Expanding your Marketing Beyond Google

UnGoogle Your Search Marketing. While search is the primary source of web traffic for most sites it’s more important to “UnGoogle” your search marketing. However, this doesn't mean ignoring Google completely.

It means employing blogs, social media and optimized press releases as an alternative, yet complimentary sources of web site traffic. SEO alone might not be enough.

Focusing content creation efforts solely to serve Search Engine Optimization purposes can be limiting. If the the only purpose for creating content is for search engine visibility, the publishing web site may improve search traffic but disappoint when it comes to converting that traffic.

SEO can be an unattractive, keyword stuffed web page that might do well in search ranking but scares the hello out of anyone who visits. That’s an extreme of course, but the point is that great SEO maximizes keyword use and search friendly design recommendations to the benefit of site visitors first or at least as much for people as for SEO.

Another method to generate traffic would be to create connections and distribution channels that have nothing to do with search engines. Create sources of visitors that have nothing to do with the use of search engines.

What does this mean: Listen to the social web. Learn about your customers interests, preferences and needs. Create content to meet those needs. Grow networks in the channels where those customers spend time and in channels that influence them.  Check out popular and relevant search based keywords as well as social keywords and incorporate them into the content strategy and social networking effort.

Using both real time search and social media monitoring you can detect on-demand marketing opportunities, as well as analyze the flow of keyword focused conversation. As advertising and media placements drive search queries, so do social conversations. While many of those opportunities are fleeting and not practical, some will take hold in the form of a conversation that turns into buzz and search.

Ultimately, what you are trying to do is be seen in as many places as you can. Relying solely on search engines to drive your traffic is the way of the past. You must engage the social web atmosphere for your marketing.