13 ways you can make digital marketing work for you

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) In layman’s terms, Search Engine Optimization or SEO is essentially tweaking your website so that it comes up naturally or organically for search results in Google, Yahoo Bing or any other search engine. Google updates its algorithms regularly so that only the relevant results come up. From that perspective, many experts say that SEO is dead and the effort is futile. However, the truth is that Google tries to prevent algorithm manipulation and filters sites that don’t deserve to be on the top of SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). So there is no doubt you should invest in SEO work. Your website should address the technicalities related to content and query matching, spidering, indexing, and interpreting non-text content. Remember, it is the most cost-effective marketing strategy that will bring organic traffic to your business. 2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Search Engine Marketing or SEM is the comprehensive strategy to drive traffic to your business, primarily through paid efforts. Hence it is also called Paid Search Marketing. The universe of SEM is diverse and complicated.Based on your business structure, you may choose PPC (pay-per-click) or CPC (cost-per-click) model, or CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) model. There are different platforms for SEM. By far, Google AdWords (on Google Network) and Bing Ads (on Yahoo Bing Network) are the most popular. SEM also includes Display Advertising, Search Retargeting & Site Remarketing, Mobile Marketing and Paid Social Advertising. You may choose a single-point strategy like PPC, or go for a complete SEM strategy, including Display and Retargeting.But whatever you do, make sure your work is managed by experts as wrong planning may make your costs go haywire. 3. Content Creation Research shows that content creation is a definitive method of marketing in 2014.All recent changes to Google’s algorithm - be it Panda, Penguin or Hummingbird - point to the fact that content is the most important metric while filtering search results. Content can be presented in different formats, including blogs, white papers, e-books, case studies, how-to guides, question and answer articles, forums, news and updates, images, banners, infographics, podcasts, webinars, videos, or content for microblogging and social media sites. You can be creative and create content on any topic and then skillfully link it indirectly to your business. You may like to read our article on how to include content and market your startup or business free of cost. Also, you need to customise your content for different platforms. For example, the content for mobile phones should be crisp and short. Remember, an effective strategy will engage your readers and leave them interested in more information from you. Good content is shared and is the best way for branding your business. 4. Social Media Marketing (SMM) Social Media Marketing or SMM is an offshoot of your SEM efforts. It involves driving traffic to your sites or business through social sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Linkedin, etc. As we mentioned above, good content is shared and liked.So create and customize content for different social media platforms. Remember to be prolific and original; you need to engage with users on a daily basis, at least four to five times a day. Your SMM efforts can be especially helpful for branding and driving sales. 5. Digital Display Advertising This again is a subset of your SEM efforts. You may use a variety of display advertising formats to target potential audience - be it text, image, banner, rich-media, interactive or video ads.

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