Optimize 3.0 Inbound Marketing Blog

Two Critical Elements For Successful Internet Marketing Optimization

Posted by Doug Kirk  Jun 12, 2012 12:36:00 PM

I wanted to share my 12 month efforts at Internet marketing optimization.  I became a Hubspot certified partner back in May 2011.  Soon after that I became a certified value added re-seller (Silver VAR).  Starting slowly I have built my Inbound Marketing business and website traffic by blogging.  Specifically, I focus on the concerns small to medium businesses have regarding Internet marketing optimization.  My blog posts are about SEO help such as link strategies and advice, Hubspot reviews with end-users and social media optimization techniques such as finding targeted Twitter followers.  When I blog I try to adhere to the principles of optimization and diligently incorporate metadata into my blog posts (Title tags, URLs, Alt Tags, etc).  I even delve into back linking techniques (be sure to check out www.DropMyLinks.com – a great resource for identifying SEO-friendly commenting blogs).   It was slow going at first, but today I have almost 70 terms in the top 3 of Google and 160 in the top 10.  I’ve saved over thousands of dollars in equivalent PPC ad spending.  Moreover, these organic results are far, far more effective.  Some of the keywords terms I rank highly for include “inbound marketing agency” and “inbound marketing consultant.”

Here are the two overriding principles that I share with clients and others looking for Internet marketing optimization advice:

1) Blogging & SEO:  First, this takes time.  But without a doubt blogging is the key.  Optimizing the existing pages of your website for SEO is a first step, but the real value is in your blog posts.  Of all the pages on the Internet, blogs are clearly favored and indexed more frequently by Google.  They value timeliness and relevancy.  As a business, you need to think of each blog post as a marketing “annuity.”  If optimized correctly the page will continue to send traffic for quite some time.  Second, and this is not immediately obvious when you start out, there is real benefit from related and long tail traffic.  These are the derivations of the keywords you target that end up as site visits.  Nobody types in the same search term exactly.  Close to 80% of Google searches do not have an exact match.  What happens then?  They return the next closest organic match.  This means more qualified traffic to your site.  This is particularly evident from my own results.  I’ve targeted approximately 30 to 40 specific keywords.  Yet I rank in the top 3 for close to 70.  Moreover, in looking at my blog analytics you can see the growth in pageviews  (almost 20,000 now!) that can be directly attributable to the 267 keywords in the top 100.  These are the close-match keywords not specifically targeted but generate site traffic.

Keywords:

Internet marketing optimization

1 Year Blog Analytics:

Internet marketing optimization techniques resized 600

 

2) Download Content Creation:  By this I mean valuable content that will get users to share their contact information.  Something they must download in order to read.  Why?  Because this is how to get an interested buyer's contact info.  These are typically whitepapers.  However, I’ve found that specific tools and charts are equally valuable (and easier to create).  Some examples I’ve used include a Hubspot Competitor Chart and an Inbound Marketing Flow Chart.  You don’t necessarily have to focus on the esoteric 2,000 word whitepaper.  Create something that helps potential clients save time and make decisions.  How about a simple Excel spreadsheet calculator with embedded formulas?  Every industry needs to make calculations.  Use this as a means of sharing your knowledge and helping your audience.  What about a simple tip sheet for making a purchase decision?  These work extremely well.

When I work with clients interested in Internet marketing optimization I always start with these concepts.  Advice I’ve followed myself with pretty good results.    

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Topics: inbound marketing, Inbound Marketing Software, seo