SMS marketing should be part of your SEO strategy
Whether you have a startup, mid-sized, or an already established business, you need an effective marketing strategy to beat your competitors constantly. You might have heard the term “SEO” and “SMS Marketing” many times. However, did you know that you can combine these two powerful strategies to rank your business well in search results (SERP)? Many people don’t realize that they can effectively integrate SMS marketing and SEO to establish a solid online presence for their business.
This article will discuss why SMS marketing should be part of your SEO strategy and how these two approaches can work together to boost a return on investment for your business.
What is SMS marketing?
SMS marketing means sending concise text messages directly to the potential customer’s mobile phones. Through it, businesses can reach their target audience immediately with valuable information, updates, or attractive deals. The best thing about SMS campaigns is that they usually offer high open and response rates (around 98% and 45%, respectively). The reason is that most people check their text messages within minutes after receiving them.
SEO mainly focuses on improving your business’s visibility on search engines, whereas SMS marketing works towards improving customer engagement. So, don’t you think pairing them will work wonders for your business?
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. The key objective of SEO is to rank your website higher in search results by increasing organic traffic. Whenever the website’s organic traffic increases, potential customers can easily find out about the services/products/of your website.
SEO includes various components like on-page optimization, off-page optimization, keyword research, content creation, link building, etc. In short, SEO is more than just boosting your website’s rankings. It works towards improving the overall user experience. And when it comes to enhancing user experience, the powerful combo of SEO + SMS marketing can help you outshine.
SEO + SMS marketing – a powerful marketing strategy combo
Gone are the days when SMS marketing was considered a spammy strategy. The reason behind that was that the online world was unregulated during those times. Businesses were sending text messages to people who were not truly interested in it.
However, with time, this scenario has completely changed. Now, consumers are more protected by rules like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and 10DLC registration. Businesses can use automated text messaging platforms to provide their customers with important information about their business. However, for that, it is vital to obtain customers’ explicit consent.
When your customers are genuinely interested in knowing what is going on with your business, your text messages will be welcomed.
How does SMS improve SEO rankings?
We all know that SMS is a personalized, instantaneous, and direct communication approach that offers high open and Engagement rates. However, the question is, how can it help improve SEO rankings?
SMS helps businesses to grab the user’s attention immediately. Here are ways in which SMS helps improve website SEO rankings.
1. Improve website traffic
The main objective of SEO is to increase organic traffic to your website. How can SMS marketing contribute to this? By driving more visitors to your site, SMS campaigns send signals to search engines, indicating that your website contains valuable and relevant content.
You can use SMS marketing to send the promotional message along with your website link. It will drive immediate traffic. When you send valuable information from time to time, users will click on your links to learn more, which will provide you with increased website traffic.
For example, you can send this type of SMS to inform potential customers about your limited-time offer.
“Hey [customer name], 10% off on all our beauty products through this weekend. Here is the [link] to explore our products. Don’t wait — grab this offer today!”
This SMS creates urgency and encourages people to visit your website to learn more about products.
2. Increased user engagement
User engagement plays a vital role in boosting SEO. Search engines consider how long visitors stay on your website and how they interact with your website content.
It is obvious that when you send a personalized message to customers, they will be more likely to engage. This is because SMS itself provides relevancy and a customized experience.
Sending customers reminders, updates, or the latest deals through SMS can increase repeat visits, benefiting user engagement metrics.
For instance, you can encourage customers to check your new blog post or newly launched product by sending them a text message along with the link. When customers click on the link, it will give positive signals to search engines.
“Helllo [customer name], check out our recent blog post on [topic name] to learn more about [topic]. Here is the [link].”
3. Low bounce rate = improved SEO performance
Bounce rate means visitors leave your website within a short period after arriving. The high bounce rate can adversely affect your SEO efforts because it shows your website content is irrelevant. However, don’t worry! Integrating SEO into your SMS marketing strategy can help you reduce the bounce rate.
