Blog.

Hannah Reed
28 February 2022
Industrial News

Algorithm updates. Semantic markup. Search intent. One thing’s for sure: search marketing ain’t what it used to be! Luckily, all these changes are good news for digital marketers like us. Because we’re not trying to game the system…

And when you’re an honest marketer trying to deliver real value, you’re building a solid foundation for search marketing success. That being the case, search marketing can help you boost your website’s traffic and visitors’ trust while supporting your other digital marketing disciplines too. Before we dig into the details, though, let’s cover a few foundational principles of Search Marketing.

SEO

SEO is a broad field divided into 2 big camps.

  • The structural, or technical, side: People in this camp focus on the technical details of your website rather than the quality of your content.
  • The content side of things: People in this camp know how to create well-optimized content, build links, and boost social shares.

There’s no contest. To succeed at search marketing, you need both. When you need to create link assets or get more backlinks, you need an SEO content specialist. But if Google doesn’t seem to see those assets, and you’re not ranking, you’ve likely got structural issues. You need an SEO technician.

Search Engine Result Page

Another thing to keep in mind is that SEO isn’t a one-and-done task. Hundreds and thousands of websites are constantly battling for the #1 spot in search engines for their target keywords—and securing that spot is kind of like playing the kid’s game, “king of the mountain.” You may knock off the guy who’s sitting there now, but someone is coming behind you, trying to knock you off as soon as you get there. Which means your content needs to be finessed, updated, and promoted to rise in the search engine result pages (SERPs) and secure your top-ranking spot. Meanwhile, everything needs to be working right from a technical perspective.

iphone-1 - Island Digital Marketing

Finally, search constantly changes. Google’s algorithm isn’t static. It’s based on artificial intelligence, and it’s learning more every day. As a result, the rules change too. The tactics you use today won’t be the ones you use next month or next year. And that’s okay. Expect to continue learning and adjusting the tactics you use. Don’t resist; just accept it as part of the process—because the only way to win at this game is by following the rules.

References:

Digital Marketer. (n.d.). The Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing. Course Hero. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.coursehero.com/file/94978188/Ultimate-Guide-to-Digital-Marketingpdf/

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