of attracting customers has relied on the same principles.
The content of your message, for example, including the specific words, phrases, and design elements you use to express your message, must be specific and accessible; at the same time, your content must create a sense of intrigue.
Read: Organic SEO: Three Timeless Strategies.
Specificity, accessibility, and intrigue will help you attract potential customers. But attracting attention is only part of the equation.
You also must inspire potential customers to become actual customers--to purchase your product or service. And, of course, you must inspire your customers to return.
Of course, this is also a timeless view of marketing. In today's SEO parlance, a purchase is called a "conversion." And return customers are frequently referred to, simply, as "return visitors."
Below we discuss these two essential principles and how they apply to today's SEO--or more specifically, today's "organic" SEO.
Conversion Rate Optimization
Many website owners (and certain SEO firms) portray success in rankings and traffic, but ranking, which is partly often based on traffic, is meaningless without conversions.
Successful traffic obviously implies multiple visitors, but it's important to remember: a visitor is simply that--a visitor. A visitor may click on your page, browse a bit, then leave. A high ranking site may attract many visitors who browse a bit, then leave.
In this case, a visitor is essentially worthless. The key to online success is converting visitors to customers.
A conversion is a visitor who performs a desired act, like purchasing your product or service, sharing your content, or signing up for daily emails. A "converted" visitor is a customer.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a simple measurement of the percentage of visitors who perform a desired action on a website. The higher your CRO the more successful your site.
Read: SEO and Conversion Rate Optimization
Return Visitors
One-time visitors might be incidental or accidental; many visitors may have been looking for something else. But returns indicate well-informed visitors—visitors who may become actual customers; or better yet, actual repeat customers.
The pursuit of repeat customers is, perhaps, the oldest marketing challenge. How do you engage your visitor's imagination, inspiring return visits? When a visitor first views your site, he or she will experience an emotional reaction--for better or worse. Your job is to guarantee a uniformly positive reaction.
In organic SEO, this reaction is often determined by your website's design and layout.
Read: SEO 101: Website Design
Beyond the specificity, accessibility, and intrigue, you must design a simple, streamlined site which delivers the design goods:
If your website loads quickly, visitors will easily navigate between pages, and there will be no need to visit any other website for the same product or service.
Search engines also investigate this type of website performance; even if your website has been optimized for content, you might be penalized for slow loading times.
When you deliver the goods, however, you create confidence in Google and your customers--the type of confidence that inspires repeat customers.
An SEO firm can achieve some of this work for you, but to truly inspire your customer you, the website owner, need to cultivate a well-honed aesthetic sensibility.
To do so, you might browse websites that you find visually appealing. Look at these websites with a keen eye, and try to answer the questions above.
Digital Marketing with Stepman's SEO
Yes, SEO is based on timeless marketing strategies, but the execution of SEO is a cutting-edge science, promoted by many but mastered by only a few. Once you have a vision for exactly how your product should be presented, you must convey that vision to your website designer and/or SEO firm. Take care to choose professionals who have created naturally-optimized websites that you find visually attractive.
If you're looking for an SEO company that understands how to effectively promote emotionally accessible websites with specific keywords and intriguing content, contact our sponsor, Stepman's SEO: 215-900-9398.
Stepman's SEO combines traditional marketing methods and organic SEO--with an emphasis on natural website optimization--to design thoughtful, inspiring, and effective content marketing campaigns.
The content of your message, for example, including the specific words, phrases, and design elements you use to express your message, must be specific and accessible; at the same time, your content must create a sense of intrigue.
Read: Organic SEO: Three Timeless Strategies.
Specificity, accessibility, and intrigue will help you attract potential customers. But attracting attention is only part of the equation.
You also must inspire potential customers to become actual customers--to purchase your product or service. And, of course, you must inspire your customers to return.
Of course, this is also a timeless view of marketing. In today's SEO parlance, a purchase is called a "conversion." And return customers are frequently referred to, simply, as "return visitors."
Below we discuss these two essential principles and how they apply to today's SEO--or more specifically, today's "organic" SEO.
 |
| This photo, from last week's post, offers a perfect illustration of the elegant simplicity of organic SEO, which is based on timeless marketing principles. [Photo Source] |
Conversion Rate Optimization
Many website owners (and certain SEO firms) portray success in rankings and traffic, but ranking, which is partly often based on traffic, is meaningless without conversions.
Successful traffic obviously implies multiple visitors, but it's important to remember: a visitor is simply that--a visitor. A visitor may click on your page, browse a bit, then leave. A high ranking site may attract many visitors who browse a bit, then leave.
In this case, a visitor is essentially worthless. The key to online success is converting visitors to customers.
A conversion is a visitor who performs a desired act, like purchasing your product or service, sharing your content, or signing up for daily emails. A "converted" visitor is a customer.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a simple measurement of the percentage of visitors who perform a desired action on a website. The higher your CRO the more successful your site.
Read: SEO and Conversion Rate Optimization
 |
| The wrong type of visitor will have no connection to your product or service--or, in the case of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers, to your wedding! [Source] |
Return Visitors
One-time visitors might be incidental or accidental; many visitors may have been looking for something else. But returns indicate well-informed visitors—visitors who may become actual customers; or better yet, actual repeat customers.
The pursuit of repeat customers is, perhaps, the oldest marketing challenge. How do you engage your visitor's imagination, inspiring return visits? When a visitor first views your site, he or she will experience an emotional reaction--for better or worse. Your job is to guarantee a uniformly positive reaction.
In organic SEO, this reaction is often determined by your website's design and layout.
Read: SEO 101: Website Design
Beyond the specificity, accessibility, and intrigue, you must design a simple, streamlined site which delivers the design goods:
- Is your website user-friendly?
- Do your visual elements immediately inspire confidence in your customer?
- Is your language enthusiastic, positive, and evocative?
- Are your promises about customer service sincere?
- Are you conveying the benefits of your product or service?
If your website loads quickly, visitors will easily navigate between pages, and there will be no need to visit any other website for the same product or service.
Search engines also investigate this type of website performance; even if your website has been optimized for content, you might be penalized for slow loading times.
When you deliver the goods, however, you create confidence in Google and your customers--the type of confidence that inspires repeat customers.
An SEO firm can achieve some of this work for you, but to truly inspire your customer you, the website owner, need to cultivate a well-honed aesthetic sensibility.
To do so, you might browse websites that you find visually appealing. Look at these websites with a keen eye, and try to answer the questions above.
Digital Marketing with Stepman's SEO
Yes, SEO is based on timeless marketing strategies, but the execution of SEO is a cutting-edge science, promoted by many but mastered by only a few. Once you have a vision for exactly how your product should be presented, you must convey that vision to your website designer and/or SEO firm. Take care to choose professionals who have created naturally-optimized websites that you find visually attractive.
If you're looking for an SEO company that understands how to effectively promote emotionally accessible websites with specific keywords and intriguing content, contact our sponsor, Stepman's SEO: 215-900-9398.
Stepman's SEO combines traditional marketing methods and organic SEO--with an emphasis on natural website optimization--to design thoughtful, inspiring, and effective content marketing campaigns.