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If you want to grow your business, great search engine optimization (SEO) is a must: Recent survey data found that 53 percent of all trackable website traffic originated from organic search, which means that if you want to get noticed, you need to show up at the top of search rankings.
The challenge? Many small businesses don’t have the time, skills or expertise necessary to handle everything that comes with a solid SEO strategy. From keyword research to content evaluation, from page optimization to internal linking, it’s easy for companies to end up with a generic web presence that doesn’t inspire engagement or drive conversions.

The result? It’s worth considering an SEO consultant or agency to help manage this process and maximize your impact. In this piece, we’ll tackle key outsourcing operations, including how it can benefit your business — and why SEO can’t be entirely outsourced. Then, we’ll break down top SEO pitfalls and offer actionable advice to find an SEO agency that best fits your brand.
Why Outsourcing SEO Can Be a Good Idea
Designing an effective SEO strategy isn’t a simple task. Companies have to consider how search engines are evaluating content, what aspects of SEO offer the most impact, and where they could change their current content to better align with search engine expectations.
This is especially critical as search engines like Google continually refine their ranking process. For example, page loading speed is now a factor in search result rankings. In practice, this expands the role of SEO; it’s not enough to simply weave in popular keywords and deliver high-quality content. Brands also need to consider the entire user experience.
As a result, it’s often worth outsourcing SEO services to ensure that your digital presence is generating maximum impact and capturing the highest volume of prospective customers. In much the same way that companies outsource their marketing efforts to experts, outsourcing SEO provides a way for brands to identify key strategic goals and then leave the complex process of meeting those goals to industry experts.
For small businesses and entrepreneurs, outsourcing offers the big benefit of time: Instead of learning about the ins and outs of SEO, testing new strategies, and refining results, business owners and managers can focus on customer conversions, product improvements, and new ideas.
Why Your Business Can’t Fully Outsource SEO
While it’s possible to outsource much of your SEO strategy to an agency or consultant, there are aspects of the process that still rest within your business. These include:
Your Keywords
Although an SEO expert can help pinpoint specific keywords of opportunity, you’re often the authority on the core keywords that define your business and operations. You know that if you stray too far from these keywords, your brand simply won’t be the same — and customers that do end up on your site may be there looking for something else. As a result, you always have a role to play in choosing ideal keywords.
Your Content
The content on your site is unique to your brand. And while SEO agencies have gotten much better at creating targeted content designed to attract your market, there are some aspects of your onsite content — such as information about the history and mission of your business — that you’re best-suited to create and manage.
Your Relationships
No matter how good your SEO provider may be, they can’t replicate the relationships you have with other businesses, suppliers and partners. This means that while they’re able to provide strategy for your SEO framework, you provide the connective tissue that makes it possible for your content to be posted (and reposted) across your industry network.
Your Brand Perspective
The unique nature of your brand perspective is what’s taken you this far — and it’s what will continue to drive your growth. Even the best SEO agency can’t be in your head; they don’t know what your brand means to you or how you want to communicate your message to the world. As a result, outsourcing SEO is ideal for laying a foundation for conversion and revenue, but it only works when paired with your perspective.
Your Growth Strategy
While you provide general goals to your SEO agency — such as increasing your rankings for a specific keyword by X amount or boosting total website visits — you’re still responsible for your overall growth strategy. Where do you want to be in a month? A year? Five? And how can your SEO partner help you get there?
Five Common Pitfalls to Avoid in SEO
Every business is different, but the principles of SEO remain the same: Rank higher in search engines for popular keywords to drive more traffic to your site. The challenge? Reaching this goal isn’t easy, leading some brands and SEO agencies to make potentially costly mistakes. Here are the top five pitfalls to avoid.
Keyword Stuffing
If there’s a cardinal rule of modern SEO it’s this: Don’t keyword stuff.
Stuffing is the practice of adding the same keyword over and over to your content with the intention of ranking higher. The problem? Search engines are now smart enough to detect this practice and will down-rank your site if keyword stuffing is detected. Generally speaking, one instance of your primary keyword per piece of content is enough to get noticed.
Duplicate Content
Next up is duplicate content. While more content on your site with keywords can help you rank higher, simply copying and pasting content — or slightly changing content to include a new keyword — lowers the overall value of your site and in turn your ranking.
