The 2019 Marketing Planning Series: Website Tools and Trends

The 2019 Marketing Planning Series.

Credibility and authority are required for success in business. The very first place most people go to check for those two essential characteristics is your website. It serves as your storefront and is your brand’s single most important marketing tool–it’s accessible, it’s available 24-7 and it affords 100 percent control over the messaging your customers and prospects see. Accordingly, it’s your responsibility to maximize your organization’s edtech marketing potential and avoid putting forth something that isn’t representative of your company. If you want to stand out and compel your website visitors to learn more, you must stay on top of the trends and use the correct tools.

Trends

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is here to stay. However, the way we think about SEO continues to shift as new technologies and customer connection opportunities are developed. Some of the biggest SEO considerations from 2018 will be even more important in 2019, including:

Voice search optimization
Artificial intelligence
Mobile- first indexing
Production of high-quality content
Prioritization of “search experience” over “page optimization”

Dynamic Content & Web Personalization

Time and time again during our 2019 marketing planning series, we’ve emphasized that personalized experiences on the web are the norm. And let’s face it, if your email content is personalized, you should direct customers and prospects to unique landing pages from each campaign as well.

Ideally, when a customer clicks a link in a personalized email, they’re directed to a fully customized website based on their interests, language, job title or other segment types. What does this mean for your 2019 budget? If you’re looking to test dynamic content on your website, update your content management system (CMS) to support this type of personalization.

Marketing funnel and CTAs

When marketers talk about improving marketing conversions, the call-to-action (CTA) is often the focus of their attention. And for good reason–the CTA text, color, size of the button and page location are all very important. Sometimes, even a small alteration can result in improved conversions. It’s all about finding what works best for you.

Ensure the content and your CTA match the buyer’s journey. Keep the progression and needs affiliated with the buyer in mind to anticipate and proactively address your prospects’ needs.

Landing pages

Many digital marketing initiatives rely on landing pages. These are web pages designed to drive visitors to a specific conversion goal. Previously, you may have had a handful of landing pages that you’d use for all your marketing campaigns. With the rise of personalized, segmented marketing campaigns, it’s become essential to personalize the entire experience. This means brands are investing more time in the development and testing of campaign-specific landing pages. Once again, you may notice the theme of personalization running rampant in 2019. One-size-fits-all is turning into one-size-fits-none.

Tools

Landing Page Builders

If you want to create focused landing pages quickly–especially if your website development team is busy–look into platforms such as Unbounce or Instapage. These tools allow you to build custom and replicable campaign pages, A/B test landing page text and CTAs, and offer robust analytics to show how pages are performing. Depending on your estimated page volume and needs, package pricing varies from $69 to $359 per month.

SEO Tools

There are several budget “buckets” that SEO tools fall into, and the right one for you depends on the goal you hope to achieve. Keyword research, search engine rankings and content effectiveness ratings are all important areas to measure website performance. WordPress plugins such as Yoast, or more sophisticated SEO platforms like Moz, provide the necessary insights to measure effectiveness.

No matter if a visitor is viewing your site for the first time, or the hundredth time, your website will leave a lasting impression. To shape these perceptions favorably, it’s essential to consider personalization and SEO tactics in 2019. As far as edtech marketing goes, taking advantage of the complete control you have over your website allows you to set a tone of credibility and authority. To learn all you need to know about creating a marketing budget for 2019, check out our free, comprehensive eBook here. To read our previous post in the 2019 planning series on social media tools and trends, click here. If you want to start from the beginning, click here.