A Comprehensive Guide for SaaS Content Marketing
Jan 04, 2024
10 min read
Table of contents
- Why Is Content Marketing for B2B SaaS Companies Different?
- Benefits of B2B SaaS Content Marketing:
- Why you need a great B2b SaaS content marketing strategy
- 1. Know Your Ideal Customer (User Research)
- 2. How to Determine Your Content Strategy
- 3. Keyword Research
- 4. Content Framework with Topic Clusters
- 5. Content Marketing Calendar
- 6. Repurpose Your Content
- Conclusion
In the dynamic and ever-expanding realm of Software as a Service (SaaS), content writing for SaaS stands out as the indispensable force propelling companies toward success in the digital landscape. According to Gitnux's reports, 57% of SaaS companies consider content creation as a crucial marketing strategy. As we set forth on this transformative journey, our exploration delves into the nuanced facets of SaaS content marketing, weaving a narrative that navigates through the intricacies of understanding your audience and culminates in the artful crafting of a robust SaaS content strategy poised to resonate powerfully in the landscape of 2023. We will learn how content marketing is a pivotal saas marketing strategy, illustrating how to captivate your audience and drive interest in your SaaS offerings. Join us as we unravel the strategy, embrace the trends, and unlock the secrets that will elevate your SaaS content marketing strategy to unprecedented heights.
SaaS content marketing is a patient, long-term strategy focused on cultivating enduring relationships rather than pushing immediate product sales. Anticipate a gradual payoff; achieving noticeable results may take three to nine months. A key indicator, such as increased organic traffic, underscores the effectiveness of this strategy.
Crucially, SaaS content marketing thrives when tailored to a specific target audience. Precision matters more than volume. For instance, if your software serves farmers, every piece of content should resonate exclusively with that demographic. Crafting a customer avatar provides clarity on who constitutes the ideal audience. Consistency is the linchpin of success in SaaS content marketing efforts. Regularly publishing high-quality content is essential, even as you await returns on previously posted material. Whether maintaining a blog schedule or outsourcing content creation, the key is to play the content marketing game with unwavering consistency.
Why Is Content Marketing for B2B SaaS Companies Different?
Content marketing for B2B SaaS enterprises is unique owing to industry-specific aspects. These complexities necessitate a systematic strategy to effectively engaging and converting prospective customers. Here's a thorough examination of why and how content marketing in the B2B SaaS sector differs:
Dual-Offering of Technology and Services:
B2B SaaS enterprises sell more than just a product; they also provide cutting-edge technology and related services. The content must show the flawless integration between the new technology and the solid support services offered.
SEO Focus on Digital Discovery:
In today's digital world, B2B SaaS customers rely primarily on internet channels for research. SEO becomes not just important, but critical. Creating search engine-optimized content is critical for attracting new clients via channels like as white papers, website evaluations, online communities, and app marketplaces.
Educational emphasis:
SaaS packages frequently come with a learning curve. Thus, content marketing serves as an instructional tool. It must include extensive tutorials, guidelines, and tools to empower users and ensure that they use the product to its greatest potential.
Reviews as a Sales Catalyst
Positive reviews are very important in the SaaS sector. Content marketing tactics should not only encourage but also prominently include these reviews. They exert significant effect over potential purchasers' decision-making processes.
Promoting repeat business
B2B SaaS content marketing methods go beyond the first acquisition stage. Emphasizing continuous value, upgrades, and the long-term advantages of the service is critical for fostering client loyalty and encouraging repeat purchases.
Addressing Customer Risks:
The adoption of new SaaS solutions raises client worries and hazards. Content must proactively address these doubts, instilling trust not only in the product but also in the company's support structure.
Benefits of B2B SaaS Content Marketing:
B2B SaaS content marketing provides numerous advantages, aligning with the industry's unique characteristics:
- Building Trust and Credibility: Quality content positions a SaaS brand as a thought leader, addressing industry pain points and offering valuable insights to build trust among prospects and existing customers.
- Educating Users Effectively: SaaS content educates users about product intricacies, reducing the learning curve. This leads to better user adoption and sustained product usage.
- SEO and Online Visibility: Quality content enhances search engine rankings, critical for capturing organic leads actively searching for solutions provided by the software.
- Lead Nurturing and Churn Reduction: Content nurtures potential leads, guiding them through the sales funnel. Consistently delivering valuable content to existing customers reduces churn by continually adding value to their experience.
- Cost-effective Customer Acquisition: Compared to traditional advertising, content marketing offers a higher ROI. Creating valuable content strategies attracts potential customers more effectively and at a lower cost.
- Building a Community: Engaging content fosters a sense of community among users, generating user-generated content and insights through forums, comments, and feedback loops initiated by content.
- Highlighting Product Updates: Content marketing serves as a platform to announce and explain frequent product updates and new features, ensuring users stay informed in the dynamic SaaS landscape.
