Most people are aware that on-page SEO is important for websites when considering search engine optimization. On the face of it, there’s no obvious connection between SEO and email marketing, but as top search engine rankings are becoming more competitive, digital marketers should be looking to bridge the gap between website SEO and email marketing.
Unless you’ve spent the last few decades camping in outer Mongolia, you’ll know that the biggest search engine out there is Google. Google has a unique way of categorizing websites by using programs called web crawlers. These programs help them to determine how much quality a website provides and, therefore, how relevant it is to their users.
These programs prefer information on websites organized in a certain way. Similar information should be on one page. Any links from established websites will also be favored because Google finds content by following links.
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How does this link with email marketing?
With so much competition for customers and subscribers, delivering quality, engaging content to the right people is a smarter way to get engagement. As of 2021, 92 percent of the US population used email. We can assume most of them also use search engines but ranking highly amidst the competition is tough. People who have subscribed to email have already expressed an interest in your product or service, so the key is to engage them and push them back toward your website using links.
If your emails drive traffic to your website, it will increase the SERP ranking. The increased web traffic and the higher click-through rate should improve your sales conversions rate too.
The similarity between SEO and email marketing is that they are both content-driven. So high-performing emails with a strong call to action can drive quality leads to your website more effectively than SEO alone and improve your email marketing ROI.
So, the next question, naturally, is: How can I use email marketing to boost my SEO?’
5 email marketing tips to help boost your SEO
While Google web crawlers don’t monitor email content, they do monitor things such as web traffic, content shares, and backlinks. The chances of boosting your SEO increase when you hit the right people with the right information.
1. Avoid blanket emails
If you understand your target market and their needs, you can segment your audience and categorize them based on interests and previous purchases, for example. Then, emails can be sent out to the right people in a more relevant and targeted way. This can be based on demographics, previous purchases, or engagement/open rates.
Information can be gathered from sign-up forms when people subscribe or from surveys etc. The more information you can gather, the more specific your targeted emails can be, resulting in a more successful email campaign. This will boost open rates and click-through rates and improve your website ranking.
2. Boost content engagement
Whenever you create new content, such as blog posts, how-to videos, or even new product launches, you can email the links to the people it may interest and encourage link clicks with a strong call-to-action. Increased traffic and content sharing will help to boost your website’s SEO as it adds credibility to your website.
What’s more, you can use an email address finder to target people (even high-profile people) to garner more support, likes, and shares.
3. Repurpose and repost your newsletter content
If you’re creating relevant and engaging emails and newsletters, why limit the access to subscribers only? By archiving past newsletters or turning them into optimized blog posts on your website, you can add quality content to your website on a regular basis that anyone can access.
By sharing links and utilizing social media, you should find this is a great way to increase traffic to your website.
4. Utilize automated email sequences
Automated email sequences are great because once they’re set up, new subscribers will receive a series of emails without any additional input from you. The point of an email sequence is to nurture your clients and guide them through a process. This could be to keep them keen and onside or lead them to make a purchase.
Content needs to be engaging and varied. Sending the same type of sales email over and over again will switch people off. Instead, offer discounts and tailored emails ranging from informative to ones tying your product or service to current pop culture in an entertaining way.
Additionally, using specialized email marketing software can enhance the efficiency of creating, managing, and analyzing your automated email sequences.
Once your email sequences are automated, it’s a good idea to make sure your entire communication process is streamlined to reflect your marketing. For example, contact center technologies can help to tie other aspects of your business communication together to enable email recipients to get in touch in a variety of ways.
5. Use long-tail keywords in your messages
As mentioned earlier, web crawlers don’t search for keywords, but humans do. Long-tail keywords tend to be more specific and relevant than short-tail keywords, as they’re based on everyday language.
By using long-tail keywords in subject headers, subscribers who don’t initially engage with content can easily find it at a later date. For example, a ‘how to send fax online’ demo might not be relevant to a subscriber now, but in a few weeks, it could be useful. By using long-tail keywords in your email subject bars, subscribers can search using familiar terms and find the content they need.
Don’t forget a strong call to action and a share option for maximum effect. The only issue when increasing your email campaign could be an increase in the volume of people getting in touch via other methods. By using cloud-based solutions, you can streamline your client communication and scale easily.
Final thoughts
While not initially obvious, email marketing can play a vital role in SEO. With careful planning combined with the use of selective technology, you can use email marketing to your advantage and boost page rankings.
Consider how emails can drive traffic to your website and how you can use share buttons to prompt people to push your content even further. This low-cost marketing tool could really help to boost your SEO and, in turn, your web ranking.
So what are you waiting for?
