It seems like, by now, everyone knows that email marketing is supposed to come with a very high ROI. Yet, sometimes businesses spend hours crafting email after email only to get almost no results. It gets really tough if you are not seeing what you had hoped for. But you know what? Chances are your copy is great, especially if you’ve written many emails and used all the best practices. What’s wrong, then?
Often, the issue could be as simple as not having enough subscribers. So, instead of polishing your copy, the thing you might want to focus on is growing your email list. Probably, you already use at least a couple of tactics to attract more users. But is SEO among them? If not yet, you might be missing out on new contacts who are genuinely interested in what you have to say. Curious? Then, no more introductions; let’s get right into it.
Why Use SEO for Your Email List?
Growing an email list has many benefits – having a customer base who’s interested in your services/products, higher conversion rates, increased credibility, etc. We all know that. But it turns out that when you start using SEO for email list, you get even more perks:
- A better understanding of your target audience. Search engine optimization helps you understand what your customers need. That’s how you can create content that is relevant for them. When you apply this knowledge, your emails get a better open rate, and your blog starts ranking higher.
- Increased engagement rates that result in higher conversions and profits. The more your audience is reading and interacting with your content, the better it is for business – as easy as it is.
- Less time in the spam folder and more eyes on your content. If your content is useful, your emails have a smaller chance of ending up in spam because people would actually want to read them.
- Save budget and get higher ROI. You can build an email list fast without constantly spending on paid ads. Instead, opt for search engine optimization that can bring you organic traffic of truly interested people for years to come.
- Long-term growth. Unlike PPC, where you have to keep spending to get results, search engine optimization has a compounding effect. Once your landing pages and lead magnets are set up, the only thing you need is to keep an eye on the SEO metrics.
6 Best Tactics to Build Up Your Email List With SEO
No matter whether you’re an experienced marketer or just starting your career in digital marketing, you already know how many advantages both SEO and email marketing have. But the real question is – how do you polish this tactic and make the most of it? Let’s see 6 experience-based techniques you can start experimenting with if you aren’t sure where to start.
#1 Don’t Rush Into It (Get the Basics Out of the Way With Keywords Research)
Nobody likes to read irrelevant content. Keyword research lets you know what your potential clients like to read — this gives you important details about the users you are targeting. They become less of an abstract group and take on more real personalities. You can now understand what they are struggling with and how exactly you can provide value with your emails.
Use a search engine optimization tool (or several) to search for the phrases people use when searching for your group of products/services. But don’t stop there. Dig around your competitors’ sites as well. You might notice some keywords or topics they didn’t cover – this is called content gap analysis. You can use these topics both for your website content and your next emails.
How does it work in practice? For example, to do a keyword gap analysis using Semrush, you have to click on the Keyword Gap in the menu, put in your domain and your competitor’s, then click “Compare.” You get back something like this:
Source: Semrush
The “Missing” column shows you all the keywords your competitors are ranking for, and you’re not. Now, what do you do with all that information? This brings us to the next tip.
#2 Offer a Valuable Lead Magnet
How many times have you gotten a marketing email only to move it to the spam folder without even giving it a second glance? Chances are it was irrelevant for you or simply useless. Here is the thing – there’s little chance of increasing the number of your email subscribers if your content quality is not that great.
So, make sure you prove you know your stuff and that people won’t waste their time with you. How? Create a landing page that offers a lead magnet. Let’s see how that works with a real-life example. Here is a landing page HubSpot has put together to promote their The State of Marketing Report.
Source: HubSpot
Basically, the whole landing page sells the content of this report, showing some curious data and trends. Only, they don’t actually sell anything – at least, not yet. What they do is try to get people to download their free The State of Marketing Report (i.e., a lead magnet) and share their data. After, they will move these newly subscribed users through their funnel and eventually convert some of them.
Source: HubSpot
Now, how do you create a decent lead magnet? A lead magnet is anything truly valuable (from a checklist to a video guide) you share with your audience in exchange for their email address. As a result, users get something useful, while you get new users for your mailing list. Here is the drill, though – it only works if your lead magnet is worth paying for. If you just put some random info in a PDF doc, no one will see you as an expert, which can do no good to your email marketing.
