Strong digital marketing practices are a necessity with today’s web, as there are too many sites fighting for too little attention. It doesn’t matter how compelling that blog is, or how nice the home page looks if the site isn’t built and designed using smart marketing practices. And a talented firm should be brought in to execute those practices, as a company would have to dedicate an enormous amount of resources to do it in-house. In general, bringing in a firm to manage the process is a smart investment that will provide returns many times over.
What kinds of digital marketing methods can a firm provide?
SEO is something that most company owners are familiar with, and firms still consider this as a major component of what they do. However, SEO is constantly evolving, as search engines like Google fine tune what they are looking for in a site, and add extra functionality in their engines. Now, Google considers dozens of factors when determining how to rank a site, ranging from design methods, to site speed, to keyword usage, to update frequency. In a way, producing an SEO compatible site is like pushing and pulling dozens of levers, and it takes a steady hand.
If a company wants to maximize their SEO potential, the firm will likely have to design a new site from scratch. That’s because Google places a huge emphasis on certain design methods, such as responsive web design (RWD). RWD is an extremely user friendly approach to design because it adjusts to the size of the screen. The content flows like water, filling any space it is given, and that makes it ideal for mobile devices. This will ensure a single site is used for both desktop and mobile platforms, which will prevent both sites from leeching traffic from each other.
A company will also need content creation if they are going to remain relevant for long, because Google also strongly considers sites that deliver relevant content. And to Google, relevant often means recent, in addition to the content being informative. Content Marketing may be the most important element of digital marketing, but it requires a great deal of manpower to keep up with. Fortunately, many firms have in-house writers that can produce content for the business’s site, and push it closer to the top of the rankings.
Local SEO and citation management are needed when a company wants to reach the customers in their area. Google has a robust local ranking algorithm and a couple of extra features that are for local listings only, like the 3-pack or carousel. Appearing in one of these special features will boost a company’s visibility greatly, but getting there takes additional digital marketing initiatives. Citation management is among them, and is the practice of maintaining consistent, accurate information everywhere the site is listed. Industry databases, local business listings, chamber of commerce listings and other databases must have identical information, such as contact info and the address. If there is any discrepancy between listings, it may cause Google to index the site incorrectly, or consider it untrustworthy. And nothing sinks ranking relevance faster than being considered an untrustworthy site.
Digital marketing is an involved process. So involved that it is best left to an experienced firm.