Putting pen to paper can be a daunting task, especially if your goal is to come up with content that will be both informative and enticing to your audience. Marketers have a difficult task of balancing catchy without being kitschy and providing enough information that a potential customer is intrigued enough to reach out for more.
Check out our top five writing tips for creating more engaging content:
1. Know Your Audience
Having a good grasp of who you’re writing for will help inform how you approach writing your technical documentation. Are you writing for direct-to-consumer products? Are you writing for a B2B audience? Once your audience is solidified, you can move onto establishing an effective voice and tone for your business.
2. Establish a Voice and Tone
Once you’ve figured out who will be consuming your content or viewing your website, you can decide how you want to talk to them. Are they a highly technical consumer, like a CIO or senior engineer? Are they a CMO or other marketing professional? These two audiences require very different voices and tones. A highly technical audience typically reads more serious and authoritative content that helps them get from problem A to solution B as quickly and efficiently as possible. For a CMO or marketing professional, a more friendly voice and tone may be warranted. Keeping your voice and tone consistent across all or your organization’s content – from blog posts to white papers – will also create a better user experience and overall satisfaction with your messaging.
3. Nail Your Format
The last thing to consider when creating technical documentation is what format is best for your audience. Is a blog post the best? A video? A powerpoint with lots of links to other resources? A key element to writing good content is presenting it in a way that people can consume it easily. Also, your format of choice will further inform the length of your document, if you should include illustrations or other forms of media, and if it can be printed or only viewed online.
4. Optimize for SEO
Having clear, concise, and informative technical writing helps search engines easily understand and index your content, improving its visibility in search results. Utilizing SEO tools such as SEMRush can help you get off the ground and inform the structure of your content. By incorporating relevant keywords naturally, using structured headings, and ensuring accurate descriptions of products or services, technical writing enhances user experience and search engine ranking. Well-executed technical writing also establishes authority in your niche, helping your content reach a broader audience while driving organic traffic.
5. Be Creative
Being creative with technical writing can significantly enhance your marketing efforts by making complex information more engaging and accessible to your audience. Instead of sticking to dry, overly technical language, incorporating storytelling elements, analogies, and relatable examples helps simplify complex concepts. Creative technical writing allows you to showcase your brand’s personality, connect emotionally with your audience, and differentiate yourself from competitors, all while conveying essential information. By striking a balance between accuracy and creativity, you can transform technical content into a powerful marketing tool.
Technical writing can elevate your marketing strategy by turning complex information into clear, engaging, and valuable content. By combining technical accuracy with creative approaches, users will have a better understanding of your company or product and you’ll improve your overall SEO performance, driving more traffic to your brand. Whether explaining products, services, or industry insights, effective technical writing positions your company as a trusted authority in the field, ultimately boosting engagement and helping to achieve your broader marketing goals.
Good luck, and happy writing!
By Michelle Pujadas, Founder and co-CEO
I started Zer0 to 5ive because I was working at a global PR agency, which I really liked, but we weren’t set up to work with small start-ups and that was where I wanted to be. In addition, I was seeing a number of entrepreneurs making preventable mistakes that ranged from branding and messaging to category definition and initial market launch. I knew there was a better way and that I could provide value across the marketing spectrum. That was the genesis of Zer0 to 5ive and the Zer0 to 5ive Roadmap™.
Over the years, we’ve had Fortune 500 clients that represented great brands and many start-ups that we helped become industry leaders. When I look back at how many clients Zer0 to 5ive has had the opportunity to work with, and how many we’ve helped get to the next level of success, I am so gratified. One of my favorite things is the “team win” for a client. That team win represents thoughtful strategies, constant creativity, team growth and success, and a whole host of little things that make teams work. To me, that’s the whole point and the most fun!
