So, what is organic marketing? What is the difference between paid and organic marketing and more importantly what do you need to do to improve your organic ranking and reach? Everything you need to know is in this blog – 5 ways to improve your organic marketing.
What is organic marketing?
Organic marketing refers to earned or unpaid. In a physical sense, it could be marketing your business at a networking event. In a digital sense, it’s producing content that provides value to the reader, nurtures or inspires their purchase decisions and helps your website appear in Google. Unlike paid advertising, organic does not have a budget and doesn’t always have a clear-cut ROI, but it can lead to sales. Here’s an example:
Let’s say you have a leak in your bathroom. You Google ‘causes of bathroom leaks’ and spot an article with ‘top 5 causes of bathroom leaks’, you click it and are taken to a local plumber’s website. You end up calling the plumber and getting him to come and take a look at the leak. The plumbing company hasn’t paid for an ad, but because they’ve written that piece of content they’ve appeared in Google and won your website visit and business.
What’s the difference between paid and organic marketing?
There are two ways you can appear on Google. One, you can pay for a Google Ad campaign that generally ascertains you’ll be on the first page. Or two, you can rank via Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). There are many factors that go into SEO but one key element is to create keyword-rich content that will improve your website’s organic ranking – blogs, videos, Facebook posts, LinkedIn posts are some examples.
The key difference is that paid advertising is generally in an ad format. A Google Ad, a YouTube ad, a Facebook ad. These are all ad formats with limited text space, a clear call to action and defined targeting that puts them in front of potential customers. The other key difference is that paid advertising tends to have a much higher ROI and brings in enquiries a lot quicker than organic content. Why? Because an ad is an ad. It’s geared up specifically to make a sale, whereas content is more helpful, persuasive information that could influence a sale, but it tends not to happen immediately.
So! If you’re looking to get more visits to your website, but don’t have a massive budget, try organic marketing.
Here are 5 ways to improve your organic marketing
SEO your website (SEO = Search Engine Optimisation)
Make sure your website has been optimised. Optimised means Google can find it. Ask your web developer to make sure the site has a site map, a robot text file and is secure. If these things are done, you have a higher chance of Google finding and showing your site on page one.
In addition to the technical SEO, make sure each page of your website has at least one keyword. Example: if you own a dance studio, the keyword you place throughout your website could be ‘dance studio in Sydney’. Every time someone searches ‘dance studio in Sydney’, your website has a chance of appearing.
Make sure there are at least 300 words per page on your website. Google likes words and fresh content!
Blog articles
The plumbing example above is a good one to demonstrate the importance of blogs. Blogs are simply a way to bring people to your website. They should be short and sharp and between 500 to 700 words. For SEO purposes, you may wish to make them longer but remember quality over quantity! You’ll need to SEO them (include keywords) in order for Google to find them. When thinking about topics for your blogs, think about something your potential customers would Google or would find useful. A great tool that we love to use for keyword research is called Answer The Public. It allows you to type in any keyword and see what terms people are actually searching Google for in relation to that topic.
Videos
Video marketing is absolutely essential. People want to watch video content and consult channels like YouTube to find useful videos that help them with their purchase decision. Create and publish videos on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and your website to not only improve your organic reach but to inspire and educate customers. Here are some ideas for video content:
- Client testimonials
- Behind the scenes
- Meet the team
- How-to’s (showing how your products or services work)
LinkedIn posts and native articles
If you’re posting on Facebook, post on LinkedIn too. If you’re not posting on Facebook – make sure you do! Share industry articles, company news, stories from your team, tips and tricks, testimonials and photos your audience will love.
If you’re uploading a photo, make sure you give the file a name that reflects the content of the photo. Example: if I want that photo to come up when someone Googles ‘marketing events in Sydney’ I will need to label it this way.
What’s the difference between posts on LinkedIn and posts on Facebook?
LinkedIn, as a professional networking platform, means your content needs to be professional. That’s not to say you can’t have a bit of fun with it, but generally, content on Facebook is a lot bolder and more playful than content on LinkedIn.
Native articles
Creating and publishing original content on LinkedIn is a great way to establish your business. It also helps you gain followers and build business connections.
Effective content is usually written from personal experience. Try and tell real stories and offer real advice.
You can create a LinkedIn article within the ‘Article’ section of your LinkedIn profile. Your published article will appear in your connections and followers news feeds and may occasionally appear in their notifications. If people enjoy the article they can follow you directly, automatically opting themselves in to receive a notification when you publish your next one.
Facebook posts
Facebook posts help your organic reach. Post at least three times a week on your Facebook page (or at least try to be consistent) and try and post videos frequently. Don’t be afraid to have some fun with your content and be sure to make it about your audience rather than about you. Of course, you can post some promotional content, but try and think about content that your target market is most likely to engage with or share.
Organic content is a cost-effective way to get visitors to your website and keep your brand front of mind. Simple habits like posting content regularly can help increase your site traffic and organic reach on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as improve your customer engagement. In time, a combination of these things will contribute towards enquiries and purchases.
Get in touch with us here to find out more about how we can help.