The Executive Suite: 3 Initiatives to Improve Website Traffic with Thought Leadership

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E-mail marketing, social media marketing, PPC advertising, the list goes on and on. Ultimately, the objective of all digital marketing tactics is to drive users to a brand’s website and convert them into loyal customers. Companies that implement digital marketing strategies correctly understand how providing a valuable experience to the audience will directly influence how impactful or effective those strategies are.

Recently, the growth of thought leadership as part of a 360-degree marketing approach has grown. More and more leaders at organizations across various industries understand the importance of shaping their experience into valuable insights that translate well with users. When done correctly, thought leadership can play a heavy hand in improving website traffic.

Like all other digital marketing channels, however, thought leadership is only successful when the needs of your audience and your overarching business objectives are kept in mind. Consider the following three tactics to better grasp how your company can use thought leadership as a way to drive traffic to your site.

1. Blog Content

Think about what your audience is likely to search for in Google. Perhaps its ‘how-to’ videos related to your industry, or maybe it’s a consumer question that one of your products could be the solution for. Whatever those subjects may be, the leaders at your organization should be contributing blog posts to your blog regularly as a way to connect with readers and help showcase your brand as one with leading experts in your industry.

When crafting blog content, use tools like Google’s keyword planner to search for terms and grasp how much search volume these phrases attract on a monthly basis. By better understanding the market and how users are phrasing their queries, you can shape your titles and content around their needs. That being said, blog content shouldn’t strictly appeal to search engines—it should address the needs of both search engines and users alike.

The experts at your organization are likely to be your strongest selling point. Showcase the talent and skills that your company has at its disposal as a way to make it easier for users to find your brand organically and capture their interest.

2. PR Initiatives

To have a strong SEO approach, and subsequently secure good search engine rankings that can lead to improved traffic, you need to amass links back to your website. Securing links is all about building relationships with relevant outlets, so by using traditional PR tactics partnered with a digital PR approach, you can begin establishing some credibility.

Whatever your industry may be, the thought leaders at your company can speak to different topics related to it. Whether it’s a current event that your team can interject their opinions into and be quoted by editorial teams working on an article for, or supplying tips related to your product line to a journalist working on a relevant story, the best way to build links is through relevant media
placements. HARO, the free tool that connects journalists with sources, is an excellent starting point. Keep an eye out for any subjects that you or your team members can speak to, and if the reporter finds your insights valuable and decides to include them in their article, they will be very likely to include a link back to your site when they attribute the quote to your experts.

3. Guest Contributions

The same way in which you would share your expertise on your own blog, creating unique content for blogs relevant to your industry can be beneficial in reaching users and encouraging them to visit your website. Identify outlets within your niche that have readers similar to your target demographic, and work with their community managers or editorial team to be considered for opportunities to provide content.

It’s important that content created for these sites never be overly self-promotional and instead focus on the sole purpose of providing value to the respective readers. No outlets want guest posts that are simply promoting a product or service. That being said, these posts can still help to instill brand awareness and recognition. If a visitor receives value from the post, they’re likely to find out who authored it, their expertise, and find out more about the company the author works for—all information that most contributor posts contain in a bio. Referral traffic may not be incredibly high when you first begin contributing content to other outlets, however, this type of content marketing can play a significant role in brand recognition and driving long-term conversions with highly-qualified leads.

Improving Traffic by Offering Value

At the end of the day, to improve website traffic there needs to be a clear value for the users that you’re marketing to. Thought leadership that shares high-quality insights about a certain subject can be incredibly valuable to users. On the other hand, if you fail to appeal to the needs of your target demographic, your efforts are likely to fall short.