I appreciate those entrepreneurs and CEOs who have shared their lessons before me. I read your posts constantly! Here are my top 25:
- Start with the end in mind
- Think big and have a campaign mindset
- Be patient
- Put it in writing
- People have good days and bad days
- Everyone makes mistakes, including you
- As a founder, you are your company’s best salesperson
- Attitude matters; passion can be contagious
- Culture is created when everyone is together
- Choose positivity
- Be constantly learning and encourage others to do so
- Admit failures and learn from them
- The smartest clients tend to be the best clients
- Agencies can have a huge impact on a company’s success
- PR is largely misunderstood
- Only work with brands and companies that you believe in and care about
- Always go for the big win; never settle
- A little competition is a good thing
- Transactional clients will never fully value you
- Show you care
- Surprise and delight clients whenever possible
- Remembering someone’s work anniversary goes a long way
- Hire your children, but only after they’ve worked elsewhere
- Humor goes a long way
- Have fun whenever possible
Thanks to all who have contributed to these lessons learned over the years. I’m excited about what’s next, and grateful for everyone who has been along for the ride!
The world of marketing is always changing, but content remains king. As we step into 2024, brands must rethink their content strategies to stand out, captivate audiences, and drive meaningful engagement with current and potential customers. Here are our top 4 recommendations for brands to effectively utilize content in the coming year.
#1 Embrace Interactive Content Experiences
Interactive experiences are taking center stage in 2024. From consumer quizzes and polls to augmented reality (AR) applications, brands are easily able to create content that actively involves the audience. Interactive content boosts engagement and provides valuable insights into consumer preferences and behaviors. Consider incorporating interactive storytelling to enhance consumer participation.
#2 Prioritize Video Content Across Platforms
Video creation continues to dominate the content landscape, and its prevalence is only expected to grow. Brands should prioritize creating diverse video content tailored for different platforms that cater to their target audiences. Content can include short-form videos for platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, longer-form content for YouTube, or live videos for real-time engagement. A strategic approach to video content can help ensure your brand remains relevant and resonates with your target audiences.
#3 Utilize User-Generated Content (UGC)
Remaining authentic is a driving force in content marketing. Encourage your audience to generate content by running contests, campaigns, or simply asking for their input. User-generated content can add authenticity to your brand while simultaneously creating a sense of community among your customers. Share UGC on your social media channels, website, or even incorporate it into your advertising campaigns to build trust and credibility.
#4 Optimize for Voice Search and AI-Driven Content
The rise of voice search and AI technologies presents new opportunities for content optimization for businesses. Brands should adapt their content strategies to accommodate voice-activated devices and AI-driven platforms. Focusing on creating conversational and natural language content that aligns with the way people speak can help you achieve this. Consider optimizing for featured snippets to capture voice search queries and stay ahead in the agile landscape of search engine algorithms.
In 2024, the key to effective content utilization lies in embracing innovation, personalization, and authenticity. By incorporating interactive experiences, prioritizing video content, encouraging user-generated content, and optimizing for voice search, brands can create a content strategy that not only stands out, but also builds lasting connections with their audience. When building your content strategy this year, think beyond your core topics (keep SEO in mind!) to include the reader’s experience and desire to truly engage with your brand.
To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive can help drive visibility and industry leadership for your company drop us a line.
By Sydney Peterson
Andie Levine, Director of Social Media
1. What types of social media campaigns have you worked on at 0to5?
There have been a few exciting campaigns I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of. In 2021, I helped Sony AI announce Gran Turismo Sophy, their breakthrough AI agent, which started with a series of cryptic posts hinting at a big announcement on the way. Across all channels, the organic campaign generated 650K social media impressions, 15K link clicks, and 2.2K new followers in a week.
In addition to global announcements, I’ve helped companies establish their presence at industry conferences, accelerate recruitment efforts, launch new products and services, and participate in national awareness days.
2. What is your favorite part about working in social media?
There are general best practices to follow, but there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” strategy that can be applied to each client – which is my favorite part about working in social media! Each organization that comes to 0to5 for social media support has a unique set of goals it is working to achieve through its social media presence. Our job is to find creative ways to meet those goals that resonate with their target audience.
