Every modern business knows the importance of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). What most people might not know is how SEO impact digital marketing strategy. For most people, SEO is only about ranking a website on top of search engine results, while it plays a much bigger role in a digital marketing strategy.

You might have heard that SEO is a crucial digital marketing tool, but exactly how SEO helps in digital marketing? This is what we are going to explore in this article. First, let’s have a look at the primary elements of SEO that make up an effective SEO strategy.

Elements of SEO

1. Keywords

Keywords are the first and most important elements of SEO. It is the first step towards SEO optimization that you need to take to reach your target audience and get the traffic to your website.

Implementing keywords is not as simple as choosing any of those related to your niche and using them to stuff your content. With the search engine algorithm getting more advanced day by day, you need to be smarter about your keyword strategy.

To implement the right keyword strategy you need to research and analyse different relevent keywords, and then choose the best ones that you should target. Stuffing keywords in your content also won’t get you anywhere. you need to use them smartly rather than liberally otherwise reader experience will go down and so will your website on google rankings.

2. On-page optimization

On-page SEO optimization is the implementation of SEO techniques to get traffic to your website. There are multiple tactics you need to apply for on-page optimization. On-page optimizations are achieved through keyword implementation. All the important pages of your website should have the right density of keywords and meta keywords.

This increases the traffic and visibility of those web pages. Besides keywords, there are other boxes to check for on-page optimization. Those include a sitemap, quality content, URL structures, website speed, metadata, and mobile friendliness. Every on-page activity that improves user experience is important for the on-page optimization of a website.

3. Off-page optimization

Off-page optimization is an SEO technique that involves activities performed outside of the website. The technique used for off-page optimization is backlink building. Backlinks are the links to your content used by other websites, also known as external links. When a high quality or reputed website uses backlinks to your website, it will help build authority and improve search engine rankings.

With the high number of quality backlinks, google will recognize your content as trustworthy, reliable, and authentic. That’s why backlink building has also been called ‘reputation building’. The methods used for backlink building include guest blogging, using influencer marketing, and creating high quality and shareable content, like infographics. Backlink building or website promotion improves website visibility, making it easier to find.

Impacts of SEO on Digital Marketing Strategy

1. More Web Traffic

More organic web traffic is one of the major reasons for implementing an SEO strategy in digital marketing. As the website ranks on google, as a result of SEO optimization, it gets more visibility and traffic. For a startup or a small business with a limited budget, implementing an SEO campaign in the digital marketing plan can prove to be cost effective.

A good SEO campaign can generate a consistent flow of traffic for your business without any heavy investment. According to research, organic search results get about 51% of visitors on most of the industries’ websites. With that being said, imagine how many prospects you are losing without SEO in your digital marketing plan. With a proper SEO strategy, you can leverage this organic traffic to convert visitors into customers.

2. Build Authority and Trust

Most consumers refrain from purchasing from websites or businesses that they do not trust or think they can rely on. And guess how they decide that? That’s right, through search engine rankings. Another impact SEO can have on your digital marketing strategy. Building authority, reputation, and gaining trust of the audience are as much important as other things for a business to improve sales.

To achieve that, your business website has to appear on the first page of google search results, this is when it will appear reliable and trustworthy to people. Search Engine will decide for people if a website is worth their time and trust or not, and will only rank if it is. If your website fails to build authority and reputation, it will give away the impression that you have not put much effort into marketing.

3. Refines Content Strategy

Another result of using SEO strategy in digital marketing is a more refined content strategy. SEO is a crucial element of producing high quality content, hence important for a successful content strategy. An effective content strategy consists of valuable content with a good user experience. Only then will it be able to attract and engage the target audience.

Websites with quality content that provides value to visitors have higher chances of conversions. With SEO being a part of a good content marketing strategy, it proves to have another positive impact on digital marketing strategy.

What is the Role of SEO in Digital Marketing

 Just like SEO’s only purpose is not to improve a website’s rankings, similarly, it’s the only place that is not in your website content. There is not a single role of SEO in digital marketing, it is the key component of a successful digital marketing strategy. But for it to work out, you have to put it at the heart of your digital marketing strategy.

SEO is not as much a marketing strategy itself as it is a tool to implement in the overall digital marketing strategy. SEO provides the greatest share of traffic to a website, which is your cue to use it in other digital marketing strategies too. Confining the use of SEO to your website only is downplaying its importance, it has a bigger role than that. 

SEO and Social Media Marketing

By implementing SEO in your social media marketing strategy, you can increase your social reach. Social media and SEO work towards the same goals, and joining the two together can amplify the outcomes for your business. SEO ranks your website to bring it in front of people, social media platforms work pretty much the same way.

By using SEO in your social media content, you can improve its exposure and reach. Along with target keywords, you can also use relevant hashtags on social media. Users follow hashtags that interest them like they follow accounts. You can use keywords and hashtags in your account bio or content. As users engage with keywords and hashtags that interest them, they are exposed to more accounts of similar niches. This is how the SEO you implement can expose your account to a new audience.

SEO and Email Marketing

Another answer to how SEO helps in digital marketing is improved email marketing strategy.

SEO optimized emails have more opening rate and click through rate. One way to optimize your marketing emails is by segmenting your email list. You can segment your email list according to the subscribers’ interests, needs, gender, or any other suitable category. That way you can craft emails according to the interests of a particular segment of subscribers. That will improve the opening and conversion rates of your emails.

Another way to join SEO and email marketing is by creating an email digest, a compilation of your best- performing emails over the week or month into a summary or newsletter. This will refine your brand’s reputation and authority. To make google rank your newsletters, you can publish them on your website. Repurposing emails into website content can also show the visitors that you are sharing valuable resources in your newsletter. This will increase your subscribers. Make sure to use relevant keywords in your emails and newsletters.

Bottom Line

SEO does not just have one goal, it helps a business in multiple ways and works towards the ultimate goal of consistent growth. Putting SEO at the center of your digital marketing strategy can help you achieve your business goals faster. From customer experience to improving conversions, SEO can help you with all. It fortifies a digital marketing strategy and amplifies the success chances of all other digital marketing channels.