How can you use SMTP to further your SEO efforts?

Use the SMTP SMS API alongside existing communication methods to boost your company’s online presence. Don’t think it’s possible? Here’s how it could work…

What’s the link between SEO and SMS?

You’d be inclined to think there’s no real link between Search Engine Optimisation and the SMTP Short Message Service (SMS). After all, they rely on two totally different media, the internet and the mobile phone respectively. But these two media are closer than you might think. If you’re a stats person, then the following might help:

There are currently more than 1.8 billion internet users around the globe – with approximately 260 million in North America, more than 425 million in Europe and more than 764 million in Asia, to name the big players. And you can be sure that most of them have mobile phones. Why? Because mobile phone penetration is almost at 5 billion – in most developed countries the penetration rates have already hit the 100% mark by the end of 2009. In essence it is possible to say that most, if not all, of your website’s visitors will own, or have access to, a mobile phone.  For those driving the SEO industry, SMS could indicate a potential gold mine and is easily employed, with the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) application programming interface (API).

Why should you use SMS for SEO?

Think about it like this: to announce the addition of some new feature on a website or perhaps a breaking story, such as the Apple iPhone prototype saga not too long ago, most website owners will use whatever online vehicle they can think of – all in line with their SEO strategy, of course, to generate traffic. This includes anything from banner-ads on other websites, blogs, tweets, Facebook updates and much, much more. And so is your competitor, too, which is the very thing which makes it such a competitive industry. As a result, however, your average visitor gets bombarded with a variety of media on a daily basis, and becomes ‘numbed’, for want of a better word.

The good thing about SMTP SMS is that it appeals to people – the mobile phone is a very personal device that commands the devoted attention of its owner. And it gets it, too. In fact, it is perhaps the most personalised device owned by your average John today, and forms a very big part of his life.

Oh, and lest we forget, mobile SPAM is being regulated much more thoroughly than its online counterpart (yep, they learnt their lesson), which means that ‘numbing’ of the senses isn’t as likely to occur. Finally, please stay with me, there’s one more reason why you should use SMTP SMS for SEO purposes: seeing as SMS SPAM is illegal and that regulations require your contacts to opt for communication from you, you can be sure that those who do are really interested in what you have to say and didn’t just choose you in the passing by (which means you have some real conversion potential there).

How to boost your SEO with SMS

Using SMTP SMS to boost your SEO endeavours is not unheard of, but is to a large degree not practiced very widely. One possible reason for this could be the stigma that surrounds bulk SMS – that it is only accessible to large corporate companies and people who own very expensive equipment. The fact of the matter is you only need a computer and an internet connection.

The important thing to remember with SMTP SMS marketing is that new endeavours work best when some sort of incentive is offered. This works very well, especially when you need to build your contact list. Here’s an example from our ‘101 Business Applications Using SMS’:

“A wonderful example of how SMS was used in 2002 to promote a new movie.

Prior to the launch in the UK of “The Birthday Girl“, starring Nicole Kidman as a

Russian Internet bride, participants were asked to reply to a personal ad from a

sexy Russian woman or create their own ad, as per the theme of the movie.

Every participant received a voucher by SMS, redeemable at Warner Village

Cinemas and were entered into a prize draw to win tickets to the film’s premiere.”

While, in the example above, participants stood the chance to win tickets to the film’s premiere, they were also provided with a redeemable voucher as an incentive. This automatically targeted two types of people: those who wanted to win the tickets, and those who simply wanted something for free.

In terms of SEO the same can be done with SMTP SMS. One example is offering your visitors a discount voucher each time they get one of their friends to sign up. Said friends can then also participate by inviting their other friends, etc. This will not only help you generate a high volume of initial traffic, but provide you with a contact database to which you can promote your product specials, site revamps, etc.

About the SMTP API

Up until now we’ve told you what to use the SMTP API for, but not really what it is. In simple terms, it is know as ‘email to SMS’, which basically means you can send SMS text messages to your visitors/customers by composing a plain text email. Quite naturally this makes perfect sense in terms of SEO as it relies on technology that is already installed on your computer. And, seeing as it is an API, it is also perfect to integrate with existing customised software environments.

For more information about this API and how easy it is to use, navigate to our SMTP API page.

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Tags: email to SMS, SEO SMS, SMS social networking, SMTP