Social media also keeps you on your toes. There are new platform updates weekly, and understanding how each new feature works is essential. It is mentally stimulating, and there is no shortage of new things to learn!
3. What are some brands or campaigns that you admire?
There are so many great B2C brands out there that – rightfully so – get a lot of attention for their fun and often-viral content. However, there’s a misconception that B2B companies can’t also have fun and creative social media. A few great examples I like to point to are: Salesforce, IBM, and Gartner.
4. How do you think social media has evolved since you started your career?
The technological advancements, even in just the past year, are impressive. There are more ways to share content than ever before, which has led to more opportunities for impressions, engagement, leads, etc., which is exciting but also easy to get caught up on. But as much as it has evolved, its ethos has remained the same. At the heart of social media, being transparent and offering value to your audience works.
5. Where do you see social media going in the next few years? What trends are you excited about?
I like that social media is becoming more accessible and conversational for B2B organizations. In the beginning, many felt that their online presence needed to be super polished and sterile – and for some industries, this resonates with their audiences! – but now, they are more willing to lean into “being real.” I’m glad to see companies ditch stock photography in favor of images of their real employees or customers. Even a quick photo snapped on an iPhone is better received than a stock photo.
6. What is your advice for creating more engaging social media content?
If you’re struggling with engagement on social media, you’re likely not sending the right messages to your audience. Start by clearly identifying your top two to three audiences. You should already have a good idea of who your buyer personas are through research, surveys, and customer pain points. After identifying their key challenges, develop content around how your organization can help address them.
7. What are some great resources or blogs to follow for someone who wants to accelerate their career in social media management?
I’m a big fan of Hootsuite. Not only do we use their platform here at 0to5, but I highly recommend their webinars to anyone interested in staying on top of the latest and greatest social media trends. What’s more, the great thing about social media is that you don’t need a client to show off your skills! Your channels can serve as a case study for your ability to create professional, engaging content.
8. What does being Zer0 to 5ive’s Director of Social Media mean to you?
Zer0 to 5ive has a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise and talent, making us a valued partner for organizations building a brand and market presence. As Director of Social Media, I get excited to work with organizations ready to take their social media to the next level: whether this means revamping existing accounts or creating them for the first time.
Social media is sometimes easy for companies to overlook. After working with 0to5, I hope our clients can see the value in creating impactful social media strategies that drive brand growth, engage audiences, and deliver measurable results. In this role, I want to help clients navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape and position them for success in their marketing and PR endeavors.
To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive’s team can help your company, visit our PR and social media page, or drop us a line.
By Sydney Peterson
Andie Levine, Director of Social Media
1. What types of social media campaigns have you worked on at 0to5?
There have been a few exciting campaigns I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of. In 2021, I helped Sony AI announce Gran Turismo Sophy, their breakthrough AI agent, which started with a series of cryptic posts hinting at a big announcement on the way. Across all channels, the organic campaign generated 650K social media impressions, 15K link clicks, and 2.2K new followers in a week.
In addition to global announcements, I’ve helped companies establish their presence at industry conferences, accelerate recruitment efforts, launch new products and services, and participate in national awareness days.
2. What is your favorite part about working in social media?
There are general best practices to follow, but there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” strategy that can be applied to each client – which is my favorite part about working in social media! Each organization that comes to 0to5 for social media support has a unique set of goals it is working to achieve through its social media presence. Our job is to find creative ways to meet those goals that resonate with their target audience.
Social media also keeps you on your toes. There are new platform updates weekly, and understanding how each new feature works is essential. It is mentally stimulating, and there is no shortage of new things to learn!
3. What are some brands or campaigns that you admire?
There are so many great B2C brands out there that – rightfully so – get a lot of attention for their fun and often-viral content. However, there’s a misconception that B2B companies can’t also have fun and creative social media. A few great examples I like to point to are: Salesforce, IBM, and Gartner.