Why you need a great B2b SaaS content marketing strategy
An effective plan promotes your brand as a trustworthy source of information and direction, resulting in a robust online presence. The advantages of a well-executed Plan for content marketing for are numerous.
- Increased Brand Awareness: A great content marketing strategy keeps your brand visible to your target audience. You may position your business as an industry authority by creating excellent, educational material that will serve as a go-to resource for potential consumers looking for insights and answers.
- High ROI: Investing in content marketing yields big results. By providing entertaining and useful content, you may not only attract potential consumers but also nurture them down the sales funnel. This leads to a better conversion rate, which improves your ROI.
- Increased company Authority: Quality content not only informs but also positions your company as a thought leader. When you constantly provide important insights, your audience views your brand as an authority in the subject, which fosters trust and confidence.
- Build Brand Loyalty: Interacting with your material fosters a relationship with your target audience. It's more than just your product; it's an opportunity for people to learn about your brand's beliefs and how you may address their concerns. This connection instills loyalty, resulting in a long-term engagement with your target audience.
1. Know Your Ideal Customer (User Research)
User Research Overview
Understanding your ideal customer is the cornerstone of any successful SaaS content marketing strategy. Delve into the Jobs-to-be-Done framework, combined with thorough saas keywords research, to grasp the deeper motivations behind your users' actions. The complexities of human behavior are at the heart of a successful SaaS content advertising campaign. The Jobs-to-be-Done paradigm is at the heart of this knowledge, a strong tool that goes beyond floor-stage encounters, digging into the fundamental reasons for utilizing individual actions. By immersing ourselves in this framework, we can address our best clients' unspoken wants and goals. This strategy goes beyond traditional demographics, offering a more sophisticated understanding of the "why" behind customer choices. The Jobs-to-be-Done framework will serve as our compass as we traverse the landscape of consumer studies, enabling us to find hidden possibilities and design content that effortlessly matches the genuine desires of our target market. Adopt this transformational strategy to boost your SaaS content advertising.
User Research Methods
User research arises as a dynamic process powered by interviews, outreach emails, surveys, and the examination of customer service records when a diverse strategy is used. We connect directly with people through insightful conversations, revealing nuanced viewpoints that stats may overlook. Outreach emails and surveys cast a broad net, collecting quantitative and qualitative data to thoroughly understand user attitudes toward saas email marketing. In addition, investigating customer service logs reveals real-time issues and pain areas, enabling a proactive response to user demands. Peering into rival reviews increases our understanding by giving a comparison lens through which we may modify our products. This comprehensive blend of research approaches creates a complete image of user experiences, allowing us to create content and solutions that truly resonate. Accept these many channels, and empower your SaaS endeavors with a user-centric approach that transcends expectations and forges lasting connections.
2. How to Determine Your Content Strategy
Understanding the Buying Journey
Set off on a strategic journey by understanding the four critical stages of the purchasing adventure—Awareness, Consideration, Decision, and Retention. Each level reveals fascinating customer attitudes and aspirations. Illuminate your emblem and solutions in the Awareness section. During Consideration, provide customers with helpful materials. Empower conversion with compelling, decision-centered content in Decision. Finally, at some point during Retention, cultivate long-term connections with valuable submit-buy content. Incorporate insights from the saas competitive analysis and the best saas content marketing examples to identify areas where your product can exceed customer expectations. According to a recent survey, 74% of B2B marketers believe that delivering value is the most important factor contributing to the success of content marketing. Do go through our saas content marketing playbook to find all the insights at one place.
Content Included at Each Stage
Precision- Navigate the user experience by personalizing material to precise desires at each level. Encourage Awareness with eye-catching content, Guide Consideration with informational sources, Facilitate Decision with compelling content, and Strengthen Consumer Loyalty with Retention-targeted ingredients. This strategic alignment ensures that your content guides clients through their purchasing journey.
Connecting Content to Business Objectives
Enhancing your content strategy involves aligning it with specific business objectives, and integrating SaaS pricing page can significantly contribute to this synergy. Whether your aim is to boost brand awareness, drive lead generation, optimize conversions, or enhance customer retention, integrating SaaS pricing pages into your content strategy can maximize its impact. By establishing this symbiotic relationship, each piece of b2b content syndication transforms into a strategic asset, effectively guiding customers through their purchase journey and bringing your company closer to its overarching goals. This alignment in SaaS marketing strategies also ensures that your content directs customers, including those exploring Saas pricing pages, facilitating a smooth and informed decision-making process. You can also generate leads by understanding what is ppl and thereby implementing this in your ads.
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Linking Content to Business Goals
Attaching your content strategy to the next level to particular business goals. Aligning your content development with broad business objectives maximizes its effect, whether it's brand awareness, lead generation, conversion optimization, or customer retention. Optimize conversion by strategically placing backlinking strategies in solution-focused content and enhance customer retention by connecting users to valuable resources. This symbiotic relationship means that every piece of content becomes a strategic asset, moving your company toward its goals.
