What is ChatGPT and Why Use It for Writing?

ChatGPT is a conversational AI assistant from OpenAI that collaborates with you as a partner. This AI understands natural language, follows complex instructions and adapts responses based on context while remembering previous interactions.

Understanding ChatGPT’s capabilities

This AI assistant does much more than generate text. Writers can use it to answer questions, explain concepts, draft content and create summaries. The technology attracted 57 million users in just one month, showing its broad appeal.

ChatGPT’s power as a writing tool comes from its ability to:

• Generate high-quality text based on specific prompts
• Brainstorm ideas you might not have thought of alone
• Analyze uploaded documents like PDFs or presentations to extract information
• Give human-like feedback and adapt based on your instructions
• Process and summarize large volumes of information quickly

ChatGPT works like an intelligent writing partner. It grasps language nuances and follows detailed directions. To name just one example, see how asking it to “write a blog post about digital marketing in a conversational tone” results in content that matches your style perfectly. The system comes with different foundational models based on your subscription level. Built-in tools add extra functionality. You can tailor your experience to match specific writing needs.

How it helps with content creation

ChatGPT makes a huge difference in productivity. MIT researchers found that writers with ChatGPT access finished tasks 40% faster. Independent reviewers also noted an 18% boost in output quality. Writers often face blank page syndrome. ChatGPT helps break through this block by offering fresh viewpoints and unexpected connections. It becomes your intellectual sparring partner and helps refine ideas through dialog. Research becomes easier with ChatGPT. You get suggestions for relevant scholars, sources, and search terms. After you write, it reviews structure and assesses idea flow—a technique called reverse outlining. Content creation scales better with ChatGPT. The platform helps maintain quality even as output increases. Businesses that need regular content find this especially valuable. ChatGPT adapts to your needs. You can try different writing styles and tones to reach various audiences. Writers can expand their range without spending years practicing each style. The tool magnifies human creativity rather than replacing it. One content creator called it “not a replacement, but a spark, a playful nudge to shake things up”. The best content emerges when human insight meets AI assistance. ChatGPT excels at editing and refinement. It simplifies complex language, improves readability, and fixes awkward sentences – skills we’ll explore more in later sections.

Setting Up for Success: Preparing to Use ChatGPT

A chef prepares ingredients before cooking, and you should do the same with ChatGPT. The right preparation will make your content creation process much smoother.

Define your content goals

Your success with ChatGPT starts with a clear vision of what you want to achieve. Create a brief project description that outlines your purpose, intended audience, and what you need ChatGPT to deliver. To name just one example: “I need to develop a content marketing strategy for a tech startup that increases brand awareness and strikes a chord with tech enthusiasts. I’ll use ChatGPT to draft blog ideas, social media captions, and newsletter concepts”. ChatGPT works best with specific goals rather than vague instructions. Your objectives should follow SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This method turns abstract ideas into concrete targets that ChatGPT can help you reach.

Your content goals should specify:

• Output type (blog post, email, social post, etc.)
• Desired word count or length
• Structure requirements
• Research needed
• Any specific rules or constraints

Content experts point out that “Including rules and constraints alongside output specifications helps ChatGPT produce your desired result”. These might include certain types of content to exclude or specific elements to include.

Choose the right tone and style

ChatGPT can match different writing styles but needs clear guidance about your preferred tone. Research shows that using tone words like “professional” or “casual” often creates exaggerated, artificial-sounding results. A better solution exists. Give ChatGPT sample copy that shows your desired tone. The AI quickly mirrors existing styles and avoids exaggerations after analyzing an example. This approach works better than abstract tone descriptions. Beyond its neutral style, ChatGPT offers seven distinct personalities: Professional, Friendly, Candid, Efficient, Nerdy, and Cynical. Each personality creates unique responses. Professional uses formal language with precise phrasing, while Friendly sounds warm and chatty. Your output specifications should mention tone preferences: “The content should use available terms while avoiding jargon, yet still sound professional so all stakeholders can understand it”.

Decide on your target audience

Content that speaks directly to a specific audience works best. Giving ChatGPT detailed demographic or psychographic data about your target readers makes the content more relevant and involving.

Think about these questions:

• Who exactly will read this content?
• What problems are they trying to solve?
• What language and terminology do they understand?
• Which platforms will they encounter this content on?

Different platforms need different tones to work effectively. Let ChatGPT know where your content will appear, and it can adjust the tone – casual for social media or formal for white papers. ChatGPT can help define your audience: “Help me define my target audience. Ask me questions to learn about who they are and what my business offers”. Your answers will clarify who you’re writing for. Generic content that tries to appeal to everyone ends up striking a chord with no one. Studies reveal that 50% of people spot AI-generated content, and 52% find it less engaging. A well-defined audience helps ChatGPT create truly relevant content. Keep in mind – detailed instructions about goals, tone, and audience lead to better results. One expert says it best: “ChatGPT isn’t a mind reader. The only way to get quality results is to tell it exactly what you want it to do”.

Using ChatGPT to Generate Content Ideas

Writers face no bigger challenge than coming up with fresh content ideas. ChatGPT can be your personal brainstorming buddy. The right approach turns it from a basic text generator into an idea machine that helps you think beyond your usual creative limits.

Prompt examples for brainstorming

Your questions determine the quality of ideas you’ll get. Generic questions lead to generic answers. The real magic happens with specific prompts.

These prompts will help you get better results:

• Content multiplication prompt: “I’m sharing a piece of my original content that contains valuable insights. Analyze it and extract 15 distinct key points that could each become standalone content. For each point, provide: 1) The core message in one sentence, 2) Why this matters to [your audience], 3) A unique angle to explore.”
  
• Topic exploration prompt: “Generate 5 unique blog series ideas focused on [your topic]. Each series should include a main theme, a catchy title, and 3-5 blog post titles with one-sentence descriptions.”
  
• Audience-specific prompt: “Propose three product ideas tailored for [specific persona, e.g., remote workers in cold climates].”
  
• Contrarian angle prompt: “Create 7 bold opinions about this topic that would spark replies and discussion. No rage bait. No fluff. Just confident, experience-based takes that challenge common advice.”

ChatGPT shines at spinning multiple ideas from a single thought. A brilliant client insight or well-laid-out strategy document can fuel months of content with the right prompts.

How to refine topic suggestions

Getting your first batch of ideas is just the start. The magic lies in refining those suggestions into something special. The “ask me questions” technique works wonders. After your first round of ideas, ask ChatGPT: “What questions do you need to ask me to write something better?” This lets AI guide the discovery process naturally. Your ideas will improve through this back-and-forth. Building on existing ideas beats starting fresh. Think of ChatGPT as an eager junior team member who wants to improve—give clear feedback about what clicks and what doesn’t. Pick the angles you like best and ask for variations. Don’t settle for obvious ideas. Ask: “What’s a non-obvious angle on [topic] that would stand out on LinkedIn?” This pushes you past surface-level thinking into fresh territory. Adding specific constraints or frameworks helps too. Shape your requests around particular formats: “Generate 10 innovative product ideas that solve common problems for [target audience]”. Structure leads to more detailed, useful responses.

Avoiding generic content ideas

AI-generated content can kill reader interest fast. Research shows all but one of these readers can spot AI-written content, and 52% feel less connected to it. You can avoid bland ideas through collaborative prompting—treat ChatGPT like a partner rather than a vending machine. Skip commands like “Write a post about AI trends.” Instead, create a dialog with context. Extreme constraints spark creativity. Ask: “If our budget were cut by 80% but we still had to meet our objectives, how would we do it?”. These limitations force innovative solutions. Look for overused phrases in ChatGPT’s suggestions. Ask: “What are the most overused phrases in this space?” Then actively avoid those clichés. Your content will instantly stand out from competitors. Tables help organize brainstorming sessions more effectively. Ask for a comparison table showing different content angles, their audience appeal, and production difficulty. Make every idea specific. Avoid generic hooks like “Want to know the secret to productivity?” They sound like every other post. Ask for ideas that capture genuine excitement about a discovery. These strategies turn ChatGPT into more than just a tool – it becomes your creative thinking partner, expanding your ideas faster than ever before.

How to Use ChatGPT to Write Articles

Writing a complete article with ChatGPT becomes simple once you learn a few key techniques. Let’s take a closer look at the practical steps that will transform your writing process.

Creating a structured outline

A well-laid-out outline works as the backbone of any article. ChatGPT excels at creating frameworks that guide your writing experience. Your article title and target audience should be the starting point with ChatGPT. To cite an instance, this prompt works well: “Create a clear outline for a blog titled [your title] aimed at [your audience]. Include 3-5 key sections with short summaries.” This approach gives you a complete structure within seconds.

The outline can be refined further. Ask ChatGPT to build it based on specific parameters:

• Word count expectations
• Key points to address
• Target reading level
• Content format (listicle, how-to, etc.)

Research-heavy content needs your thesis statement and main arguments. ChatGPT then creates a logical structure that flows naturally from introduction to conclusion. The AI-generated outline serves as a starting point. You can request changes like “Add a section about [topic]” or “Break section 3 into two distinct parts” until the outline meets your needs.

Generating full drafts

A complete draft comes together substantially faster once your outline is ready. The core team now completes in ten minutes what used to take half a day. Section-by-section development holds the key. Each outline point goes to ChatGPT with specific instructions. A prompt like “Write a 150-220 word draft for this section. Tone: conversational, raw, short sentences. Use one concrete example” creates focused, readable content. The sections come together quickly into a cohesive first draft. You keep control over the argument, voice, and facts throughout the process.

This approach works best:

1. Build your outline first
2. Generate content for each section separately
3. Compile sections into a single draft
4. Edit to consistency and personal voice

AI writing tools have reduced writing task completion time by 40%. Quality has improved too—output quality rose by 18% according to independent reviewers.

Using ChatGPT to write intros and conclusions

Writers often struggle most with introductions and conclusions. ChatGPT proves particularly helpful with these critical components. ChatGPT needs all relevant aspects of your article to create introductions. This includes research questions, methodology, central arguments, and essay type. The context helps craft a hook that draws readers in while setting proper expectations. This introduction prompt works well: “Write an engaging introduction for an article about [topic]. Include a hook, context about why this matters, and a thesis statement that argues [your main point].” The result provides a strong foundation to customize. Conclusions also benefit from AI assistance. ChatGPT needs a short overview of your article, including your research question, central arguments, and key findings to create effective conclusions. Professional writers often use ChatGPT specifically for these bookends of their content. One writer notes, “I am using ChatGPT to generate intros, conclusions & outlines most of the time”. Note that AI-generated text starts generic. Professional AI users stand out through their editing skills. These sections need rework to sound human, persuasive, and engaging. An AI might write “Renewable energy is very important and affects the economy,” while your improved version could transform this into something compelling. ChatGPT helps accelerate your writing—not replace it. These techniques will help you create better content faster.

Improving Content Quality with ChatGPT

Your content needs polishing after the initial draft. The gap between average and exceptional content often emerges during refinement, where ChatGPT excels.

Boosting readability and flow

Research indicates ChatGPT can boost content readability with proper use. Writers don’t deal very well with making their text available to a variety of audiences. ChatGPT tackles this by completely restructuring sentences instead of just replacing words. ChatGPT reduced the average grade level from 5.3 to 4.1 for Spanish content, which made it more available. The AI made valuable adjustments to sentence structure and phrasing in English text, though one study found no statistically significant improvements.

You can maximize readability improvements by:

1. Asking ChatGPT to “make this text easier to read” rather than simply “rewrite this”
2. Providing feedback if the first attempt misses the mark
3. Using readability tools to verify improvements

“The right prompt makes all the difference,” notes one expert. “Merely asking for a rewrite won’t necessarily improve readability—you need to specify that readability is your goal.”

Simplifying complex language

Technical topics often hide behind needlessly complicated language. ChatGPT shines at clarifying difficult concepts while preserving their essential meaning. Let’s take a closer look at this approach: “Explain the following text for an audience of fifth graders”. This prompt changes sophisticated content into clear, available explanations for broader audiences. Another option works well: “Simplify this text without losing any key information”. This keeps the core message while making it easier for readers to digest. A study showed ChatGPT’s skill at simplifying medical information from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which made it more understandable for patients. This capability extends beyond healthcare into any technical field.

Using ChatGPT to rewrite awkward sentences

ChatGPT serves as an excellent editing partner when even skilled writers produce clunky sentences.

Specific prompts about the issues you want fixed yield better results:

1. “Rewrite this paragraph to improve flow and clarity while maintaining the original meaning”
2. “This sentence feels awkward. Rewrite it to sound more natural and conversational”
3. “Make this text more concise without removing key information”

ChatGPT analyzes complete sentences and paragraphs to understand meaning before making corrections. It assesses context to produce natural-sounding improvements, unlike basic grammar checkers that follow preset rules. “I still use ChatGPT. It helps me brainstorm, clarify ideas and rewrite awkward sentences. But now, I use it like a smart assistant — not a ghostwriter,” one writer shares. The real value emerges when you combine ChatGPT with your own editing. Read your content aloud after getting AI suggestions. Keep refining until it matches your natural speaking voice. Note that ChatGPT helps make your voice clearer and more effective—not remove it. The most compelling content keeps your unique point of view while benefiting from AI-boosted readability.

Optimizing Content for SEO

Search engines love high-quality content, and ChatGPT helps create exactly that with proper optimization. This AI tool not only creates text but also helps improve your content’s visibility in search results.

Incorporating keywords naturally

Keywords are the foundations of successful SEO strategies. You need to integrate them smoothly without affecting readability. ChatGPT can help you strike this balance. This prompt will help you find relevant keywords: “Generate a list of 15 high-performing keywords related to [your topic], highlighting long-tail and low-competition keywords”. You’ll find valuable terms you might have missed otherwise. Don’t make the rookie mistake of keyword stuffing. Ask ChatGPT to optimize your existing text: “Optimize the following paragraph to target [keyword] with a 3% density while maintaining natural flow”. This keeps your content readable while making search algorithms happy. To get complete keyword integration, ask ChatGPT for Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords—related terms that make content more relevant. Use a prompt like “Suggest a list of 10 LSI keywords for [primary keyword]” to build a stronger semantic framework.

Writing meta titles and descriptions

Meta descriptions can affect click-through rates from search results pages by a lot. They don’t directly boost rankings but help SEO through better user engagement.

To write good meta descriptions:

1. Keep them under 155-160 characters to avoid cuts
2. Add your main keyword naturally
3. Write summaries that make people want to click

ChatGPT is great at writing these elements. Try this prompt: “Write an engaging SEO-optimized meta description under 160 characters for an article titled ‘[Your Title]’ about [topic], using the keyword ‘[primary keyword]'”. For title tags that show up as headlines in search results, ChatGPT can give you multiple options. Use: “Create five SEO-friendly titles for an article about [topic], incorporating the keyword [primary keyword]”. Good titles boost click-through rates and improve your SEO results.

Improving headings and subheadings

Headers do more than organize content—they’re vital SEO elements. Search engines look at header tags to understand your page and check if it’s relevant. Header tags help readers see the structure and tell search engines what’s important. H1 tags show your main topic, while H2 and H3 tags point to subtopics and supporting ideas. ChatGPT can make your headers work harder for SEO. Ask for optimized header structures: “Generate a detailed, SEO-friendly content outline for a 1500-word article about [topic], structured with headings and subheadings optimized for the keyword ‘[primary keyword]'”. If you have an outline ready, let ChatGPT optimize it: “Optimize the header tags in this outline for SEO, incorporating relevant keywords while maintaining readability”. Note that headers should include keywords naturally. They work well for secondary keywords that might not fit smoothly elsewhere. Your readers come first, not algorithms. The best SEO content reads naturally and gives real value. ChatGPT helps balance both—making content that works for search engines and people alike.

Editing and Humanizing AI-Generated Content

Your personal touch can make AI-generated text shine. ChatGPT’s raw output needs strategic editing before you share it with your audience. Generic content can become authentically yours with the right approach.

Adding your voice and tone

ChatGPT’s content often lacks personality. The best way to fix this is showing it examples of your writing style. Your past blog posts, emails, or social media content that sounds distinctly “you” will help shape its output. ChatGPT can mirror your unique communication style effectively. Share your “voice quirks” with it – whether you love rhetorical questions, specific metaphors, or touches of humor. More examples lead to better adaptation. A simple prompt works well: “I like when you use big metaphors and concise witticisms, but I don’t like when you use hashtags or emojis”. Such feedback helps ChatGPT fine-tune your preferred style with each interaction.

Fact-checking and removing fluff

AI models struggle with truly “understanding” their output. They sometimes make mistakes, use outdated information, or create fictional details. Fact-checking becomes essential.

Here’s how you can verify AI-generated content:

• Check all statistics, dates, and claims against reliable sources
• Verify that referenced studies or publications actually exist
• Cross-check with government sites or academic databases for accuracy
• Look for internal consistency throughout the text
• Confirm technical terms are used properly

Repetitive phrasing and circular reasoning often appear in AI writing. These elements create dull text that readers ignore quickly. Remove any content that doesn’t add value.

Avoiding AI detection patterns

AI detection tools spot specific patterns: repetition, predictability, and lack of personal voice. ChatGPT creates smooth, uniform text with similar sentence structures throughout articles. Natural writing needs varied sentence length. Short, punchy statements mixed with longer explanations create human-like rhythm in writing. Your personal insights make content unique. Anecdotes, original opinions, or specific examples add authenticity that AI can’t copy. These elements match Google’s E-E-A-T principles (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) perfectly. Words should reflect your authentic voice. AI tends toward common phrases that sound generic. Vivid, precise language makes your writing distinctly human.

Best Practices for Using ChatGPT Effectively

Perfect prompts don’t get you great results from ChatGPT – smart refinement does. Leading content creators go beyond simple interactions to tap into ChatGPT’s full potential.

Iterate and refine prompts

ChatGPT missing the mark doesn’t mean you should start over. Try this instead: “You’re close. Keep this structure, but make the tone sharper and the intro sound more human.” Think of ChatGPT as a new intern who needs guidance rather than replacement.

Your prompt might be the issue, not the AI. These tactics will help you get better results:

1. Give ChatGPT a clear role
2. Explain your goal and audience
3. Specify your desired tone
4. Define the format you want
5. Show examples of your style

The best AI users aren’t those who get perfect output right away. They know how to give clear feedback and make adjustments faster.

Use feedback loops to improve results

Feedback loops are among the most powerful ways to use ChatGPT. Your expertise combined with AI creates better outputs than either could achieve alone.

Here’s how you can apply them:

• Ask ChatGPT to analyze your writing
• Add the feedback that makes sense
• Start a new chat with the improved writing
• Keep going until ChatGPT runs out of meaningful suggestions

Feedback loops help you create better examples, stronger sentence structures, and more compelling calls to action. Each refinement helps the AI handle your content needs more efficiently.

Combine ChatGPT with SEO tools

ChatGPT becomes more powerful for content creation when you pair it with dedicated SEO tools. You just need one reliable platform like Semrush or a free option like Google Keyword Planner to work with ChatGPT. This combination tackles both creative and analytical SEO tasks cost-effectively. ChatGPT creates keyword variations and clustering ideas, while SEO tools confirm the actual search volume data. Ask ChatGPT to create 10-20 headline variations using your target keyword to optimize headlines. Then pick the most clickable ones while staying truthful. This approach saves time without compromising quality. The most effective strategy uses ChatGPT as the “idea generator” and SEO tools as the “data validator”. This partnership creates content that works for both search engines and human readers.