4. How do you think social media has evolved since you started your career?
The technological advancements, even in just the past year, are impressive. There are more ways to share content than ever before, which has led to more opportunities for impressions, engagement, leads, etc., which is exciting but also easy to get caught up on. But as much as it has evolved, its ethos has remained the same. At the heart of social media, being transparent and offering value to your audience works.
5. Where do you see social media going in the next few years? What trends are you excited about?
I like that social media is becoming more accessible and conversational for B2B organizations. In the beginning, many felt that their online presence needed to be super polished and sterile – and for some industries, this resonates with their audiences! – but now, they are more willing to lean into “being real.” I’m glad to see companies ditch stock photography in favor of images of their real employees or customers. Even a quick photo snapped on an iPhone is better received than a stock photo.
6. What is your advice for creating more engaging social media content?
If you’re struggling with engagement on social media, you’re likely not sending the right messages to your audience. Start by clearly identifying your top two to three audiences. You should already have a good idea of who your buyer personas are through research, surveys, and customer pain points. After identifying their key challenges, develop content around how your organization can help address them.
7. What are some great resources or blogs to follow for someone who wants to accelerate their career in social media management?
I’m a big fan of Hootsuite. Not only do we use their platform here at 0to5, but I highly recommend their webinars to anyone interested in staying on top of the latest and greatest social media trends. What’s more, the great thing about social media is that you don’t need a client to show off your skills! Your channels can serve as a case study for your ability to create professional, engaging content.
8. What does being Zer0 to 5ive’s Director of Social Media mean to you?
Zer0 to 5ive has a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise and talent, making us a valued partner for organizations building a brand and market presence. As Director of Social Media, I get excited to work with organizations ready to take their social media to the next level: whether this means revamping existing accounts or creating them for the first time.
Social media is sometimes easy for companies to overlook. After working with 0to5, I hope our clients can see the value in creating impactful social media strategies that drive brand growth, engage audiences, and deliver measurable results. In this role, I want to help clients navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape and position them for success in their marketing and PR endeavors.
To learn more about how Zer0 to 5ive’s team can help your company, visit our PR and social media page, or drop us a line.
By Maria Koblish
It’s no secret that launching a startup is a considerable risk that requires a lot of work. From product development to marketing to sales, executives have their hands full. In an ever-expanding tech-savvy industry, startup businesses must understand the vital role digital marketing plays in their success.
Digital marketing is essential for any tech startup to get off the ground. Digital marketing efforts can have a direct impact on the following actions:
- Increasing Brand Awareness
- Product Promotion
- Building an Audience
- Capturing Leads
- Acquiring Customers
- Sales
We have looked back on our work with leading tech companies and startups to ease this impending workload. Here are seven essential tips to help any tech startup with its digital marketing strategy.
1. Identify the Target Audience
There’s no better way to begin a list of digital marketing tips than here: defining the target audience. Step one of any business plan, marketing strategy, or PR activity starts with understanding who you’re speaking to. Start with generally defining — who is your audience? What are their demographics? Then you can get business-specific. How would this group benefit from your business? How would they research products online? How do they use social media?
Marketing connects a business to its intended audience and entices them to interact with its product or service. Once you define that audience, the actual campaign can begin.
2. SEO Optimization is Key
Keywords aid in search engine optimization (SEO) to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising; they act as the first step to bringing in target audiences and awareness to your startup. The more relevant the keywords are, the better your chance of bringing in that awareness and desired audience.
How do you determine those keywords? Google is a handy and free tool that many marketers use. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and search away, but pay attention to Google’s predictive text suggestions, aka the “people also ask” and the “related search” features.
Along with gathering the correct keywords to use, be sure to:
- Identify the funnel stage: Your keywords must differ for each potential customer at different sales funnel stages.
- Track existing similar content and keep your keywords organized: Don’t let two or more pages on your website target the same keyword because you will be competing against yourself, hurting your rankings.
