Daniel Vaczi
This year is the year "value", as SERP algorithms pay extra attention to content quality and nitpick mediocre keyword-stuffed results off the ranking pedestal. Say goodbye to your old bad marketing habits, and hello to better marketing practices. Here are four inbound marketing resolutions to keep to make sure you're up to par with the new digital world order.
1. Think Like a Millennial
Born after 1990, Millennials never knew a world without the Internet, cell phones and instant gratification. If you think the millennial market applies only to B2C, you are beyond mistaken. According to a study commissioned by Google, millennials are playing a larger role when it comes to B2B decision-making, claiming, "Nearly half of all B2B researchers are millennials."
Moreover, millennials are the biggest consumer of content and user of mobile devices. Take advantage of this by creating interactive quality content on a regular basis to win over millennials. Incorporating user-generated content into your inbound marketing strategy will strengthen engagement, amplify brand awareness and, most importantly, engage with Millennials.
2. Stick To High Quality Content
It's 2016 and Google is now the all-knowing, all-wise adjudicator of what constitutes high quality content. In fact, the Google gods have implemented such rigorous algorithms to dissect a website's content that you can no longer get away with simple keyword placement and "evergreen" content. If you want to remain in good standing with Google, you've got to present professionally developed, pristine content on your website, blog at least once a week and make sure everything you put on your website is well-researched, specific and informative. You can learn more about Google's PageRank system here.
3. Incorporate More Visuals
According to a Forrester study expert: "a picture may be worth 1000 words but videos are worth 1.8 million words". While well-written content is like manna to Google's search algorithms, engaging visuals are also gobbled up by today's mobile device users who often scan rather than read. Supplementing infographics and videos with short snippets of content targeting keywords, meta descriptions containing a keyword or two and alt tags are also vital to fleshing out effective inbound marketing/SEO techniques. By combining UGC, superior content and corresponding visuals on your website, you'll also enjoy higher ROI's than you did using outbound marketing methods.
4. Make Sure Your Site Is Responsive
With almost 90 percent of Millennials and 75 percent of Generation Xers (those born between 1970 and 1990) admitting they are never out of reach of their smartphones, you can't afford not to include responsive website design into your inbound marketing strategy for 2016.
Incorporating elements of RWD into website--fluid grids, CSS3 media queries and flexible images--allows mobile device users to fully experience your website by automatically adjusting your site to the size of smaller screens. Websites that do not have RWD features may not load properly on smartphones or tablets, facilitate the ability of visitors to make a purchase and give you high bounce rates.
It's never too late to start honoring your inbound marketing resolutions for 2016. Stick to these resolutions and you'll see a year of dynamic success with better ROIs and reach. The year is full of limitless possibilities! Stay tuned for more tips for inbound marketing success this year!