Conclusion

ChatGPT has revolutionized content creation. This piece shows how this AI assistant saves time, ignites creativity, and enhances your writing process while preserving your unique voice. ChatGPT serves best as your collaborative partner. True magic emerges when your expertise meets AI capabilities. Your human experience, strategic thinking, and subject knowledge combine with ChatGPT’s speed, research assistance, and language fluency. The strategies covered here will dramatically boost your content production. Writers now complete tasks in minutes instead of hours. On top of that, content quality improves as you focus more on strategy rather than struggling with the original draft. ChatGPT should speed up your content creation, not replace it. Your voice, viewpoint, and insights are irreplaceable elements that AI cannot duplicate. The most compelling content needs your critical eye to fact-check, your personal stories, and your authentic style. Learning to write effective prompts takes practice, but the benefits become clear fast. Fresh ideas flow easily, writer’s block disappears, and your content efforts scale beyond previous limits. Pick one part of your workflow to start – maybe outline creation or headline variations. Your comfort level will grow naturally before expanding to other areas. ChatGPT learns from your feedback and improves with each interaction. The digital world changes faster every day, but one truth remains: readers want authentic, valuable information. ChatGPT helps deliver content quickly while you add the human elements that truly connect with your audience. Take the first step and try it out. Your ideal workflow might differ from others. Your creativity combined with ChatGPT’s capabilities creates something unique – quick, high-quality content that truly appeals to readers.

Key Takeaways

Master these proven strategies to transform ChatGPT from a simple text generator into your most powerful content creation partner.

• Prepare before prompting: Define clear content goals, specify your target audience, and provide tone examples rather than vague descriptions to get focused, relevant results.
• Use iterative refinement over perfect prompts: Treat ChatGPT like a collaborative partner—give feedback, refine responses, and build on previous outputs rather than starting over.
• Combine AI speed with human authenticity: Let ChatGPT handle outlines, research, and first drafts, then add your personal voice, fact-check thoroughly, and inject unique insights only you can provide.
• Leverage structured workflows for maximum efficiency: Generate ideas through specific prompts, create section-by-section drafts, and use feedback loops to continuously improve output quality.
• Optimize for both search engines and readers: Use ChatGPT for keyword research and meta descriptions, but always prioritize natural language flow and genuine value over algorithmic manipulation.

The most successful content creators don’t use ChatGPT as a replacement—they use it as an accelerator that amplifies their expertise while maintaining their authentic voice. This approach can reduce writing time by 40% while actually improving content quality by 18%, according to MIT research.

FAQs

Q1. How can ChatGPT improve my content writing process?

ChatGPT can enhance your content writing by helping with research, generating ideas, creating outlines, and producing initial drafts. It can save time and boost productivity, allowing you to focus on refining and personalizing the content.

Q2. Is it possible to use ChatGPT-generated content for my website?

Yes, you can use ChatGPT to create content for your website. However, it’s crucial to edit and personalize the AI-generated text to ensure it aligns with your brand voice, provides unique insights, and offers value to your readers.

Q3. How can I make ChatGPT-generated content more SEO-friendly?

To make ChatGPT content more SEO-friendly, focus on strategic keyword placement, optimize meta titles and descriptions, and improve headings and subheadings. Remember to maintain natural language flow and prioritize readability over keyword density.

Q4. What are some best practices for using ChatGPT in content creation?

Some best practices include using ChatGPT for initial drafts or outlines, providing clear instructions in your prompts, iterating and refining the output, and combining ChatGPT with other SEO tools for comprehensive content optimization.

Q5. How can I ensure the quality of ChatGPT-generated content?

To ensure quality, thoroughly edit and fact-check the AI-generated content, add your personal insights and experiences, remove any fluff or redundancies, and tailor the content to your specific audience and brand voice. Always review and refine the output before publishing.

The post How to Use ChatGPT for Content Writing: A Proven Guide That Actually Works appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.

Link building by itself is already a very challenging process, but for startups and lesser-known websites, the challenge of getting high-quality backlinks can be multiplied: it’s obviously more difficult to outreach to authoritative sites and influencers when your brand isn’t (yet) well-known.

Also, link building is a very demanding process that can involve various skillsets from content creation and promotion to relationship building. This is why in this guide, we will discuss all you need to know about link building for startups. By the end, you can use the knowledge and insights in this guide to develop a comprehensive link building strategy for your startup.

Let us begin from the very beginning: the basic concept of backlinks.

What Are Backlinks?

Backlinks, or also known as “inbound links” are any hyperlinks from other sites that point to your site.

In the internet real estate, we can think of a backlink as a vote of confidence. When someone links to your site, it’s basically saying that your site is trustworthy and credible and that the specifically linked page contains something useful. Backlinks will obviously bring people to your site besides, as mentioned, it is a very important SEO ranking factor whenever you do SEO for SaaS, SEO for Technology/IT or SEO for B2B company.

This is why backlinks are arguably the most important online commodity.

Just like in the offline world, a vote or recommendation letter coming from relevant and famous individuals will pack more weight. So, the quality of the backlinks is also important: it’s better to get just five links from high-quality sites than getting hundreds of links from low-quality, spammy sites.

Google themselves have admitted that getting more high-quality backlinks is among the most important ways of improving our site’s SERP rankings, and this is why link building is very important in SEO for startups.

Link Building For Startups: Best Practices

Before we discuss various techniques we can use in link building for startups, let us first discuss several principles and best practices in executing effective link building:

• Content Quality is King

The most important thing to understand about link building is that the quality of your content is everything. If your content is good and promoted well, you will always get backlinks sooner than later. On the other hand, no amount of promotions and link building tactics can help low-quality content.

So, before anything else, work on your startup content marketing strategy: research your competitor’s content, check their approach and develop better or unique content compared to your competition.

• Dofollow VS Nofollow Links

Above, we have discussed that links are votes of confidence.

With that being said, we can technically link a site without giving our “vote” for SEO purposes by adding a rel=nofollow attribute to our link. Just like the name, the nofollow attribute tells Google not to follow this link, and so this link won’t give the “vote” or equity.

A standard link (or dofollow link) looks like this:

<a href=””>Example</a>

While a nofollow link looks like this:

<a href=”” rel=”nofollow”>Example</a>

So, in general, we’d want more dofollow links, but links from major legitimate places (i.e. Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) are mostly nofollow links.

While a nofollow link might not pass a “vote” it could still send valuable traffic to your site and can still produce more dofollow links in the future. For example, a link to your website from your Twitter account will be a nofollow link, but it’s still an effective practice to bring qualified traffic to your site.

• Alignment With Your Marketing Objectives

Different content (and so, different pages) should have their unique objectives which will be related to the target audience’s search intent. With that being said, you should aim to get links that can support this objective, and so can also provide more value for your target audience.

For example, if your content is designed to be informative, then you should aim to get backlinks from authoritative sites that can support this content’s credibility as an informative source.

Remember that link building is not and should never be solely about ranking, but these links’ main purpose is to send qualified traffic to your site. This is why it’s very important to acquire links from websites whose audience would also find value in your site.

• Relevancy of Backlinks

Not only you should pay attention to the quality of backlinks, but we also need to consider the relevance. That is, links from websites that cover similar topics to yours are generally preferred than links from sites that aren’t relevant to your site.

For example, if your site mainly covers digital marketing, then getting a backlink from another marketing blog matters much more than another link from a golf website. In fact, if you get too many links from totally irrelevant sources, it may confuse the search engines and in a worst-case scenario, you might get penalized for this.

• Optimized Anchor Texts

A proper anchor text will tell Google what the content of your page is about. If, for example, you get 10 links to a page that uses roughly similar anchor texts (with similar meaning or contexts), then the page has a higher chance to rank on phrases related to this anchor text.

However, too many backlinks with exactly similar anchor texts could indicate manipulation, and if you are not careful, your site might get penalized for this.

In most cases, how optimized the anchor texts pointing to your site would depend on the relevance and quality of your content. That is, if the content is focused on a certain topic with great relevance, you’d most likely get anchor texts related to this topic. You can reach out to sites who’ve provided you with backlinks and suggests changes to these anchor texts if necessary, but be careful of overoptimization.

What You Should Avoid In Link Building

A very important thing in approaching your link building is a healthy link profile. While there can be various factors determining the health of our link profile, in general, we can call a link profile healthy when it indicates that the links are earned fairly and naturally. That is, we didn’t steal or manipulate the links.

So, unhealthy, or often called spammy link profile is built unnaturally and consists of low-quality sites. Not only these spammy link profiles won’t really help your SEO performances, but Google might also penalize your site for this.

In general, you can avoid having an unhealthy link profile by avoiding the following practices:

Avoid Purchasing Links in Any Forms

Here is the golden rule: there are no such things as working link-building “hacks” or SEO holy grail tactics.

Yes, some of them might work for a couple of months or three, but Google will crack down on it and penalize your site, probably permanently. In fact, in most cases, Google actually knew about these exploits sooner, but just waits a bit and hit it with a huge update to make sure that the manipulation is destroyed completely, which has always been the case so far.

Google, Bing, and other search engines are working really hard to continuously improve their algorithms to recognize paid links from legitimate ones, and they are getting better at this.

Here are some of the common link-building tactics offered by so-called SEO “experts” that actually no longer work:

• Links from personal blogging networks or PBNs, we’ll discuss more of this below.
• Links on the blog comment sections
• Links that appear near phrases like “promotional content”, “paid content”, and similar ones, Google is getting much better at recognizing this
• .edu or similar links earned through scholarships and discounts from educational institutions
• Backlinks generated from link exchange schemes

Some PBN strategies still work if you do it carefully. However, thousands of real human employees are employed by Google and actively comb through various websites every day. This is how you might get impacted by manual penalties. Once a site included in a PBN is flagged manually, then all the websites it links out to might be penalized permanently, and at the very least might suffer a significant ranking drop.

In short, these link building tactics are simply not worth it, especially if you need to pay a hefty price for these “secret hacks”. Avoid them at all costs, and embrace the fact that organic ranking is a long-term game.

Not Diversifying Your Link Sources

It’s very important to ensure that your link profile is diversified enough in several different aspects:

• Backlink types (i.e. editorial backlinks, links from directories, etc.)
• Variety in anchor texts, which we have discussed above
• Variety in referring domains

In general, Google and other search engines prefer that there are as many different sites linking to your sites, so they can objectively assess the consensus on your site’s quality.

Also, you should diversify your link quality. One of the most common mistakes made by many website owners is to aim straight to top-quality websites and only getting these top-tier links throughout the link building process. This is actually a major red flag for Google and the other search engines.

Instead, build your links naturally, as we’ve repeatedly stated throughout this guide. Build genuine and valuable relationships with important sites and influencers in your industry, give them your links, and get them in return while ensuring a good flow of high-quality content. This is the only valid way of link building, harsh but true.

This is even more true for startups. It is very unnatural for a startup site to get links exclusively from top-authority websites. Instead, startups should stick with backlinks that are natural for your current position (i.e., other startups, influencers in the industry, one or two high-authority sites, etc. ). Just add valuable links every now and then to build a natural-looking link profile.

As discussed, diversification in anchor texts is also very important. You can contact some link sources and get exact-match anchor texts, but avoid over-optimizations.

In short, diversify everything and aim for a natural profile. Diversification is also very important in defending your website from future algorithm changes. If you put all your eggs in one basket, you can lose everything if your current tactic is affected by the next algorithm change.

Getting Your Links Too Fast

Google, Bing, and other search engines are especially sensitive to how fast you acquire your backlinks (and obviously it’s very easy for them to track this). The technical term for this is link velocity and in general, you’d want a natural-looking link velocity where you get more links gradually over time.

So, make sure to grow your number of backlinks as the site itself grows (where more content is added).

There are two main types of unhealthy link velocity: Google will grow suspicious if you get a reduced number of generated links after several months, but on the other hand, Google will also take notes of sudden spikes (especially if the surge is very significant).

The best way to avoid this is to not include too many link-building tactics at any given time. Stick to just one or two tactics that produce backlinks gradually (not produce many backlinks at one time) like guest-posting, influencer outreach, and other ‘natural’ tactics.

It’s a common misconception that startups should begin with a strong link profile. In fact, this could be a huge problem if when there’s a significant algorithm change (again, don’t put your eggs on just one basket).

Build your links with natural velocity, and don’t forget to diversify your sources.

Effective Link Building Techniques

Improve Your Content Quality and Consistency

We have discussed how important the quality of your content is as a core of your link building tactic. However, another key aspect here is that you’d need to be consistent,  both in quality and quantity.
Keep a regular schedule to publish your content. You can plan an editorial calendar so you can keep track of when, where, and how you are going to publish the content, and it’s also important to be consistent in maintaining quality.  That is, avoid publishing low-quality or ‘filler’ content just for the sake of meeting your schedule.

It’s very important to embrace the fact, as soon as possible, that there’s no shortcut in getting backlinks besides your content quality. If your content is good, sooner than later you’ll get these precious backlinks, and again, no amount of tactics can help spammy low-quality content to get more backlinks.

Reclaiming Brand and Product Mentions

You’d be surprised how many people might mention your product name or brand name without linking your site. In most cases, this is an omission by accident and not on purpose, meaning, if you ask them to include your links, most likely they’ll be willing to.

So this is actually a fairly simple and effective link building opportunity, and there are various tools from the free Google Alerts, Mention, and others that can help you monitor brand mentions quite easily. You can set up individual alerts for your brand name, product/service names, and key company stakeholders’ names and check for mentions that might generate backlinks.

Link Hook Method

Another important thing to consider in our link building method is to give them a reason to link your site.

Let’s ask ourselves: why did we link other sites in our content in the first place? In most cases, we link sites because they provide useful information that we “cite” in our content, to say that we are providing credible information (backed with the linked website).

With the same principle, if we want to build more links, we can also publish high-quality content that contains this “linkable” information such as:

• Useful and original data or information. For example, research reports, white papers, case study, and testimonials, etc.
• Something really unique, or at least covered from a unique angle
• Visually appealing assets like infographics, photos, well-made designs, etc.
• Emotionally engaging content like great stories, photos, etc.
• Location-specific information (news about certain events in certain regions, etc. )
• In-depth informative content that can act as a resource

In short, give them a “link hook”, a reason for them to link your page. This can be a very effective approach to attract a lot of backlinks to a certain page. The more specific you can develop the page to contain this hook, the more effective this method will be.

Build Lasting Relationships

Remember that in its purest essence, a link is a relationship between two websites. These relationships can be an endorsement, reference, citation, or other forms. When a website links into another site, it’s essentially telling the audience that the website’s owner trusts the site and the audience should too.

Since links are inherently relationships, then one of the best ways in getting these links is to actually build a lasting relationship.

Sometimes, all it takes to get that valuable backlink is to simply reach out to the website’s owner (i.e. sending an email) and ask for one, especially if your content is already good quality. A simple outreach email can be a great start to a fruitful relationship.

Here are some important principles in attempting effective outreach:

• Keep it short and concise, don’t give any indication that it’s a spammy email, and you might get flagged/discarded immediately
• Communicate how you can give them value right away. For example, let them know that they have a broken link on their site and that your content might be relevant to replace this broken link
• You can always approach them by asking an authentic, engaging question and/or contribute to their conversations

There are also other approaches besides email outreach you might want to try:

Guest Posting

Guest posting is, to many people, the best method of link building, mainly due to the fact that this method gives you the most control. That is, control over the link placement, the type of link you’ll receive, and especially the anchor text (since you are the one who’ll be writing the article).

However, as a startup, we’d recommend a more strategic approach in pursuing your guest posting opportunities. As before, aim to build your guest posts naturally, but avoid low-quality post exchange sites and focus on authoritative websites in your industry. It doesn’t have to be really big blogs and company websites but choose respective ones.

Obviously this would mean that getting featured might be more challenging, but it will translate into a healthier link profile.

Being Featured on Podcasts/Youtube Videos

Many podcasts and Youtube channels might target the same audience as you, and many of those continuously look for contributors and guests to feature on the show.

Review podcast lists on iTunes, Spotify, or other podcast platforms, and look for shows relevant to your product. Do the same on YouTube. They might list the show’s website in the description, and some of them will even show their contact email address.

Send a personalized outreach email to the channel’s owner, and ask for an opportunity, probably by suggesting what you’d like to talk about  on the show.

The idea is, once you get featured, the host/channel owner will link your site in the show’s note or description. This can be a valuable backlink especially if it’s coming from the channel’s website.

Submit Your Site To CSS Galleries

Beautiful websites are a standard for startups nowadays, and the aesthetics quality of the website itself can be a link building opportunity.

Many CSS galleries offer the opportunity to showcase your website’s design to others, which will also give you a valuable backlink when your site is featured. You can check this list and start submitting your site to these CSS galleries.

Content Repurposing

One of the biggest challenges in link building can be the content creation process itself. Creating original content from scratch can be time-consuming, and even then, there’s no guarantee that the content will succeed in capturing the audience’s attention and generate those valuable backlinks.

With that being said, we can recycle and repurpose our content into other forms. For example, we can combine and repurpose different blog posts into a video or a podcast show, or even into a different blog post.

We can then link back to the original content from this repurposed content, and we can also drive up the reach and the total number of backlinks that we can generate from a single content.
In short, we can maximize the potential of every single content.

Broken Link Building

We have briefly discussed this above, but broken link building is definitely an effective link building method that deserves its own discussion.

Broken links are in a nutshell, links that are no longer available for one reason or another. It could be that the original linked page went down, it could be due to algorithms update, or other reasons.

The thing is, broken like are bad for the site’s SEO and also for user experience, and this is where it can be a great link building opportunity.

So, broken link building is where you try to find these broken links in websites in your niche or industry, and then reach out to the site owners to notify them of these dead links while offering your content for them to link in return for the help.  So, suggest content that is similar to the original broken link.

Fortunately, there are various tools that can help you find these broken links, so it shouldn’t take too much of your time. You’d be surprised how, when done correctly, this method can bring in links in a very quick manner.

Utilizing Social Media

First, it’s important to note that although links generated from social media (tweets, Instagram posts, Facebook posts, etc.) are nofollow links, they can bring a lot of traffic which can indirectly boost your SERP performances.

So, don’t underestimate promoting your content on social media: Tweet your content, engage influencers and aim to get those retweets and link back to your site.

Also, hosting giveaways can be a great link building tool. You can run a competition that is designed to engage your audience and generate the number of links going back to your site. For example, you can exchange a prize for a direct link to your site, or you can also ask your followers to share your social media posts.

Don’t stop the link building campaign after the contest ends, and there are many ways to ‘prolong’ the link generation. For example, you can show who the winner is on your site, and the winner might link to it again to show off.

Monitor Your Backlinks Profile

Now that you’ve executed your link building campaigns using the various techniques we have shared above, it’s very important to trank your backlinks and see how they are performing so you can optimize each backlink according to your SEO objectives.

The two most important thins to check about your backlinks are whether the link is still functioning well (i.e. it’s not a broken link), and the overall quality/authority of the incoming link. However, you can also check for other factors like click-through rate (how many people actually clicks on your links), ROI from each link (if you spent any money in link building), and so on.

There are various tools you can use in monitoring your link profile and each individual backlink’s performance. Tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush can help you monitor various metrics in just one dashboard, so we’d recommend one of them if you are really serious about your link building.