- Collect branded keywords: This is geared toward PPC ads: target branded keywords in your marketing campaign to differentiate yourself in the digital landscape.
3. Monitor Competitors
While your competitors may seem like enemies, they can be your greatest asset. Here’s how to leverage their strategies for your benefit:
- Differentiate from competitors via messaging and content
- Review competitor case studies and learn what works for them
- Check their social media accounts to see what’s resonating with their audience
- Review the content they are publishing
- Identify their rank in terms of SEO, content, media coverage, and more
Everyone’s information is out there. You can use it to your advantage while maintaining the integrity of your business.
4. Maintain an Optimized Website
Google is the driving force behind website optimization. It works off of algorithmic scanning to assess the quality of content to provide the most relevant content to the user.
Google’s ranking system is activated by how long people stay on your site — the higher the quality, the higher the engagement, and the more optimized your site ranks in a keyword search. Knowing that makes it all the more important to play Google’s game and use the algorithm to your advantage. If you want to learn more about how SEO works, check out this blog post.
Maintaining a quality website not only makes your business look better to the customer, but to the search engine as well.
5. The Importance of Social Media
Today, globally, more than 4.74 billion people use social media. Your potential customers go on social media daily to interact with peers and favorite brands. It’s essential to position yourself through organic and paid social media as a key part of your audience’s online life. It will drive lead generation and create a sense of community.
6. Keep an Active Blog
Prioritize keeping an active blog on your company website. Offer personal findings oriented towards your business, tips and tricks, and general content to support your audience during their time on your site. Demand Gen Report revealed that 47% of buyers viewed at least three to five pieces of content before they engaged with a sales rep, making the content you post essential.
These blogs are a great asset on social media channels. Sharing blogs on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., increases traffic to your website and creates a community within your audience. Blogs can also help you to rank for more keywords on search engines, garnering more activity and lead generation.
Staying on top of a blog on top of everything else that comes with launching a startup can be challenging, so getting all team members involved keeps the work dispersed and consistent.
7. Have a System to Track Results
It doesn’t matter how much work you put into your digital marketing strategy without one thing: analyzing the results. All the planning and execution in the world mean nothing without it. Ensure that you can measure the impact of your efforts on marketing channels like social media, email, search engines, and your website to track your startup’s growth. In another blog post, you can learn more about how UTM codes can help track results.
The complexity of launching a startup continues after digital marketing. But prioritizing these practices can simplify the process, setting your business up to welcome impressive success and growth.
By Maggie Markert
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, marketing is focused on selling products or services to end-users (whether those users are consumers or businesses) and helping them understand the value of those products or services. Public relations (PR), on the other hand, is described as the art of preserving a positive public image for a company, organization, or individual.
Based on these definitions, it is not surprising these entities within a company are often kept separate, as are many of their activities. However, by siloing marketing and PR, companies and organizations are missing out on opportunities to leverage both entities to their advantage.
The Messaging
Companies that are looking to integrate their marketing and PR efforts should start with their messaging – whether they be at a corporate level or a product/service level. While messaging may be conveyed differently in a marketing piece compared to a press release or pitch to the media, the overall takeaways should be the same.
When corporate or product/service messages are not aligned, it can lead to confusion and even a lack of trust. In order to avoid this, both the marketing and PR groups should host a joint session to outline and approve the messaging in all of its forms. And, this should be repeated each time the company is set to introduce new products, services, or initiatives.
The Plan
Companies should also always be on the same page regarding planning. Marketing and PR plans should be developed in conjunction with one another either annually, bi-annually, or quarterly.
Not only should these plans align when it comes to major initiatives such as product/service launch or an acquisition, but also content and social media that falls in between. The plan should lay out all initiatives, outline how they can be leveraged by both groups, and include key messages to be conveyed.
For example, if a software company is unveiling a new feature of its solution, there should be a press release and coordinated media outreach planned. These PR initiatives should align with the exact time the marketing group’s email and social media campaigns to their target audiences or current prospects and customers are deployed.
