Search engine optimization is the most difficult of all digital marketing strategies to perform because it encompasses a number of moving parts that require advanced research skills, an analytical and critical mindset, and a visionary approach that blends technical with creative in content.
SEO is also like that red-headed stepchild that lives next door: it is easily misunderstood, viewed with a tinge of the stink eye, and because it doesn’t offer immediate results (not your star quarterback in its infancy) expectations are set high for it to bloom into an Aaron Rodgers.
To really maximize your SEO results, you will need as many tools and strategies you can bring together to leverage results, and an SEO agency engineering growth marketing stacks as an advanced play to generate more revenue by reaching the right buyers at the right time will enhance lead quality, and with that comes a much improved bottom line.
It’s insane, but there are still organizations with marketing managers who set their main goal on ranking; they want to be found on page one of Google for all the terms and keywords with the highest search volume. But ranking for the sake of obtaining organic visibility doesn’t guarantee sales, and unless you are some masochistic performance artist who likes to bleed money for the sake of being seen without any traffic that generates leads or sales, you need to take a step back, think about your strategic SEO play, and how it is working for you to generate revenue and give your bottom line a healthy glow.
SEO is meant to drive traffic that (if all the pieces are in place) will convert to a lead and make a purchase. A really good, modern SEO strategy improves traffic quality and drives sales, in addition to ranking. If your goal is to hit your high-revenue targets, improve lead volume AND lead quality, and increase sales, then SEO will play a number of roles. But first and foremost, ranking is just a single step to the big picture.
Ranking for the right search terms is a first step to running a revenue generating organic monster. There are a number of ways to get pages to rank for various keywords, and these include:
Let’s say you own a company that makes replica major league baseball jerseys. Your target audience would be baseball fans, men and women, fans of specific teams, and people who care more about saving money on fan wear than owning authentic gear that costs four times as much. In this case, let’s imagine a campaign to sell Dodgers jerseys. Some keywords could include “replica MLB jerseys”, “replica Dodgers jerseys”, “low cost Dodgers jerseys” and “replica Corey Seager jersey”. Creating great content that uses these keywords in a contextual manner can help improve rankings. But how can growth marketing stacks improve rankings? A multi channel approach that drives traffic from inbound marketing and paid media initiatives generates visitors giving them the opportunity to engage the landing page, but also click deeper into the site and visit multiple pages. Growth marketing strategies also generate a higher quality of traffic which improves bounce rates, dwell time, and most importantly conversions–all things that add SEO value.
When you rank a page for “replica Dodgers jerseys”, then what? This is where the Growth Stack runs the bases. When you add a form submission to a landing page that ranks well and gets tons of traffic, and paid media drives traffic to the same page (generating even more engagement signals) you can use form submits to weed out the benchwarmer visitors from the all star buyers. Once SEO has worked so far as to attract top of funnel traffic by ranking amazing content for target buyers, inbound marketing can take those leads, segment them into lists based on gender and a number of other identifiers that any diligent CRM will capture, and automate content designed to nurture every lead in a personal manner, at every point of contact, until they convert to a sale.
For example, emailing leads a guide titled ‘The Ultimate Dodgers Apparel Fan Guide for 2019’ who have already engaged in content on replica jerseys, will naturally be interested in the content so long as it addresses all of their concerns and needs with the best solution. Now your leads from organic traffic have entered the world of inbound marketing and are being nurtured through the sales funnel enabling them to make educated decisions when it comes to buying replica Dodgers jerseys.
As the above example shows, additional strategies and technology can garner better results (the ones that matter, cha-ching) than running a la carte SEO services because growth stacks connect your sales and marketing departments to get the needed data to align a multi channel approach to driving traffic with the same goal honored at every step of the way–convert leads from SEO into satisfied customers.
As amazing as the Growth Stack is, not all businesses are a good fit. Some are better off investing in a good, modern SEO approach. But if your sales cycle is right, and your customers and products make sense for the investment to pay off in bucket loads, a Growth Stack could be the game-changer to improving your bottom line reporting.
Download our FREE educational guide on the WEBITMD Growth Stack, see if it makes sense for your business model, and give us a call. We would love to learn about your goals, discover the best strategy that can take your company to the next level, and see if there is any potential for a mutual, prosperous relationship.