Put simply? New content is always better than old.
Low-quality Backlinks
Backlinks can help increase the relevance and authority of your content — but only if they link to high-quality sites. If your content links out to sites that are continually keyword stuffing or don’t receive many visitor views, you won’t enjoy a bump in search rankings. In fact, links to these sites may hurt your overall standing.
Unoptimized Images
Images help capture user interest, but it’s not enough to simply put pictures on your site: You also need to ensure they’re optimized.
This starts with the image itself. Make sure it’s relevant and easy to understand. For example, if you run a construction company, use an image that’s related to the services that you offer and that’s high enough quality that users can immediately tell what it is. If the image is low-resolution or confusing, users won’t bother sticking around.
It’s also a good idea to look at the size of your images. Here’s why: The more images you have on your site, the slower it loads. Optimizing images for size (without losing quality) can help improve the user experience and your search rankings.
Muddled Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are snippets of text that offer a quick description of content on a specific page. Here, clear and concise descriptions are critical. Muddled or vague meta descriptions make it easy for users to overlook your site. Ideally, you want to use your primary keyword and provide a quick overview of the page in question so users know what they’re getting into.
Simply put? Ask questions. Not sure which ones to ask? We’ve got you covered.
Let’s explore each question in more detail.
1. What makes you different?
While the process of SEO is fairly straightforward, approaches differ significantly. Some companies rely solely on specific metrics, while others opt for a more organic approach or a more middle-ground stance. As a result, it’s worth asking agencies and consultants what sets them apart from the competition — what can they offer to boost your rankings and drive traffic?
Quick tip: Listen to what they say and then fact-check it against their own site’s SEO rankings. If they don’t show up near the top of their page for their own targeted keyword, consider looking elsewhere for help.
2. What’s your process?
Your prospective partners should be able to lay out their process in a way that’s clear, concise, and understandable. If you find yourself on the receiving end of too many buzzwords or big promises with no underlying proof, other choices may be a better fit.
3. What are your tools?
From the HubSpot Website Grader to Ahrefs, from SEMRush to Moz Pro, there are a host of SEO tools available. Many agencies will also have their own proprietary tools they use alongside these popular offerings — look for a provider willing to specify what tools they use, why, and how.
4. How long will results take?
Beware any company that promises instant results. SEO rankings don’t increase until search engine “spiders” have crawled the web to assess site changes and their impact. Generally speaking, substantive results start showing up around the 4-to-6 month mark.
5. What are your metrics?
Metrics matter in SEO. These include new referring domains, text readability, keyword rankings, organic search volumes, lead conversions, bounce rate, and click-through rate. All are relevant depending on their context and all measure different aspects of SEO impact. Always ask your potential provider what metrics they use and why, and ask for an explanation of how they impact results.
6. How often do you report data?
Data reporting is key to tracking SEO success. Some companies report results weekly; for others, this frequency is every other week or even monthly. Here, go with whatever you’re comfortable with — while longer reporting periods may show more change, they may also miss key indicators that strategies aren’t working or need to be adjusted.
7. Who have you helped?
Finally, ask for references. If your prospective SEO provider is as good as they say they are, they should have data that shows how they’ve boosted the impact of other brands. If they’re short on specific data and big on promises, tread carefully.
Solving for SEO
A solid SEO strategy can help your brand rank higher in search engine results and drive more traffic to your business. Outsourcing is a great way to jumpstart this process — the right agency can give you the advantage when it comes to getting noticed and capturing customer interest.
But outsourcing alone isn’t enough. Your brand perspective is critical to drive success and avoid common pitfalls. Not sure where to get started learning SEO? HubSpot has you covered.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June 2008 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Content. Links. RankBrain.
These are the top-ranking factors Google considers when it comes to showing results on the search engine result page (SERP). Given that much of search engine optimization centers around getting lots of good links to and from your website, it’s essential to learn how to make these links work for you.
In this article, we discuss what external linking is and why you should do it. We also reveal seven external linking best practices. At the end of this article, you’ll know how to use external linking to help your content appear higher on the search engine results page.

