Inbound marketing is the concept of earning the attention of your audience through the development of unique content − like blogs, videos, newsletters, SEO, social media and more. In short, promoting your eCommerce site.
Creating high-quality content is hard work, and ensuring that your content ranks on search engine results pages is even more difficult. Since there's no single magic formula to ranking #1 on Google or creating content that your audience loves, we're sharing some strategies to attract more visitors and improve your overall inbound marketing strategy.
Inbound Marketing Strategy: 6 Ways Drive More Site Traffic
Enhancing your eCommerce inbound marketing strategy is important when it comes to attracting, engaging and delighting customers. We've outlined 3 SEO tips to help your website rank on search engines and 3 content-related tips to help your brand engage more customers.
- Optimize URLs
- Use header tags
- Include keywords in alt text
- Create a blogging calendar
- Have a strong social media presence
- Leverage eCommerce advertising
SEO Tips
Optimize URLs
URLs aren't just the unique location of a web page on the internet. In fact, search engines like Google take URLs into consideration when deciding on the ranking of a web page. So, if you want your web page to rank high organically, try optimizing your URLs.
Here's what you can do:
- Keep URLs readable
- Use hyphens instead of underscores
- Include targeted keywords in URLs
- Avoid capital letters
If a web page does not exist anymore and a person lands on that page, it will present a 404 error. Correct this by implementing a 301 redirect. This type of redirect tells search engines that the original URL is now linking to a different page.
Avoid redirect chains at all costs. Redirect chains occur when URL #1 links to URL #2, which then links to URL #3. To resolve redirect chains, edit your links so that URL #1 links directly to URL #3.
To learn more about URL structure, check out this Complete Guide To Ranking In Search.
Use Header Tags
If you're not currently using header tags on your web pages, we encourage you to start now. Header tags help to organize and format a web page, which makes it easier for viewers to digest and comprehend the content.
Headings (H1) are the most important, followed by sub-headings (H2-H6). Include targeted keywords here as well − especially in the H1 − to drive more searchers to your site and improve your inbound marketing strategy.
Let's take a look at the blog that you're currently reading, for example. This page's H1 is the title at the very top and is followed by an H2 sub-heading in the beginning of the article. With "SEO Tips" as the H3, readers instinctively read the H4s and understand that the H4s are the SEO tips that the H3 refers to.
Include Keywords In Alt Text
Using alt text on images is a principle of website accessibility. Alt text helps people with vision impairments understand what an image is. It also displays when a person's browser cannot load an image.
Use descriptive alt text so that someone who cannot see your image knows what it is. In addition to helping people read images on a website, alt text helps search engine crawlers index an image and better understand how it relates to the content on the page. To help rank in search results, be sure to include targeted keywords in alt text.
Content Strategy
Create A Blogging Calendar
If blogging is not a part of your inbound marketing strategy, we suggest getting started with it. Don't know what to write about? Check out some of these business blog ideas to spark your inspiration.
As you get started, we recommend creating a blogging calendar, so you can organize content and topic ideas. Also, determine a publishing cadence so that your brand posts consistently. From there, your audience will know when/how often to expect your content!
Have A Strong Social Media Presence
Promoting content on social media is extremely important when it comes to creating a successful inbound marketing strategy. For some people, social media is the first place they go to find out information about a brand.
With continuous improvements in social selling, like Instagram eCommerce, people are turning to social media platforms to make purchases directly through these channels.
That's why it's critical to remain consistent in your audiences' new feeds. Just like you would with a blogging calendar, we recommend creating a social media calendar. It helps businesses outline what days/times to post specific content. Plus, it helps to remain consistent and establish a strong social media presence.
Leverage eCommerce Advertising
Advertising your eCommerce store on paid media channels like Google, Gmail, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat help to increase reach, brand awareness and conversion rate.
From Google Shopping, Text and Display ads to retargeting ads and video ads, there are so many opportunities to get your content in front of your audience. For more in-depth information about each of these paid media platforms, check out this eCommerce Advertising Guide.
Conclusion
We hope that this blog helps you to improve your inbound marketing strategy. If you have any questions about any of these tips or are looking for help with your eCommerce marketing initiatives, don't hesitate to contact us. Just fill out the form below, and a member of our team will be in touch
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About the author
Spencer Flaherty is an eCommerce blogger who loves exploring the latest trends and technologies in the industry. From chatbots to virtual reality, they cover it all.
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