Much of business email marketing is too often a hidden source of inaccessible content, behind locked gates on third-party platforms with redirected tracking urls and no crawlable web site links for search engines. Not all email works as blog SEO content. Much promotional email content is limited to images, without substantial editorial text or significant contextual narrative – so no loss in those cases that empty messages are sealed off from public view. Where content exists only to encourage a purchase or promote products, it has little value for the purposes of SEO.
You Have Truly Useful Things to Say
However, when the company marketing email newsletters actually have narrative content discussing core elements of the mission, services and important talking points of that business – they may be ignoring a goldmine of SEO content. I’ve worked closely with clients to use their blog as platform to publish ongoing marketing emails. Some by working through and posting six months worth of backlog email newsletters to serve as SEO content.
Think about the consistent references to online services and content that is often discussed in email newsletters. They are written in the company voice and crafted to appeal to the expected interests of existing customers and clients. Those emails will routinely link (through useless tracking URLs) to important sections of the site, to recent blog posts, to white papers, to case studies, to business announcements, to partner or customer testimonials – and nearly always within the context of a particular theme.
SEO Friendly Themed Content
That theme is the core of SEO content and will contain specific, focused keyword phrases and reference related data both on and off-site via text links. All SEO gold – and all ingredients to a perfect recipe for improving visibility on those business themed elements discussed in those emails. Why would anyone waste solid, effective, carefully crafted content in the email silo where it will only be seen by existing customers?
Not only will sharing email content on your own blog bring fresh search engine traffic and potential new customers into your strongest sales funnel (search engines) – it will often work as a catalyst for new content ideas for the newsletter. And now there will be two separate channels reading that content. One channel represents the already converted, loyal customer and the other channel are potential customers, those who have searched to find exactly the topic you are already discussing in detail via email.
Upsell From Reader to Subscriber
Of course these repurposed emails can be customized to appeal to potential new customers with simple tweaks to the voice and style of already written content. So now you have the opportunity to pitch those potential clients on the benefits of the email subscription – “Like what you’ve read here? Then you’ll love our weekly email newsletter! Sign up here.” Link to email sign-up or graphical pointer to the newsletter join form on your site template at the end of the post.
Rich and valuable marketing content may be hidden behind inaccessible gates where it can only preach to the choir and not reach those that are longing to be converted. They are searching at the church of Google for your message and it’s not visible because those heavenly tracking URLs on third-party email services are hiding those valuable holy words from potential customers and clients and partners seeking you out through what sits hidden on email servers.
Rewrite and expand on existing email content, leverage those themes and related contextual links to those focused and well-crafted messages through the company blog to expose it through search engines to those seeking your message.
Mike Banks Valentine consults both startups and enterprise corporate clients on technical and content SEO strategy.