3. Keyword Research
The Paradox of Keyword Research
Uncovering the paradox of effective keyword research entails striking a careful balance between two critical elements: search volume and resolving customer pain concerns. While high search volume attracts attention, it is also critical to ensure that the keywords picked resonate with and effectively address people's demands and difficulties. This paradox emphasizes the need to conduct keyword research strategy that increases search engine exposure and builds a meaningful connection with the audience by providing answers to their pain points. Achieving this delicate balance is the foundation of a genuinely effective keyword research strategy.
Steps for Keyword Research
Engage in extensive keyword research using advanced keyword research tools such as Keywords Everywhere and SEMrush. These keyword research tools are vital compasses for navigating the huge world of search data. Analyse search volume patterns to identify possibilities and latent keywords that correspond with your content goals. The process, however, does not conclude with numerical discoveries. Validate these keywords by including actual consumer feedback—this real-world feedback guarantees that the keywords you've picked resonate with your target demographic. Accept a dynamic, iterative approach in which data-driven insights and true user viewpoints combine to modify your keyword strategy constantly. This marriage of technological prowess and user-centric validation is the foundation of a keyword research technique prepared for success in the ever-changing digital world.
4. Content Framework with Topic Clusters
Topic Clusters: An Overview
Topic Clusters emerge as a transformational tactic in the ever-changing environment of Search engine Optimization, elegantly interweaving content relevancy and search engine authority. A subject cluster is built around a pillar page, a comprehensive cornerstone item that acts as the nucleus for a cluster of related information. This paradigm differs from previous keyword-centric methods, emphasizing theme coherence and user-centricity. Search engines recognize the interconnection of material by grouping it around a key subject, signaling a plethora of important information to consumers. Topic clusters improve SEO while also establishing brand authority by providing a comprehensive mastery of a subject. Beyond the technical aspects, the saas marketing strategy fosters user-centricity, addressing the specific needs and queries of the audience interested in SaaS solutions. This introduction encourages inquiry into the strategic complexities of subject clusters, exposing a paradigm change in content organization and SEO optimization.
Topic Cluster Strategy
Indulging in the dynamic arena of SAAS content marketing strategy, Topic Cluster Strategy reveals a complex approach to content architecture. This technique is based on the symbiotic interaction between pillar pages and cluster content. As thorough guides or authoritative overviews, pillar pages anchor a collection of linked articles or subtopics, contributing to the SEO benchmark by signaling content importance to search engines. This unified structure improves the user experience and strengthens Search Engine Optimization efforts by signaling content importance to search engines. The internal linking technique amplifies this effect by generating a network of related material that search engines like. It is critical to distinguish between the role of pillar pages and the depth of cluster content to strike a balance between breadth and depth to cater to varied user intentions.
Implementing this SAAS content strategy necessitates a strategic dance—balancing thematic cohesion, keyword optimization, and user engagement. As a result, improved search engine visibility, enriched user experience, and heightened brand authority become attainable milestones in the ever-competitive digital landscape. Embrace the SAAS Topic Cluster Strategy to revolutionize your content architecture, amplifying not just visibility but the authoritative resonance of your brand.
5. Content Marketing Calendar
The Value of a Content Calendar
A Content Calendar emerges as a keystone in the complicated dance of SaaS content marketing, synchronizing strategic planning and creating uncompromising consistency. At its heart, a content calendar acts as a roadmap for your content journey, giving a comprehensive perspective of impending topics, themes, and campaigns. Its importance stems not just from its organizational acumen but also from its capacity to match content creation with larger corporate goals. By planning your content ahead of time, you save time and guarantee that each item adds significantly to your overall marketing strategy. This insight is priceless, allowing you to capitalize on seasonal patterns, industry events, and consumer touchpoints. The content schedule serves as a strategic compass for your SaaS endeavors with precision and purpose.
Calendar Components
Creating a detailed content calendar necessitates great attention to detail. Each component is essential in defining your content strategy. Begin with the overall framework, which should include the notion of Topic Clusters to improve SEO and provide thematic consistency. Content kinds like blog entries, videos, or infographics should be specified to provide a wide and interesting content mix. Each entry should have a catchy title, carefully selected keywords, a smart URL, and a list of distribution outlets customized to your target demographic. This comprehensive strategy speeds up your content development process while optimizing each item for optimum effect. Hire one of the best saas content marketing agencies to create a robust content strategy for your SEO. The calendar components work together to produce a unified story that resonates across media and target groups as the heartbeat of your content strategy.