When should you link to other sites in SEO?
External links are hyperlinks that direct readers to a website other than your own. On the surface, using external links seems counter-intuitive—these links take people away from your website, after all. However, as we shall see later in this article, it’s one of the most essential sources of ranking power you can ever use.

Four Benefits of External Linking
Linking to outside websites, when done right, offers several benefits:
1. External linking improves your credibility.
When you add trustworthy and relevant website links to your content, it improves the credibility of your website. In addition, valuable external links provide your readers with references, which will enhance your website’s authority.
External linking is similar to the way you cite sources in a bibliography for an academic paper—it shows that you’ve created your content based on sound research.
2. External linking improves your SEO.
The external links you add can assist search engines in determining the usefulness and quality of your pages. High-quality pages usually link to other high-quality pages; thus, search engines will look at your content favorably, helping you rank higher.
If you link to an interesting article on a critical topic of interest to your business, Google uses this as one way to know what your website is about.
3. External linking is an easy way to create connections.
Other websites can tell when you’re linking to them. And the chances are that they might return the favor and link back to your website if the opportunity arises, which is great because the more quality backlinks you get, the better.
It’s an easy and positive way to reach out, make connections in your industry, and get your content in front of the right audience.
4. External linking offers readers more value.
Adding external links provides a better user experience for readers. These links lead to related information that adds to the value in your content without duplicating content. When readers see that you consistently link out to resources that’d help them understand a topic better, they’ll begin to associate more value with your website.
External Linking Best Practices
According to Google, linking is one of the most important factors for achieving high rankings, you must understand how to use external linking to your advantage. Here are key external linking best practices to adopt.
1. Make the links relevant.
When adding external links, don’t just add links for the sake of it. Instead, add links that direct readers to relevant content.
Good external links tend to point to related content. Examples of what you might link to include statistics, infographics, videos, etc.
Google and other search engines value users and want to show the most relevant results to their query. Therefore, when external links come from websites in the same niche, Google better understands the relevance of your content and its popularity, leading to a higher SERP ranking.
Example

2. Link to reputable sources.
The external link in the image above has 60% as its anchor text. It leads to a website that contains that statistic and other relevant information.
When linking externally, only link to sites that are authoritative and trustworthy. If you link to websites that promote clickbait content or aren’t professional, you’ll diminish your reader’s trust. And it could negatively affect how search engines rank your content.
If you have no choice but to link to websites where you don’t trust the content, use a no-follow tag. This tag indicates to search engine crawlers that the linked page shouldn’t be associated with your page.
Example
The latest content marketing report compiled by HubSpot is full of external links to reputable sources in the content marketing industry.

Image Source
3. Use anchor text correctly.
Let’s examine a practical example of what makes a good and bad anchor text.
We’ve got an article on HubSpot that talks about how to write a blog post. You can click here to read that article.
See what I did there? The word “here” is what is known as the anchor text for the link. And this anchor text is essential for search engines to read your website. Unfortunately, by using “here” as an anchor text, I’m giving Google very little help or hints about the content of the page I’m linking to.
Instead, here is a much better (and right) way to do this:
The right way: We’ve got a previous article on HubSpot that talks about how to write a blog post.
The second way is much better than the first for multiple reasons.
First, the link is easier for readers to click on (and know that it’s a link). But, more important is the fact that we now have the anchor text as “how to write a blog post.” So, when the search engine spiders “see” this link, they factor in the anchor text when determining what the target page is about.
So, use descriptive keywords in anchor text or keywords the linked page is trying to target. However, don’t shoehorn anchor text into sentences because it can look like spam, and readers might find it annoying.
After including anchor text, read it again. Does it look forced? Does the link look helpful and natural? You want the latter to be true.
Here’s an example where Google gives more information about how to write good link text.
Example
Image Source
4. Add helpful links.
How many external links should you use in your content? There’s no conclusive answer.
However, you shouldn’t overwhelm your reader with too many external or internal links. Your goal when linking should be to provide the best reader experience possible. You might end up losing readers if they feel they’re merely being used as part of your SEO strategy.
Example
This page from Backlinko has at least 150 external links and ranks #1 on the Google SERP for several queries. Therefore, you can have as many external links as you like as long as it makes sense to add them.

