SEO (search engine optimization), PPC (pay-per-click), and social media are three powerful digital marketing channels that can help you boost your online presence, reach your target audience, and generate more leads and sales. However, to get the most out of these channels, you need to use them strategically and synergistically. Here are some tips on how to use SEO, PPC, and social media effectively in 2023:
1. Test and Identify Target Keywords with PPC
Search users have great intent, so using PPC to test and measure in the short term to identify keyword opportunities and SEO to optimize for the long term is a smart way to integrate SEO and PPC marketing strategies1. PPC can help you discover which keywords have high search volume, click-through rate, conversion rate, and profitability. You can then use these keywords to optimize your SEO content, meta tags, headings, and links.
2. Create Great Content that Informs and Engages
Content is the foundation of any digital marketing strategy, as it helps you attract, educate, and persuade your audience. To create great content that ranks well on search engines and resonates well on social media, you need to follow these steps:
- Do some keyword research to find out what people are searching for and try to stay on top of the latest updates from the likes of Google2.
- Use tools and templates for successful blog posts, guides, ebooks, infographics, videos, podcasts, webinars, etc3.
- Write for your audience, not for search engines. Use a clear, concise, and conversational tone. Provide value, answer questions, solve problems, and address pain points.
- Optimize your content for SEO by using relevant keywords, headings, subheadings, images, alt text, internal links, external links, etc.
- Optimize your content for social media by using catchy titles, compelling descriptions, eye-catching visuals, hashtags, mentions, etc.
- Promote your content on social media by sharing it on relevant platforms, groups, communities, influencers, etc.
3. Avoid Paid Keyword Traps and Negative Keywords
Sometimes, certain types of keywords can have subtle differences and end up aligning to the wrong intent.
For example, the keyword “best shoes” may attract people who are looking for reviews, comparisons, or recommendations, while the keyword “buy shoes” may attract people who are ready to make a purchase. It’s important to understand the intent behind search terms, because you want to avoid keyword traps that waste your PPC budget and lower your quality score. You can use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant or low-performing keywords from your PPC campaigns. For example, if you sell shoes online, you may want to exclude keywords like “free”, “repair”, “donate”, etc.