Planning Ahead
Foresight is a powerful ally in the fast-paced world of SaaS content marketing. Recommendations for preparing content at least one month ahead of time turn the content calendar from a reactive to a proactive force. This prior preparation allows for extensive study, deliberate thinking, and strategic alignment with corporate objectives. By staying ahead of the curve, you position your content to capitalize on rising trends, industry developments, and client demands. This proactive approach improves the quality and relevancy of your material and allows you to adjust and develop your strategy in response to real-time feedback and changing market conditions. Seeking expert advice from top SaaS marketing agencies can further enhance your preparation, offering insights, collaboration opportunities, and expert perspectives that can elevate your content. Accept the power of forethought and turn your content calendar into a dynamic instrument that accelerates your SaaS content marketing to new heights of success.
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6. Repurpose Your Content
Maximising Content Value
In the area of B2B SaaS content marketing mastery, the key to unlocking long-term value rests in the strategic art of reusing material. Repurposing is more than simply recycling; it is a transformational technique that extends life and expands the reach of your precious content assets. Repackaging and redistributing old material gives it new life, ensuring it remains relevant and resonant over time. This maximizes the return on your content investment and helps you adapt to a wide range of audience tastes and consumption patterns. Repurposing has numerous advantages, ranging from improving SEO and reinforcing brand messaging to reaching new audience groups and strengthening thought leadership. The astute use of repurposing has become more important in the shifting world of B2B SaaS content mastering.
Ideas for Repurposing
Explore the enormous ocean of repurposing opportunities to expand your SaaS content portfolio and boost demand generation metrics. Transforming blog content into engaging Medium articles broadens your reach. Strategically incorporating keywords like "organic traffic" and "search intent" captures the attention of users seeking SaaS solutions, aligning with effective SAAS marketing principles.
Use Google Analytics to gain insights regarding user activity. Optimize SAAS content for organic search and make educated judgments to improve marketing efforts. Track blog articles, eBooks, and other media to ensure a data-driven and results-oriented strategy.When generating content for your B2B SAAS firm, consider the demands of your target audience. A carefully defined audience and knowing their pain points are essential for creating captivating content that resonates with decision-makers.Maximize content value by implementing a diversified distribution strategy that includes online communities. Engage in debates, contribute knowledge, and quietly market your SAAS brand. Building relationships in these areas leads to organic traffic and beneficial collaborations.
A dynamic content schedule strikes a balance between developing new content and reusing current stuff. Regular updates provide consistency, which improves brand relevance and authority.The SAAS content marketing guide covers a wide range of topics, including core ideas, the Jobs-to-be-Done methodology, and the four stages of the purchase journey: awareness, consideration, decision, and retention. Align information with organizational objectives while purposefully directing customers.
In the keyword research dilemma, strike a balance between search volume and addressing user pain concerns. Topic Clusters in content frameworks usher in a new era of SEO by telling a relevant tale for both search engines and users. A content marketing calendar synchronizes strategic planning while ensuring uncompromising consistency. Prepare for adaptability in the face of shifting trends, ensuring that your SAAS content stays current and powerful.
Conclusion
The narrative of this comprehensive guide to SaaS content marketing culminates in a symphony of strategic orchestration. The trip has been centered on inquiry and invention, revealing the dynamic complexities that characterize success in the digital environment.
The guide is a compass navigating the diverse facets of SaaS content mastery, from the foundational principles of understanding the ideal customer through the Jobs-to-be-Done framework to the strategic delineation of the buying journey's four stages—Awareness, Consideration, Decision, and Retention. The strategic connection between content and company goals enables intentional alignment that effortlessly takes consumers through their purchase adventure
The paradox of keyword research creates a delicate balance between search volume and resolving user pain points, while the introduction of Topic Clusters into content frameworks ushers in a new age in SEO strategy. The delicate tango between pillar pages and cluster content generates a story that is meaningful to both search engines and consumers, building brand authority and relevance. A content marketing calendar emerges as a keystone, synchronizing strategic planning and maintaining uncompromising consistency while preparing ahead allows for agility in reaction to changing trends. Finally, the guide delves into the art of maximizing content value through intelligent repurposing, resulting in a dynamic and linked content ecosystem that resonates across several platforms.