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5. Open external links in a different tab.
Your external links should open in a different tab, and there are various reasons why this is important. However, the most significant reason to have links open in a new tab is that this gives the visitor as much control as possible with their experience on your site.
Example
This article about statistics that prove why link-building is important contains external links that open in a new tab. This lets the reader continue reading the article while also taking a look at the information you linked to without losing one or the other.
6. Don’t link to competing websites.
It’ll be detrimental to link to sites competing for the same keywords. For example, if you’re targeting the keyword “Best toys for dogs,” you shouldn’t link to a site that is already ranking #1 for this keyword.
Instead, link to websites that offer value to your content, like pages that contain general information. Using the “Best toys for dogs” example, you can link to a video about a specific dog toy you’re promoting that’s not on a competitor’s website.
Example

In the image above, HubSpot’s article about the best digital marketing tools doesn’t link to a competing article but links to specific tools like Ahrefs that support the article.
7. Conduct a link audit.
Spend some time every quarter (or within regular intervals) to audit your content for any outdated or broken links. Why’s this important?
When readers encounter broken or outdated external links in your content, it diminishes their experience, and they might begin to lose faith in your credibility.
You can use a tool like Check My Links to find broken links on your website.

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Build a Successful External Linking Strategy
Quality external links in your content provide more resources to your readers while building your content and website’s authority. When done right, external linking can even boost your ranking on the SERP.
So now is the time to implement all you’ve learned from this article and make external links work for you.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2007 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Welcome emails are a simple, easy, and effective way to give each new subscriber to your email list a warm, personal welcome. Here are some amazing welcome email examples to inspire your own.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
That’s true of just about anything, but it’s particularly true in the world of email marketing. In a time when people are being bombarded with more marketing messages than ever, it’s important that your brand stands out. Otherwise, you risk becoming completely forgettable.
Welcome emails are a great opportunity for a first impression. However, just the act of sending one isn’t going to guarantee anything. Most marketers are using marketing automation like welcome email campaigns nowadays, so if you want to stand out, the key is to be memorable. 
We’ve hashed out the what and how of welcome emails before, but in this post, we’ll go over why welcome emails can be so effective, tips for how to make a memorable one, and then look at 11 incredible welcome email examples.
Why welcome emails are such an effective email marketing tool
As a marketer, the moment when someone gives you their email address is pivotal. Whether they signed up for a free trial, a special offer, or created an account for your service, they’re clearly interested in your product or brand at that moment. And it’s up to you to make the most of it.
By sending an automated welcome email, it gives you the chance to interact with this person in a friendly, personal way. It also gives you the chance to guide their experience with your brand. Rather than hoping they find the right page on your website, or your best-selling product, you have the chance to deliver it directly to their inbox.
It’s the timing of it all that makes the welcome email so pivotal, and it’s important for marketers to capitalize on it.
Welcome email best practices
We’ve gone pretty in-depth on this topic before, so we won’t rehash everything we know (for more you can check out this post). But here are some quick, easy tips to keep in mind before looking at the welcome email examples below.
#1: Be timely
Like we mentioned, time is of the essence here. With that in mind, you want to make sure that your welcome email arrives shortly after they sign up for your list. A welcome automation will be useful here, and we’d recommend you send the email within a few minutes of the person signing up.
Note: we just launched a new pre-built welcome journey recipe inside of Campaign Monitor, making it incredibly easy to get your automation up and running. Log in or sign up to get started.
#2: Have a goal in mind
The worst thing you could do with your welcome email is send a confusing message. Think about what action you want this person to take after opening your email, and start building around that.
 If you’re working for a software company, your goal might be to get the person using your product. If you’re an eCommerce brand, you might want to guide a customer toward their first purchase. Whatever the goal is, make it easy for your subscriber to take that next step.
#3: Use a friendly greeting
If you asked for your subscriber’s name or other information when they signed up, now is the time to use it. Greeting your subscriber by name sets a more personal tone.
And whether you use their name or not, it’s always nice to simply welcome new subscribers. Spend some time thinking of some friendly, clever copy to start the email and make sure that you send a welcome message right from the start.
#4: Make sure to craft a great subject line
Email subject lines are an important part of the success of your campaign. A well-crafted subject line will leave a good impression on the reader, and likely increase your email’s open rate. For welcome emails, average open rates are usually around 50%.
You’ll want to make your subject lines clever, topical, and relatively short (about 7 words or 41 characters is ideal!). And don’t be afraid to add emojis, as they can help boost open rates.
For more on subject lines, be sure to check out this post for best practices, and this one for welcome email subject line examples.
11 of the Best Welcome Email Examples
Now that you have the why and the how, let’s take a look at these amazing welcome email examples.
#1: British Tennis

