The Spider’s Web of Inbound Marketing — Everything’s Connected

April 21, 2016

Every web begins with a single thread, but a spider can’t catch its meal with just one strand.

With technology becoming increasingly interconnected, individual tools and tactics have developed dependencies on one another for success. Much like the spider’s web, the threads of your inbound marketing must work in concert to be effective.

Some of the key elements of inbound marketing include website design, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, and lead nurturing. There are companies that offer these services separately, but as an experienced inbound marketing agency, we have found that you just can’t have one without the other.

Great Website Design is Just the Foundation

You need a website that has a great user experience (UX) and interface (UI) design but making sure that it’s responsive, interactive, and aesthetically pleasing is just the first step in setting up your website.

There is little point in building a website without the audience to go with it. Web users are continuously searching for companies like yours, but even the #1 rated sites on Google have only an 18.2% click-through-rate. What this means is that to gain traffic effectively, you need to rank for multiple keywords so that you can maximize your website’s reach. Well-positioned websites need to rank for hundreds of keywords depending on your industry, so without a solidly built SEO website, you can’t expect a plethora of unique visitors.

Since 81% of business to business purchases start through an online search, it’s vitally important that you have the search engine rankings to reel in those leads.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, poor website designs leave a bad taste in your mouth. Whether a website’s simply not responsive, looks antiquated, or doesn’t provide the information a prospect is looking for, it can ruin a brand’s reputation.

Keep Your Visitors Engaged With Quality Content

Inbound Marketing

Buyers are coming to your website to research their options. Even if they’re not yet ready to buy, which is approximately 50% of qualified leads, they’re learning something and potentially submitting their email to a mailing list to learn more.

Not only does Google love fresh content, and fresh pages feed your search engine rankings, but your visitors also appreciate receiving updates on topics that interest them. Keep your content engaging, educational, and related to the products that you offer in order to keep your leads coming back for more.

In fact, Hubspot reports that companies who blog receive 15 times more traffic than those who don’t.

Don’t Forget to Nurture Those Leads

An astounding 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales because there was a lack of nurturing established from the get-go. Not every lead that inputs their email for your newsletter is ready to be handed over to a sales rep, they need to be nurtured to complete further steps to show their readiness to advance to the next stage.

Lead nurturing is a comprehensive process because it includes email marketing automation as well as lead scoring to continuously update your contacts with educational content that keeps them coming back to your website, and propels them from considering a purchase through to ready to purchase. It’s at this phase that an inbound marketing agency may be your best bet, because of their experience tying these processes together with where your leads are in their sales cycle.

Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than their counterparts who haven’t been nurtured. That’s due in large part because they’ve been provided more information on your company and services, and are well aware of what you offer and how well you can do it.

An Inbound Marketer’s Job is Never Done

Growing your business, gathering leads, and ensuring that your website continues to rank highly for search phrases are all things that are continuous. SEO, content development, and lead nurturing are not processes that can be set up once and then abandoned.

In a never-ending circle, each process relies on the other, and each process should be tested and adapted based on their results. Google algorithms change, buyer behaviours change, and information needs to be updated based on industry advancements and your business service offering.

The Hubspot State of Inbound 2014 report states that year-over-year, companies reported an approximate 35% increase in their ROI from inbound marketing. As you continue to rank in search engines, produce content, and nurture those leads, your business can continue to grow.

As an inbound marketing agency, Pixelcarve can holistically assist with your entire digital presence. From the creation of an interactive and responsive website to enhancing your lead generation possibilities. Give us a call today and we’ll discuss how SEO, content creation, and lead nurturing can increase your website conversion rates.