Also, you should check your competitor’s content and find out who’s giving them backlinks. You can ask these sources to also give you their links, for example by asking for a guest posting opportunity or via link-building method.

So, monitor your link profile and also your competitor’s links. This can help significantly in optimizing your backlinks and overall link building strategy: you can determine which one to optimize and which that already performs well. Also, you can identify various new opportunities and use them in future link building campaigns.

End Words

Backlinks, even after the COVID-19 crisis will remain one of, if not the most important ranking factor in SEO, and is a surefire way to boost your SERP ranking.

However, the quality of the incoming backlinks is now even more important than ever, and we all know how hard it is to get these links from high-quality, authoritative sites. So, a performing link-building strategy is now more important than ever. You can also work with a startup SEO agency or go for SEO services.

It’s important to note that any link building strategy should begin with your content’s quality and be a part of your overall digital marketing strategy for your startup. No amount of tactics and methods can help low-quality, spammy content in getting links, and on the other hand, informative and relevant content will always get links sooner or later. You can discuss your strategy with a marketing consultant to make sure you are not missing important tactics.

Don’t forget that it’s also very important to track all your incoming backlinks to monitor the overall health of your link-building profile and also to monitor the performance of your competitor’s link building approach.

The post Link Building For Startups: How To Improve Your Rankings and Organic Traffic appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.

So, what actually is B2B inbound marketing?

To really define the concept of B2B inbound marketing, we have to first take a look at the concept of traditional marketing which we now understand as ‘outbound’ marketing.

Traditional marketing efforts like advertising, the billboard we see on the side of the road, below the line activation, and so on, are about reaching as many people as possible with our promotional messages. In short, we push our messages ‘outwards’.

However, in this digital age of social media, there is a significant problem with traditional marketing: people now have more choices and are now more resistant to advertising. Not to mention, ad blockers are now everywhere, and various platforms even offer their users an ability to eliminate ads via premium membership or other means.

Traditional marketing also interrupts what the user is doing—whether watching a show/movie, browsing a website, or others—, so it can create a negative perception for the user and might hurt the chance of conversions.

This is where B2B inbound marketing comes in.

The main idea of B2B inbound marketing strategy, as opposed to traditional, ‘outbound’ marketing, is to pull and attract our audience inward. This is mainly done by publishing our content out there and making it available via SEO.

In such cases, the audience is the one proactively searching for the content, whether looking for information or a solution for a specific answer. So, inbound marketing won’t interrupt what the audience is doing and won’t hurt their overall experience. This audience will consume your content and is now aware of your brand and/or product/service. We can then build and nurture a relationship with this audience until they are ready to buy.

B2B inbound marketing can be divided into three core steps:

• Attracting the audience inwards: inbound marketing is about attracting highly-qualified leads and potential customers with valuable, relevant content, and social media conversation. We are establishing our position as a credible source and that we can be a potential solution for their problem.
• Engage the audience: We start building a relationship that we can provide solutions and insights to achieve their objective. We nurture them as leads until they are finally ready for purchase.
• Post-purchase treatment: Another key difference between outbound and inbound marketing is how inbound marketing should also be around after the purchase, to retain them as loyal customers, and convert them into advocates. Content and B2B inbound marketing should serve to provide support and help and to ensure they can achieve their objective with the purchase.

B2C VS B2B Inbound Marketing

Although the main principle of inbound marketing is relatively the same for both B2B and B2C businesses, we have to remember that B2B audiences are significantly different than their B2C counterparts.

Since inbound marketing is driven by the audience, then it would only make sense that there are also several key differences to consider between B2B and B2C inbound marketing approaches:

1. Purchase Motivation

B2C consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on their emotions, and this is why B2C marketing is mainly focused on driving emotional triggers. B2C customers mainly purchase a product or service based to improve their lives in one way or another: whether about fulfilling their satisfaction or solving a life problem.

On the other hand, in a B2C environment, we are purchasing something to improve the business’s or organization’s performance. That’s not saying B2B consumers can’t be driven by emotions, but it’s more likely that the B2B purchase is driven by the value provided by the product or service.

So, in B2B inbound marketing, we should focus on publishing content that can establish our credibility as a thought expert in the niche, and that our product or service can provide immediate value and/or provide a viable solution for the consumer. B2Bc content should include things like proven statistics to testimonials/success stories to further establish trust.

2. Purchase Decision Maker

This is one of the most essential differences between B2C and B2B marketing. In a B2C environment, there’s typically only one decision-maker in a purchase, and even if there’s more than one, they are typically closely-related (child and parent, asking spouse for agreement, etc.)

In a B2B environment, we are targeting companies/organizations instead of individuals, and there can be more than one decision-maker with each purchase. In fact, according to Gartner, there are now, on average, six to ten stakeholders involved in a B2B purchase.

These six to ten decision-makers can have different roles, interests, and priorities and so we’d have to approach them differently. In inbound marketing, this would translate to the need for publishing different content for each of these roles.

In B2B inbound marketing, we might have to create different buyer personas and take into account each persona’s needs, pain points, and priorities.

3. Conversion Timeline

This is, at the surface, a subtle difference, but the impact can be very deep. B2C consumers are more likely to purchase quickly after they consume content or even see an interesting ad. However, B2B customers typically involve a deeper research and comparison process, and so the purchase process can be much longer.

Meaning, in developing our B2B inbound marketing campaign, we should take this relatively long sales cycle into consideration. We might need to publish more content pieces to cater to the lead nurturing stage like educational content and content pieces that are designed to convince conversion.

Also, help your target audience with their research process. Don’t be afraid to publish a content comparing your product with your competitors’. You can feature all the proven statistics, infographics, and other data-driven content to help them with their research and convince them that your product is indeed their best option.

The key takeaway is that B2B inbound marketing should be about communicating your product’s unique value proposition (UVP) and establishing our credibility as the expert in our niche.

Developing B2B Inbound Marketing Strategy

1. Defining B2BInbound Marketing Objectives

The first step you should take is to define clear objectives for your B2B inbound marketing campaigns. Unlike traditional marketing activities like advertising, the ROI for your inbound marketing campaign can be quite difficult to measure. So, it’s very important to have clear objectives and KPIs before you begin your inbound campaign for B2B.

Depending on your business model, it’s probably best to start from your revenue goals to determine your marketing objectives. For example, if you are targeting a 20% annual increase in revenue, it could probably translate to an objective of a 40% increase in lead generation. From this, we can further define marketing responsibilities and what campaigns to prioritize.

Make sure your inbound marketing objectives are:

• Clear: easy to understand and won’t create confusion within your team. Be as specific as possible.
• Realistic: having an attainable goal is important to maintain your team’s morale. It’s okay to have a big, visionary goal, but it’s better to break it down into smaller, more realistic milestones.
• Measurable: figure out a system and assign metrics to each objective so you can properly measure your performance for the specific objective.

Since the cores of B2B inbound marketing are content marketing and SEO, it’s very important to consider that both will take time to build. So, keep that in mind when building your objectives so you can have the right expectation about your timeline.

Make sure you give enough time for the inbound marketing campaign to flourish, and consider long-term objectives. Although inbound marketing will indeed take time, the payoff can be big and sustainable.

2. Develop Your Buyer Personas

Above, we have discussed how one of the key challenges in B2B inbound marketing is the fact that there can be several different stakeholders affecting the purchase decision. So, we will need to create different buyer personas for each of these stakeholders, each of them can have different roles.

These different roles would have different needs and expectations, and 72% of B2B buyers nowadays expect vendors to provide personalized engagement according to their needs. So, it’s is very important that we truly understood our B2B buyers well.

Before anything else, we should make a list of the basic facts of our potential buyers:

Job details

Don’t underestimate the power of LinkedIn in researching potential B2B buyers. Find out their poles, skills, professional backgrounds, job titles, and other relevant information. You can also check people reporting to them as well as who they report to. By researching these for several target companies/organizations, you can have a clearer picture of which roles you should target, and what kinds of buyer personas you should develop.

Demographic data

Pretty self-explanatory, you should find out about gender, age groups, and other demographics information of your target audience. The more information you can gather, the better you can develop your buyer persona for this specific role.

Organizational information

This one is specific for developing a B2B buyer persona. You’ll need to research at least the basic details about your organizations. Find out the industries they belong to, the size of the organization, the product/service they provide, and other information. The idea here is to figure out how your product/service can help their business.

You might also want to research the clients/customers these businesses cater to, and study their needs and pain points. If your product can help this business in providing value to their customers, you can create a more personalized B2B inbound marketing and also your overall unique value proposition (UVP).

Needs/Pain Points

Identify the stakeholders that are involved in the B2B purchase, and try to understand their needs and problems they are currently facing. Again, figure out how your product or service can help solve these pain points.

Remember that different stakeholders might face different pain points and might have different needs, and your product might offer different values for each of these stakeholders. Identify the needs and challenges faced by each stakeholder and communicate your key values accordingly.

Now that you’ve gathered enough information, you can use the information to develop your buyer personas. Try to answer the following questions:

1. Where each persona fits in the sales cycle and what are their roles in the purchase decision
2. What are the key pain points of each stakeholder
3. What are their objectives and what are the organization’s objectives
4. Where each stakeholder spend their time online so you can focus your content

3. Content Creation

As we have discussed, the core of the inbound marketing strategy for B2B is content.

Based on your buyer persona, now you should have a better idea about what type of content you should develop for each stakeholder. Remember that content nowadays can come in many different forms from traditional blog posts to YouTube videos to podcasts, and although the goal of B2B inbound marketing is to bring people to our website and capture them as leads, we have to use all the different mediums to succeed in today’s diverse content marketing.

However, in B2B content creation, textual content, and especially blogs are still an important foundation in any B2B marketing strategy. Other mediums, like videos and podcasts, can support your blog by, for example, driving traffic to your blog post, and vice versa.

As discussed above, the objective of your content marketing is to provide content that is going to be informative and valuable for your target audience, while at the same time should establish your business’s credibility as a viable solution for your target audience’s pain points.

Here are some important content marketing tactics you can use in B2B inbound marketing:

Communicate your product’s value instead of the product itself

Remember that people, especially in the B2B environment, are not actually buying your product or service, but rather they purchase the value or benefit they get from your product. In B2B, your target businesses are only going to spend their money on yours if you can help them make more money somehow, either directly or indirectly.

Your product/service might save them some money or make them some money, and you should focus on communicating this on your content. However, communicating value alone simply isn’t enough. A 200-page datasheet is obviously a way to communicate value. Bullet points listing your product’s key features are also a way to communicate value. However, they aren’t enough.

For your content to be successful in B2B inbound marketing, your content should be both valuable and engaging, and it is a very common mistake, especially in B2B content, to forget about the latter.

So, how can we develop engaging content in a consistent way? The general principle is to tell a great story. Stories are what engaged people: it’s much more interesting to read a success story from someone who used your product or service than simply listing your product’s benefits. Tell your audience a story about how your product can help them generate value, share testimonials, and so on.

Make your content about how your brand can be a solution for your audience. You don’t really have to mention your product at all: give them practical, actionable tips, share industry news, and so on. Engage them first, and then you can worry about introducing your content.

Combining various mediums

Above, we have discussed the fact that there are various content marketing mediums we can focus on nowadays, and we have also discussed how we should focus on creating engaging content.

Creating multi-layered content utilizing various mediums can be a great way to improve engagement. We can combine, text, images, video, and audio in a single piece of content to ensure engagement throughout the whole content.

You can, for example, embed your YouTube video in the middle of your blog post. We can obviously insert images and infographics, and even podcast. Another common technique is to create an audio version of your blog post so people have more ways to consume your content.

Again, focus on improving engagement. If the blog post is already engaging enough with just some images, then don’t force adding videos.

Don’t forget technical optimization

No matter how good your content is, people won’t enjoy it if your website is not properly functioning, or even when the layout is not properly optimized. Again, your content’s objective is to produce as much engagement as possible. The longer you can engage people with your content, the more chances you’ll have to convince them to purchase your product or service.

So, make sure your website is properly optimized so it loads fast enough and mobile-friendly/mobile-responsive. If you include videos and images, make sure they are at least decent in quality (although, you should always aim to be great.)

Create a seamless user experience to boost engagement. Be holistic and thorough, make sure your audience is having the best possible experience in every interaction with your brand from your blog post to your videos to your product and customer service.

4. Content Promotion

Just because your content is good and engaging, doesn’t mean your audience will automatically find them. Remember that B2B inbound marketing is about pulling (attracting) your target audience to find your content.

So, how exactly are we going to achieve that?

SEO

The key to making our content available for our audience is SEO: making sure our content ranks high on Google’s (and other search engines’) SERP so your target audience can find it when they search for your target keywords.

While SEO is a pretty broad subject on its own, and you might want to check out our previous guide on B2B SEO strategy. However, here are some key tips to focus on:

Content quality

The most important factor in SEO success is your content quality, period. If your content is good, sooner or later you’ll get those valuable backlinks, and we all know that backlinks are the most important ranking factor in SEO.

On the other hand, no amount of SEO techniques and strategies will help boost a weak, low-quality content. So, go back to the content creation section above, and again, focus on developing high-quality, engaging content that is valuable for your target audience. You can also decide to work with a B2B SEO agency or services if you want professionals to work on your campaign.

Guest posting and collaboration

Don’t underestimate the power of guest posting or collaboration (in videos, podcasts, etc. ). Collaborate with other businesses and influencers in your industry, and even your competitors when it’s appropriate.
Build relationships with other businesses, authoritative sites, and influencers in your niche, join their social media conversations and establish your position that you are also a thought leader in this niche and you can provide value for their audience (or their business).

Also, don’t forget that it works bost ways. You should also host other’s content on your platform, which can actually provide a lot of benefits. For instance, you are posting high-quality content and can attract the writer’s/content creator’s audience to your site without having to create the content yourself. Your own audience can also see that you have a relationship with other industry leaders which can be a showcase that you have a clear understanding of what’s valuable in your niche.

Don’t forget that in these guest posting opportunities, you can also generate backlinks, which in turn will help your SEO.

Social media

Social media is obviously where our audience is nowadays, even in the B2B environment. In fact, 75% of B2B buyers are influenced by social media in their purchase decision.

It’s important to note that social signals like the number of likes and shares when we post our content on social media won’t help with our content’s SEO. However, the more our content is shared on social media, the more people will notice it, which will translate to a higher chance of us getting those valuable backlinks. So, social media performance will indirectly help your SEO.

Sharing your content on social media just when they are being published will also help Google and the other search engines to notice them, and so the content will get indexed quickly.

Remember that your B2B inbound marketing should serve the whole purchase cycle from when the audience first learns about your brand to when they make a repeat purchase or subscription renewal (hopefully). Creating content can be difficult and time/resource-consuming, so by doing this you can leverage maximum value from each publishing effort.

On the other hand, remember to develop content for each member of your target audience from qualified leads, semi-qualified leads (cold prospects), lost prospects, newly acquired customers, repeat clients, and so on. If you can develop content with a broad scope, the better it can help in encouraging conversion at the bottom of the funnel. So, diversify between specific, highly-targeted content and broader content pieces to encourage conversions.

5. Optimize Your Lead Magnets and CTAs

Now that you’ve successfully attracted people to your content, now what?

Your content by itself won’t really bring value unless the readers/audiences are convinced to buy your product/service and convert them into actual customers. Again, in a B2B environment, this can be much more complicated since the content consumer might not be the only one that has a say in the purchase decision.

We should devise a system to capture our content consumers into prospects, which starts by us capturing their contact information so we can follow-up with our lead nurturing efforts (i.e. email marketing).

We can do it by including CTAs and lead magnets in our content to encourage our readers to convert. A lead magnet is an offer that should be perceived as valuable by our target audience but is offered for free in exchange for their contact information.

So, what should we offer?

The key here is that our offer should be perceived as valuable by your potential customers. It’s them who dictate what’s valuable, not you. So, go back to the very first point above and review your target audience’s needs and pain points. Figure out what’s going to be valuable for them, but at the same time remember that you are going to offer this for free, so make sure the cost of this ‘gift’ is justified.

Here are some common lead magnets we can offer in B2B inbound marketing:

Product demo/free-trial:

A very effective approach in the B2B lead magnet is to offer your time-limited product demo or free trial. This is how your potential buyers can try your product or service, so you can convince them that your solution is indeed the best for their business.

Ebook/whitepaper

A classic approach is to offer an ebook or whitepaper that offers a more in-depth discussion of the content the audience is consuming. For example, if the blog post is about SEO strategy, you can offer an ebook about advanced SEO strategies and techniques.

While this approach can still be effective, keep in mind that it’s already saturated. So, unless your ebook is perceived as really interesting or valuable, it might not attract them.

Webinar

An invitation to a webinar can be a very effective lead magnet if the topic of the webinar is interesting. You can also invite famous guest speakers and influencers in your niche to boost the attractiveness of the webinar.

Also, the benefit of a webinar as a lead magnet is two-fold, as the webinar by itself can create a very personal, lasting engagement and relationship with your target audience.

Educational videos

An engaging, valuable video can be a very powerful lead magnet format. You can, for example, show a few minutes of your video offer before you give them the opt-in form. This can be a very effective lead magnet if your preview video is attractive.

You can create tutorial videos on how to use your product to solve a specific problem (which they might be interested in), or actionable tips and tricks related to your niche.

6. Measure and Evaluate Your Progress

As you can see from the previous steps, inbound marketing for many B2B companies is a long-term game and although the payoff can be big and sustainable, you might need to invest months before you see any significant results from your campaign.

So, having an appropriate system in place to keep track of your progress and evaluate the key metrics of your B2B inbound marketing campaigns is very important. During this long-term game, you might need to make adjustments here and there, upgrade and update your content, find new ways to promote your content, and so on.

Remember that consistency is very important in your B2B inbound marketing: trust is very hard and can take a very long time to build, and yet a single mistake can easily ruin all your efforts.

If necessary, invest in a marketing solution like HubSpot or Pardot where you can analyze all your key metrics for the various channels in a single dashboard (which will make the whole evaluation process much easier to manage).

Keep track of all the data-driven insights you can gather, analyze your content performance, and adjust your strategy when it’s necessary.

End Words

Since B2B inbound marketing is a long-term game while at the same time content is always evolving, it’s very important to always maintain between speed and quality control. It’s important to pay attention to every detail about your content especially to maximize your SEO.

As you can see from the above, the key to a successful B2B inbound marketing campaign is whether you can consistently publish engaging, valuable content for your audience. However, how you promote the content is also important.

While SEO remains the most effective way to promote your content and should be the core aspect of your B2B inbound marketing strategy, we need other channels from social media, email marketing, and other promotional channels to drive traffic and get more backlinks to each of your content.

The post The Ultimate B2B Inbound Marketing Strategy appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.

Instead of pushing our message to the customer like in traditional marketing (or outbound marketing), inbound marketing focuses on attracting our target audience to come to us. The idea is, since your audience is already attracted to what you are offering, the conversion rate would be higher.

Sounds interesting?

In this guide, we will discuss how we can implement an inbound marketing strategy for your startup, but so that we are on the same page, let us first discuss the concept of inbound marketing.

What Actually Is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing was a marketing jargon first coined by HubSpot back in 2006. However, it didn’t really gain popularity until around 2012. Since then, however, inbound marketing has become one of the most important buzzwords in the last decade’s digital marketing.

