In the world of online and social media marketing, you encounter the term “organic reach” regularly. In this blog article, we explain what is actually behind the term and what meaning it has within individual platforms. Last but not least, we’ll give you tips on how to sustainably increase your organic reach on Google, Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn.
What Is Organic Reach? – Definition
There are two types of reach. One is “purchased reach,” often referred to as “paid media.” It tells how many visitors you generated via paid advertising, such as online ads.
Organic reach is exactly the opposite of purchased reach. It includes all visitors who have found you naturally. Usually, this happens through search engines, such as Google.
Content with strong organic reach is usually optimized for search engines. This means that it is tailored to specific search queries (keywords) and fully answers the search intent.
Organic vs. Paid Media: Which Is More Meaningful?
Undeniably, paid ads can generate a lot of reach quickly in a very short time. Start-ups in particular are often delighted when their paid ads actually bring them the quick effect they were hoping for.
But success through paid media alone doesn’t last long. The high number of visitors to the website only lasts as long as paid advertising continues. When the ads are taken offline, visitors drop precipitously and so do sales.
Organic reach usually sets in more slowly and continues to build steadily. Here, the key to success is to gain the trust of Google and its users. It’s important to publish new SEO content on a regular basis. Over time, this is how you build a content-cluster on your website. Every single post is optimized for a search query and at the same time all posts support each other and bring you authority in your niche.
Increase Organic Reach for Google: 3 Golden Rules
So to increase your organic reach, there’s no way around search engine optimization. You can do that by building good content on your website. Here are three golden rules:
1. Include Relevant Search Terms
A previously conducted SEO keyword research ensures that you also reach the target group that you want to reach. The more appropriate your keywords are, the more relevant search engines like Google will rank your website as a search result.
2. Offer Exciting Content
You must not only write compellingly, but also offer your readers real added value in your blog posts. Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes: what could be the origin of your Google search? What problem do you want to solve or what desire do you have? Why are you their first choice? Then pick them up right there with your content and win their trust.
3. Your Content Must Fit Your Target Group
When writing, always put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer. Think about how he prefers to be addressed and how you have to explain something to him so that he “catches fire” and wants to read or see more of you in the future. This will keep them coming back or even recommending you to others.
Finally, always remember to link your content to each other in a meaningful way. Internal links not only increase the user experience, but also show search engines how your content is linked and relates to each other.
Organic Reach With SEO: Elaborate but Worth the Effort
We prefer not to sugarcoat anything – building and also optimizing your content takes time. You will see the first results of organic traffic via Google search results in a few weeks at the earliest, often only months. But the effort shows because organic traffic successes are sustainable.
For more information on SEO Content writing and even more tips from the editorial team on content marketing, see our guide “Content for websites: Creating texts with Blogtec“.
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Increase Organic Reach via Social Media
If you’ve only come to our article through detours, you’ve probably experienced that many media experts advise against building organic reach via social media platforms and in some cases refer to pure paid media.
The reason for this is that organic reach on some platforms has fallen sharply in recent years, and building unpaid traffic is becoming increasingly difficult and time-consuming. The algorithms of the platforms, which now almost all work with artificial intelligence and are constantly evolving, are primarily responsible.
Nevertheless, there are still ways that work. We took a closer look at three platforms and have some marketing ideas and tips for you:
The Facebook algorithm responds to a thousand different ranking signals. However, the main points that are considered in the newsfeed ranking is explained really well in this video from Facebook.
If you look at this explanation with last year’s updates, the aspects of topicality as well as shares, likes and comments crystallize above all.
A must for getting organic visibility on Facebook is quality content. Show the authenticity and personality of your company and your products and services in action. Concrete collaborations with authentic and, above all, appropriate (!) influencers can give your reach another decisive push forward.
Since 2018, Facebook’s clear rules also include, for example, their cleanup strategy, which has the purpose of reducing problematic content on the platform. While you’re certainly far from posting offensive content, you should be careful not to post words or content that could be misinterpreted by the system.
If you have a verified business account on Pinterest and have it enabled for Google search, you can do quite a bit with SEO here. Use your main keyword in the headline of your board as well as your pins, the description can be embellished with further sub-keywords (but avoid keyword stuffing!). Hashtags in the text are often useful on Pinterest, too.
One of the most important points on Pinterest is that you should personalize your content. That means there shouldn’t be pure advertising behind your pins. Your content should match the image, make your content curious, interesting, entertaining or informative. Including the “Pin” button is definitely recommended.
Did you show a content that went really well? Then post it more often and try other formats. In addition, posts in Pinterest groups are also a crucial factor in how you can increase your organic reach here. You can search for suitable group boards on the Pin Groupie page.
Another feature on Pinterest is the integration of Rich Pins. This automatically syncs the content of your website and your pins with each other. If you update content on your homepage, your pin will be updated at the same time. However, you have to request the use of Rich Pins via Pinterest.
On LinkedIn, it’s all about only submitting B2B content that is truly relevant to your target audience. It has to be high-quality and also offer added value. Are you already posting diligently, but little is coming back? Include a call-to-action, encourage discussion, and dare to make your company’s opinion on certain topics public – a classic booster for Likes, comments, and content sharing. Always post content directly to the LinkedIn page, using the editors and text publishers provided by LinkedIn.
Just like in everyday business, contacts are worth their weight in gold on LinkedIn. If you have a large community, help each other out: link to similar content, share opinions, mention authors and people. If you write about different subject content, creating individual groups is recommended.
Our Conclusion
Increasing one’s organic reach has become more difficult than in previous years due to the high technical intelligence of Google’s algorithm system as well as social media platforms. But it is not impossible and is still an important aspect within every professional online marketing and SEO game plan. With a smart strategy and in combination with Paid Ads, it will get you valuable users in the long run: Those who are click bate tired and hungry for real content.
Need help with your online marketing? We offer organic SEO support. Whether it’s about organic traffic, SEO optimization or other questions – we’ll be happy to advise you.
