Digital Marketing – Where Should I Budget Our Marketing Dollars?

In an ideal world, you would have an unlimited budget for digital marketing so that you invest in all areas, from organic SEO and pay-per-click advertising to local SEO and social media campaigns. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world at all. Most of us have a tight – or somewhat limited – budget. So, if that’s the case, where do the marketing dollars go?

Organic SEO

When it comes to long-term results in the digital realm, search engine optimization (SEO) is the key. Now, the important thing to understand with organic SEO is that it can be a slow process. You will not garner results overnight, but it is definitely the best and most effective way to enhance website traffic and increase quality leads. Research shows that organic search results are 8.5 more likely to be clicked on than paid search results.

Local SEO

Apart from just organic SEO, there is also local SEO that is very important. This is especially for SMB's (small to medium sized businesses). In fact, local SEO is going to help with your organic SEO and boost your search engine rankings. Local SEO consists of business listings and directories, such as Google MyBusiness, Bing Business Listings, Yelp, etc.

This sort of thing is going to provide Google, Bing and other search engines with multiple references – verifiable ones at that – that you have a business that actually exists. These local business listings will help with link building and quality backlinks – both of which are essential to increasing search engine rankings.

However, keep in mind that local SEO is only going to work to your advantage if you stay on top of your business listings and directories. You must make sure that all of the business listings list your business exactly the same and that there are no differences between them.

Social Media

With social media being so popular and so many consumers using social media as a go-to source before making a purchase, it is critical that you utilize social media as a part of your digital marketing campaign. Now, social media marketing can mean more than just the updates that you post. It can also mean a professional profile picture and cover photo as well as photos that you post along with you regular updates. Since profiles, pages and even posts are now being indexed by Google, spending a portion of your marketing budget can increase your organic SEO.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

For immediate results, paid search campaigns are what you need. The moment you sign up for a Google Adwords account (or Bing Ads), create that first campaign and start using it, web users are going to start seeing your advertisements pop up in their search results. Unlike SEO, which hits people through the entire buying process, PPC (Pay-Per-Click Advertising) is targeted towards individuals who are ready to commit or make a purchase right then and there. For that reason, pay-per-click advertising tends to be 1.5 times more effective at converting web users from search engines.

If you are still a bit uncertain as to where you marketing dollars need to go or have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact our team here at WebDetail. We will carefully assess your individual needs and develop a smart digital marketing strategy that fits your business goals.