The Content
Companies often miss the mark when it comes to leveraging content across marketing and PR. This can be attributed to the fact that PR can consider some marketing pieces to be too self-serving and overly promotional for the media. In contrast, marketing may think a PR piece is not product- or service-specific enough for their target audiences.
While that may be true, it doesn’t make it impossible for any piece of marketing or PR content to be transformed into something that can be used for either purpose. Here are some examples:
- White Papers: This type of long-form content, which takes great effort to develop, typically offers guidance from a company or organization on a particular topic – whether it be in healthcare, technology, education, and more – or a product and service related to that topic. Once developed and finalized, white papers are often gated on a company’s website and used in paid social media or email campaigns to generate leads for the sales team to pursue. For PR, a white paper can serve as the foundation for a byline that showcases the company’s thought leadership on that topic.
- Data Sheets: This type of technical content can often be seen as “too in the weeds” for PR purposes as it outlines key details surrounding a specific product, service, or piece of technology and uses a lot of industry jargon. One key benefit of this type of content is that it can clearly outline key paint points and benefits in the industry that back up why the product, service, or technology is needed. These points can then be generally outlined in a thought leadership pitch to key trade media in the company’s industry or vertical.
- Bylines: This type of content is purely about thought leadership. These pieces set the stage for a company, and describe why their product, service, or idea is important without being promotional. Once this content is published by a media outlet, the piece can often be added as a news or resource item on a company’s website that includes a link back to the publication as well as a short, high-level summary of the piece and the point of view it makes. This enables the company to drive traffic to its website first before pushing the traffic to the piece. (Please note, companies should check with the publication that originally published the piece on their specific guidelines for reposting prior to adding it to the website.)
- Earned Media Coverage: PR teams work hard to garner earned (unpaid) media coverage for a company. This coverage can include executive profiles, product or service mentions, or thought leadership pieces like bylines or op-eds, and they help to build credibility by acting as third-party validation. Given this, these pieces should be repurposed for various marketing initiatives such as social media or monthly email newsletters/round-ups to prospects and customers.
The Time (Is Now)
It is never too late for a company to integrate its marketing and PR efforts. If time is taken to review current plans in both entities within the organization, there may be items that both teams can capitalize on in the interim while more in-depth planning occurs.
Contact Zer0 to 5ive to learn more about how your company can begin to align marketing and PR.
By Andie Levine
It’s 2022 and ICYMI – social media is not just for consumer brands anymore.
If you’re reading this, you’re ready for, or at least curious about, including social media in your organization’s marketing strategy. B2B has been often left out of the conversation about social media marketing, but not anymore. Social media is a worthwhile marketing channel for your business because even though you are selling to other businesses, you’re still selling to people!
The Hootsuite & We Are Social, Digital 2022 Global Statshot Report found that 38% of B2B decision-makers say they discover new products and services relevant to their work via social media. And they aren’t just using social media for discovery – about 8 in 10 B2B decision-makers also say that social media plays an influential role in their research, putting it ahead of trade press outlets like online and print trade magazines. That’s huge.
Now that you’ve seen the potential for using social media to reach your audience, here are a few steps you can take to get started.
Identify & Find Your Audience
The data tells us that your audience is on social media – but who are they and how can you find them? Let’s start with who they are. Your audience has a unique challenge that leads them to find a solution. You should already have a good idea of who your buyer personas are through research, surveys, and customer pain points.
Once you’ve clearly identified two or three personas, determine where they“live” online. Twitter and LinkedIn are the most popular platforms for B2B audiences but don’t rule out other channels. 62% of active users aged 16-64 say that they use Instagram to research brands or products.
When it comes to social media, you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket, or rely on just one channel to reach your audience. Every social media channel has advantages and drawbacks and can be used differently to reach different audiences or meet unique business goals.
Develop Content
Now that your social media channels are set up and audiences are identified, it’s time to start posting. Providing free value to your audience builds trust, reputation – and even sales. Valuable content includes, but is not limited to, white papers, case studies, on-demand webinars, e-books, factoids, graphics and even blogs – we have a great blog post about the importance of blogs for social media.