So, what actually is inbound marketing?

We have briefly discussed that the main idea of inbound marketing is about attracting our target customers inwards. So, what exactly are we going to use to attract these customers?

As you might have guessed, the answer is content. Inbound marketing is essentially about putting valuable, relevant content out there so our target audience can find it.

The most common case in inbound marketing is when the target audience is looking for information or solution for a specific problem on Google and then click on a search result to consume the content. Now, this particular audience is aware that a certain brand/blog has information they are currently seeking and at the same time might learn about the product it is selling, the brand, and so on.

According to HubSpot’s initial concept of inbound marketing, we can generally divide the strategy into four different stages:

• Attract: attracting strangers to visit your website or platform. As discussed, this is mainly done through content marketing and SEO, but we can also use other channels like social media, influencer marketing, and so on.
• Convert: converting strangers into prospects/leads, mainly by offering something in exchange for their contact information.
• Close: nurturing prospects/leads until they are ready to purchase your product or service. This is mainly done via email marketing/newsletter, but also via other channels like social media marketing and even content marketing
• Delight: reminding existing customers about your business and maintaining healthy relationships so they become loyal customers and advocates for your business.

Why Inbound Marketing for Startups?

The thing about inbound marketing is that the output might be less tangible compared to a traditional advertising campaign. Content marketing can take a long time before you can see significant results. On the other hand, many startups tend to desire tangible, quick results to grow the business quickly.

Still, there are some key benefits of inbound marketing for startups, and so it’s best for startups to start investing in the inbound marketing efforts as early as possible.

They are:

• Cost-efficiency

One of the key challenges in any startups is limited capital, which often translates into a limited marketing budget. On the other hand, mass outbound marketing like advertising is not only expensive but has become highly ineffective in today’s digital marketing age.

This is where inbound marketing can be a cost-effective solution. As discussed, the cores of inbound marketing are content marketing and SEO, and both of them can be very affordable and even totally free if you do everything yourself.

By investing in inbound marketing, startups can quickly achieve growth with its limited marketing budget.

• Inbound marketing helps build the credibility of your brand

One of the biggest challenges of building a startup is that nobody knows you, and so it’s obviously harder for startups to attract new prospects and customers.

At the center of inbound marketing is the consistent publication of relevant, high-quality content, and content is now the best way for us to establish credibility as the thought leader/expert of the industry.

When done properly, inbound marketing can be a great way for startups to leverage social proof, convincing people to purchase from us.

• Sustainable results

The objective of inbound marketing is to build sustainable connections with your customers.

Once, for example, a blog post is ranked on the first page of Google’s SERP, it can generate organic traffic for months or even years even after you’ve stopped spending on it. Compare this to traditional advertising, where you won’t get any impact when you stop placing the ad.

Again, this will be related to the cost-efficiency and ROI of your marketing process. Once you can provide high-quality, relevant content for your potential audience, everything else becomes easier.

• High-quality traffic and prospects

While a core part of inbound marketing is about creating awareness, there is another important advantage of inbound marketing: it is designed to attract the right kind of traffic and prospects that are the right fit for your business.

The precise targeting is a key benefit of inbound marketing over the traditional marketing channels, and by ensuring you get highly-relevant, qualified leads, we can also improve the cost-efficiency and ROI of the inbound marketing campaigns.

• Two-way communications

In today’s world of social media, inbound marketing is not only about getting our content found by the audience. However, at the same time, we can listen to their conversations on social media.

As a result of this, we can use inbound marketing to gather insights about our target audience and improve our future marketing efforts using these insights. Inbound marketing can be a valuable source of data so we can improve our products and services in the future.

Comprehensive Inbound Marketing Strategy for Startups: Step-By-Step

Now that we’ve learned about the initial concept of inbound marketing and its benefits for startups, here we will discuss how we can develop an inbound marketing strategy for startups.

While there are a lot of different ways to execute your inbound marketing, having a clear strategy in place will significantly help, especially since inbound marketing is a long-term game.

As discussed above, there are four different stages of the inbound marketing strategy:

1. Attracting visitors to visit your content
2. Converting strangers into leads/prospects
3. Closing leads into paying customers
4. Delighting existing customers into advocates

Our step-by-step inbound marketing strategy below would also be based on these four different stages. So, let us begin with the first one.

Step 1: Defining Your Inbound Marketing Objective

The most basic and arguably the most important step in creating an inbound marketing strategy is defining your goal(s).

While in most cases, the obvious objective of inbound marketing is to attract visitors to our website/platform, it’s best to think ahead of what exactly are you expecting out of the inbound marketing campaign.

In general, your inbound marketing objective should mirror your overall business’s objective. For example, if your business goal is to grow your revenue by 20%, then this can translate to a 100% increase in lead generation from inbound marketing (with a rough estimation of a 20% conversion rate).

Your inbound marketing objectives should be SMART goals:

• Specific: it has to be clear and targeting only a specific area to improve
• Measurable:  we can assign KPIs and we should be able to measure the progress via metrics
• Assignable: we can specify who is responsible for achieving this goal
• Realistic: attainable. Having a realistic goal is very important in maintaining your team’s morale. If you have a big goal, you can divide it into smaller, more attainable milestones.
• Time-related: you can set a deadline for each objective and measure the progress

You should be able to measure the progress of your inbound marketing campaign based on this objective, and it’s important to frequently analyze the results of your inbound efforts through these KPIs.

Here are some examples of clear and measurable inbound marketing objectives:

• Generating 1,000 new leads within 3 months
• Improving conversion rate by 30% within a year
• Reducing churn by 20% within a year

Define your lead generation objectives as clearly as possible, and we’ll use them as the foundation for the following steps.

Step 2: Defining Your Target Audience

A very important part of your inbound marketing strategy is to define your target audience.

Step 3: Plan How To Attract Your Audience

This step is related to the first stage of inbound marketing: attract. This is about how we are going to attract potential prospects to our platforms (mainly website) and build awareness.

In general, there are three core channels to focus on in this strategy: content marketing, SEO, and social media, but in this step, we will mainly focus on planning how we will attract visitors with these three channels.

Keyword Research

Since SEO will be our main ways of how people can find our content, then all of our content creation should begin with proper keyword research. It’s very important to find out how your target audience is searching for content so we can properly target the right opportunities.

There are three key principles in finding our target keywords:

1. The target keyword should be relevant to our target audience. This is mainly measured via monthly search volume. We should target keywords with high enough search volume.
2. The target keywords should be relevant for your business. Not all keywords that are popular for your audience would be relevant for your business. For example, if you are targeting people between the age of 18 to 25, then keywords related to ‘Netflix’ might be popular, but they might not be relevant for your business.
3. Depending on your budget and timeline, the competition for these target keywords must be manageable. Even if the target keyword is very popular, you shouldn’t pursue it if the competition is too heavy for your current condition.

Make a list of your target keywords, and set your priorities depending on these three factors above.

Editorial Calendar

Based on the keyword research we’ve performed above, we can design an editorial calendar as a foundation of our content marketing plan.

The editorial calendar should include:

• What the content is: target keyword, topic idea, rough draft, etc.
• Where the content will be published: which platforms you are going to publish the content and with which type
• When the content will be published: the timeline when you’re going to publish the content

Also, in developing your content calendar, here are the important factors to consider:

• How frequently are you going to publish your content? Decide on how often you are going to publish your content: daily, once a week, three times a week, etc. Deciding on this factor would help in how you will design your content calendar.
• How many people will use this calendar? If you have more than one team member working on your content, then you should use a platform that allows multiple people to collaborate and brainstorm on the platform. This is especially important if some/all of your team members are working remotely.
• The types of content you are going to upload. Decide whether you are going to focus on only one type of content (i.e. a blog post) or on several different types of content (i.e. videos, podcasts, etc. )
• The process of content development.  Define the different stages your content goes through before it’s published, including required approval process within your startup. You should accommodate your calendar so it can differentiate between two similar projects that are in different process stages.

Last but not least, choose the right platform and/or format that you will use to create your calendar. You can use basic Excel (or Google Sheets) for this purpose, but you can also use content calendar tools and software like CrossCap or CoSchedule if you want collaboration features.

Planning Your SEO Implementation

Implementing SEO for startups would cover two different aspects:

• On-site SEO: SEO optimizations performed on your site, which can be further divided into two:

• • • Non-technical: keyword optimization and all other optimizations related to the content (layout, word count, etc.)
    • Technical: optimizing the technical factors of your site including but not limited to site speed, mobile responsiveness, META description, etc.

• Off-site SEO: especially about generating backlinks to the content but would also include maintaining social media presence, responding to reviews, etc.

SEO optimization can be a pretty deep subject and you can check with Mike Khorev if you are looking for startup SEO agency or services. However, here are some important things to consider when implementing SEO for inbound marketing:

1. 1. Content quality remains the most important factor of SEO success. If your content is high-quality and relevant, sooner or later you are going to get those valuable backlinks, and as a result, it will boost your SERP ranking. On the other hand, no amount of strategies can help low-quality content to rank higher.
   2. Backlinks remain the most important ranking factor in SEO. However, it’s important to note that the quality of the backlinks is now more important than quantity. Obviously, however, getting high-quality backlinks from famous, authoritative sites is easier said than done. However, while there can be countless link-building tactics we can use, in the end, they will boil down to just two:

• Link hook: essentially, giving them a reason to link your content. Include things like

1. 1. • • Unique data or information, for example, research report, user testimonials, etc. Information that only you possess.
        • Aesthetically pleasing content like photos or infographics
        • Interesting story
        • A collection of information (i.e. data roundup, reviews of various products, etc.)

• Relationship: obviously we are more likely to provide links to websites we know. Since we are a fairly new startup, building relationships is very important, since it’s unlikely that others will know us by reputation. Here are what you should do:

1. 1. • • Reach out to them. It can be as simple as sending them an email to introduce yourself
        • Join their social media conversation, ask valuable questions, provide valuable answers, etc.
        • Again, the best way to get yourself known is to consistently publish high-quality content

3. Optimize the technical SEO factors of your site, as discussed above. Especially focus on three things:

1. 1. • Site speed: According to Google’s research and other studies, people will bounce from your site if it loads in more than 3 seconds.

• Mobile responsiveness: It’s no secret that Google now prioritizes mobile-friendly sites to rank on its SERP. So, making sure that your website is mobile-responsive or mobile-friendly is very important.
• Indexable: Make sure your website can be properly indexed by Google (and the other search engines), and all the elements on your website are properly recognizable. Again, follow our technical SEO optimization checklist here.

4. Keep your content fresh and up-to-date. Google’s algorithm now prefers newer or at least updated content. So, make sure to set a schedule in your editorial content to update your older content once every year (or if possible, every 6 months). Update older content with newer information, fresh images/infographics, and additional content if necessary.

Social Media Marketing

Social media is simply where our audience is nowadays, so it would only make sense to use social media in our inbound marketing effort to attract our audience. Regardless of who your target audience is, it’s likely that they are spending time on one or more social media platforms.

We can generally divide social media marketing into three different types:

• Organic: that is, growing your own follower and share your message
• Paid: using various paid options offered by the social media platform, like Facebook ads, LinkedIn Lead Gen Ad, etc.
• Influencer: although influencer marketing can be considered as a marketing channel on its own, it is actually a part of social media marketing.

Organic social media efforts are affordable (and can be 100% free), but it will take time before you can grow a substantial amount of followers and have sufficient organic reach. Paid efforts, on the other hand, can guarantee short-term results can be very expensive if you are not careful. Influencer marketing can be midway between the two (although if you work with famous influencers and celebrities, it can also be expensive).

Use social media effectively to promote your content and also to engage your audience.

Step 4: Convert Visitors Into Leads

Now that we’ve successfully attracted the target audience to our platform, the next step is to convert these strangers into prospects/leads.

First, a definition: we can say that a stranger has successfully been converted into a prospect when they’ve provided their contact information (mainly their email address), confirming their interest in our brand–or at least, what we are offering.

In encouraging conversions via inbound marketing, there are three key aspects to focus on:

• Lead magnet: something valuable (perceived as valuable by the user) that we offer for free in exchange for the audience’s contact information. A classic approach is to offer downloadable content (an ebook, white paper, etc.) that is related to your initial content.
• CTA: Call-to-Action, a link or button provided in your content offering the lead magnet. When a user clicks on this CTA, we can show an opt-in form or drive them to a landing page.
• Landing page: a specific page designed to convert users. The page will mainly include the description of your offer (the lead magnet), as attractive as possible, and a form where your potential prospect can submit their contact information.

Attractive Lead Magnet

The key to a successful lead magnet is the offer, or to be more specific, the value of your offer. For your lead magnet to be successful, your audience must perceive that your offer is valuable so they are willing to submit their contact information.

Another important factor to consider is whether the offer is a good fit for your brand. Think about it, if we offer $1,000 for anyone to submit their e-mail address, we can quickly attract a lot of people. Yet, most likely it won’t bring any value for your business.

So, finding the right balance between the value of your offer, the cost (if any), and the relevance to your business is very important. If what you offer isn’t very valuable in the eyes of your audience, then you won’t get too many leads. On the other hand, if what you offer is too valuable, you might attract people that are only interested to the offer itself and not your actual product/service.

You can be as creative as possible with your lead magnet offers, and this list can be a good source for inspiration.

CTA Design and Placement

What and where your CTA is can make or break the lead conversion rate.

The purpose of your CTA is very simple: tell your audience about your lead magnet or to direct them somewhere else (your landing page). It can be a hyperlink with an engaging copy or a designed button, but the purpose remains the same.

Here are some tips in creating a high-converting CTA:

• Make them as obvious as possible

You want your audience to notice your CTA, so make them as visible as possible without disrupting the user experience. Yes, everybody hates those pop-up, screen-blocking CTAs, but hiding your CTAs below the fold won’t help your conversion rate either.

Again, finding the right balance is very important: it should be higher on the page but not too high, and it should be stand out enough.

Also, make sure that the message of the CTA is clear. Be straight and to the point with an attractive message. If you are going to use a button, make sure it’s also well-placed and eye-catching.

• Easy to understand

Don’t use confusing or too technical jargon, and use languages that they can easily understand. A good approach is to target the problem your audience is trying to solve and communicate that you can provide a solution. For example, “are you ready to lose 20lbs in a week? Click here”. As usual, don’t forget that it should be as attractive as possible.

• Command the action

Remember that the CTAs are designed to gently push visitors towards the next action. So, gently command them to take this action whether it’s “click”, “buy”, “subscribe”, ”download”, and others. Use active verbs and an exclamation mark if you can.

• Be consistent

If you repeat your CTAs (you should, as many times as it’s appropriate), make sure to be consistent in your messages. Also, if you use a button, be consistent with your designs.

• Create a sense of urgency

A very effective approach is to leverage on your audience’s fear of missing out (FOMO). Use words like “for a limited time only” or use a counter showing that only a limited number of offers is left.

• Keep it short

As a general rule of thumb, your CTA shouldn’t be more than 120 characters in length (around 90 characters is ideal). Again, our goal is to be as clear as possible in this limited number of characters. Be straight and to the point, and be as attractive as possible.

Conversion-optimized Landing Page

Landing page optimization can be a very deep subject on its own, and the goal is to optimize every element on the landing page to improve conversion rate using data and evidence.

However, here are some best practices to follow:

• Make your offer clear

Use all the principles of optimizing a CTA above on your landing page. The goal is to communicate your offer as clear as possible and focus on how the customer can understand its benefits and experience positive emotions.

• Less is more

On a landing page, ensuring it is as simple as possible, and getting rid of as many visual clutters as possible is very important. Your audience should focus on your offer (the CTA), and the benefits they will get.

• Contrast

Use contrast effectively to emphasize your message. A common practice is to use a contrasting, attractive color for your CTA button so it stands out. Also, use negative space effectively between your elements and emphasize your logo and CTA.

• Make it as easy as possible

It’s already difficult enough to convince them to convert, so don’t add to the difficulty. Make the conversion process as easy as possible. If you use an opt-in form, include as few fields as possible. Also, make sure your landing page is mobile-responsive and loads quickly.

• Make it easy to find you

Provide contact information in various different ways (but don’t add to the clutter). You can include a link to the help center or put your email address on the landing page so they’ll know where to find you. This can help create a sense of trust, which can help with the conversion rate.

Step 5: Closing Leads Into Customers

This one is about how we can nurture the qualified leads until they are ready to purchase, and finally give them that little push so they convert into customers.

The most common (and effective approach) to launch a lead nurturing campaign via automated email marketing. We’ve successfully captured the audience’s contact information, and in this step, we are going to leverage it via a process we call drip marketing.

Identifying lead lifecycle stages

Creating lead lifecycle stages according to the prospect’s position in the funnel/buyer’s journey can significantly help us in preparing a lead nurturing campaign. While the stages might vary depending on your product’s sales cycle, here are the common lifecycle stages you can use as a template:

• Unknown lead: a website visitor that has visited your site more than once and has been tracked by your solution (i.e. cookies) but they haven’t provided their contact information
• Known lead: pretty self-explanatory, someone who has given their email address but hasn’t yet engaged much with your brand
• Marketing-qualified lead (MQL): a prospect who has engaged enough (i.e. consumed several pieces of content, browsed the product pages several times, etc. )
• Sales-qualified lead (SQL): a prospect who has been validated by your sales time and is determined as very likely to buy the prospect. Ready to be approached by your salesperson and discuss their options.
• Customer: a prospect who has been converted into a new customer

Drip Marketing

The idea of using drip marketing/automated email marketing to nurture leads is to send a continuous stream of email messages to the prospect based on their actions and/or their position in the buyer’s journey.

For example, when they just abandoned a cart, we can send an email about the product they’ve just abandoned to remind them and convince them to purchase.

The idea is, if we can send the right message, to the right people, at the right time, it can slowly but surely improve the chance of conversions.

So, there are two key aspects of an effective drip marketing in lead nurturing: personalization and automation.

• Personalization: not only about using the recipient’s first name in the subject line, but to actually send the right email address based on the actions they are doing
• Automation: using a marketing automation solution to schedule your emails automatically and/or to automatically send an email based on the triggered action

Sales-Marketing Alignment

A key consideration in this lead nurturing stage is to ensure your sales and marketing teams can work hand-in-hand with the same objective: converting sales-qualified leads into actual customers.

The basic principle is about information sharing: the marketing team (who has previously interacted with the prospect) should provide the information about the prospect to the sales team, so the sales team is now better equipped for the sales call.

A proper CRM software can significantly help in this aspect, so both marketing and sales can easily input and share data of different prospects/leads.

Step 6: Delighting and Retaining Customers

The last stage of the inbound marketing campaign is where we delight existing customers, turning them into advocates.

Converting customers into advocates that essentially promote your brand/product/service for free is the ultimate goal of inbound marketing, and the key here is relationships.

The best possible advocates of your product/service that will potentially generate a lot of referrals are those with actual experience and are happy with what you offer. In this stage, inbound marketing should focus on campaigns like implementing loyalty/referral programs, post-purchase support, further product education, and drip/email marketing that is focused on maximizing retention.

Content Marketing

Although we are already in the last stage of the inbound marketing process, content marketing is still the core strategy.

The idea here is to segment existing customers into their own list and then we can implement drip marketing to push content pieces that are focused on continued education. We can also pursue cross-sell and upsell opportunities, for example by offering additional products that might cover the needs they may have.

