Search engine optimization (SEO) is almost a dirty word in today’s online inbound marketing agency environment. SEO is associated with techniques used to optimize a business’ website for ideal performance on search engines. These actions traditionally include keyword optimization, building links and traffic referrals (from links with high domain authority). What’s missing from all of those SEO techniques? The customer!
The Customer is Always Right
Today, a business’ online marketing strategy needs to be more than just SEO. It’s not just about checking off boxes for a search engine, it’s about connecting with the customer.
That’s where inbound marketing comes in. Inbound marketing is a relatively new online marketing methodology that focuses on customer-first techniques. This has had an enormous impact on the world of SEO (which typically focuses on appeasing search engine ranking criteria). Inbound marketing techniques include content creation, social media marketing, and (creative) email marketing.
It might seem like these techniques are oriented towards finding potential customers and offering them a product or service, but the key to inbound marketing is that it is focused on a customer’s activity after they have found your business. Inbound marketing helps the consumer to learn about your brand; it’s customer-oriented and provides helpful and informative content (whitepapers, guides, blog posts, etc.) in a non-interruptive manner.
So how does inbound marketing help your business? By effectively using calls-to-action (CTAs), a smart business owner can use inbound marketing strategies to take potential customers along the buyer’s journey and eventually improve their business’ web traffic and conversion rates!
A Holistic Approach is a Winning Strategy
What’s the best online marketing strategy for your business? The answer is a bit complicated, but the winningest modus operandi is to use a holistic approach where you combine elements from inbound marketing and SEO.
As we outlined above, inbound marketing will improve your relationship with your (potential) customers,
improve your website’s user experience (UX), and bring value to your audience. Meanwhile, SEO techniques can be used to help direct traffic to your business’ website and improve your business’ search engine ranking.
Through a combination of user- and search engine-friendly strategy, your business will be well on its way to a stronger, more customer-oriented web presence!