It’s also important to diversify content – each post shouldn’t be about your organization. Valuable content can also include credible and relevant industry articles. And speaking of diversifying, build a content plan to include visuals, such as infographics and videos. Video posts typically receive high engagement. Uploading videos natively can earn four times the views and two times the engagement!
User-generated content (UGC) is also great for boosting engagement. Tap into UGC by highlighting the exciting things your employees or customers are doing or achieving with your product or service. Use social media to feature the work your key leaders and innovators are producing.
To learn more about how to develop engaging content for social media, check out this blog post.
Listen, Adapt, Grow
So now you’re on social media and posting engaging content – let’s keep the momentum going!
An important way to stay connected with your B2B audience is to listen to your audience. Listening is an important skill in social media and one that’s easy to forget. What are your customers saying? What are your competitors saying? What are the media and analysts saying?
There are many free and paid tools to help keep your ear to the door: Google Alerts, Social Mention, or Hootsuite. Pick out five, or more, keywords or phrases people may use to identify themselves as potential customers and conduct searches on your top social accounts; then use what you’re hearing to help shape your content and join the conversation.
Social media can play an important role in your B2B marketing plan and is worth your time and energy. Whether you’re at the beginning of your social media journey or looking for an experienced partner to help accelerate your reach, our team can help effectively integrate social media into your existing strategy. Contact us to learn more.
By Maria Singer
SEO. If you’ve used the internet at any point in the last ten years, there’s a good chance you’ve at least heard of it. SEO is one of those terms that is sometimes used as a catch-all when referring to anything related to online marketing but is actually much more specific than how the term is sometimes casually used. Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the different ways content creators, copywriters, and web developers can optimize web pages to make them easier for search engines to understand and recommend to users through search results.
“Why is that important?” you may ask – and with good reason. If you’ve built a content-rich site with loads of valuable information for your users about your products, services, or goals, shouldn’t your site be high up in search results when someone is seeking exactly what you offer?
The answer is not exactly.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll be focusing mainly on Google organic search results.
HOW DOES GOOGLE RETURN SEARCH RESULTS?
To understand how SEO works, it is important first to understand how search engines like Google work. Whether you’re troubleshooting the tapping noise coming from your 2009 Toyota RAV4, trying to find the highest-rated dog food for your senior schnauzer, or searching for a helpful beginner’s guide to SEO just like this one, Google displays search results for pages that have gone through the following 3 step process:
- Discovery: There are two main methods of discovery: bots and manual submission. If your site is brand new or has recently undergone a significant overhaul, you can submit it for indexing (below) through Google Search Console. In another method, bots (commonly called spiders) ‘crawl’ web pages and download information. There are also other methods for Google to discover your pages, but these are among the most common.
- Indexing: Once Google is aware of your page’s existence, it extracts what it thinks are the essential parts and adds them to its index.
- Ranking: Google’s algorithms define and rank your content’s quality in 200+ areas. Some of the key areas include:
-
- Relevance
- Location
- Page speed
- Freshness
- Authority on a topic
How Google personalizes your search results
The most commonly known and understood factors that come into play when personalizing your search results are your location, browser language, and past search history. Within a split second, Google identifies a list of top websites that fit your queried keywords. In that same timeframe, it compares those search results against what it knows about you to re-prioritize and even eliminates some of those results.
Understanding the basics of how Google delivers results to its end users is half the battle when it comes to deploying a better SEO strategy. The good news is that most other search engines, like Bing or Yahoo, work in much the same way that Google does. According to BrightEdge Research, 53.3% of all trackable web traffic comes from organic search results; this means that focusing on improving the overall quality and readability of your web pages could be the single most important thing you can do to increase your website’s long-term, completely free web traffic.