However, focus on education/information in how they should maximize the benefit of the purchased product/service. Treat this as an ongoing post-purchase customer service to delight this customer. Remember that you have two focus: maximizing retention and converting them into advocates.

Loyalty Programs

Drip Marketing

You should still send a segmented email newsletter to encourage repeat purchase, push upsell/cross-sell opportunities, or simply to provide information related to the product/service or your niche in general.

Maintain your position as the thought-leader of your niche, so you remain their first option if they need to make another purchase. Doing this effectively can also remind them every now and then to recommend your product/service to their peers, simply because they are happy with your content.

Loyalty Programs

A loyalty program can be a cost-effective campaign to minimize churn. Depending on your product or service, you can implement a referral program that rewards customers that refer your product to others.

The secret to a successful referral marketing is your incentive: offering something too valuable, and you might generate low-quality referrals that are not a good fit for your business. Offering too little of value, and you might not generate any interest. Finding the right balance is very important.

End Words:  Evaluation and Re-Optimization

Since inbound marketing is a long-term game, always monitoring your progress based on the inbound marketing objectives and KPIs is very important. You should especially focus on lowering lead acquisition and customer acquisition costs.

You can do this by monitoring the whole aspects of your website traffic thoroughly: keyword ranking, click-through rate, organic traffic, conversion rate, and other metrics while also considering your overall online presence (social media engagements, etc.)

Keep track of your inbound marketing objectives, and your startup business goals in general. While implementing an inbound marketing strategy can take a significant amount of time at first even if your work with a startup marketing consultant, it will also provide a long-term, sustainable result.

The post Inbound Marketing Strategy for Startups: Ultimate Guide appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.

By early 2025, nearly 40% of results featured AI summaries referencing multiple sources. Most agencies haven’t caught up. The winners blend cutting-edge AI with strategy that drives real traffic.

Semrush reports AI search visitors are 4.4x more valuable than regular organic users. Picking the right AI SEO agency is now mission-critical.

Leading the charge? Mike Khorev, with a proven edge in AI SEO consulting optimizing across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and more. Nine Peaks Media follows as another top-tier AI SEO agency making serious waves in AI search.

We vetted dozens of AI SEO Agencies – these two stand out. Here’s who deserves your budget in 2026.

Mike Khorev runs a boutique AI SEO agency tailored for tech companies looking to outperform competitors in dynamic markets. With over a decade of experience in SEO, content strategy, and web development, Mike brings a forward-thinking, AI-first perspective that differentiates him from traditional SEO agencies.

1. Mike Khorev

Key AI SEO Services

Mike’s approach is built on five strategic pillars:

• AI-Powered Tech Focus – Deep expertise in SaaS, IT, and emerging technologies
• Data-Driven SEO – Analytics-backed tactics for ranking growth and qualified traffic
• Full-Funnel Content Strategy – Targets key personas at every stage of the buyer journey
• Attribution Modeling – Identifies friction points and optimizes high-return efforts
• Inbound Systems – AI-enhanced lead generation that scales organically

Core offerings include SEO strategy, AI-assisted optimization marketing, link building, consulting, and technical SEO. His web development background supports the creation of AI-compatible funnels, attribution models, and custom plugins.

AI SEO Capabilities

Mike’s AI SEO methodology focuses on:

• Technical perplexity optimization for AI crawling and interpretation
• Content restructuring to align with natural language processing standards
• Authority growth via targeted partnerships and citation strategies
• Custom AI dashboards for performance tracking and content effectiveness

He specializes in developing question-centric content designed for AI search engines and voice assistants. Using structured data and schema markup, Mike ensures content is machine-readable, context-rich, and optimized for AI-powered visibility.

Mike Khorev Notable Clients

Mike’s client list features several well-known tech brands:

• Time Doctor – Scaled to 20,000 monthly trials through targeted SEO campaigns
• BuildFire – Helped achieve major revenue growth

His website gets over 30,000 organic clicks monthly- clear evidence of his SEO expertise.

Mike Khorev Pricing

Mike’s pricing structure is straightforward:

Each package has expert-led strategy, AI-powered content optimization, technical SEO, and hands-on performance tracking. Mike creates custom solutions with pricing set after the original consultation, unlike agencies with fixed packages.

Mike Khorev Best For

1. SaaS and Tech Companies – Companies that need faster organic growth in competitive markets
2. Knowledge-Based Businesses – Financial advisors, healthcare providers, and educational institutions benefit from his information structuring methods
3. E-commerce Businesses with Complex Products – His approach arranges product information to answer common customer questions
4. Local Service Businesses – His local optimization methods boost visibility on review platforms

Most clients see substantial traffic increases in 3-6 months, though some improvements show up in weeks. His background in data analysis helps him find patterns in AI citation behavior, which lets clients place content where it’s most likely to be featured.

Clients value Mike’s hands-on approach and deep understanding of technical SEO that’s made for AI-driven search environments.

2. Nine Peaks Media

Nine Peaks Media AI SEO Agency has made its mark in the digital marketing world. This AI SEO agency that started in 2009 has become a powerhouse helping tech-focused businesses reach first-page Google rankings.

Nine Peaks Media Key AI SEO Services

The AI-Driven SEO Growth Program at Nine Peaks Media is built on five strategic pillars:

• Keyword Analysis and Mapping – Using tools like Google Search Console, SEMrush, and Ahrefs, the team identifies high-impact keywords across every stage of the customer journey.
• Website Quality Audit – Technical SEO is addressed through deep assessments of speed, mobile responsiveness, crawlability, and indexation.
• On-site SEO – Content and site structure are optimized to enhance visibility and usability for both search engines and users.
• Content Strategy – Existing content is reviewed to surface performance gaps and trending topics aligned with audience intent.
• Link Acquisition – The team secures authoritative backlinks via HARO outreach, guest posts, and targeted link placements.

Powered by AI insights, Nine Peaks also offers PPC management, social media, and full-scope AI SEO services to drive scalable growth.

Nine Peaks Media AI SEO Capabilities

Nine Peaks Media AI SEO agency applies several specialized optimization techniques as an AI SEO agency:

• Technical optimization helps AI systems index accurately
• Content structure enhances presentation on AI search tools
• Query optimization aligns with natural language questions

They blend AI-assisted keyword research with strategic content creation that answers questions directly. This makes their content ideal for AI search platforms using question-answer formats.

Nine Peaks Media Notable Clients

The client roster at Nine Peaks Media AI SEO agency includes MobLab, Deepwatch, Moosend, and Exact Payments.

Their success stories speak volumes:

• A cybersecurity company’s organic traffic jumped 167% while MQLs rose 111%
• A brand protection company saw 159% growth in organic traffic and 194% more MQLs
• A global IoT company achieved 99% higher organic traffic with a stunning 611% increase in MQLs
• A cloud desktop company’s organic traffic grew 150% with 120% more MQLs

One AI optimization client boosted organic traffic by over 60% within three months.

Nine Peaks Media Pricing

Nine Peaks Media AI SEO agency structures its fees through monthly retainers:

• Monthly investment ranges from $3,500 to $10,000 USD
• The original term requires 2 months
• Rolling 6-month contracts help with better planning
• The complete package has backlink acquisition, content creation, blog production, SEO tools, and performance reporting

Project scope, competition level, current website performance, and timeline goals affect pricing.

Nine Peaks Media Best For

Nine Peaks Media AI SEO agency creates remarkable results for:

• SaaS and technology companies- They’ve helped more than 60 brands turn SEO into their main lead generation channel, pushing Annual Recurring Revenue beyond 7 figures
• Marketing automation businesses- A client’s organic traffic grew 60% in just three months
• Companies with longer sales cycles- Their content builds trust and steadily drives conversions
• International businesses- They excel at targeting multiple regions for companies needing global SEO reach

Companies working with Nine Peaks typically see their organic traffic triple, lead generation increase by 90%, and sales grow 60% year-over-year. They’ve secured first-page rankings for competitive keywords like “online scheduling software,” “IoT connectivity solution,” and “data analytics software”.

3. Octiv Digital

Octiv Digital is a boutique AI‑powered SEO and digital marketing agency based in Salt Lake City, Utah, renowned for blending human insight with data-driven strategies to support scalable growth. Their name – spoken like “octave” – reflects their philosophy: harmonizing analytics, creative content, and technology into a cohesive digital strategy that resonates across industries.

They specialize in full-spectrum marketing: technical SEO audits, content optimization, backlink development, paid search management, and custom web development – positioned especially well for SaaS, e‑commerce, law, healthcare, and technology firms.

Octiv Digital stands out through its AI-informed mindset. Their blog and resource hub highlight strategic advice blending machine learning intelligence with user-first content planning. The team continuously monitors AI shifts, ensuring client sites remain visible in AI-generated SERP snippets and conversation-style search results.

Clients benefit from transparent reporting, measurable ROI, and scalable campaigns built around AI-ready landing pages, question-driven content formats, and structured metadata. Whether your business is focusing on local or enterprise SEO, Octiv crafts tailored solutions aligned with your growth objectives – making them a modern choice for brands adapting to AI-first search dynamics.

Octiv Digital Key Services

Octiv Digital provides a detailed suite of digital marketing services:

• Research and strategy development
• Technical SEO audits and implementation
• SEO copywriting and content optimization
• Backlink and authority building
• SEO-driven web design and redesign
• Local SEO targeting for regional development
• Ongoing maintenance and support

They also offer pay‑per‑click advertising, social media marketing, and graphic design for end-to-end campaign support.

Octiv Digital AI SEO CapabilitiesTheir programmatic SEO approach sets them apart – quickly generating optimized landing pages ideal for businesses seeking high‑volume lead generation.

Their technical expertise enables them to:

• Create content aligned with AI search algorithms
• Optimize for multiple service areas and products
• Build systems that convert traffic into revenue

They go beyond driving traffic – building digital systems that connect businesses with audiences at the right time on the right platforms.

4. Keever SEO

Keever SEO is an award-winning, AI‑savvy SEO agency founded by Scott Keever – an internationally recognized SEO expert and Forbes Agency Council member. Since 2015, they’ve offered custom, analytics-based search campaigns for businesses ranging from startups to celebrity-backed brands.

Operating across the U.S. with hubs in Cincinnati, Miami, and Tampa, Keever SEO is known for its strong client loyalty – with a 97% retention rate – thanks to the founder’s direct oversight and a team that treats each client’s business as their own.

Their AI SEO strength lies in data-driven campaigns: combining predictive analysis, structured content models, smart automation, and human refinement. Whether optimizing meta tags, structuring content around AI answer fragments, or aligning technical SEO with enterprise-grade infrastructure, they deliver measurable visibility and lead growth across sectors.

Ideal for brands that demand transparency and scalable results – Keever offers campaign sizes from ~$1,000 per month upward – and their proactive reputation management and local SEO expertise make them a reliable choice for growth-minded clients.

Keever SEO Key Services

 Keever SEO offers:

• Keyword research and strategy planning
• Technical SEO site audits and fixes
• Content optimization and SEO copywriting
• Backlink outreach and authority building
• Conversion‑focused website optimization
• Local SEO and service area expansion
• Maintenance, monitoring, and client reporting

Additional services include social media support, PPC campaigns, and design enhancements.

Keever SEO AI SEO Capabilities

Keever leverages AI tools to enhance efficiency without sacrificing human insight:

• Automating content structure with human-guided refinement
• Scalable systems that maintain SEO performance
• AI-assisted meta‑tag and snippet optimization
• Analytics-driven growth strategies

They manage Google Business Profiles, refine technical SEO through GSC, and arrange content to align with business goals.

5. SocialSellinator

SocialSellinator combines AI-enabled workflows with full-service digital marketing, delivering integrated SEO, social media, content marketing, and lead generation solutions for small and mid-size businesses.

Headquartered in San Jose (Silicon Valley), they serve clients across major U.S. cities. SocialSellinator supports businesses in industries from tech and HR to healthcare and food & CPG. Their online presence emphasizes measurable brand awareness, high-quality leads, and synergy across search and social platforms.

Their AI-driven SEO methodology prioritizes automated content workflows, scalable optimization, and integrated analytics dashboards. Editorial teams refine machine-generated drafts, while AI tools streamline meta-tag optimization, social post timing, and performance tracking tied to conversion funnels.

Businesses that want a unified strategy – where social campaigns reinforce SEO traction and vice versa – find SocialSellinator compelling. Their background in content-rich industries and AI-aware execution makes them a standout choice for brands seeking digital synergy.

SocialSellinator Key Services

Services include:

• Digital strategy and competitive research
• Technical SEO audits and fixes
• Content creation and blog optimization
• Authority building via link outreach
• Social media content and ad campaigns
• Web design tweaks optimized for SEO

They offer complementing services in influencer marketing, PPC, and content marketing for cohesive campaigns.

SocialSellinator AI SEO Capabilities

SocialSellinator’s AI tools support measured SEO improvement:

• Automated content workflows with editorial oversight
• Scalable content that maintains brand voice
• Enhanced tag/data optimization for search performance
• Insight-driven reporting connecting efforts to metrics

Their platforms integrate performance dashboards, content tracking, and conversion analysis tools.

6. Media Components

Based in Philadelphia and Boca Raton, Media Components is a full-service digital marketing firm offering SEO, PPC, web design, social media, and branding. Since founding in 2003, CEO Denis Sinelnikov has built a wide footprint serving startups to large organizations through comprehensive digital systems.

Their services include technical SEO audits, custom content strategy, link building, local SEO, website design/redesign, e-commerce development, and digital marketing – integrating traditional marketing with modern AI efficiency.

Media Components embraces AI-infused optimization, leveraging predictive keyword targeting, automated audit tools, and personalized dashboards to align clients with evolving search behavior. Their blog and strategy insights help marketers stay ahead in AI-driven SEO spaces.

Clients in real estate, finance, nonprofits, and government benefit from tailored programs that blend creative branding and technical SEO. Media Components is ideal for businesses seeking a multi-channel digital partner that blends machine-learned signals with human-led strategy and design for measurable growth.

Media Components Key Services

Key offerings:

• Market research and SEO strategy formulation
• Technical SEO reviews and execution
• Content optimization and copywriting
• Strategic link building
• SEO-friendly design and redesign
• Local SEO and regional targeting
• Ongoing optimization and support

They also support PPC, social ads, and visual content design.

Media Components AI SEO Capabilities

Their AI and social‑first approach enables high-volume landing page generation and smart scaling:

• Crafting content that matches AI crawling protocols
• Optimizing across service/product lines efficiently
• Building systems that turn organic visits into leads

Media Components delivers marketing systems that engage users with precision timing and platform alignment.

7. All Cyber Solutions

All Cyber Solutions is a premier digital marketing agency based in Gurugram (Gurgaon), India, with reach into U.S. markets. They specialize in SEO, social media marketing, PPC, web and app development, and content strategy for SMEs.

Founded in 2013, the firm offers affordable, full-stack marketing services including technical SEO, authority link-building, localized outreach, and app marketing – making them both cost-effective and technically adept.

Their approach includes AI-based competitive analysis, NLP-driven content optimization, and streamlined workflow automation. They’ve built systems that automatically identify trends, optimize content structures, and track campaign performance in real-time metrics across geo-segments.

Their strength lies in delivering high-touch results for SMEs on a budget. If you’re looking for scalable AI SEO systems, cost-efficient execution, and global support, All Cyber Solutions offers a compelling option backed by technical depth and broad service scope.

All Cyber Solutions Key Services

Offerings include:

• Strategy research and planning
• Technical SEO diagnostics and improvement
• SEO-driven content creation
• Link acquisition and authority building
• Website optimization for SEO performance
• Local SEO for targeted regional visibility

Extended services include social media coordination, PPC advertising, and creative design.

All Cyber Solutions AI SEO Capabilities

AI expertise unlocks advanced SEO speed and accuracy:

• Predictive analysis to stay ahead of content trends
• NLP‑driven content optimization
• Robust authority building through citations and networks
• Custom dashboards tracking AI‑specific insights

They emphasize analytics-linked growth and maintain a balance of automation with human oversight.

8. JSL Marketing & Web Design

Located in Dallas–Fort Worth, JSL Marketing & Web Design is a family-owned, award‑winning agency specializing in SEO, web design, content marketing, and full-brand strategy tailored to DFW-area businesses.

They focus on creating cohesive brand narratives: custom site design, keyword-rich content, email marketing, paid media, and visuals, all aligned with long-term growth goals. Their hometown expertise helps them craft marketing grounded in local context and competitive edge.

With AI tools integrated into content planning and SEO audits, JSL automates keyword mapping, local content scaling, and performance dashboards – while ensuring human oversight and tailored brand messaging.

Ideal for small and mid-size businesses in the DFW metroplex wanting brand consistency and digital impact, JSL combines creative design, strategic SEO, and AI workflow to deliver measurable visibility and conversions in regional markets.

JSL Marketing & Web Design Key Services

Includes:

• SEO research and roadmaps
• Technical site optimization
• Content writing and optimization
• Link outreach and authority campaigns
• SEO-aligned web design/redesign
• Local SEO and regional rollout plans
• Continuity support and maintenance

They also manage PPC, brand messaging, and graphic design.

JSL Marketing & Web Design AI SEO Capabilities

Their AI tools support more structured and scalable outputs:

• Automated content structuring refined by human editors
• Efficient optimization across pages
• Built systems that convert visitors to leads
• Performance dashboards aligned with AI‑driven metrics

They focus on content formats tuned for AI queries and structured data use for clarity.

9. Cali Web Studios

Cali Web Studios, headquartered in California (primarily Sacramento), is a creative‑driven, full-service agency combining web design, development, SEO, and digital strategy, with a human-centered, AI-informed approach meant to elevate brand stories and conversions.

Their portfolio spans responsive website builds, e-commerce platforms, app launches, custom CMS solutions, brand strategy, SEO, PPC, CRO, analytics, and digital creative, all designed with an eye toward high-performance and brand harmony.

Cali Web incorporates AI-savvy practices: predictive keyword insights, structured-content templates, and automated performance reporting. At the same time, they prioritize narrative alignment, user experience, and handcrafted design detail that resonates with visitors and AI systems alike .

Clients looking for polished design, strategic clarity, and SEO systems tailored to evolving AI-driven search landscapes will find Cali Web Studios a robust match. Their blend of creativity and analytics delivers strong visual impact and measurable SEO growth in tandem.

Cali Web Studios Key Services

Their full suite includes:

• SEO strategy and competitor analysis
• Technical SEO fixes and audits
• SEO copywriting and blog optimization
• Backlink development and authority campaigns
• SEO-optimized web design and UI adjustments
• Local SEO for service-area targeting
• Monthly support and insights

They provide social media direction, PPC execution, and creative visual assets.

Cali Web Studios AI SEO Capabilities

Their AI-first SEO is built for automation with clarity:

• Optimize content to align with AI algorithms
• Build scalable multi-page content systems
• Convert organic traffic into actionable leads
• Offer AI-enhanced dashboards to track performance

Cali Web Studios excels at delivering SEO systems that balance AI speed with personalized strategy.

Comparison Table

Conclusion

Our analysis of the top AI SEO agencies highlights the growing importance of aligning with partners who understand how to optimize for AI-driven search behavior. As AI-powered engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity reshape search habits, visitors arriving through AI search are 4.4x more valuable than traditional organic users.

