Email And SEO: 5 Solid Tips

Once you send your email campaign, it's easy to forget it and move on to the next. However, if you want to use it to gain some search engine optimization value, you'll need to keep it alive on the Internet. But to truly maximize your email campaigns and search, you'll have to plan ahead and follow these 5 tips:

Your main goal as an email marketer, most likely, is to move product. However, it makes more sense from an SEO standpoint to offer neutral content that can easily be found in a search. Case in point: suppose you send out an email "5 ways to find discount organic foods". That email accomplishes two things: it not only gives the customer something of value to read in their inbox without the pressure of a hard sell, but it also creates a document, when archived online, functions as something that can be found in a Internet search that might contain the words "save money on organic foods" or "organic foods discount".

You want the words in your email markting campaigns to be found in a search. Any graphic you place in your email, such as an image of a product, can be used to enhance your email campaign, but you should always insert straight text and body copy to make it easier for customers to find your archived email in a search.

Links are an important part of any email marketing campaign, but you especially want to use those links to enhance your chance of being found via search. For instance, ditch the old call-to-action phrases like "click here" or "find out more". These, while effective, give your link no SEO value you whatsoever. What you want to do is focus on keywords that will be found via search. For example: using the phrase "click here for discount organic foods" is going to register your link as "click here", making it just one in a sea of thousands. What you want to do is use the words "organic foods" as your link instead, and attach keywords like organic foods, organics, goods, meals, etc. That way your link has some search value, and people can find it by searching for those keywords. Use lots of good links like these to boost your email's SEO value.

How do you want people to find your email in a search? Think keywords. Keywords are the major words someone will use to find your emails. For instance, if you have an email on best organic food providers for vegan diets, the keywords will include: organic food, organics, organic food providers, vegan diets, organic vegan, etc. Once you've created a list of keywords, you'll want to sprinkle those words in your copy. Don't overdo it! While it seems rational that the more keywords you put in, the better, this is not the case. New search engine methods are more sophisticated than that. If you stay on topic and use your keywords in your copy without making it seem like they don't belong there, you'll make it easy for people to find your email.

Once you've created an email that has plenty of good links, copy, keywords and more, you'll want to put it online so people can find it. The best way to do this is create an email archive. With an email archive, you can place all your emails online so people can find them using keyword searches. Link your email archive to your site to get people to see what you have on offer. Another good tip? Put a Signup Form on your main archive site. That way you can pick up new email subscribers from searches. If the audience is there, you want to build on it. By putting a Signup Form on your archive site, you can build up your subscriber base with new customers conducting simple online searches.