We Could Go On
Understanding the basics of search engine optimization is the crucial first step to improving your site’s ranking overall. Above all, it’s important to simply write good content – be the authority on your topic, and generate rich information that users actually want to read without too much (or too little!) fluff. When it comes to search engine results, each spot your website is closer to the top, the more likely it is to receive valuable traffic. If you have questions or want to learn more about how we help our clients at Zer0 to 5ive build or revamp their websites, let’s chat.
By Sammy Michie
What Are UTM Codes?
Have you ever received a “Did you forget something in your cart?” email after shopping online but not completing your purchase? By using UTM tracking, that company was able to remind you of the product you forgot to purchase and how you got to add that item to your cart in the first place. Using UTM codes can identify likely gaps or success opportunities that could help you eliminate conversion blockages.
UTM codes are a Google Analytics tool that assist digital marketers in tracking the different channels that website visitors come in from. UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module, a tool created by Urchin Software Corporation founders Scott Crosby and Paul Muret in 1996. In April 2005, the company was acquired by Google, and the Urchin product became “Urchin from Google,” then later simply Google Analytics. [1]
A standard URL without tracking would look something like this:
https://0to5.com/blog/
A URL with UTM parameters added would look like this:
https://0to5.com/blog/?utm_medium=blog&utm_source=active-users&utm_campaign=utmcodes&utm_term=blog-post&utm_content=text-link
The Five Standard UTM Parameters Include:
UTM Medium (utm_medium): The channel your visitor is coming from, like email, organic social, paid social, display ads, search ads, referral sites, etc.
UTM Source (utm_source): The individual site within that channel your visitor is coming from, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, email, etc.
UTM Campaign (utm_campaign): The specific campaign that you’re running, whether it be a product launch, promotional campaign, individual email or post, etc.
UTM Content (utm_content): This is an optional field. If you have multiple links in the same campaign, you can fill in this value to differentiate them.
UTM Keyword (utm_term): Your campaign’s specific paid search keywords.
The required UTM tracking parameters used in UTM codes are utm_medium, utm_source, and utm_campaign, while utm_content and utm_keyword are more granular approaches to in-depth segmentation of your data.
How to Analyze Your UTM Parameters in Google Analytics
Google Analytics helps you see exactly how your website visitors are getting to your site and what actions they take once they make it to their destination. You’ll be able to track user numbers, sessions, bounce rates, and more.
To figure out what is driving your traffic, you will go to Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels to break down your traffic into options like organic search, paid, or social. This page will present you with your complete statistics for all platforms.
Best Practices to Consider When Using UTM Tracking:
- Do not use UTM tracking on internal links. This can confuse Google Analytics and cause tracking errors.
- Use UTM tracking for influencer marketing campaigns to track ROI.
- Do not use spaces; instead, consider using a hyphen to indicate spaces.
- Check reports regularly to monitor and update your digital marketing strategy success.
- Be specific with your UTM parameters to clearly define where and what you are tracking.
- Create a copy of this UTM Builder spreadsheet to keep track of your UTM links.
So, Why Use UTM Tracking?
If you want to understand how effective your marketing is, use UTM tracking. UTMs provide detailed information about where traffic comes from, which allows you to understand what campaigns are actually driving traffic and revenue. [2]
UTM codes can help you gain visibility on finding the right channel for your audiences and make changes as you go for better overall ROI on your paid social media, organic social media, emails, search, and display ads. You’ll get a clear picture of lead generation, referral traffic, and conversions.
Utilizing UTM tracking in your digital marketing is proven to provide expert insight into how your digital marketing strategy is working across all channels. If you aren’t already using this digital marketing method, it’s easy to start implementing it into your campaigns today.
Sources:
[1] The unlikely origin story of Google Analytics, 1996–2005-ish. Crosby, S. (2017, December 21). Urchin Software Corp. Medium. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://urchin.biz/urchin-software-corp-89a1f5292999
[2] How to use UTM parameters to track everything. Neil Patel. (2021, August 28). Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://neilpatel.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-using-utm-parameters/