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Deciphering the content marketing flywheel dynamics for SaaS businesses
The content marketing flywheel emerges as a powerful paradigm in the dynamic area of SaaS marketing, proposing a cyclical technique for creating connections and momentum through meaningful content. The concept is divided into four key stages: Adopt, Adore, Advocate, and Activate. This article digs into each step, examining the corresponding content kinds, key KPIs, and overall goals. Organizations may expedite the buyer's experience, increase client retention, and nurture long-term success by adeptly embracing and implementing the SaaS content marketing flywheel which helps in saas growth strategies. This comprehensive strategy captures the essence of a developing marketing landscape, equipping organizations to prosper in the industry's ever-changing dynamics. Adopt Stage: The critical "Adopt" stage of the SaaS content marketing flywheel is purposefully intended to attract target customer profiles and drive engagement. This phase incorporates a technical SEO specialist's skills to optimize content for search engines, including rigorous keyword research for increased exposure. Blog entries, videos, and social media material of various forms are created to appeal to the target demographic. In the Adopt stage, critical metrics, like saas ltv calculation, determine success, including tracking of website and organic traffic, page views, time on page, and conversion rates. These metrics give useful information about the efficacy of content in grabbing audience attention and eliciting desired behaviors. The implementation of robust technical SEO for b2b saas strategies and semantic saas seo strategies and the creation of valuable, relevant content becomes instrumental in laying the foundation for a compelling customer journey. Saffron Edge, one of the best SEO Saas companies can help you in strategizing for the same. As businesses prioritize this Adopt phase, they position themselves strategically in the market, ensuring that their content not only attracts but also resonates with potential customers. The meticulous orchestration of SEO techniques and content creation sets the stage for a seamless transition into subsequent stages, marking the initiation of a dynamic and customer-centric flywheel. Adore Stage: Once the audience has been effectively recruited, the key "Adore" stage takes center stage in the SaaS content marketing flywheel. This phase emphasizes client retention and engagement, recognizing the immense significance of developing long-term connections. Personalized content and unique offers are at the core of the Adore stage, working as catalysts in cultivating ties with the audience. Personalized emails, engaging webinars, interactive material, and loyalty programs are all used during the Adore stage to strengthen the brand-customer connection. These efforts go beyond transactional contacts, seeking to provide clients with a memorable and personalized experience. Approximately 93% of customers engage in repeat purchases when dealing with companies that provide outstanding customer service. Customer retention rate, which provides insight into the percentage of customers that continue to use the SaaS product over time, is an important metric at this point. Tracking attrition, repeat purchases, and customer satisfaction surveys all help to determine the efficacy of various engagement techniques. The Adore stage is about more than simply customer retention; it aims to create a genuine relationship that converts pleased consumers into brand supporters. Having the best saas website designs by Saffron Edge can help in conversion Businesses may secure the sustainability of client connections by prioritizing personalized interaction and unique services. This also lays the framework for the succeeding stages of the content marketing flywheel. Advocate Stage: Within the SaaS content marketing flywheel, pleased clients go from the Adore stage to the powerful "Advocate" stage. Here, the strategy emphasis switches to using the powerful force of consumer advocacy to generate organic development. Businesses aggressively encourage satisfied consumers to share their great experiences via a wide range of content channels. According to research conducted by HubSpot, 81% of consumers place more trust in recommendations from family and friends compared to endorsements from companies. This includes persuasive case studies, glowing testimonials, user-generated content, and smart alliances with industry leaders. These collaborative activities help to boost the brand's narrative by offering real and favorable customer satisfaction reports. During the Advocate stage, key metrics like the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and social media engagement emerge as critical markers of the brand's resonance and outreach. All these key metrics can be measured from your saas dashboard to help you in saas reporting. The Advocate stage is about capitalizing on the power of word-of-mouth marketing, not merely presenting delighted consumers. Businesses create a loyal client base that becomes a powerful driving force for growing the brand's impact by converting consumers into brand champions. This organic growth, fuelled by real customer endorsements, is a critical milestone in the SaaS content marketing flywheel, consolidating the brand's reputation and broadening its industry reach. Thereby, incorporating saas lead gen strategies into your content marketing strategy. Activate Stage: The "Activate" stage of the SaaS content marketing flywheel is deliberately intended to harness the momentum accumulated by engaged clients, driving the organization into a world of sustainable development. At this point, the emphasis shifts to using current customer excitement as a driving force to produce leads and recommendations.You cannot deny that having SaaS branding in place along with a converting website can help in better conversions giving your business a high brand recall from your consumers. Having your brand on SaaS review websites like Capterra and G2 can help you in having more credibility. The Activate stage conducts a symphony of customized activities, such as unique promotions, precision-targeted marketing, collaborative efforts, and the dissemination of thought leadership material. These multiple techniques act as catalysts, ensuring that the marketing flywheel continues to spin. During this phase, key performance measures include free trial sign-ups, activation rates, conversion rates from trial to paid subscriptions, and the expansion of income streams through upsell and cross-sell initiatives. The Activate stage prioritizes product-led growth, which not only capitalizes on the existing client base but also strategically positions the product or service to attract new customers. Conclusion: The SaaS content marketing flywheel offers a holistic approach to customer engagement, from initial attraction to sustained growth. Each stage plays a vital role, and metrics guide businesses in assessing effectiveness and making data-driven decisions. As companies embrace this model, they position themselves to optimize the SaaS customer journey, maximize retention, and drive revenue. Having saas popular products like Hubspot for saas automation can help you in saving time and streamlining your processes. The flywheel isn't just a strategy; it's a dynamic framework that propels businesses toward lasting success in the competitive realm of SaaS marketing, defining what is a SaaS business and how it operates within the market. ...
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7 Ways to Ace Your SEO in 2019
The way search engines like Google rank websites changes everyday. Yes, you heard that right! Apart from the big algorithm changes that Google announces once in a while, certain little tweaks and optimizations are made to their algorithms everyday to provide better results to searchers which you don’t even know about. And 2019 is going to be no different! With a few new algorithms introduced this year, Google will give more importance to those websites that adhere to those algorithms for sure in some time to come. Also, Google is focusing more on providing the best search experience to their searchers and if your website doesn’t, you will lose a few rankings on the SERPs for sure in the year to come. So, what should you do exactly to stay in the good books of Google and ace your Search Engine Optimization in 2019? This post is all about that and a lot more. So, let’s dive right in - Rankbrain is going to be more prominent than ever Rankbrain is one of the most prominent algorithms Google has released in recent years. But what exactly is it? It is a Google indexing algorithm backed up with AI which promotes/demotes websites on SERPs based on a certain set of factors. It is designed in a way to make sure that the best results come first for searchers searching for a specific query. Since it’s a machine learning algorithm, it automatically adjusts websites on the SERPs and doesn’t require human intervention at all and can make changes to SERP almost instantly. But what’s it based on? The algorithm was implemented to make sure users get the best search engine experience and the websites that they click on do that as well. So, websites that focused more on providing the best UX to visitors were rewarded by gaining Google’s top real estate, which gets the most clicks. Doing all of that is handled by Rankbrain now. So, you’ll have to keep Rankbrain in mind and optimize the UX of your entire website to provide a better experience to the people who stumble on your website after searching on Google. Doing this is going to be extremely important in 2019! But to ace Rankbrain, you need to know the exact factors on the basis of which it grades websites on the SERPs, which are - 1. Dwell Time Dwell time is the time a visitor spends on your website. Obviously, a visitor won’t stay on your web page or blog if the content is irrelevant to them or is of bad quality. So, providing quality content that aligns with searchers intent is of utmost importance to excel in the Rankbrain era. 2. Click-Through-Rate Rankbrain is designed to look closely at the CTR of each and every web page on the internet to give an appropriate ranking to them. For example, if a search engine result on the 6th position is getting a higher number of clicks than a result on the 3rd position for the same query, Rankbrain would notice and bump up the rankings of the result on the 6th position. But since dwell time is a factor as well, just getting a higher number of clicks on your web pages will not be enough, you will have to provide the kind of content that makes users stay as well to improve your search engine rankings. Take care of these two factors for all your webpages & blogs and Rankbrain would do the rest. Go Mobile or go obsolete Google cares about their searchers. And apparently, a majority of them search for queries from their mobile devices. Mobile searchers have long surpassed desktop searchers and Google wants to provide them with the best user experience. For the same, Google rolled out the Mobile-first indexing algorithm in March this year which changed how the algorithm accessed websites forever. Under this new algorithm, Google crawlers would prefer a mobile website first for indexation and ranking to primarily provide better results to their mobile searchers. So, having a mobile website that properly supports your desktop website is not something you can procrastinate anymore, it has become an absolute necessity under this new algorithm. Google prefers having a mobile responsive website over other methods of going mobile because of its ease. But having a mobile website is not enough, you’ll have to provide a great user experience on your mobile website as well (remember, Rankbrain) to make an impact in 2019. Focus on working on the speed of your website According to a study performed by Google themselves, a website’s speed is the greatest factor that determines if a website’s UX is satisfactory or not. And since, Google has been lately focusing so much on providing a great user experience to all their users, they rolled out an update that ranked websites based on this sole factor. They called it the ‘Speed Update’. While the factor is not the heaviest, focusing on optimizing the speed of your website will certainly give you a advantage and it would greatly improve the UX of your website, which is always a nice thing to do under the watch of Rankbrain. To make your site load faster, you can get rid of heavy elements on your website or minify or combine scripts. Or else, you can use Google’s own tool to check and optimize the speed on your desktop and mobile website - PageSpeed Insights. This tool will tell you everything there is you can do to make your website load faster and perform better in SERPs. The increasing relevance of unlinked Brand mentions Google has long been solely dependant on backlinks for determining the authority of websites over the web. The general idea is, the more backlinks a website has, higher will be it’s authority in the eyes of Google, and higher it will be placed in SERPs. And it has been like this since the inception of Google. But all of this is going to change. The way your brand is mentioned over the web on social media conversations, blog posts, forums and any other