The opinions expressed by the collaborators of Emprenderos are their own.
Some of the world’s largest software companies credit SEO as the driving factor in achieving unicorn status: changeMailChimp, and the list goes on.
SEO is a channel where software companies can capture demand and convert that demand into paying customers. But most tech companies today repeat the same SEO playbook as all their competitors: regurgitate top of the funnel, basic information to get as much traffic as possible. The problem? You want the right traffic, not the most traffic.
Here are three unconventional SEO tactics specifically for software companies to stand out and acquire customers.
1. Fewer keywords, more thought leadership
Keyword-driven content is critical to search engine optimization. The overall goal of SEO is to capture existing search demand. For example, if someone searches for customer relationship management (CRM) software comparisons, you want your CRM software to appear as a candidate.
However, keyword-driven content can only get you so far, so fast. To rank content organically, Google evaluates a myriad of factors that help determine what parts of content a user sees when they search. Its algorithm prioritizes in-depth and accurate content from trusted sources.
And one of the best ways to become a trusted source is to establish thought leadership in your niche. The more people who trust you and your brand, share your content, and link to your content, the better.
Google rewards real brands with confidence in their niche market. An important factor in measuring this is through the inbound links pointing to your website, also known as backlinks. No, it’s not the kind of spammy link you can buy for $5 on a shady website (stay away from those). The kind of backlink you can only get through really great content, branding and relationships. The kind that is a true result of creating and promoting valuable content that people can’t help but circulate.
This is where your thought leadership strategy comes into play. Typical link building is spam. Sending mass emails to websites asking them to link to you. Instead, your goal is to write content so interesting and different that people can’t help but share, link to, and promote it. This is thought-leadership content and has massive beneficial impacts on your SEO because it earns far more backlinks and distribution than keyword-based lists like “Top 5 CRM Software This Year”.
For example, I wrote an article for my software company’s blog about how data in platforms like Google Analytics lie to you. It wasn’t meant to capture keyword rankings but to drive social shares, engagement and virality. I used a loud, loud tone. I have supported my position with examples. I left readers with a final question that prompted them to share. I then emailed my list and network. Within weeks I had generated hundreds of backlinks from high authority websites sharing the post – more backlinks than most websites will ever get from a single article.
If I were to write another post about the “XX Best Tools” like most software companies, I would have been left with zero shares, zero links, and no brand impact. No one wants to share basic, boring content. While you shouldn’t stop at creating keyword-driven content that captures demand, you should also focus heavily on thought leadership content that has much higher virality potential, creating benefits for your entire strategy of SEO. Then distribute and market that content across all channels to maximize your impact.
Related: Why trust is the new marketing currency
2. SERP monopoly strategy
Publishing new content isn’t always the fastest way to generate leads, sales and revenue. It takes time for new content to rank organically. Especially if your brand isn’t established and you don’t have a track record of success. Instead of mass publishing, implement the SERP Monopoly strategy: get your software company to appear in all summaries and comparisons in your space for valuable keywords.
For example, if your software company is CRM software, you’ll want to search for keywords like “best CRMs,” create a list of the top 20 content rankings for that keyword, and then run an outreach based on value to these websites. to get your CRM listed. This is the SERP Monopoly strategy.
It allows you to get in front of thousands of searches in days, not months. Instead of publishing a new piece and waiting months for it to rank organically, you’re leveraging existing content that’s already generating traffic. And because it’s highly relevant, you can attract qualified buyers and potential customers to your website in a matter of days if you run a successful campaign.
Your ultimate goal is to be included in the ranking of each post for list or comparison keywords in your space, hence the name “SERP Monopoly”. Using the “Best CRM” example, this keyword gets 9,000 unique searches per month, according to SEO Tools. There are countless articles ranking the best CRMs, all of which are an opportunity for you to contact the author of the article and ask them to try and review your software.
If it really is a great product, they will be happy to recommend it to their list to their readers, as it is a win-win for them and their readers.
When pitching your product to these site owners, always ask yourself: What can I do to make this valuable to them, not just me? Can you offer them an affiliate deal so they get a percentage of the sales your list drives? Can you give them free lifetime access to use the tool so they can actually review and rank you? This strategy is incredibly effective for software companies because of the large amount of content that ranks the best tools in a given niche. Use it to drive qualified buyers to your site in weeks, not years.
Related: 5 Essential SEO Strategies for Entrepreneurs to Increase Their Traffic
3. Sales Enablement Content for SEO
Sales enablement content for SEO is a powerful strategy to rank directly in the organic search results of your competitors’ brand searches. Key sales enable content for SEO often follows three different formulas: why, better, versus. For example: Product X versus Product Y: Which is better? These are key elements of middle and bottom-of-funnel content that people look for when making a purchase decision. They want to know why a specific tool is best for their personal needs.
Creating this type of content may seem counterintuitive: why would you highlight some of the positive aspects of a competitor? Well, for many reasons. Consumers won’t trust your brand if all you do is talk about how bad a competitor’s offering is. Talking only negatively about your competitor is dishonest and consumers can see right through it. Instead, your goal is to differentiate yourself: speak positively about a competitor, but recognize where your product shines and for whom.
Leave your bias at the door and write a comparison piece that explains why your software is the winner for your target audience. By creating comparison pieces, you’ll start ranking for competitor brand searches. In other words, if your competitor is “Brand X,” you can rank for “Brand X” searches on Google by creating a comparison piece like “Brand X vs. Your Brand.”
Sales enablement content is versatile and expands the keywords you can target, subsequently capturing more demand from your target market that they may not have known existed. Combined with the two strategies mentioned above, it’s a surefire way to increase qualified leads, sales, and revenue for your software company.
[ad_2]
Source link
