The Covid-19 pandemic had one clear winner: digital marketing.

Traditional marketing still works – if your target audience is still interested in your product or service after the pandemic. However, during the pandemic, people have more time on their hands, which means they’re more likely to be online and consuming content. As a result, businesses that rely heavily on face-to-face interactions and brochures might experience a decline in sales.

Fortunately, this is where digital marketing fits in.

No matter what industry you’re in, you’re going to be affected by the pandemic. Some businesses lost almost all of their revenue, while others saw an increase. But, regardless of the figures, everyone was forced into adopting a digital marketing approach to survive. And why should you care? As a business owner or marketer, you’re in a unique position to capitalize on this opportunity and put yourself ahead of the competition.

What is digital marketing?

Simply put, digital marketing is a marketing strategy that relies heavily on digital media.

In the past, traditional marketing was the only game in town. You would advertise in newspapers, trade magazines, and on TV. The targeting was relatively easy: you would typically focus on one or two kinds of audiences (e.g., men who have a history of buying laptops, or people over the age of 35 who have a history of buying organic food).

However, with the rise of online marketing platforms like Google and Facebook, everything has changed. Now, with a few button clicks, you can target the right audience and send your message directly to them. As a result, businesses that were once dependent on traditional marketing now have the ability to grow and thrive through digital marketing.

Why SEO?

If you’re wondering why SEO is such a crucial part of your digital marketing strategy, read on.

First of all, let’s look at the meaning of SEO.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the ranking of a website or web content in search results.

What does that mean in practice? It means that, ideally, when someone types in a search query (e.g., “hair extensions” or “organic hair care”) on a search engine (e.g., Google), the keywords they are looking for should be prominently displayed towards the top of the search results. When someone clicks on a link to a website in the top 10 results, that website is optimized for search engines.

Why is SEO so important? Think about how people find content on Google. When they are searching for information, they most probably start by typing in a few words. Based on what they search for, the engine will suggest search terms and concepts (e.g., “SEO tips for beginners” or “PPC vs. SEO: What is the Difference?”). As a business or marketing manager, you want your website to show up when someone is searching for content on your niche.

That’s why SEO is so important: it makes sure that your site is easily found when someone is looking for it. And since SEO is (usually) a long-term strategy, it will help establish your business as an expert in your field or category.

SEO is More Than Just Meta Tag Optimization

While SEO is primarily about optimizing your website’s content and structure for search engines, it doesn’t mean that it’s only about meta tags and keywords. In fact, as a digital marketer, you will often be asked to do more than just optimize the meta tags and content of your site for search engines. You will also be expected to:

• research the competition
• measure the success of your SEO efforts
• build a brand voice
• create content that is valuable and adds value to your target audience
• establish yourself as an expert in your field
• build a list of potential customers
• send out regular email newsletters
• and so much more…

All of these things contribute to making your website more “search engine friendly”, and therefore enhance your site’s chance of ranking high in search engine results.

If you’re wondering how to approach SEO, there are four steps you can follow:

Step 1: Set a Goal and Create a Plan

The first step is to set a goal and create a plan to follow. If you’re starting from scratch, it might be a good idea to set a goal of getting your site to rank in the top three for a specific keyphrase or keyword. You can also benchmark your current position and set a goal of increasing your site’s ranking within the next month.

To create a plan, you will want to answer the following questions: How are you going to get there? What’s your strategy? Who’s going to be responsible for implementing this strategy?

These are all important questions, and you should have clear answers for them.

Step 2: Create Keyword Tailored Content

The second step is to create keyword tailored content. To do this, you will need to use free tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to find the most popular keywords and phrases associated with your chosen niche. Once you have a list of keywords, it’s time to pick the ones you’ll use for your content.

As you become more experienced with SEO, you will learn to target specific keywords and phrases based on your niche and industry. For example, if you’re a realtor in the Orlando area, you might want to target keywords like “Orlando Realtor” or “Realtors near me” since people searching for realtors are most likely looking for an agent in their area. You can also use keywords to find content to write about: if you’re struggling to find a topic for your blog, you can use keywords to discover content that is already online and write about it. If you want to know more, we have an in-depth guide on how to find the perfect blog topic for your business.

Step 3: Build Links

The third step is to build links. What are links?

Simply put, links are websites and blogs that are connected to your own.

These are the “backbones” of the internet. When someone clicks on a link, they’re directed to another website or blog. For example, if you’re on Google and you click on a link to blog A, you’ll be taken to that blog’s website.

Why is link building important? Let’s say you’re building links to your own site. Once you have some content published on your site, you can send out a “content round-up” email to bloggers and journalists in your niche. In this email, you will usually include a link to one of your blog posts in the body of the email. When a receiver of this email clicks on the blog post link, they’re brought to your site. In this way, you’re not only increasing your own traffic, but you’re also increasing the chances that someone will notice your site.

Step 4: Measure the Results of Your Efforts

The fourth step is to measure the results of your efforts. To do this, you will want to use free tools like Google Analytics or Audiences to track the traffic generated by your SEO strategy.

These days, you can find all sorts of tools to help you track the impact of your SEO strategy. To begin, you can use Google Analytics to track the traffic to your site. This will give you a good idea of what’s working and what’s not working with your strategy. If you want to dig deeper, you can also use Audiences to track the conversions (e.g., sales or leads).

To wrap things up, let’s talk about one final step that you need to take Care of Before You End This Article.