medium is closely looked over by Google. It takes into account the tone, intent and context of each brand mention over the web to ascertain if it’s positive or negative and the way people talk about you over the web will certainly affect your ranking in 2019. ‘Unlinked brand mentions’ over the web are gaining relevance each day and it calls for social listening. You’ll have to jump on each and every conversation happening about your brand over the web and make sure it’s in positive light to maintain your brand reputation in the eyes of Google. Google’s Gary Illyes mentioned it himself. So, if you’re not actively monitoring your brand mentions over the web and making sure they add to the overall reputation of your brand, you will struggle to increase your search engine rankings is some time to come. To monitor your brand mentions over the web, you can make use of tools like ‘Awario’ and ‘Brand Mentions’ that would help you do just that with ease! Searchers are consuming more video content than ever People preferring to consume video content over any other type of content is nothing new and has long been a trend that’s still going strong. If you are looking to gain a lot of engagement from your audience on your website, social media or blogs, then video is certainly your best bet because people simply prefer video over anything else. Obviously, quickly watching a video about something is always easier than reading a ton of content and that’s why video is still so popular. In this world, where every brand is throwing up a lot of content on the web and is seeking attention from their audience, people have found a better way to consume content on a daily basis that quickly gives them the facts and is engaging to consume. So, if you’re not making use of Video, you're definitely missing out on a lot of engagement and additional SEO benefits. I would suggest you quickly start creating some video content for your brand and publish it on Youtube. Since, Youtube is owned by Google, you can also enjoy some obvious search engine benefits in the time to come. Target people searching for answers on Google Assistant Optimizing your content for voice searchers is currently a hot topic. And it has all the reasons to be. Voice searches globally are on a tremendous rise and you’ll be missing out if you don’t write content that targets those users head-on. But how do you target them? Here are 3 ways that would help Google Assistant pick your content over others when it comes to answering voice search queries put up by searchers - You need to be on the top 3 results for Google Assistant to even consider picking up your content. If your content appears in the featured snippet, your chances to get picked up by the Google Assistant increases by folds. Here’s how you can get featured in the featured snippet. Answer your own questions in your content. Usually, most of the voice queries start with a question and to answer that question, Google Assistant usually picks up the content that revolves around that exact question. So, try answering the most basic questions people might have around your focused keyword. To know more about what else you can do to target those voice searchers, Forbes compiled a list of best advices from 15 members of the Forbes Communications Council… do have a look at it. Quality content and backlinks are still important While the above suggested ways are vital to ace your SEO in 2019, don’t forget that content and backlinks are still the top ranking factors that matter the most to Google. With Google placing more importance on the user experience that each search engine result provides to users (Rankbrain), I think creating quality content should be your top priority for acing SEO In 2019. If your content provides real value to your target audience, they will be inclined more to read it all. And when they dwell more on your content, Google will notice via Rankbrain that you have a knack of providing quality content to all your users. Which I think is the point of SEO in general. Link building and providing quality content goes hand-in-hand as only when people love your content, they’ll want to share that content on their own blogs and within their own social circles, expanding the reach of your content and building some valuable backlinks along the way. If you continue to provide awesome content to your audience, the biggies in your industry will notice and would want to link to you too. That’s the essence of natural link building right there, and it’s not going to lose value in 2019 and beyond! If you are looking to approach your SEO in 2019 with a bang, the above mentioned ways are the perfect way to do it. But before you start implementing them, keep this in mind, Rankbrain ranks website keeping in mind the response of your audience to your content. If they bounce even before your site loads completely, Rankbrain would not even let you reach the first page of Google, let alone acing it. It’s a machine learning algorithm that does it all for Google and looks at the UX signals of your website really closely to award rankings. And it’s not easy to game Rankbrain because of it’s self-learning mechanism. You’ll have to provide quality content to your audience to get your SEO ball rolling in 2019 and there’s no escaping it now! Having said that, I hope the above mentioned ways will help you greatly in improving your website’s overall SEO potential! Being a SEO agency ourselves, we’ll rely greatly on these tactics as well to provide the best services to all our clients. If you think there are other ways (I know there are) that have helped you greatly in achieving SEO success lately and you're confident that they’ll be of equal importance in 2019 when it comes to increasing a website’s search engine rankings, do let us know about them in the comments. ...
