How Can Email Drive SEO and Content Marketing Campaigns?

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In the present day where social media has become the go-to platform to reach out to new customers, email isn’t being used in online marketing campaigns as much. Considering that email has been around for so long, it’s understandable how some companies would be more inclined to use newer strategies. But just because it’s been around for so long, people shouldn’t underestimate its reach and effectivity. Despite its decline in popularity, email is still an effective supplement to drive SEO results, as well as boost engagement for content marketing campaigns.

 

For those who use email in SEO and content marketing, they readily admit that their campaigns would not be as effective if they do not use this medium. And we can understand why; email is immensely cost-effective, as you can build a successful email campaign by making use of free or inexpensive email platforms, a solid amount of subscribers, and some effective ideas. It is also scalable, and relatively risk-free considering it needs very little investment. Another thing about email that shouldn’t be underestimated is its ability to spread content to a vast number of people.

In some ways, email’s ability to reach a target audience is still unparalleled.

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Email’s power to boost SEO and market content

 

Email can be used to indirectly influence SEO results. When companies use email to link social media channels, it doesn’t affect SEO directly, but it does expand the reach of the content’s visibility, which can possibly lead to gaining more inbound links. This will in turn give more authority to the website, and will improve ranking in the organic search results. Email can also be used to encourage engagement in the website’s blogs, and when users spend more time on the website, the more value it gains.

 

Creating an interested subscriber base is also important in reducing bounce rates. Whenever a user visits a website and then leaves without visiting other pages or engaging with the content, it lowers the value search engines give that website. Bounce rates can affect any website no matter how optimized, and this is where email can come in handy. When companies have a subscriber base of interested users, whenever new content comes up or any other call to action is being announced, an email blast can produce substantial results. This generally has a high chance of success when the recipients of the emails are users who have shown to be interested in previous content.

 

Creating a solid link profile is also very important if companies want to stay ahead in SEO rankings. An effective method in doing this is to create high-quality content focusing on popular topics that attract links. Email can then be used to spread the content—while including those links—to a broader range of users. This will also generate an even greater amount of links, and all of these will create a good link profile that will boost SEO results.

 

Studies have also shown that the quality and amount of reviews a website gets can significantly affect its ranking. Besides that, local search ranking in and of itself is still very important to a business. Emailing loyal customers for a review in Google can yield a significant amount of responses. Users will always be willing to give feedback on a service or product, and for some, they just need a little nudge in the right direction for them to take action. This can also be bundled in the weekly newsletters and the like, and this kind of tactic can also be used to get testimonials and reviews on product and landing pages.

 

Aside from generating more users and subscribers, email is also a very effective medium for creating a stronger relationship with your current customers. Regular emails sent to current subscribers go a long way in engendering customer loyalty. A way to do this is to keep them up-to-date on any events or newly published content. Loyal customers are inclined to spread word of your brand, and having people vouch for what you give will make your company more trustworthy to any new followers.

 

Newsletters can also be repurposed to become blogs. When you publish great content in newsletters, you shouldn’t have them go to waste by having them sit in the inbox until kingdom come. Because email content cannot directly translate to better SEO results, some companies have archived their previous newsletter content, and made it into blog posts. Long newsletters can be used as stand-alone articles, and the shorter ones can also be bundled together and then reorganized to become another post. This is an effective way of reusing newsletters as this can advertise the newsletter to non-subscribers, which will then generate interest in the regular emails.

 

Perhaps the best thing about making use of emails in campaigns is that companies will have more room to experiment. Taking a chance on a new strategy by using email is very cost-efficient, and because the possible losses are so low, this will give companies more creative freedom when thinking up of new campaigns. If a certain venture goes astray, it does not directly affect SEO and content marketing results either, and companies will have a better feel of the needs of their subscriber base as well.

 

Tips on Using Email in SEO

 

1. Properly categorize your email lists into groups

 

When you create content, you do so with a specific kind of people in mind. Do the same with your emails. After thinning out your email list and only keeping those who are engaging with your emails, further segregate them into different categories. This way you can measure how effective your campaign is in various groups.

 

2. Make text version emails instead of fancier HTML

 

There is a considerable number of users who view their emails as text-only. With this is mind, if you were to send emails that contain videos and images in the HTML version, it will not be seen by these users. Another point to consider is that depending on the device, text email often loads faster, and it will also have less chance of winding up in the spam folder.

 

3. Personalize emails and make sure to keep it brief

 

Studies have shown there is a higher chance of users responding when content you target towards your audience is more personalized, and email is no different. When sending emails, make sure to use the first name of the subscriber, and since emails are supposed to be short and to the point, make sure it doesn’t go higher than 400 words. This will boost engagement, and will also help with click-through and open rates.

 

4. Go with an email service provider with the best features

 

Though going with an ESP that offers their services for no charge might seem tempting, it is still best to go for one that has the best features for your email campaign, even if they do come at a price. Some ESPs offer the ability to monitor clicks, bounce rates, and more. These kinds of features will help you monitor how effective your emails are, and will help you be more efficient with your work. Try to research which ESP would work best for you, as choosing the right ESP can be the difference between success and failure of your email campaign.

 

5. Focus on the quality of the people on your list instead of quantity

 

It may sound extreme, but if some subscribers aren’t part of your target audience, you should remove them from your email list. This might seem counterintuitive, but there is a reason for this. Trying to have unengaged subscribers turn into a sales lead is unlikely to bear fruit. When using email as part of the SEO strategy, the workflow should be focused on turning possible leads into a sale. If there is a member of your email list that is unlikely to respond to your calls to action, they basically just taking up space in your subscriber pool, and it would be better to simply cut them loose.

 

A good thing to do here would be to send out an email if someone has not been clicking on your email for a number of months, and apologize that they haven’t been seeing value in what you send out. Then say you would like to save them time by removing them from the subscription list. This can also bring those who were on the fence firmly on your side, as some people would then choose to be more responsive to your emails.

 

To close

 

Considering email has been here for almost five decades, there hasn’t been that much innovation done on it. Despite that though, it works well with newer technology, and as proven with SEO and content marketing, it can be a useful tool in bringing better results to marketing campaigns as well. If you haven’t been utilizing email in this way, now is definitely the time to try it out.