But don’t forget that today, we’re focusing on SEO emails. So, what does search engine optimization have to do with this? Make sure you optimize your landing page to help it rank better. If you feel like you don’t have a sufficient word count for this, add an FAQ section to fit enough copy. Plus, try to build some links to this landing page to improve its positions in SERPs.
#3 Grow Your Email List With Guest Posts
The best part about using SEO to create your mailing list is that it ensures a steady stream of new readers long after you have played your initial card. That’s one thing it has in common with guest posting. While the concept of guest blogging is simple – publish value-driven content on other relevant websites, it’s not that simple, and you have to be strategic:
- Only submit your content to non-spammy sites in your niche that already have lots of current traffic.
- Base your topics on those keywords you dug up earlier, and make sure your content is engaging.
- Images can increase your visibility in search result pages, so add visual assets (e.g., quality pictures, infographics, stats, etc.)
- Add a compelling, benefits-centered CTA at the end of the post — maybe an offer to download a free course, guide, etc.
Don’t have the time or the skills to do it yourself? Don’t sweat it — you can always outsource this process. With so many optimization tools available, you’ll find that there are just as many platforms to buy link mentions. But be careful. Stick only to the white-hat options, so you don’t end up with spammy links.
If you end up getting more quality links, your landing pages, link magnets, and, therefore, the signup form for your email list will rank higher. What does that mean? Exactly — more subscribers for your newsletters.
Yet, if you see that some of your backlinks get lost or removed, you need to try to get them back. The best way to do that is through link reclamation. If that’s a new term for you, keep reading more about how it works. Once you understand the basics, it isn’t that complicated.
#4 Use Social Media to Drive People to Your Email List
The more paths there are to your email list, the better. Social media is every marketer’s best friend. The idea is to build a reputation there for offering value and then draw people to your site or mailing list. To use this tactic to its biggest potential, do the following:
- Link all your social media accounts together. For example, connect your Instagram and Facebook accounts and link them to your TikTok and X, etc. You can also use a tool like Linktree to add multiple URLs to one link.
- Create engaging short text or video posts based on trending keywords and topics. Have fun, experiment, and optimize your content for each SM platform.
- Bring up your special offers (e.g., special tips, free templates, free courses, etc.) so they are encouraged to sign up using the link in your bio.
Make sure you deliver on your promise (i.e., whatever the offer is in the first place). Don’t promise a free course and then bombard them with emails and say nothing about that course you mentioned. You can (and probably will) lose your credibility for that.
#5 Use Videos to Your Advantage
Videos get more engagement than other forms of content. You really should find ways to use this tip to your advantage. Create how-to videos that show how people can get the best value from using your products and services. Use keywords to optimize your videos so that Google pushes your content higher up. And when you don’t have ideas for new videos, you can share your customer testimonials and case studies or some behind-the-scenes or meet-our-team pieces.
Keep it short, though. Most people want something that won’t take up too much of their time. You can also include a short video about your lead magnet or your weekly emails. This way, your users will know what to expect when they sign up for your mailing list. And when they do, make sure you have a welcome email (or several) for them. Use this to share your story. Maybe add a quiz or survey to get to know your clients better. This way, you can personalize your future emails (and service offers) for them.
#6 Collaborate With Other Brands (Just Not the Competition)
Source: Rankings.io
SEO is big on collaboration, and you can tap into that. Find a brand that is not a direct competitor. This means a business with different products or services but whose audience interests overlap with yours. And then what? Maybe sponsor a newsletter or two. Also, you guys can create a new free product or tool that visitors can use.
Source: @HubSpot on X
The idea is to get your brand (and mailing list) in front of more eyes. Of course, as your email list grows, you will need to learn useful email tips to manage everything more efficiently. To tell the truth, your entire email strategy will keep changing as your list grows with time. But that is a whole different topic for another blog post.
Conclusion
Applying both email marketing and SEO tactics at the same time can feel like juggling a lot. But honestly, the two are “meant for each other.” Their combination will definitely take your business to the next level, but it will take some time to get it right. You have to be willing to work with others, create quality content, and use everything around you, including social media and more. You might not see the results immediately, but be patient. Once those users start coming in, it will get much easier.
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