When users click on the link you sent through SMS, it shows they are genuinely interested in your content and what you offer. Therefore, there is a higher chance that they will stay on your website for longer, explore your product/service pages, and take the desired actions, such as buying or signing up for free trial/newsletters.
The low bounce rates send positive signals to search engines that your website offers valuable content. It will improve your website’s overall SEO performance.
4. Social signals are important
When it comes to SEO, social signals are generally ignored. Of course, social media sharing does not directly increase ranking. However, it can impact SEO indirectly by driving more traffic and increasing the website’s visibility. Here, the question is: How do you do it?
All you need to do is send a simple text message stating you have launched a new product, posted a new blog, or exclusive deals. It will encourage recipients to share it with others on social media.
The more shared content, the more traffic to your website. Sending texts will improve the website’s visibility. Besides, if any of your content goes viral on social media platforms, other websites will pick it up for linking. It will give you valuable backlinks, increasing your website’s authority.
5. Make the most out of local SEO
If you have a business with a physical office location, local SEO can help you drive more foot traffic. Your business will appear in search results when people search for nearby related services. Including SMS marketing can help encourage customers to visit your store or event.
Try sending text messages regarding your in-store events or any new product arriving soon in your store. With the text message, you can include CTA, such as “visit us at [store/event address] for a 15% discount tomorrow“. It will drive more traffic and help you get more positive reviews and local buzz. All these will surely help you improve your local SEO ranking.
6. Enhanced mobile user experience
When it comes to search engines, they usually prefer well-designed websites that are mobile-friendly. Nowadays, more and more people are using smartphones. Therefore, it is vital to have a seamless mobile experience to boost SEO performance.
When you send an SMS, including your website link, the user clicks on it. And if your webpage is mobile-optimized, it increases their user experience and keeps them engaged for longer. If your web pages are not mobile-optimized, the bounce rate can increase. It can adversely affect your SEO rankings.
7. Promote your content
Quality content is vital in improving SEO ranking, but how can you expect traffic without promoting your content? People must know that your content exists. Here is where SMS comes into the picture. You can use text messages to promote your new blog, provide vital information, or launch a product directly to your target audience.
Here is an example. You can send an SMS like “Our new blog post on [topic name] is live now. Here is the [link].
This type of SMS can help you bring instant, organic, and targeted traffic. More targeted traffic + Engagement = Chances of higher ranking on search engines.
8. Analyze SMS campaign performance
Various automated SMS marketing platforms help you track and measure your SMS campaign performance. You can measure metrics like conversion rate, click-through rate, engagement rate, etc, to get an idea of what is working and what is not.
This data can help you improve your SEO strategy. How? It’s simple — by measuring SMS campaigns, you can understand how they drive traffic to the specific webpage. You can further optimize those pages to improve the SEO performance.
For example, let’s say you discover that your specific SMS campaign is driving traffic to your product page with a high conversion rate. You can now optimize this page further for the particular keyword to attract more targeted organic traffic.
9. More reviews = improved local SEO
Customer feedback is an important factor in local SEO. Through SMS marketing, you can encourage your happy customers to give positive reviews on Google or Yelp. It helps boost authority and reliability.
Generally, people respond to text messages faster as compared to email. Therefore, you can send text messages such as “Thank you for choosing us for your vacation stay. If you had a great time, leave your review here [link].“
Sending this kind of message can significantly impact your brand’s online reputation and SEO.
Rank high on SERP by integrating SMS + SEO effectively
In summary, SEO is not only about optimizing for search engines but also for people. And there’s no better way to connect with people than through their phones! By including SMS marketing in your SEO strategy, you can create an influential collaboration that will help you boost your business’s online presence.
As SMS marketing is inexpensive, tailored, highly engaging, and direct, it can enhance user experience. Improved user experience can boost SEO rankings. Therefore, don’t ignore the power of SMS marketing; integrate it with your SEO strategy today. It will surely help your business thrive.