Image source: Really Good Emails
This email from British Tennis stands out for its cleverness. If you’ve ever watched a tennis match on tv before, you’ll recognize that the image at the top of this welcome email is meant to replicate the replay process when a shot is being reviewed in tennis.
This is effective in that it’s instantly recognizable by tennis fans, and it further boosts their perception as an insider — someone who gets tennis.
They also have a clear CTA button at the bottom, so you know exactly what to click next.
#2: Loom

Image source: Really Good Emails
If you’re not familiar with Loom, it’s a software tool that lets you easily record quick videos of your computer screen and/or yourself. It’s particularly useful in a remote/hybrid work setting, when you need to communicate with coworkers via video, but might not have time to jump in a meeting together.
Their first email does a handful of things really well, but the thing that stands out is their use of the product in the email. By including a video recorded with Loom in the email, they’re showing you the product in action, making it easy to imagine how you’d use it for yourself.
They also give quick, actionable steps for getting started, which we’d highly advise for any welcome email geared toward product adoption.
#3: Mollusk Surf Shop

Image source: Really Good Emails
Mollusk is a surf-inspired clothing brand based out of San Francisco, CA. Sustainability and comfort-minded, their brand is centered around creating high-quality, laid-back clothing that’s in it for the long haul. They also have a big focus on working with local vendors, which brings us to what they do well here.
Mollusk does a great job of telling their brand story in this email. They quickly get to the point of letting you know they’re not a fast-fashion company. They work with their “friends and neighbors” and create with “comfort and durability in mind.”
While it’s easy for brands to get carried away with their brand stories and have a tendency to talk too much about themselves, Mollusk strikes the balance well here. Tell your story, but in a way that’s engaging and communicates value to your audience.
Their coupon for 15% off is also likely to help boost conversion rates.
#4: Bombas

Image source: Really Good Emails
Sticking with the retail space, let’s take a look at this beautiful welcome email from Bombas, a clothing company designed around building simple, comfortable essential clothing products.
This email starts with some striking imagery of the products organized neatly, then offers new customers 20% off their first order, which is a great way to get people in the door and try your product.
Mollusk did that in their email above, but what Bombas does to make theirs even more effective is add a number of clickable elements that make shopping easy. Right under the discount code, there are links to their products. Making it easy to redeem the code is likely to increase click-through rates and conversion rates.
Want to build your own stunning welcome email, but don’t have a designer’s help? Try one of our pre-made welcome email templates!
#5: Asana

Image source: Really Good Emails
Shifting gears to the B2B world, let’s look at this wonderful welcome email from Asana, a project management tool.
Typically, if you’re composing a B2B welcome email, you have two main goals:

Greet your new user in a warm, friendly way
Make sure they have first steps to take in using your product

The first time this new user is interacting with your product is hugely important. At this point, they’re still deciding to commit to using your product or choosing another solution. So, guiding them toward how to get started is key.
Asana does both of these wonderfully with some warm, welcoming copy, and three easy action items to get the user started using their product. 
And bonus points for the lovely gif of an item being checked off the list. Who doesn’t love that feeling?
#6: The New Yorker

Image source: Really Good Emails
This welcome email from the New Yorker to subscribers who sign up for their daily email newsletter, The Daily, is a great one for publishers and media companies to look to for inspiration.
The two things this one does really well are:

Sets expectations. You’ll notice up at the top of the email, they tell you how often you’ll receive their newsletter, and what kinds of content to expect. This helps get users excited for what they just opted into, and anticipating your next newsletter.

