4 Creative (and Aboveboard) Ways to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings

Promoting your content has clear short-term benefits — like attracting new readers, social shares, and comments.

But did you know it's also a critical part of your search engine optimization strategy?

Even the best on-page SEO efforts don't work as well if no one links to your site, so one of your biggest jobs is spreading the word out about your content.

Think of it this way:

You've got to attract incoming links to rank well in search engines, and no one is going to link to you if they don't know you exist.

In this post, we'll talk about why content promotion is important for SEO and how to create your own content promotion system.

Why is content promotion important for SEO?

After you publish a piece of content, your next goal is to get people to engage with that content.

When people like your content, they'll share it on social media and link to it from their sites, which sends search engines a "thumbs-up" signal.

That signal says, "This is high-quality content," and you want as many of those votes as possible.

People share content from sites they know and trust, and they often visit those sites from their favorite social media platforms and their inboxes — so that's exactly where you want to show up.

Not sure how to get started? Try these four techniques:

1. Reach out to your network

While I wouldn't recommend emailing bloggers and editors you don't already have relationships with, don't forget about touching base with your online network when you publish extra special content.

For instance, I've developed a relationship with writing and creativity coach Cynthia Morris over the years.

Now if I publish a piece of content that is a particularly good resource for her audience, I can show the article to Cynthia and ask her to share it via social media if she likes it.

If you already have a connection with someone, reaching out via email with a note about your content may help them find useful information to share with their audience.

2. Post compelling updates on social media

When you promote your posts to your fans and followers on the social media sites you use, complement your text with compelling images.

Need to know the optimal sizes for your social media images? Check out this frequently updated guide from Sprout Social.

It's okay to share a link to the same piece of content multiple times on a particular social platform. Just remember to vary updates that link to the same piece of content, so they don't look too repetitive. For example, some updates should have different text and you can experiment with adding or omitting images.

Try a scheduling tool like the one in the Rainmaker Platform to make this process easier and more efficient.

3. Write guest posts

Guest posting helps you establish connections with influencers in your field, and it can lead to new website visitors and email subscribers when it's done correctly.

It's also (potentially) a great content promotion tactic. But before you include a link to your own content, get approval from your host and always honor the site's rules about links.

If you're allowed, link to a piece of your cornerstone content in the text of your guest post or in your author bio.

To maximize engagement with a link to your site, clearly explain what people will find when they arrive on your site and how the content will benefit them.

For more information, read Henneke's post, Unleash a Surge of Email Subscribers from Your Guest Posts with This Simple Landing Page Strategy.

4. Repurpose your content

To breathe new life into older content and help it reach a wider audience, repurpose it into different formats.

For example, you could take a podcast interview and turn it into:

Every time you publish a repurposed version of the original interview, you can link to the original podcast episode.

On-page and off-page SEO: a smart partnership

It's not enough to just publish and then sit back with your feet on your desk — you've got to spread the word about your content and give people easy ways to access and consume it.

But don't forget about on-page optimization. On-page and off-page SEO work together to help you rank higher in search engines.

Discover five on-page elements you need to make your content easily digestible for search engines in Copyblogger's free ebook, How to Create Compelling Content that Ranks Well in Search Engines.

What's your favorite way to promote your content online? Share it with us in the comments below!

Source: 4 Creative (and Aboveboard) Ways to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings