6 Outdated Digital Marketing Techniques You Need to Drop!

If your business is making moves to create a digital marketing strategy, then it’s already on the right track. The problem is, the digital marketing landscape is constantly changing and what may seem like a solid tactic could really leave your SEO efforts in the lurch if the right approach isn’t taken. The digital marketing arena is one that is highly competitive and requires all contestants to be on their guard and up-to-date with trending marketing strategies. Here are six marketing trends that have helped in the past, but are best forgotten in the current SEO landscape.

Stopping at Blog Publication

Blogging is essential to remaining in the spotlight through relevant keywords and talking points. However, simply posting a blog and leaving it to collect dust on your site is an awful waste of your marketing budget. Also, the quality of the content you post matters. Poor quality content can actually hurt your efforts. Content that causes users to bounce or that doesn’t get many views at all, for example, can actually hurt your site rankings. This means that from a marketing standpoint, it’s essential to ensure that any content promoted is actually beneficial to your audience. Most people won’t go out of their way to search for a business’ blog content. So, marketing is a valuable tool in your arsenal, especially if professional writers created your content with an SEO-friendly strategy in place. Market your engaging blog content through social media outlets and email marketing. Remember, the more eyes that see your content, the more valuable the effort has been.

Relying Solely on Automated Social Media

Even though automation is a great tool to get your social media strategy on track, it can’t be the only way you approach your social pages. Trust us—no one gets excited about a post that was obviously planned out with little regard for audience engagement. Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram should be your hubs for becoming a relatable business through regular audience interaction. We’re not saying that success means staying glued to your social feeds, but the effort needs to go beyond planned content. Make your social media stand out with:

• Consistent replies to comments
• Interactive polls
• Links to relevant content
• Contests
• Live streams

Prioritizing Clicks Over Conversion Rates

Your marketing strategy should always focus on ROI and conversions. In the past, loads of clicks to a website seemed exciting because it meant you were getting noticed through these new marketing methods. Today, having 5000 Twitter followers and a high amount of blog clicks doesn’t mean anything unless those people generate conversions. Gear your marketing towards creating conversions by focusing on:

• Audience testing;
• Optimizing your website’s content;
• Technical SEO; and
• Calls to action that create a sense of urgency.

With these priorities, your digital marketing strategy will quickly become a well-oiled machine that delivers a high ROI.

Black Hat SEO

Even if you’ve heard that black hat SEO is a way to get ahead in the search engine race, leave that advice on the ground and walk away in the opposite direction, fast! “Black Hat” is where a site deliberately tricks search engine bots for improved rankings. Outdated techniques like keyword stuffing, “ghost” text, adding unrelated keywords to content and private blog networks were popular ways to cheat Google’s algorithm—but not today.

Why Should You Avoid Black Hat SEO?

Today’s search algorithms are so advanced that cheating the system is virtually impossible. Google knows more about black hat practices than you do and delivers harsh penalties to cheaters—including completely blacklisting them from search results. Don’t be caught red-handed, especially because you haven’t followed up with Google updates. Take the time regularly to review the updates that have occurred and what trends are currently on the rise within search engine optimization. Follow the rules and create an online presence that gets your site noticed the right way by your target audience.

  

Content for the Sake of Content

Quantity over quality is never a reliable way to approach the content used in your digital marketing strategy. While we understand that it can be difficult to hit the sweet spot on page length and creation frequency, concentrating on creating quality should be your main concern. Just as your business should have a great reputation and provide quality service; your website should be seen as a place for useful, interesting content. No one wants to read through a 1000-word blog post that doesn’t educate or entertain them. Your content must:

• Cater to your target audience
• Be original and relevant
• Be useful for that audience
• Encourage readers that they can’t miss out on your products and services
• Entice them to share or link to your content.

Automated Link-Building

There is link-building software on the market that makes this portion of SEO automated. Stay away from it! Companies with small SEO and link building fees often use these automated tools—outside of literally doing nothing, it’s the only way they can make money from tiny budgets! Automated link-building results in links in locations where your business won’t make an impact or on spammy sites that result in harmful links. Guestbooks, link directories, and blog comments can all be beneficial, but the keys are the quality and relevance of the site and page to your business and industry. Organic link-building is more likely to be high-quality than that of automated services. Focus on consistently building backlinks for your valuable content from websites that are relevant to you and your audience.

Step Into the Spotlight Using SEO Strategies That Work

To stay on top of your industry in search, your SEO strategies must evolve. Living in the past with your digital marketing strategy will make your conversions become extinct. We understand that keeping up with SEO strategies can seem like a job in itself, and it is! That’s why at Dallas SEO Dogs, we’re ready to step in and give you a hand if you need help.