It’s All In The Marketing And Quality (According to Google)

I was reading about Blue Bell this morning. Anyone from Texas knows how loyal  and even somewhat territorial we are about Blue Bell Ice Cream, but the article went on to ask if it really was superior ice cream or was it superior marketing and the case was made that it was superior marketing. Folksy,  downhome, made in the Brenham, (Houston or Austin Suburb depending on who you ask),  homemade vanilla ice cream.  I agree its all about marketing.

This all got me to thinking. Google has made more tweaks to their algorithms this month that favor quality. I haven’t found anything yet that clearly defines what those tweaks were, after all they just admitted to it last night. But moving towards a certain quality bar is not a bad idea. It used to be that many SEO firms wrote for a mathematical equation and not for what’s best for the end user.

Those that have been putting up good pages, have been rewarded. But really it’s a solid marketing strategy to demonstrate to prospective clients that you actually know what you talking about. Gone are the days of the brochure website and just like Bluebell, each business should be carving out a niche for themselves and being an expert. This includes demonstrating that on the website and across all the digital marketing channels.

I often hear from clients, that they want simply 10 pages on their website and they are frustrated that we have created so many pages. What they don’t get is that the marketing behind those pages lets their visitors know they are experts in their field.  It’s very difficult to convey being the best with so little said. Its hard to create a niche with 10 pages. And it’s hard create a comprehensive digital marketing plan with 10 pages.

Content still remains to be the thing that allows businesses to compete in the digital marketing arena. And despite all the discussion about links, if you build good content pages, the links will come, I am a firm believer in that premise. Yes there needs to be more link credit built in  from social sites, where as in the old days people had their own pages and would make links and participate in forums, but the advent and diversity of social has changed that landscape some and maybe the algorithms haven’t changed enough.  But overall, good content yields good links and should be a major consideration in the marketing plan.

So we all can borrow a few lessons from BlueBell and carve out what makes your business unique. Each business regardless the size needs to better define their marketing and understand that its not just about a website or just about a press release or just about a link or best of all, being to small to care about marketing. It is about a coordinated, high-quality effort to form a cohesive and consistent message about your company, otherwise known as your brand.