Most local businesses don’t fully grasp the buyer’s intent when seeking out marketing services, so we’re making it a point to help our clients evolve their SEO marketing strategies. We call it “Nouveau SEO” because we want to impress upon the importance of taking a new and fresh approach.
Most businesses simply want their listings to show up above their competitors in any internet search, so they don’t necessarily care how the technical aspects work. They just want decent rankings based on their chosen keywords, but SEO is much more complex these days because search engines cater to the consumers, not the producers and traditional SEO – on it’s own – is outdated and less effective with every algorithm change which is why paid advertising has become such a primary focus for many businesses.
The big-dog search engines have taken all the massive user data they’ve acquired and determined that people want choices aggregated by quality, peer-reviewed recommendations, which is why the first page of any Google search is now dominated by review-based sites (Google+, Yelp, etc.) and articles that compare various options/brands/choices that buyers may be considering.
Now, keep in mind, SEO is not useless. As long as people use Google search, SEO will remain relevant, but we need to pivot our marketing focus from solely purchase-intent keywords to a more comprehensive approach.
Here’s what we suggest:
- Optimize your entire website for traditional SEO, especially your sales pages, product pages, posts and primary content pages. (Go page by page and actually fill in the data sections, SEO input, tags, meta, etc. beneath the page’s content.)
- Create valuable content for your audience, especially in the copywriting for your primary content pages and also in the form of informative articles about your products and services. (Inject relevant keywords conversationally into your content.)
- Treat each search engine differently…
Facebook is a search engine. Pinterest is a search engine. YouTube is a search engine. Twitter is a search engine. Amazon is a search engine. Etsy is a search engine. Ebay is a search engine. Quora is a search engine. Yelp is a search engine. Even Instagram is a search engine.
Notice the trend here?
You need to consider the user base of each platform when planning how to utilize each as a marketing option because each offers unique benefits to the user. You are still going to use keywords, or sometimes “hashtags”, but each platform is used by the consumer in a specific way, so we need to embrace the trends and culture each platform fosters, and we need to write differently for each platform, because viewers are using each platform in a certain way and for specific purposes…
Let’s consider a scenario where a consumer is planning to redesign a master bedroom. Let’s assume our consumer is going to head over to Pinterest first so some design inspiration.
- Pinterest – Our consumer will likely use keywords like “master suite decorations” or “master bedroom ideas” and after browsing, will likely narrow it down to a specific style of furniture and decor.
- Amazon – Our consumer will then likely jump over to Amazon and searched with keywords such as “faux fur pillows” or “carved wood headboard” that were based on the furniture or decor found on Pinterest. Our consumer may purchase some items on Amazon but they likely won’t have a great selection of any unique types of decor or any upscale or handcrafted furniture.
- Etsy – Our consumer may try Etsy, knowing they specialize in unique handmade items, likely searching the same keywords as on Amazon since both platforms deliver retail-focused search results.
- Instagram – Our consumer may jump over to view an Etsy shop’s Instagram feed to browse through comments on posts to get a better idea of how satisfied their other customers have been
- Websites – Our consumer may head back to Etsy to purchase some items or they may follow the profile’s bio link to their actual website and make the purchase there if they feel the site and brand are reputable. Finally our consumer may move on to specific department store websites for specialized items first seen on Pinterest.
Our consumer could’ve used Google to search for all these things, but chose not to because these other platforms were more aligned with the consumer’s buyer intent and were built to handle exactly what the consumer was looking for. It’s also relevant to consider the buyer’s journey throughout this process. Buyers are so comfortable with online shopping in this era, that they often buy from several vendors in succession.
So essentially, the goal is to not just focus on search engine optimization with the primary search engines in mind, but rather to optimize your presence across the web on the various platforms your ideal buyers are utilizing so you can be easily found when you have exactly what buyers are searching for,
When we understand who our target audience is, we can focus on the platforms where they prefer to spend their time, and build an organic presence that caters to exactly what they’re looking for.
. . .
Want Us To Implement All These Techniques For You?
Our team can implement these marketing methods for you, from the traditional SEO foundational elements and optimized content revisions to platform specific marketing and paid search techniques.
To explore which marketing methods are uniquely suited to be most effective for your business, consider our Project Road Map Session.
