Search Marketing is Your Foundation

I recently contributed an article to the Intouch Soul Blog and wanted to take a moment to expand a bit further upon the conversation I started there. The title of my post – “Thinking Beyond the Search Box” – was intended to illustrate the point that search marketing is no longer about the engine and the search box (that’s why I don’t typically say “search engine marketing”). While marketing through search engines is still a large part of my job, it’s more about leveraging all the different search engine-powered technologies that can help expand reach well beyond Google and Bing.

Search marketing is about monitoring user behavior trends and designing a strategy that feeds off of the findings from that information. For me, search marketing is about understanding what people are discussing and what types of information they are looking for. It’s about looking at HOW people search for information on those particular topics, and taking that information to craft a search strategy. The information helps to develop a content strategy and it helps to guide in the content creation process by providing a topical focus for the page content.

Now is the time to talk about social media and the various ways in which these new channels can be leveraged to drive overall brand awareness and engagement, but search marketing is the foundation upon which much can be built. Follow the “content is king” mantra that originated with search marketing many years ago, and I am confident that you will see social media engagement and success. Social media channels are how people are conversing with each other now, and search engines like Google/Bing have taken many social indicators to amplify and improve search results for users. The recent update to Google Social Search is the latest example of why social and search need to be closely tied together as a strategic approach.

Search is a consideration to be included in any discussions about what you are doing online via website enhancements, social media engagement, mobile web optimization or any other of a number of topics. It’s not only about the content, it’s about making sure that content is accessible and “shareable” to the general public. I’m just saying. If you are launching any effort on the web, keep search in mind and consider how you can leverage search findings to enhance your online visibility and performance.

Disclaimer: The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of Intouch Solutions.