Mike Khorev leads the field with his AI-focused SEO services for tech companies, delivering tailored strategies that drive measurable results. Nine Peaks Media AI SEO agency stands out for SaaS clients with its robust, scalable campaigns. Agencies like Keever SEO, SocialSellinator, Octiv Digital, Cali Web Studios, All Cyber Solutions, Media Components, and JSL Marketing & Web Design offer strong support across local, e-commerce, and service-area businesses.

Success lies in choosing an AI SEO agency that fits your niche, budget, and long-term goals. AI SEO doesn’t deliver overnight wins – but early adopters are already seeing meaningful traffic shifts.

Now’s the time to act. Review the options, assess your needs, and reach out to the firms best aligned with your business. Your next customers are asking questions in AI platforms – make sure you’re showing up with the answers.

Key Takeaways

• AI SEO is essential: AI-generated results now appear on 40% of SERPs. With AI summarizing answers from 5+ sources, visibility depends on optimized content that ranks in these overviews.
• Mike Khorev and Nine Peaks lead the way: Mike Khorev is ideal for tech companies needing AI-first SEO services. Nine Peaks Media AI SEO agency excels with SaaS brands and full-funnel content strategies.
• Other strong contenders:
• Keever SEO – Scalable, data-focused campaigns
• SocialSellinator – Integrated AI and social SEO
• Octiv Digital – Custom strategies for service-led growth
• Cali Web Studios – High-converting design + SEO
• All Cyber Solutions – Automation-focused SEO systems
• Media Components – Technical and local SEO experts
• JSL Marketing & Web Design – Creative meets AI optimization
• Results take time: Expect early signs of improvement within weeks; real traction typically comes after 3-6 months of steady optimization.
• Budgets vary: Monthly costs range from $749 to $10,000+, depending on complexity, industry, and goals.
• Outlook is strong: 49% of global professionals expect AI to increase website search traffic within five years – positioning now gives you a lasting edge.

Bottom line: Pick an agency that understands your market, has a proven AI SEO track record, and can scale with your business.

FAQ’s

Q1. What is AI SEO, and why is it important?

AI SEO focuses on optimizing content to appear in AI-driven search experiences like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. With AI-generated results now showing on around 40% of SERPs and summarizing insights from multiple sources, brands must optimize for AI visibility, not just traditional rankings to stay competitive.

Q2. How is AI search traffic different from traditional organic traffic?

Visitors arriving through AI search platforms are significantly more valuable, up to 4.4x more than traditional organic users. These users are typically further along in the decision-making process and are actively seeking direct, high-quality answers.

Q3. Which AI SEO agencies are leading the market?

Mike Khorev leads in AI-first SEO strategies for tech companies, while Nine Peaks Media AI SEO agency stands out for SaaS brands with scalable, full-funnel campaigns. Other strong agencies include Keever SEO, SocialSellinator, Octiv Digital, Cali Web Studios, All Cyber Solutions, Media Components, and JSL Marketing & Web Design.

Q4. How long does it take to see results from AI SEO?

AI SEO is a long-term investment. Early indicators may appear within a few weeks, but meaningful traffic growth and consistent visibility typically take 3 – 6 months of ongoing optimization and content refinement.

Q5. How much does AI SEO cost, and is it worth the investment?

AI SEO pricing varies widely, ranging from $749 to $10,000+ per month, depending on your industry, goals, and campaign complexity. With nearly half of professionals expecting AI to increase search traffic over the next five years, investing early can deliver a strong, lasting competitive advantage.

The post Top 8 AI Optimization Agencies That Boost Your LLMs Rankings appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.

So, without a proper customer acquisition strategy for your startup, you are going to run into various problems along the way, and it’s going to be very difficult if not downright impossible to grow your business both B2B and B2C.

On the other hand, figuring out which channel is the most effective and sustainable to use in generating new customers is often the biggest challenge for any business.

In this guide, we will discuss all you need to know about how to plan and execute a working startup customer acquisition strategy. By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to recognize the most effective channels you can use to acquire new customers sustainable and how to properly execute your campaigns.

Let us begin by discussing the basic concept of customer acquisition for startups so we can be on the same page for the rest of this guide.

What Is Customer Acquisition

Customer acquisition, in a layman’s term, is any effort and process of bringing in new clients or customers to your business. We say we have “acquired” a new customer when we have successfully persuaded a consumer to purchase a product and/or service.

So, a customer acquisition strategy is a systematic, sustainable process of acquiring new customers on a long-term basis, and this customer acquisition strategy should be able to evolve and adapt to new market trends and evolving customer behaviors.

Different startups with different revenue models might have different customer acquisition strategies. However, all effective acquisition strategies should begin by identifying quality prospects (potential customers).

Typically, all consumers must go through a customer journey or buyer’s journey before they finally purchased a product or service, which can be divided into three main stages:

• Awareness stage: they figured out a new business or brand, and gain awareness about this brand and its product and/or service
• Consideration stage: the prospect considers purchasing the product/service from this brand. They might compare it with other similar products and services during this stage, check reviews, and ask for recommendations from their peers.
• Decision stage: the prospect choose to purchase a product and converts from a prospect into a customer

There are typically more people in the awareness stage compared to those in the consideration stage, and only a select few of those in the consideration stage will enter the decision stage. So, if we visualize these stages, we can see a funnel-shaped chart similar to the image below.

Customer acquisition for startups typically refers to this funnel as a whole, but mainly the first two stages (awareness and consideration), which are often also referred to as the top (lead generation) and the middle (lead acquisition) of the funnel.

The bottom of the funnel—the decision stage— or lead conversion phase, is technically still a part of the customer acquisition but may be considered a separate initiative called conversion-rate optimization or CRO, especially for eCommerce startups.

Preliminary Step: Define Your Target Audience

As we have established above, all customer acquisition strategies for any startup should begin by identifying your target audience.

An important principle to understand is that your product or service won’t please and attract everyone. There are very, very few products that meet a universal need.

Instead, your product will be a solution for only a certain group(s) of people, your ideal audience. Discovering who your target audience is is the essential preliminary step of your customer acquisition strategy, so you can tailor your strategy and focus your efforts primarily on this target audience.

If you haven’t defined your target audience, you are essentially adding unnecessary handicaps to your customer acquisition efforts, and so they won’t be effective.

So, conduct your market research and develop your buyer persona. Find as much information as you can about who you should market your product/service to and how to attract this audience effectively.

This insight will be the strongest foundation of your whole customer acquisition strategy.

Customer Acquisition Strategies

What is the most effective customer acquisition strategy for startups? There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best strategy for your startup will depend on various factors from your available resources, overall business objectives, and ultimately, your target audience.

Nowadays, however, there are only four main tactics or methods of acquiring customers: content marketing, search engine marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing. We will discuss them one by one:

1.  Content Marketing

In 2026, we can now safely say that content marketing is marketing itself, and in regards to startup customer acquisition, it is an effective method for virtually all kinds of startup.

The main idea in content marketing for startups is to consistently publish high-quality and relevant content to attract the target audience’s attention and drive them to your website. So, content marketing is especially effective in the awareness and consideration stage: the audience stumbles upon your content when they are looking for information and learn about your product or service (awareness), and they might consume more content when they consider between your product and your competitors’ (consideration).

Content marketing is the preferred marketing strategy today (in a concept we know as inbound marketing) because of one main reason: people are getting increasingly resistant to traditional advertisement and promotion. Traditional ads disrupt our initial activity. For example, we are browsing a website and then there’s a pop-up banner. Obviously, the ad is disruptive (and annoying).

Content, however, is not disruptive since the audience is the one proactively looking for information. In fact, if the content is relevant and helpful, they will perceive the brand (your brand) as trustworthy and helpful, so you are eliminating barriers rather than building walls.

Content marketing can come in several different mediums, such as:

Blogging

The most common form and arguably still the most effective, you can implement blogging as an effective customer acquisition strategy for all kinds of startup, industries, and audience types.

Blogging has two main benefits over other forms: it’s accessible (both for the audience and the publisher), and it’s versatile. You can easily explore different topics and content approach in your blog with minimum risks. On the other hand, if you’ve found any specific niche, you can be consistent and leverage it to build your credibility as an expert/thought leader in the niche.

Also, building a blog—even from scratch—-is very affordable. Your biggest cost here will typically be your investments in content creators/writers.

In-Depth text-based content

This can include forms like white papers, ebooks, research reports, guides, and others. Typically these types of content are delivered as “gated” content. That is, the prospect typically needs to provide their contact information before they can access or download the content.

So, these in-depth content forms are often very important in capturing leads. We won’t be able to acquire customers before we first capture them as leads or prospects, so this is a very important customer acquisition method.

The idea behind this method is to convince the audience that you are offering something valuable for free so the audience is willing to provide their contact information.A common tactic is to attract readers with a blog post, then offer a more in-depth ebook covering the same topic as the post. This way, if a reader feels that your blog post is relevant and valuable, then they might be interested in consuming the gated content (and exchange their contact information).

As we can see, these in-depth content forms have a different purpose than traditional blog posts, and obviously the production process is also different. We’d need more time and commitment to create this in-depth content, and they might also need a unique and specific promotional plan.

This method, called the lead magnet, is a very crucial lead generation device.

Videos and podcasts

We can’t deny the fact that more and more people are consuming video content as their main way to consume information. 85% of all U.S. internet users watched online videos in 2018, and nowadays it’s probably close to 100%. Also, podcasts are also rising as a medium since mid-2019.

Obviously, videos and podcasts are more complicated to produce than text-based content, but nowadays quality cameras, microphones, and other video and audio production equipment are now much more affordable and accessible. Also, there are now a lot of freelancers and affordable agencies, so producing videos and podcasts are actually easier than you think.

Remember that the content itself is always more important than the overall production quality of your videos and podcasts (but that’s not saying the quality is not important). Since videos are usually the most expensive to produce, it’s best to preserve your best content for videos first. If, for example, you are only going to visualize a blog post, you can use various animation software and even Slideshare to reduce production costs.

The principle of using videos and podcasts in customer acquisition is similar to text-based content: provide value to attract users, introduce them to your brand/product/service, and drive them to your website to capture them as leads.

2. Search Engine Marketing

It’s important to note that when we refer to “search marketing”, it doesn’t necessarily mean SEO.

Instead, there are two different sides to search engine marketing: organic (or free) search engine marketing, which is search engine optimization (SEO), and paid search marketing, which is PPC ads.

The case of PPC ads vs SEO is just like any case of paid vs organic efforts: it’s about time vs cost.

Organic efforts are (at least it should be) free, but it’s going to take a significant amount of time before you can get any significant result. In the case of SEO, it typically takes at least  6 to 12 months before we can get on the first page of Google’s SERP and gain a significant amount of traffic.

On the other hand, paid efforts like PPC ads will guarantee results, provided you have the budget. But, they can be extremely expensive if you are not careful.

Nevertheless, both sides of search marketing is a very important customer acquisition channel due to several reasons:

• There are over 3.5 billion searches on Google every day, and the number is still growing by roughly 10% every year
• 89% of B2B professionals use Google to find solutions and services that can help their business
• 95% of internet users will not go to the second page of Google, so investing in SEO is very important
• Traffic from organic search converts 566% better than traffic coming from PPC ads, so you can’t rely on PPC ads alone

SEO for startups is currently one of the most popular customer acquisition methods due to several reasons. First, it is relatively accessible and easy to implement (even if you are going to do it yourself), and it is cost-effective with relatively low initial investments and high ROI. However, as we have established, hiring an SEO agency or services for your startup and seeing the first results can take time, and this is where PPC ads can help.

Search marketing works in combination with content marketing (as discussed above). You won’t rank on Google unless you have relevant, quality content, while your content won’t get any traffic if you don’t have enough search presence.

3. Social Media Marketing

Similar to search engine marketing, social media marketing can be divided into two: paid and organic, and the same case also applies: time VS cost.

Organic social media marketing is about growing your own followers on social media and posting your content regularly. This is obviously cost-effective and when done right we can do it for absolutely free. However, growing followers on social media can take years before we get a significant amount (say, above 10,000), and obviously it’s not always successful even after we’ve regularly published high-quality content.

Paid social media, on the other hand, is about using paid advertising and other paid promotional channels provided by the respective social media networks. For example, on Facebook and Instagram, we can invest in various Facebook Ads.

Again, while investing on these paid options can guarantee short-term and even instant results, they can be very expensive to invest in. The current average CPC (Cost Per Click) for Facebook ads is $0.97 or if you prefer CPM, it’s around $7 per 1000 impressions. As you can see, the cost is pretty high.

So, as with search marketing, finding the right balance is very important here.

Organic social media efforts are especially important in building awareness and to develop an online personality. This is a great opportunity to establish your position as the thought leader and expert of your industry, especially when it’s paired with effective content marketing–as discussed above.

You can also use social media to share content you’ve published on other platforms. So, we can think of social media as an amplification of your other acquisition tactics.

There are several reasons, however, to why social media is now increasingly more important as a customer acquisition strategy:

• Reach: a viral social media post can reach a lot of people in a very short amount of time, making. The virality factor is a very important advantage of social media as a customer acquisition channel, as you
• Targeting: another great advantage of using social media in generating leads and acquiring customers is the transparency of the platforms. We can easily know the demographics of a social media account (if it’s not anonymous) and decide whether it’s a good fit for your company.
• Two-way: you can use social media channels to gather feedback from your customers, and at the same time can provide suggestions and promote your brand.
• Big data: social media actively generates massive customer data with the sheer number of posts, videos, pictures, mentions, and so on. You can collect, analyze, and leverage this data to custom-tailor your customer acquisition strategy.

In general, there are several ways we can use social media to generate leads and acquire customers:

• Drive your social media audience a lead-capture landing page or your website. It’s relatively hard to capture contact information straight from social media posts, so it’s more efficient to drive them to a web page instead.
• You can include links for opt-in forms on social media posts, so people can sign-up for your newsletters.
• Include CTAs in your social media posts as natural as possible, but don’t be afraid to use it.

The secret to useful utilization of social media as a customer acquisition channel is to develop a strategic plan to tackle three core issues:

1. Choosing the right network(s) you are going to focus on, and which ones to avoid depending on your customer profile
2. Developing the brand voice on your social media, and establish a person/team responsible in delivering this brand voice and managing content
3. Developing a crisis plan to tackle issues like backlashes and negative feedbacks

For example, if you are a B2C startup, then nowadays you should mainly focus on Instagram and Facebook, probably YouTube. On the other hand, if you are a B2B startup, you should focus on LinkedIn.

4. Email Marketing

Even with all these newer platforms and communication technologies, email marketing is still the top-performing digital marketing channel with the highest ROI of up to 4,000%.

The main role of email marketing, especially in relation to the three channels discussed above, is that the three channels will involve building an email list. Leveraging on this email list to nurture prospects and convert them into customers is the key to a successful email marketing strategy.

Although this might seem like an obsolete acquisition method, the truth is that is is still a very effective way to stay engaged with your customers by promoting content through your newsletter, informing them of the launch of a new product, discounts, events, and so on.

The secrets to modern email marketing as a customer acquisition method are personalization and automation.

We can use the above channels to gather more customer data, and leverage on the data to create personalized email messages: sending the right message to the right people at exactly the right time.

Startup Customer Acquisition Strategy Best Practices

An effective customer acquisition strategy must follow three important principles:

• Highly Targeted

It’s obvious that not all consumers are the right fit for your startup. Customer acquisition can be a lengthy and expensive process, so we’d need to make sure that our resources and time are focused on the right people.

The secret to a targeted customer acquisition strategy is to do your market research, and there’s no shortcut around it. Figure out your target audience, and assess your available resource to develop a tailored strategy focused on your ideal customers.

• Diversified

We can’t rely on one channel and strategy alone to sustainably generate leads and acquire customers. You’d have a better chance of reaching new customers with more channels, and at the same time, can mitigate your risks on a channel/platform.

• Adaptable

The world is rapidly changing all the time and so does purchase behaviors. Consumers are now increasingly resistant to promotions, and more than 80% of consumers trust social proofs and advice from friends over brand claims. Gone are the days when we can have one sustainable acquisition method and rely on it. Now, we have to always be on the lookout for new opportunities, adapt, and be flexible

End Words

Customer acquisition is not only about getting more customers, but also about acquiring the most valuable customers that can stick around with your business, and ultimately can act as an advocate to convert even more people.

Every effective customer acquisition strategy must start with defining your target customers, and only then can we create a highly targeted, adaptable, and diversified strategy to effectively convert these target customers while working with a digital marketing consultant.

Consistency is always key, so it’s always important to monitor your customer acquisition methods, evaluate, and adjust your tactics whenever required.

The post Effective Customer Acquisition Strategy for Startups appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.

You can implement all the advanced optimizations and even  ‘buy’ the highest-quality backlinks out there. But, if your content is low-quality, you won’t get far with your SEO.

On the other hand, SEO is also very important for content marketing. Ranking on the first page—or better, top 3 spot—of Google SERP remains one of the most reliable organic traffic sources for your content.

In short, content marketing and SEO are inseparable, and it’s best to plan the two together as an integrated strategy to get the best possible results in getting organic traffic, generating leads, and finally, converting these qualified leads into sales.

Step-by-Step Guide To SEO Content Marketing Strategy

Below, we will discuss all the necessary steps that I use in my B2B SEO services to implement content marketing and optimize content for SEO, beginning with the first step.

Step 1: Define Content Marketing Objectives

Before anything else, it’s very important to first define the objectives—or goals— of your content marketing and SEO strategy.

Your content marketing goals should align well with your marketing goals, as well as your overall business objectives. Defining these goals is very important, so we can build the right strategic framework to pursue these goals.

The main principles are that your SEO content marketing goals should be:

• Specific: clear enough to understand and to implement.
• Realistic: in a sense of, attainable. This is important to maintain a sense of achievement and maintain your morale (and your team’s). Breakdown big goals into smaller milestones, if necessary.
• Measurable: you can assign KPIs and evaluate key metrics to measure the content marketing performance according to these objectives.

With those being said, here are some common SEO content marketing objectives you might want to apply to your own:

• • Establish credibility and trust. A common objective for SEO content marketing, and a pretty obvious one. Consistent publication of relevant content can help establish your position as the thought leader in your industry.

• Attract new prospects. Also an important objective. Compelling and valuable content can attract new potential leads. This is mainly done by publishing content that gets shared a lot on social media—and if possible, go viral—.
• Educate prospects and customers. Inform potential leads and existing customers about your product/service. It can also be about solutions to your audience’s pain points (not directly discussing your product).
• Persuade people to buy. Here, the content is designed to handle sales objections, so content might talk about why your product is worth the hefty price, or a case study on how your service can save more money in the long run.
• Tell a story. All content should essentially aim to be a storytelling medium.
• Maximize retention/loyalty: content marketing is one of the most effective channels in maximizing retention. Maintaining existing customers can be more cost-efficient than acquiring new ones, so this can be a very important goal.

This list is certainly not exhaustive, and there can be more objectives you can pursue with SEO content marketing strategy. The important thing is to actually define at least one so we can move forward.

Step 2: Keyword Research

The next step is to find your target keywords according to your objective.

This is mainly done by first defining our ideal audience. The idea is to find keywords that our audience is searching for, and this will be impossible if we don’t know who our audience is, their behavior, needs, and pain points.

We can do this by conducting market research and developing a buyer persona.

The main thing to consider here is to find keywords based on your audience’s search intents, according to your SEO content marketing objective, as discussed in the previous step.

