Merged Marketing Podcast

190 – The art of SEO: Proven strategies for boosting sales and leads

The Art of SEO

In today’s digital landscape, where online visibility is paramount, businesses of all sizes strive to maximize their reach and attract potential customers. While various marketing techniques can help achieve this goal, none are as effective and influential as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The art of SEO encompasses a set of proven strategies that enable businesses to improve their search engine rankings, boost organic traffic, and ultimately increase sales and leads. To help us better understand this topic, we host Brandon Leibowitz from SEO Optimizers.

SEO has evolved significantly over the years, adapting to the ever-changing algorithms and practices of search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. It has become a multifaceted discipline that combines technical expertise, analytical skills, and creative thinking. At its core, SEO aims to optimize a website’s structure, content, and online presence to ensure its visibility and relevance to search engine users.

Brandon’s journey to the SEO industry – He graduated with a business marketing degree and secured his first job with a digital marketing company. He gained useful experience in SEO from working in various advertising companies over the years. Along the way, Brandon was able to launch his own SEO company. His first clients included Medicare Supplement Plan, whose affiliation arrangement enabled him to get a professional website while he helped them with their SEO needs.

Role of Google algorithms in SEO: Brandon observes that Google does not take every uploaded content and profile at face value. As such, Google’s Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthy (EEAT) ensure that the content and content creator is reliable to avoid misinformation. Given the growing amount of content uploaded onto Google, the algorithm pays greater focus on the value of the content to the audience.

How he leverages artificial intelligence in his SEO content creation: Brandon says that he uses AI sparingly, with some of his writers utilizing such tools as ChatGPT in creating content. However, he utilizes AI to markup his website, such as creating schemer codes through ChatGPT. It benefits his click rate on Google by enhancing his company’s listing.

Trends in SEO over the past 5 years: Our guest expert attributes backlinks as one of the recent major SEO changes. While previously, the number of backlinks a website had greatly mattered, nowadays, the number of quality backlinks is more important to Google ranking. A website with many relevant backlinks to its industry will have more SEO value.

How he builds a database of backlinks: Brandon explains that he conducts call outreach to find relevant individuals or websites. However, he says call outreach has become less effective for newer clients in the current digital space. As such, he focuses on building relationships with existing clients to grow his backlinks database.

How he “ethically hacks” competitor SEO traffic: Our guest expert says he leverages several tools to tap into competitor traffic by figuring out their top-performing backlinks. They do this with the help of keywords, after which they leverage the relevant backlinks. Brandon further explains that they seek competitor strategies for competitive advantages, such as content generation, paid ads, podcasting, and affiliate marketing. Interestingly, Brandon cautions that a company’s competition in the SEO space includes any top-ranking company on Google across various industries.

Trends in on-site conversion: Brandon mentions speed as one of the proven strategies for boosting sales and leads in the SEO space. As such, your website should load quickly upon search. In addition, it helps to have a lighter version of your website for mobile. The website should also be legible enough, with the above-the-fold capturing the company’s value proposition. In addition, it helps to have a relevant short video, contact information and call to action.

Common mistakes in company websites in 2023: Our guest expert decries the tendency of companies to build websites for aesthetic purposes instead of functionality. He stresses the importance of a website to optimize conversions and mobile versions. In this regard, he recommends AB testing your website to determine the site’s strengths and weaknesses. Also, he advises against allowing intrusive pop-ups on the website, especially for mobile versions. He recommends allowing value-based pop-ups after 30 seconds for the desktop version to enhance user experience and conversions. (People often build websites to look nice but fail to consider conversion optimization).

How he is marketing his own business today: Brandon reveals that he employs several proven strategies for boosting sales and leads for his own business. These include SEO, keyword ranking, educational lecturers, blogging, affiliate marketing, and social media marketing.

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