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Tips for Brick-and-Mortar Retailers to Improve Revenue Amidst COVID-19
The arrival of COVID-19 has made all the predictions regarding 2020 go astray. All the businesses that were expecting growth and profit during 2020 have to come up with new survival strategies since COVID-19 has changed many things for most of the industries. You will be surprised to know that about 60% of the businesses from all over the world have been closed because of COVID-19 and this number is going to keep on increasing. Although each and every type of industry has been affected because of COVID-19, the one particular sector that has been affected the most because of the arrival of the virus is the retail sector or what people call as brick and mortar retailers. If you are running a similar kind of store and finding it difficult to keep your business alive then it's high time to come up with new strategies in order to improve revenues. The year 2020 might have turned out to be a big opportunity for online businesses but the same year has turned out to be a nightmare for brick and mortar retailers. But in order to make things easy for you, in this blog post, we will not only discuss possible solutions for retail stores to improve their revenue but also go through the current situations and look at the most common issues. The effects of COVID-19 on the retail sector When the dust will settle and COVID-19 will be gone completely, a new normal will arrive in the market and this new normal will include drastically changed human behavior and habits. One such change in human behavior and habit will be a shift from impulse buying to planned purchase. Window shopping will keep on decreasing and this will lead to reduced sales in retail shops. Another trend that you will see on the rise is crisis spending where customers will be restricted to purchase only essential products because of the economic slowdown. The crisis spending will continue to be a part of the consumer habit even after the end of the virus. Another change that we are currently encountering is focused on individualism. For example, you will see that there is a sudden decrease in the demand for group items since gathering is being completely avoided. Tips for improving revenue amidst COVID-19 Just because the current situation is tough and you will have to go through many changes, this doesn’t mean that you should also belong to the 60% of the business mentioned at the outset of the article. There are many retail shops out there that are still surviving and making improvements to their overall revenue. Source: Unsplash Here are some of the tips that you can use in order to improve revenue amidst COVID-19 Increase customer engagement via various mediums If you are running a retail store then you must be aware of the fact that only 20% of your customers produce 80% of your revenue. Since these customers will always remain important for the survival and growth of your business, it is crucial for you to pay special attention to these customers, especially during the current situation. The loyalty of these customers will keep your retail store alive during the pandemic and this is why you can’t ignore them. Whether it is emails, blogs, articles, or newsletters, you will have to use all the mediums possible in order to stay connected with these customers as they should be your main focus, especially when you are struggling to survive. If you succeed in illustrating that you are there for your loyal customers during a tough time, you will be able to nurture your loyal customers. Identify your loyal customers and start making changes to your current strategy. You can follow down on the path of focusing your investment towards marketing efforts and build a presence online. This will help your customers connect with you more easily and you will be able to boost engagement. It will also help you target new customers who are looking for viable options. Localizing your digital marketing strategies will enhance the chances of people finding you and it will eventually bring in business. Leveraging social media Social media engagement has increased multifold over this past year. If you own a brick and mortar retail business, it becomes essential for you to garner an audience for yourself. You can also leverage the platforms in educating the masses about latest trends that you follow or the sanitization process you use to keep you customers safe and whatnot. If you are having trouble bringing in business, do not get disheartened and work towards building a brand. You need to think long-term and set up a digital base for yourself. No matter how local your brand is, you would need to establish a presence digitally to survive what this pandemic has brought on you. Gift cards This might look like a marketing tip from the 90s but you should know that it works really well even during the current situation. Gift cards provide all the different types of retailers with an immediate injection of cash and in addition to this, it also improves repeat purchases among customers as well. You should know that gift cards are an amazing way to stay in front of the audience and it can also be helpful in acquiring new customers as well. Even during the current situation, you can easily send digital gift cards to all your customers and make them feel special. But your digital gift cards shouldn’t be limited to your customers only as you can use them even for your prospects. Enhance your digital presence by structuring your messages The importance of messaging has increased by many folds just because of the current situation. All the firms out there now need to be more sensitive when it comes down to customer’s needs and this can only be done when firms will start reworking their marketing and advertising strategies. If you were running a campaign that included the gathering of people, you will need to make some changes to those campaigns as you will need to show the reality of the current situation through your marketing campaigns. You can’t keep using the same marketing campaign if it doesn’t fit according to the current situation. But this doesn’t mean that you will have to completely change your core branding message as all that you will need to do is to make sure that your campaigns fit like a glove in the current situation. Instead of being opportunistic, you will have to stay authentic during these tough times. Common and regular mistakes in your marketing campaign will mean that customers are less likely to interact with your company. This would be the best time to invest in making your marketing efforts more aligned. You can even get your digital marketing outsourced to save up on the extra expenditure. Working on shipping cost If you are planning for any type of cost-cutting then you should consider your shipping department for such a purpose. If possible, you should start looking for fulfilling your orders manually and you should never forget including local shipping features. If the customers that you are serving are close to your firm then you can offer them a local delivery option in which the local rates will be applied to selected zones. You will have to align the shipping cost according to the current situation. The NEED to move online You should know that because of the shift in consumer behavior during the lockdown, most of the consumers have moved online to purchase goods. There are many countries out there that are still going in for a lockdown because of the second wave of the coronavirus and this will further fuel the growth of online usage. Even people who restricted digital platforms in the past are now moving to it because they have no other options. When the dust settles, people will get into the new normal, the usage of the online platform will keep on increasing. Because of this you will have to shift to the online platform and it doesn't mean complete closure of your brick and mortar shop, it just means having another platform for the consumers to buy your goods. You can simply start by choosing a website developing company and get your website built in a professional manner. There are maximum chances that the website developing company may provide SEO services through which you will be able to rank up in the search results and this will further boost your digital presence. Soon after the shift to the digital platform, you will witness a robust growth in your revenue. Get ready for the new normal because even after the end of the pandemic as consumer behavior and habit will continue to evolve. Now, if you are ready to step ahead and evolve with them, connect with Saffron Edge now! ...
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