For example, if your objective is to attract new prospects, then you might want to find keywords that are related to informational intent. (Check this guide on different types of search intents and their examples).

You can use various keyword research tools to help you in this process, from the free Google Keyword Planner to relatively affordable ones like KWFinder to premium ones like Ahrefs or SEMRush.

There are three main principles in implementing keyword research:

1. The keyword must be relevant to your audience according to their search intent. This is mainly measured through search volume.
2. The keyword must be valuable for your business, according to your objective. Not all keywords or keyphrases with high enough search volume will be relevant to your objectives.
3. The competition for the keyword(s) must be manageable, according to your available resources and timeline. Some keyword research tools might use metrics like keyword difficulty (KD) or similar ones to measure this.

Make a list of potential keywords according to their priorities, and include related metrics like search volume. We will use this list for the next step.

Step 3: Topic Research and Planning

The next step is about how we can expand the target keywords into topics—and later on, actual content—.

The best, and very accessible approach to do this is to do a quick Google (or your target search engine) search for your target keywords and look at the top-performing content:

• If there’s any rich/featured snippet for the query, take note of this. We will also aim to get this featured snippet (see Step 5: Content Marketing Best Practices for more about this)
• Check at least the top 3 ranking content. If possible, analyze all content on the first page.
• There are two main approaches you can do here:
  • Create something  better than the top ranking content
  • Take a unique angle and create a really different content
• In most cases, creating a unique/different content is somewhat easier since if you want to create a ‘similar but better’ content, you’ll need to be significantly better to get noticed.
• There are various tools that can help you get topic ideas. BuzzSumo, for example, is a popular choice. You can also use various keyword research tools (most notably SEMRush’s Keyword Magic Tool) to help in this aspect.
• Although you can be as creative as you can, make sure the topic aligns with the search intent related to the keyword. For example, if the search intent for a specific keyword is mainly informational (the audience is searching for this query to find solutions/information), then your topic should be informational or educational and not transactional.
• In some cases—for example, when targeting long-tail keywords—, the topic might be fairly obvious (and limited)

Be as creative as possible, but make sure to pay attention to the content’s objectives.

Step 4: Planning Your Content/Editorial Calendar

Remember that SEO is a long-term game. We can’t expect to create a single content, optimize it and get ranked (although there are very rare exceptions), but typically we’ll need to be consistent— both in quantity and quality—for at least 6 to 12 months.

This is why it’s important to create a content calendar—or editorial calendar— to keep track of your content marketing strategy. Ideally, you’d want a year’s worth of content calendar, but you can start with a 6-month calendar at the very least, utilizing Notion templates to streamline the process.

The content calendar should list the following items (not an all-inclusive list):

• The target keyword
• The topic idea and/or working title
• Meta tags, meta description, tags and categories to be used
• CTA (call-to-action) plan
• Who’s in charge of the content (if you have more than one content writers)
• Type of content (blog post, video, podcast, etc.)
• When to publish the content
• Where to publish the content (publication channel)
• How to promote the content
• Where do you plan to get backlinks from
• Status (Started, working, published, etc.)

The more details you include in your content calendar, the better. The idea is to brainstorm topics with SEO expert and consultant and consider all the different aspects beforehand, so the execution will be seamless.

Step 5: Content Marketing Best Practices

It’s time to execute the plan and actually develop your content.

Here, the process might vary (significantly) between individuals and organizations, but below we will list important best practices to pay attention to:

1. In most cases, the content should be non-promotional, except for special content designed for transactional intent (i.e. product tutorial, introducing a new product, etc.)
2. Have a clear structure with your content—introduction, problems/challenges, solutions, conclusion—. You can also follow different structures, and this might also determine the tone (or voice) of your content.
3. The ideal length for the textual content is 1,000 to 2,000 words, but you will also need to maintain quality and engagement. Divide the content into subheadings, at least one subheading every 300 words with no more than 150 words in each paragraph. Maintain readability with a lot of white spaces. 
4. Make sure to use universal, widely understood terms and definitions instead of niche ones. For example, “qualified leads” instead of “MQL/SQL”. If you used specific or unique terms, explain them or provide outbound links to justify their definitions.
5. In general, add outbound links whenever you made any claims or mention data. This is important to establish your content’s credibility.
6. Build a proper internal linking structure between your content pieces. A good internal linking structure can help with crawl and indexing—among other benefits.
7. Implement structured data markup (schema.org) to your content. This will allow your page to be eligible for featured/rich snippet, and also will improve the page’s indexability in general.
8. One of the most important things to focus on is generating backlinks—or inbound links—. We will discuss it a little deeper in the next step.

Again, the key here is maintaining consistency, both in quality and quantity. That is, consistently publishing your content—and generate backlinks but also internal and outbound links—, and maintain the quality and relevance of your content (as well as the quality of your backlinks).

Step 6: Content Promotion and Backlinks Building

How you promote your content is just as important as the content development process, and that’s why we mentioned that you should include your content promotion strategy as a part of your content calendar.

We can use various channels to promote our content, and here are some of the most important ones:

• Social media: fairly obvious, since social media is where the audience is. It can be divided into organic, paid, and influencer promotion.
• Email marketing: still one of the most effective channels with the highest ROI.
• Blog commenting: also including forum commenting, an old-school blogging tactic that can still be effective when done right.
• Paid promotions: from various types of ads to content delivery networks (CDNs) and other channels.

The main principle to hold here is that content promotion has two main purposes: generating organic traffic to your content and building backlinks. Every time you promote your content, aim to get backlinks from relevant and high-quality sources.

It’s also important to note that nowadays, the quality of your backlinks is more important than quantity. In fact, getting too many low-quality backlinks at any given time (i.e. a month) can get you penalized by Google and the other search engines.

In general, getting just 2-4 high-quality backlinks every month is sufficient.

Step 7: Evaluation, Re-optimization, Content Leveraging

As mentioned, content marketing and SEO are long-term tactics.

Typically it will take 2-6 months for a page to climb (slowly) from page 5 to page 1—if we consistently implement all the above optimizations—, and then another 6 months at least to climb to the top 3 or #1 spot.

Thus, it’s very important to constantly monitor our progress during these months, and here are some important areas to evaluate:

• SERP ranking
• Improvements in organic traffic
• Reach and impressions
• Bounce rate and dwell time—how much of your content are they consuming—, other on-site engagement metrics
• Conversion rate, if the content involves CTA
• Technical factors like page load speed and mobile responsiveness
• Backlinks profile

In short, evaluate your content according to all the above steps, monitor its progress using various KPIs and metrics, and re-optimize your content accordingly. If necessary, we can update the content or even change our tactic altogether, depending on the case.

End Words

Textual content—such as blog posts— typically have an average conversion rate is around 0.5% to 1%, which is higher than the CTR of display advertising at ‘only’ 0.46%. Thus, SEO content marketing strategy can be a very cost-efficient channel to generate highly targeted traffic, build an online presence and credibility, grow your remarketing list, and most importantly, a very effective lead generation device.

The post SEO Content Marketing Strategy to Drive Leads and Sales appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.

Those are the questions I’ve been always asked by marketing leaders, company executives, founders and investors all the time. Like it or not, the search engines and especially Google are now very important in so many aspects of our lives and when we are looking for products and services we always google it. The study from Google reveals that 89% of B2B researchers use the internet during the B2B research process and 71% of them start with a generic search on Google. Only the companies on the first page of Google will be able to drive those prospects to their websites and generate leads and sales. I recently listened to Liam Martin’s interview with Eric Siu on the Growth Everywhere podcast where he reveals some of the numbers that prove the study from Google and show that properly executed SEO can become your number one lead and revenue generation channel.

Here are some numbers that Liam Martin shared on the interview:

Time Doctor’s Revenue, Growth and Marketing Numbers

• Model: Self-serve SaaS company
• Revenue: high seven-figure Anual Recurring Revenue
• Serves clients in 32 countries
• Customer Acquisition: 20,000 trials/month, 7000 customers/month
• Main customer acquisition channel: Content Marketing and SEO
• Content and SEO spend: $50,000/month
• Time Doctor growth: 10% month-over-month
• SEO timeline:  6 – 18 months if you are an established brand and a few years if you are just starting

SEO and Content Marketing Are the Only Lead Generation Channels for Time Doctor

Liam Martin is a co-founder of Time Doctor, Staff.com and Running Remote – successful, bootstrapped and profitable companies.  These tools are helping to get the best results from employees, even if they’re working with people who live on the other side of the globe. Time Doctor offers time tracking, web usage, reports, payroll and other services.

Liam and Eric discussed how SEO and content marketing are the only lead generation channels for them and why any founder and CEO would invest in ranking their website on Google. Liam also shared some revenue and growth numbers they achieved with SEO and content marketing.

You can listen to the full interview here:

Here is what Liam says about the importance of SEO and why every founder and CEO should make it a priority and commit to it:

Eric: We talked about this last night so basically, Liam is really good at– he not only understands how to run a business, but he understands SEO too. We’re talking about this beforehand how every single founder I know that understands SEO, they have a leg up versus everyone else, right?

Liam: Yes.

Eric: What are you guys doing to run SEO and content right now to continue to grow? That’s where the majority of your stuff’s coming from, right?

Liam: Yes, so, I defined it as industrial SEO, a lot of people poke at it as an idea, but you can’t just poke at SEO, you have to commit because it’s going to be a six to 18-month investment. If you really start to see a return, and it’s cool now, like, if we post something about remote work, or outsourcing or any of those types of generalized keywords, Google gives us the benefit of the doubt. When I go and talk to people and say, “Oh, SEO is awesome.” Yes, it’s awesome, but you got to invest a couple of years and actually building up your domain and getting the power that you need to be able to then get people to just literally give you that benefit of the doubt so, that’s a lot of backlinks.

Eric: What are you going doing exactly to run SEO, just so people have some takeaway value here?

Liam: Fundamentally, what we’ve run is, we’ve compartmentalized it, we divide lead generation, basically, our linkers from our research team. We’ve got a content team that has an entire funnel connected to it as well, and literally every quarter, we go in, we identify all of our keywords, we throw it through ahrefs.com, that’s the tool that we use for all of our SEO.

Eric: Great tool.

Liam: Fantastic tool. The Keyword Difficulty variable is just like that identifier is so easy for us. It used to take us 15 minutes to really figure out, can we rank for it? Now with KD, it’s a two-minute conversation, we can rank for this.

Eric: Cool, so what are you doing exactly? Is it Keyword Difficulty is on a scale of one to 100 and then what do you guys do?

Liam: Anything that’s below a 30, that’s outside of our realm, we can probably rank for our success rates, but 60% top 10 SERPs. Anything that’s above 30 that’s out of our realm we probably won’t really go after but if it’s outsourcing, remote work, that kind of stuff, we’re currently number one for virtual assistant, I found out just today that we’ve got number one spot for that.

Eric: Great. I need one.

Liam: Yes, there we go. You can go to our blog post and check it out.

Eric: I will do that.

Liam: Those ones have a higher Keyword Difficulty, but you’ve got to invest more time, that’s a six-month investment to really start to get all that free track. I think that’s $100,000 in traffic value, just that one keyword, which is nuts.

Eric: Cool, and traffic value is basically what you would pay Google if you’re buying the traffic?

Liam: Correct, so if you bought all those clicks from Google, we’d literally have to pay $100,000 for that ranking.

Eric: Right, got it. How much do you think you’re spending per month on content and SEO right now?

Liam: I’d say probably 50,000 a month.

Eric: That’s a 600 grand a year.

Liam: Yes, the returns are insane, because if your domain rating goes up, we’re doing about 500,000 in traffic value per month. When you look at it in that context, if we had to buy that traffic from Google– I think basically if you’re buying traffic, you’re renting traffic, so, once Google shuts you down-

Eric: You’re done.

Liam: -or Facebook shuts you down, the algorithm changes, it’s over. We talked about this beforehand, there are some things that Google does that are going to change things, but fundamentally, if you’re going to own a business for more than 10 years, SEO is your number one funnel. That’s what’s going to actually allow you to run a really solid, sustainable business over the long term. If you’re a bootstrap founder like me, SEO should be your number one concern, because, in the next three to four years, you’re going to have a nice funnel of let’s say, for us, it was 6,000, 7000 customers that are coming in every single month, that are literally coming through our content funnel. Outside of anything else that we’re doing, we know that that’s our solid base.

Eric: Plus, you don’t just get organic traffic, you also get to pixel them, and you also have an e-mail list. How big is your e-mail list?

Liam: We talked about that too, but it’s over half a million right now, which we have not activated which we’re freaking out over.

Eric: I just think too many people forget about SEO, anybody that comes to us so, ad agency side, anyone that comes, “Hey, we need help.” It’s always we raised a bunch of money and we want to use our VC money to use paid ads. That’s the addicting drug, but too many people are not patient enough to go with SEO, it stands the test of time, and then from there, you can diversify, which is exactly what you’ve done.

Liam: Yes, I think about it like a big T traffic, just get the traffic, lock it in now, and then figure out what to do with it later. Optimization, all those other things can be done later if you can get the traffic now. Just get it, yes, it’s not converting so well right now. Don’t worry about it, get the traffic, you’re at least going to get the referring domains that is actually going to raise your entire domain.

Eric: Those are links.

Liam: Yes, so basically, backlinks that are coming to your website.

Learn how Time Doctor Improved Their Organic Traffic and Ranking with Content Marketing and SEO

Being an SEO expert and loving analytics and data myself, I was curious to see what SEO strategies and tactics Liam and his team used to achieve such amazing results and revenue. I used the same tool they use at Time Doctor – ahrefs.com, to look at the website performance, backlinks, ranking on Google, organic traffic, paid campaigns and Conversion Rate Optimization and recorded a short video with the analysis and actionable tips that you can use for your business.

Notes and highlights from the video:

• Out of Timedoctor.com and staff.com Time Doctor is the main lead generation site with 130K monthly organic visitors comparing to 2k from staff.com
• Both sites didn’t have a solid SEO strategy and big investments in SEO and content until Oct 2016 when Time Doctor started to actively publish blog posts and build backlinks.
• Over the course of 3 years they created backlinks from 3,200 new domains and publish around 500 blog posts.
• That helped them to rank for 80,000 new keywords (an increase from 26K to 106K). The number of keywords on the first page of Google had increased from 220 to 4600.
• For the same period of time, organic traffic from Google increased from 7,000 to 130,000 visitors per month.
• Assuming the average conversion rate from visitor to trial is 8% that’s an increase from 560 to 10,400 trials per month. It’s hard to say what conversion rate they actually have without looking at their Google Analytics data but it can range from 6% to 20%.
• The remaining trials are coming from paid campaigns, staff.com marketing campaigns and other channels.
• Their content marketing strategy for the blog post includes keyword research and writing long-form blog posts. They’ve written over 500 blog posts and created on average 5 – 50 backlinks for each post.
• Each post targets specific keywords that their prospects would search online and most likely to convert to a free trial. Here are a few examples:
• They rank in top 3 worldwide for keyword “virtual assistant services” with 7100 searches per month just in the US as well as other 147 similar keywords and driving 1000 monthly visitors. With an average conversion rate of 8% from visitor to trial (since they don’t ask for a credit card) that’s 80 trails from that single blog post.
• They also rank top 1 worldwide for keyword “collaboration tools” with 3200 searches per month in the US only as well as 2,300 similar keywords and driving 2,600 monthly visitors to that page. With an average conversion rate of 8% (since they don’t ask for a credit card) that’s 208 trails from that single blog post.
• The home page only generates 13,500 monthly visitors which is just 10% of all organic traffic. Other visitors are coming to blog posts and content pages on the site.

There are 4 components to successful blog posts that generate traffic and leads:

1. Keywords research and writing outstanding and engaging content
2. Building links to the blog posts as you would do for the home page
3. Internal links to that content from other blog post and pages on the site
4. Conversion rate optimization for blog posts. Adding exit intent pop-ups, live chats, floating bar with Call To Action

Takeaways and Next Step

As Liam advised you need to commit to SEO and content on your website if you are looking to build a solid, sustainable and profitable business over the long term. The success won’t come overnight and you need at least 1-2 years to start getting a good amount of leads and sales. I hope that his insights along with my review of their SEO and content strategy will help you get a better understanding of how SEO works, how long it takes, how much investment it will require and what results it can deliver in terms of traffic and revenue.

To make SEO work for your business and reach your revenue targets make sure you follow the 4 step process:

1. Perform keywords research to find what your prospects are searching for on Google.
2. Create SEO optimized pages (home page, internal service/product pages, blog posts, case studies) targeting those keywords.
3. Build quality, relevant contextual links to your home, internal and blog post pages
4. Track your rankings, metrics, conversion rate and continuously optimize performance and CRO

My 60-second commercial

I’m an SEO expert and digital marketing consultant who helps companies like Time Doctor to grow their traffic, leads and revenue. I specialize in performance and inbound marketing, SEO, Google Ads, content marketing and also consult on web design, CRO, social media and email marketing.

Do you want me to review your or your competitors’ business and website? Drop me an email at hi@mikekhorev.com

To discover more about how I can help you and what it’s like working with me, check my SEO Growth Program and B2B SEO offerings today. You can also book a call to review your project and see if we might be a good fit for working together.

The post How SEO Helped Time Doctor Become a 7 Figure SaaS Company and Generate 20,000 Trials Per Month appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.

Only a select few startups properly plan their content marketing strategy, executes it well and so they can reap the long-term, sustainable benefits.

In this guide, we will learn how we can become the third group. After all, content is king, and any startup who is not planning to implement content marketing properly is, simply put, planning to fail quickly.

Without further ado, let us begin.

What Actually Is Content Marketing?

Content marketing, albeit being a major buzzword in digital marketing for the past decade, is a concept often misunderstood by many people.

First, content marketing is not about discussing your products or services in a piece of content. Instead, content marketing is about publishing really useful, valuable, and relevant content to solve your target audience’s problems.

The question is, how then, we can get people to purchase our product/service via content marketing? Although there can be various different methods, the typical “model” is:

• Attracting people to our website and/or platform to consume our content
• Capture their contact information, a common practice is to offer something valuable (an e-book, research report, free-trial) for free in exchange for their contact information
• Utilizing various lead nurturing campaigns to nurture these prospects until their ready to purchase, essentially reminding them about your brand or your product/service every now and then. For example, via remarketing campaigns, email marketing, continuous publication of content, etc.

So, as you can see, content marketing is more than just the content creation process. How we promote the content to attract our target audience and having a proper B2B lead generation strategy to convert our audience are just as, if not even more important than the content creation process itself.

Content Is Actually Everywhere in Marketing Today

No matter what kinds of marketing strategies you implement, we can’t deny that all kinds of channels and campaigns today will always involve content in them. So, content marketing nowadays should be part of the whole marketing process, not something separate

Making sure you publish high-quality content should be a part of ALL aspects of your marketing, such as:

• Advertising (PPC Ads): obviously for your ad to be effective, you need great content that can capture the audience’s attention.
• Social media marketing: your posts are very important content, and so a proper content marketing strategy is necessary for any social media marketing strategy.
• Public relations (PR): it’s important to note that today’s PR should be about addressing issues the audience actually cares about and not exactly about promoting the business. So, it is essentially content marketing.
• SEO: the core of SEO strategy for startups is content, without consistent publication of high-quality content, you simply won’t rank on Google.

Content Marketing VS Inbound Marketing

What is inbound marketing? Is it similar to content marketing, or?