Cross-promotes other New Yorker content. Odds are, if they signed up for the Daily, they’ll be interested in other New Yorker content as well. This is a great place to cross-promote content and include a CTA for a subscription in a way that sounds helpful, not disingenuous.

Pair all of that with the New Yorker’s signature visual style, and you have all of the ingredients for a great welcome email.
#7: Help Scout

Image source: Really Good Emails
Help Scout is a customer support software tool for small to mid-sized businesses, and they are obsessed with providing excellent customer experiences.
Their welcome is an excellent case study on showing, not telling. How many times have you read We value customer service or The customer is always right on a company’s values page? And how many times have you actually believed it?
Rather than telling about their award-winning support, Help Scout implies it in a handful of ways. With the “We’re here to help!” line, the email directly at the bottom, and the smiling faces, you get the sense that Help Scout would love to answer any of your questions. 
While this email could benefit from some action steps (like Asana’s), it does enforce Help Scout’s core brand message very well. And who knows, maybe future emails in their email sequence include onboarding steps!
#8: Zapier

Image source: Really Good Emails
Zapier has a very interesting challenge on their hands in the sense that, unless you’ve used Zapier before, you might have no clue what they do. 
Zapier is an automation tool that moves information across different apps automatically, taking the busy work out of a lot of day-to-day tasks. They’re one of the first products like that in their space, and when you have a category-defining product like that, one of your biggest marketing challenges is going to be educating potential customers on what, exactly, your product even is.
This email tackles that challenge head-on, and it does so rather effectively. With the lead header of What’s a Zap? they start to answer exactly what a potential customer needs to know. Then, they go on to give them visual examples of what, exactly, you can do with Zapier. They also include a video introducing the product. 
This is a masterclass in product education, and there’s no doubt his email campaign has served the Zapier team well.
#9: Redfin

Image source: Really Good Emails
A rule of thumb I have for any marketing email I’ve ever sent is to make sure I have a reason to be in their inbox. Emails that are sent for the sake of sending emails are just annoying. But emails that are helpful and provide value are the ones that stand out, and this one from Redfin does exactly that.
One of the first questions anyone thinks about when buying a home is “What can I afford?”, and Redfin helps email subscribers answer that question immediately. 
The home buying process can be confusing. Redfin knows that, and by positioning themselves as a helpful recourse, they build trust with their subscribers right from the get-go. 
Plus, by sending five different helpful resources, they’re likely to increase the engagement rates of this email.
#10: Harry’s

Image source: Really Good Emails
Harry’s is the DTC men’s razor company out to make shaving cool. Clever, cool, and minimal are essential to Harry’s brand, and they check every single one of those boxes in this short, simple email.
They’re not pushing for a purchase right away (which would be uncool), they give you an interesting (clever), clever fact, and it’s all packaged in a clean, minimalistic welcome email design.
It comes off as cool but not approachable-y cool, and piques your curiosity about the brand just enough to want to know more. That’s a hard line to walk, but Harry’s does it really well here.
#11: The Sill

Source: The Sill
The Sill is an online plant shop that makes buying plants (and learning how to keep them alive) really easy and approachable. By educating you on how easy or hard a plant is to keep alive — and even letting you sort that way while shopping — the Sill is a great solution for someone who just wants to not kill their plants (it’s me, I’m that person ).
I don’t always advocate for having more than one CTA in an email because things can start to feel crowded and unclear. But the Sill includes three equally important CTA’s in this one without losing clarity.
Their goals are clear — to get someone to shop online, to get someone to a store, or to get someone to read their plant-related content. Though they have multiple CTA’s, the email content is clear and they make it easy to do any/all of those things.
And hey, if they can teach me how not to kill plants, it makes sense that they can craft a stylish, informative welcome email, too.
Wrap up
Welcome emails are an important part of email marketing. Rarely will your subscribers ever be more engaged or interested than they are when they give you their email address, and it’s up to you to make the most of it.
And hopefully, after looking at these stunning, informative, and effective welcome email examples, you feel equipped to do just that.
The post 11 Incredible Welcome Email Examples (and Why They Work) appeared first on Campaign Monitor.