Team Alpha 375

How to Turn Email Questions Into SEO Gold

"What do I blog about?" "how can I blog for search engine visibility?" and "how do you get your hair to do that?" are just some of the questions I field on a typical day. Luckily, there's a simple trick I use that will help address the first two issues. There's also a simple trick for the last item, but that's between me and my hairdresser.

Never forget this: you are an expert at what you do. You have forgotten more than most people will ever know about cat training or electric boats or building a business.

Chances are that when you're in front of a customer or prospect, most of the questions they're asking have been asked before. I'm sure the same is true when it comes to the questions you get via email from prospects.

Well, if you're fielding all those questions, how many more people are asking the same questions at Google?

• How do I cook gluten-free meals?
• What do I need to start an alpaca farm?
• How do I survive a zombie apocalypse?

When you receive the next email asking for advice or help, don't respond. Not immediately, at least.

Take the question and copy & paste it into your blog. You may need to doctor the question: broaden it to make it more helpful to a wider audience or remove any reference to whomever sent you the email in the first place. (They may not want to see their name at the bottom of a question about how to buy a toupee.)

Once you've crafted the question, go ahead and answer it in the most helpful, non-salesy way possible. As appropriate you can create keyword-rich links to a page on your website that offers a solution to the person's need. Answering a question on closing techniques? Link to the page on your upcoming sales courses.

When you're all done, create a keyword-rich title for your post. There are a few ways to do this:

• Create a shortened version of the question: How do I choose the right DSLR for me?
• Phrase it as a how-to: How to Coook for a Diabetic
• Frame it as a tips post: Networking Tactics for Your Inner Wallflower

After you publish your new post, send an email with a link to the person who asked you the question, letting them know that it was such a great question you published it. I've never had anyone get upset with this, and almost everyone has been psyched to see their question get posted to my blog, even if I renamed them "Puzzled in Portland."

What I've discovered is that it's these posts that answer a specific question that often bring the most qualified traffic to our website and web marketing blog.

In Conclusion

To succeed online in a competitive industry, you need to create lots of quality content. To that end, don't hide some of your best, most relevant material in an email that reaches just one prospect.

Leverage the power of blogging and SEO to attract, help and engage a wider audience, who will recognize you as the expert in your field.