Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important piece of every marketing plan, but how do you know what really works? One way to find out is by asking marketing influencers what tactics they’re using and what’s working for them. Ascend2 did this in a recent survey of marketing influencers working in both B2B and B2C channels.
Overall, 61% of marketing influencers who participated in the study indicated that they actively use SEO tactics to increase their search rankings and boost traffic to their websites. Another 14% use SEO to increase conversions to drive leads through the middle of the funnel, and 25% use SEO to drive leads to the bottom of the funnel in order to increase sales revenue.
Are their SEO efforts working? Based on the data from the Ascend2 survey, the answer is yes. More than nine in 10 marketing influencers say that SEO is at least somewhat successful (above average) at helping them reach certain goals, and 45% believe that their success with SEO is very successful (best in class). In fact, most online influencers believe that SEO is getting more successful. In total, 87% of marketing influencers believe that SEO effectiveness is increasing with 44% saying SEO effectiveness is increasing significantly.
Most marketing influencers state that implementing on-page content is the most effective SEO tactic (57%) followed by keyword research (50%). You can see the full breakdown of the effectiveness of seven key SEO tactics below:
- On-page content: 57% say it’s effective
- Keyword research: 50% say it’s effective
- Link building: 46% say it’s effective
- Website structure: 43% say it’s effective
- Meta data and tags: 34% say it’s effective
- Social media sharing: 32% say it’s effective
- Off-page content: 10% say it’s effective
The breakdown is a bit different when marketing influencers were asked how difficult it is to implement each of these SEO tactics:
- Link building: 52% say it’s difficult
- Website structure: 39% say it’s difficult
- Off-page content: 35% say it’s difficult
- Social media sharing: 33% say it’s difficult
- On-page content: 29% say it’s difficult
- Keyword research: 29% say it’s difficult
- Meta data and tags: 29% say it’s difficult
Since some SEO tactics are difficult to implement and time-consuming, 84% of marketing influencers report that they outsource all or part of their SEO work to specialists. Only 16% of marketing influencers use in-house resources only to manage their SEO programs while 28% outsource all SEO work to a specialist, and 56% use a combination of in-house and outsourced resources.
Considering how many marketing influencers believe SEO is effective, it’s not surprising that 91% of marketing influencers who responded to the Ascend2 survey plan to increase their SEO budgets in the year ahead. In fact, 38% of them plan to increase their SEO budgets significantly next year.
How about you? Are you using SEO to increase your search rankings and boost web traffic so your sales revenue will go up? What tactics are most effective for you? Do you plan to increase your SEO budget in the coming year? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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