To answer these questions in a layman’s term, inbound marketing is essentially content marketing combined with content promotion. Mainly, content marketing+SEO.

The term “inbound” comes from the idea of how the content’s purpose is to pull the audience inwards. You publish your content out there addressing your target audience’s needs and pain points, and when they are looking for this information, they can stumble upon your brand.

The traditional marketing efforts like billboards and advertising, on the other hand, are “outbound” in nature. Their objective is to put your message outwards to reach as many people as possible.

The problem with outbound marketing, however, is that it often disrupts your audience’s activity: they want to watch a YouTube video, not see your ads. Inbound marketing, on the other hand, doesn’t disrupt your audience’s activity and thus, will meet less resistance.

Content Strategy VS Content Plan

These three terms are often used interchangeably, but each has its own distinct meaning and different purposes.

Content Strategy

Content strategy, in a nutshell, is about defining your content marketing’s objectives and especially answering how you are going to achieve these objectives. For example, if the content marketing objective is to generate 2,000 more leads in a year through content marketing, then how we can get these leads is the content strategy.

In practice, a startup content strategy often means managing the performance of your existing content, leveraging successful content over time, and repurposing or revamping non-performing ones.

Content Plan

We can say that the content plan is the tactical approach to content strategy: how to appoint resources to achieve each content marketing objective when to publish content, who is going to develop the content, where we will promote the content, and so on. It is important to first have a proper content strategy in place before we can structure a content plan.

Developing Content Strategy: A Step-by-Step Guide

1. Defining Content Marketing Objective(s)

The first step, and arguably the most important one is to define your content marketing goals. Your content marketing objectives should align with your startup’s marketing and business goals. For example, if one of your startup’s goals is to increase your revenue by 30%, then generating 50% more organic traffic via content marketing can be a proper goal.

In principle, your content marketing objectives should be SMART goals, that are:

• Specific: as clear as possible, so your team can properly understand them without any potential understanding. Break down abstract goals into specific ones.
• Measurable: you can attach KPIs to the objective, and you can assign measurable metrics to each KPI.
• Attainable: that is, realistic. This is important to maintain your and your team’s morale by giving them a sense of achievement. Break down big goals into smaller, more attainable milestones if necessary.
• Relevant: your content marketing objective/goal should be valuable for your business. For example, is getting more Instagram followers relevant for your business if you are a B2B solution?
• Timely: you can assign realistic timelines to all the different goals, to make sure timely delivery

In general, there are five common objectives of content marketing for startups:

• Brand awareness: arguably the most common goal of content marketing. To follow the SMART principle, this can be something like “increasing website traffic by 20%”. There are many brand awareness metrics we can measure to help us assign KPIs.
• Customer education: educating potential customers not necessarily about the value of your product or service (although it’s possible), but also educating them about the your brand’s overall credibility.
• Brand loyalty: content can be very powerful in encouraging repeat purchases or to remind past customers about the existence of your brand. The idea here is to publish entertaining and valuable content that can provide additional value outside your product/service, so you effectively build a following to your content which can contribute to your loyal customer base.
• Customer engagement: engagement provides a personality to your brand, giving your company a voice, opinion, and thought leadership. Nowadays, people are more likely to buy from brands they can engage with and trust, so this is a very important objective.
• Talent recruitment: a very important objective for startups that are often struggling with attracting high-quality talents. Use your content to exercise your brand’s credibility, your vision, and company culture. Also, happy employees can be strong advocates and can help improve conversion rates.

It’s important to note that website traffic shouldn’t be the end goal of your content marketing since website traffic on its own won’t produce any value. Instead, website traffic should help the five objectives (or any other specific objectives of your startups).

2. Deciding Who’s Going To Work on The Project

In general, there are three main approaches you can take here to decide who’s going to work on the content marketing project:

• Doing everything by yourself. If you are still a small startup, this is definitely possible. However, obviously this approach is not recommended for a long-term basis since you won’t be able to scale your content marketing effort as your startup grow.
• Outsourcing your content marketing efforts. You can, for example, hire a freelance content marketer or outsource your whole content marketing effort to an agency.
• Building your in-house content marketing team. Probably the most cost-efficient approach, but the initial investment is relatively expensive. Here are some familiar roles in a content marketing team, although your team might look different depending on your startup’s needs:

1. Content creator:– Mainly writers, but can also include content creators in other mediums (scriptwriter for videos, podcasters, etc.). Their role is quite obvious, to produce content.
2. Content/marketing strategist: – To plan the content strategy, including evaluating progress.
3. Editors: – Proofread content, ensuring readability, optimizing layouts and structures, etc.
4. Graphic designers: – An essential part of any content marketing team nowadays. Pretty self-explanatory, they produce graphic content to supplement the main content according to the startup’s objectives
5. Videographers: – Also essential today if you want to put your effort into video marketing. The role is to shoot and edit video content according to the startup’s needs.
6. Analyst: – Analyze the performance of your content, evaluate your current strategy, and work with the startup marketing consultant to adjust your strategy

3. Identifying Your Target Audience

The next crucial step is to identify your target audience.

The main purpose of your content marketing—as we’ve established above— is to bring in leads and prospects that hopefully can convert into paying customers. So, your content marketing won’t bring any value to your business unless it’s properly targeted to the right audience.

For example, if you bring in a million unique traffic to your website, but only a thousand of them are from your ideal audience, we can’t really say our content strategy is effective.

On the other hand, knowing who your target audience is, their behaviors, needs, and pain points can significantly help you determine what kind of topics to cover and keywords to target.

Ideally, you should develop a buyer persona in this stage, but here are some of the most important factors to consider in identifying your ideal audience:

• Demographics factors: gender, age, ethnicity, location, income level, job, and so on
• Psychographics factors: their interests, habits, beliefs, hobbies, and so on
• Pain points: the problem the audience is currently facing that your product/service can help solve
• Obstacles/challenges: their common obstacles in finding your product or service
• Information gathering behavior: how they typically attempt to find information when they try to find a solution to their problems.
• Content preference: content medium and/or structure that is preferred by this ideal audience
• Your solution: how your content can help this target audience to find the solution to their problem and get the information they are searching for

Also, remember that there might be more than one ideal audience groups that are worth pursuing. For example, there is obviously the primary target audience: those with the highest chance to purchase your product or service. In general, your most if not all of your content efforts must be tailored to target this specific audience.

However, people that are less ‘ideal’ and almost make the cut also deserve your attention. We can consider them as the secondary audience, and they typically require more “push” and convincing. You might want to use a different approach and strategy to target this audience.

To summarize: find your target audience, know their problems, and develop content to help them with these problems.

4. Decide On Content Types

Remember that content is no longer about writing blog posts, but there are plenty of different content types that can be published in various different platforms. There are obviously YouTube videos, Instagram posts, podcasts, and many different forms of textual content (ebooks, research reports, case studies, and so on).

So, how should we choose the right type(s) for our startup? In general, it should depend on your target audience’s preference.

For example, if your target audience spends a lot of time watching YouTube videos, then you should invest your content effort on YouTube. If they are active on Instagram, then produce content on the platform that can drive the audience to your website.

The better you can understand your target audience, the better you can align different content types with their behaviors and needs. In general, here are the common content types you can consider:

• Blog Post: both short and long-form blogs. Yes, even today, people do read content that is relevant to them. You could develop content like:

1. 1. 1. Long-form ultimate guides. Depending on your product or service, this can be very effective in driving more people to your site.
      2. Long ad copy on Facebook ads can drive more engagements and lower CPA
      3. In-depth, step-by-step guides that are relevant for your target audience
      4. Short-form content (i.e. Medium posts) can work, but generally, you’d need a built-in way to promote it or the content must be really unique with valuable information

• Original research:

1. 1. 1. Unique, in-depth research: more time-consuming to create, obviously, but can generate really good results
      2. Reference content:  If you can create content that becomes the go-to-reference in your niche, then you can generate a lot of traffic
      3. Opinion content: opinion-forming journalism, also quite difficult and time-consuming to create, but can be very powerful

• Videos: how-to videos, entertaining videos, short videos on social media, and so on
• Podcasts: rapidly gaining popularity in the past year, podcasts can be a great medium for certain products and services

• Case studies and testimonials: case studies for mainly B2B businesses, and user testimonials for B2C businesses (but can be the other way around).

• Checklist guise: a modification of step-by-step guide, and can be a great form of content that drives a lot of engagement (and often gets shared a lot).

• Infographics: although infographics are no longer as effective as they were especially in generating backlinks, they are still a very powerful form of content especially if we can properly visualize information or data.

Obviously you can mix and match your content types according to your audience’s needs, and you can also use several forms of content in a single piece (i.e. embedded video in the middle of a blog post).

5. Develop Your Content Promotion Strategy

Before you even develop your content, it’s very important to determine the right promotional channels for your content.

No matter how good and valuable your content is for your audience, it won’t bring any value to your business unless someone (and preferably a lot of people) consumes it. So, how you promote the content is just as, if not even more important than the content development process.

Here are some of the most important channels to promote your content:

• SEO: content that ranks on the first page of Google’s SERP gets the most traffic, and so SEO is still the most effective and cost-efficient channel to promote your content. According to the top SEO experts, high-quality content is also the most important factor in SEO success, and so they are inseparable to each other,
• Email marketing: one of the most effective channels to promote various forms of content. The main idea of promoting content marketing via email is you can feed one content among the other to your audience to increase conversion rates, maintaining consistency.
• Social media marketing: including organic social media efforts (building your own followers and spread your promotions), paid social media advertising, and influencer marketing. Social is where our audience is nowadays, so it would only make sense to use the channel in our promotional effort.

There are obviously other channels you can use to promote your content, like third-party distribution channels (content syndication), guest posting, and other efforts. What’s important is to actually have a working content promotion strategy and stick to it.

6. Content Creation

While content creation is a very broad and deep subject on its own, but in general here are the main steps to follow:

1. Keyword Research

Since as mentioned, SEO is the most effective way to promote your content, then we should begin our content creation phase with proper keyword research.

In general, there are three main principles in implementing your keyword research: :

• It must be relevant to your target audience, signified with high enough search volume
• It must be relevant and valuable for your business.
• The competition for the keyword is manageable based on your timeline and resources.

2. Decide a Topic: Expand the target keyword into an actual topic.

3. Choose a Publishing Date:

4. Develop an outline

5. Develop a draft

6.  Edit/forward to the editor as needed

7. Plan a Content Calendar

Content marketing is a long-term game.

We can’t expect to just publish a single content and reap the results (yes, there are cases when a piece of content went viral, but it’s rare). In most cases, consistency both in quantity and quality as well as working with startup SEO consultant is the secret to your content SEO success.

Thus, you need to plan a content calendar to keep track of your progress. It will include things like:

1. The publishing date
2. The target keyword
3. Topic/working title
4. META description, tags, and categories to be used
5. Who’s going to work on the content
6. Format/type of content
7. Where are you going to distribute the content

The more details you can include in the content calendar, the better. Ideally, plan a year’s worth of content calendar if possible, but a few months’ worth of calendar is always better than nothing.

8. Establish KPI and Measure Your Progress

The last step of developing a content marketing strategy for your startup is to set up a system to measure your progress. That is, setting up KPIs to know whether your content marketing is on the right track.

Your KPIs should be based on your content marketing objective as discussed in the very first step. Here are the common KPIs for content marketing:

1. Lead generation, for example, get a specific number of new email subscribers
2. Increase in organic traffic to your website
3. Reach a specific amount of revenue increase within a specific timeframe
4. Engagements and shares on social media

Then, we can measure the performance of our content marketing strategy like:

• Google SERP ranking
• Bounce rate and dwell time—how much of your content are they consuming—, other on-site engagement metrics
• Conversion rate, if the content involves CTA
• Reach and impressions
• Improvements in organic traffic
• Technical factors like page load speed and mobile responsiveness
• Backlinks profile

Evaluate your content according to your KPIs and your content marketing objectives, and re-optimize your content strategy accordingly.

Summing Up

Content marketing can be a cost-effective strategy to generate targeted traffic and leads, which can be very beneficial for any startup business.

With the steps we have discussed above, you should be able to create a successful content marketing strategy for startups and small businesses. Content marketing can effectively build your online presence, establish your position as the thought leader in your industry, and a very powerful way to generate leads.

The post Most Effective Content Marketing Strategy for Startups appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.

So, it’s important to get as many advantages as you can to stay ahead of the competition, and fortunately nowadays there are many marketing tools designed for content marketing that can help you in various areas.

Here, we will discuss five of the best content marketing tools available. Each has their own specific feature set, and will cater to a different purpose.

Let us begin.

1. Best All-In-One Research Tool: SEMRush

SEMRush is best known as one of the most popular SEO tools, especially for its excellent keyword research features.

However, SEMRush is actually a very powerful tool for content marketing with a wide range of possible applications, for instance:

Keyword Magic Tool: search for keywords that are relevant for your business and often searched by your audience. Since SEO is an integral aspect of content marketing, this is a very important feature to have.
Topic Research: Simply enter your keywords and SEMRush will provide various suggestions to find a topic to work with.
SEO Optimization: suggestions for various SEO optimizations. Again, SEO is a very important aspect of content marketing.

Content Audit: evaluating various aspects of your content, especially regarding user experience.
Analytics: monitor your brand performance, social media engagement, and many other important metrics
Backlinks Profile: check your competitors’ backlinks profile, which can be useful in getting our own inbound links

SEMRush is especially useful for keyword research purposes, both to find keywords for your own content and to check your competitors’ target keywords. A great, all-around tool to assist you content marketing.

Pricing: Pro ($99.95/month), Guru ($199.95/month), Business ($399.95/month). No free plan, but free trial available.

2. Best Content Curation Tool: BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is one of the most important tools for content marketing with two core features:

Content curation: find out what kind of content is trending in your niche, across various social media networks. BuzzSumo will also display various useful metrics like engagement metrics, backlinks profile, etc.
Influencer analytics: giving insights about key influencers for a certain niche. This can be very useful for content promotion purposes, as well as to get backlinks from key influencers that might be related to our content

As a tool, BuzzSumo is relatively simple with just a few features—but it is really good at what it does.

Content curation is often the most difficult and lengthy process in formulating a content marketing strategy, and with BuzzSumo we can tackle this issue with just a few simple clicks.

Simply enter your keyword, and BuzzSumo will show the most shared content for the keyword across different social media networks. BuzzSumo will also show useful metrics for the content.

Nowadays, building relationships with other influencers to promote your content is very important, and BuzzSumo is also one of the best tools to gain insights about key influencers.

Pricing: Pro ($79/month), Plus ($139/month), Large ($239/month), custom plan available.

3. Best Content Organizer Tool: CoSchedule

CoSchedule is actually a full-fledged marketing organizer suite with many different features from asset management organizer to social media management tool, each ‘feature’ is priced differently or you can also get the full marketing suite package starting from $150/month.

However, here we will especially focus on CoSchedule’s content organizer feature. In a nutshell, Coschedule content organizer is an editorial calendar where we can plan our content schedule, and view all the different schedules in one place. This can be very useful if we plan to publish many different content in various different platforms (different social media networks, your blog, etc.).

CoSchedule offers seamless integration with other important content marketing platforms from WordPress to Google Docs to Evernote, among others.

We can also use CoSchedule as a collaboration tool if you have several content marketers in your team. You can post comments on your schedule, and ask questions to easily communicate within your team without sending any emails.

Pricing: Growth ($60/month) for 3 users, Professional ($250/month) 5 users, custom Enterprise plan tailored for your needs available

4. Best Conversion Optimization Tool: Convert Pro

No matter how good your content is, it won’t bring any value unless it can convert visitors into prospects, and ultimately, paying customers. This, will turn your content marketing into an effective lead generation device.

Convert Pro is a WordPress plugin known as one of the most effective lead generation plugins available, with some powerful features such as:

• Easily create call-to-actions (CTAs) for your content
• Build an email list
• Implement a lead magnet offer in your content
• A/B testing
• Seamless integration with various CRMs and email marketing tools
• Integration with Google Analytics to monitor the performance of your content
• Drive traffic to your website and promote videos
• User segmentation features to easily group different audience for better targeting
• So, if your website is WordPress based and you want an effective lead generation from your content marketing, Convert Pro is a must-have plugin considering its pretty reasonable price.

It’s also a lightweight plugin that won’t slow down your website, and as a paid plugin, you get a dedicated customer service and tutorials to help you get the most of ConverPro.

Pricing: $99 annually or $399 one-time payment, Agency bundle for $249/year or $699 one-time

5. Best Content Optimization Tool: CrazyEgg

We can be fairly subjective in assessing the quality and performance of our own content—especially if we are the content creator.

This is where a website performance analytics like CrazyEgg can fill the gap.

CrazyEgg offers the standard heat map analytics feature to check where your visitors are clicking on your website, as well as other useful analytics features like confetti report, scroll maps, and overlay maps, among other. Tracking all these metrics will provide you with a very powerful insight in evaluating your content’s performance.

You can monitor different ‘heat’ by browser/device, referral pages, and country, to evaluate in content’s performance in detail for specific situations (i.e. your content might not perform well in mobile devices).

So, you can reposition high-performing content to more popular areas of your website, and you can also re-optimize underperforming content.

CrazyEgg, with all the powerful features, is very easy to use where everything is displayed visually, and you can view all the useful metrics with just a single click on a specific area of your website.

Pricing: Basic ($24/month) for 30,000 page views and 100 recordings/month, 1 website; Standard ($49/month) for 75,000 page views and 500 recordings/month, 3 websites; Plus for 150,000 page views and 1,000 recordings/month, unlimited websites

6. Best All-in-One AI Content Workspace: Narrato

When you’re scaling up content production, the biggest concern is usually the content quality. If it’s the same for you, Narrato AI is the solution. It is a powerful content creation and marketing software that is capable of consistently generating high-quality content at scale.

It comes with tons of other features for managing your entire marketing operations. Here is a quick look at these –

• AI Content Genie for automated content creation. This AI feature on the platform auto-generates social media and blog content based on relevant themes.
• AI Content Assistant: 100+ AI and SEO tools for creating any kind of content, from blog posts, social media posts, copy, and even AI images and memes. It also offers advanced AI tools for content ideation, keyword research, SEO and content optimization. For any specific needs, there’s an option to create custom AI templates.
• Content planner and scheduler: Global content calendar and automated content publishing support for numerous platforms or CMS. You can also use Narrato’s API and custom integrations to publish content on other platforms/CMS.
• Content planning tools: Custom style guides and content templates.
• Collaboration features: In-line comments, messages, and @mentions.
• Project management: Searchable repository of content, custom content workflows, workflow automation, and task assignment.
• Content team and freelancer management: Onboard your content team and choose the right access level. Manage in-house content team and also freelance writers.

Pricing: Plans include Pro at $36 per month and Business at $76 (both include 4 user seats). Custom pricing plan is available if you want more or less of anything.

End Words

Content marketing is not only about the content creation process. Other aspects of content marketing from content promotion to the research/curation process to content scheduling, are often overlooked but yet, equally important.

The five tools we have discussed above, each covered different aspects of content marketing. In our opinion, they are the best available today according to their respective functionality.

While content marketing is now very competitive, these tools can help you up your game to deliver better value for your audience.

The post Top 5 Content Marketing Tools For Business Success appeared first on Mike Khorev - SEO Consultant.