In this guide, we’re going deep inside the world of SEO and Content Marketing.
Do SEO and Content Marketing go together? What is Content Marketing for SEO? What’s the best way to plan your SEO content strategy? These are the questions we answer and more!
What is SEO Content Marketing [In Short]
Content Marketing and SEO go hand in hand. And every company will need both if it plans to grab a slice of the market. The secret is pretty simple — SEO makes your content ever-green & always in demand.
Planning on enhancing your content results? You have got to do SEO.
Likewise, it’s hard to imagine SEO without content marketing. Like Bonnie and Clyde, they work better together. It’s a match made in heaven.
What is Content Marketing in SEO [Definitions]
SEO and Content Marketing make up a powerful combo. To explain what SEO & content marketing actually mean, we will break down both terms and define each in simple words.
SEO (aka Search Engine Optimization) – the process of driving superior, relevant traffic to your website from various search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. Over the years, SEO turned into a massive industry with branches like technical SEO, link building, on-page SEO, YouTube, and Amazon SEO & more.
Content Marketing – the marketing field, that deals with creating apt content (articles, blog posts, video, SM posts) with the ultimate goal – to promote a certain brand, not always explicitly.
The conclusion here is pretty obvious. Content Marketing and SEO are different fields that stay incredibly close. For great results with your marketing, you have no other choice but to use both.
Content Marketing for SEO: Best Practices
Writing specifically for SEO has different principles. It’s so much more systematic and thought out. So if you are still wondering what is Content Marketing in SEO – this quick cheat sheet below is sure to give you some insights. Remember, when writing – you should always keep the best SEO practices in mind.
1. Explore Relevant Keywords
First off – you don’t write about different things that just come to your head. Initially, you research the keywords. You can produce many informative and fun articles. But how do you make sure people are even interested? That’s right – you research it first. With tools like Google Keywords Planner or 3rd party SEO instruments like Semrush, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, it’s easy to do.
2. Pay attention to on-page SEO
What does on-page SEO mean? It’s all the SEO life hacks combined that you implement directly in your copy. First and foremost: add keywords in your title, headings, the first passage of the copy, sprinkle them all over the text.
Take this article, for example. Our keyword 'SEO content marketing’ is mentioned multiple times in the copy. It’s not so hard, right? But thanks to this, you were able to find and read this post. On the other hand, your copy shouldn’t be overstuffed with keywords, it should stay natural. So make sure to bear this in mind.
Don’t forget about long-tail keywords. They have less volume (usually), but it’s easier to rank for them. Don’t take them out of the equation. Taking into account this very article, the LSI keyword would be something like ‘SEO content marketing for personal blog’ or ‘SEO content marketing best practices in 2019’. Got the idea?
Generally, you should write articles that are at least 1000 words. The more words you add, the better. It’s been proven multiple times that longer content outranks the shorter one. And it seems logical. In the extended articles, you can cover more and give answers to more questions of your users.
Just below you will find a quick summary aka guide for stepping up your on-page SEO game:
- Keep your URL short and sweet. It also should have a keyword inside.
- Add keywords to your title tag, headings, first passage and all over your copy
- Upload great images (but they shouldn’t weigh much, btw) to support your story and don’t forget to add alt tags with keywords inside
- Re-link relevant articles between each other, adding hyperlinks in the text
- Make sure your piece is well-formatted and easy to read
- Add open-graph images to make social sharing work better (using social sharing buttons is also a great idea!)
- Add meta description, title and keywords (choose how your article will look like on SERP)
- Make sure your website’s loading speed is fast and furious. Grrr!
- Increase the dwell time by adding videos, infographic, etc.
SEO Content Marketing
What is SEO content marketing, and why is it a principal factor for your online business? Well – even in 2019 some bloggers pay 0 attention to SEO. They just blog randomly about their niche. They can write tons of amazing, brilliant content. It can be smart, witty, stylish, fresh, revolutionary even.
Chances are – their content is going to have a very short life.
This probably is going to sound too assertive. But the truth is: without implementing SEO tactics, your content is just a bubble that bursts after you hit ‘Publish’.
SEO makes your article live longer. When executed correctly, it helps to attract visitors YEARS after it was set live. You will get more authority, engaged readers, devoted customers. What’s not to like?
The Utmost SEO Content Marketing Strategy
An intricate content strategy can work wonders with your traffic. So start thinking strategically and plan precisely how you will take over Google’s 1st page. We compiled the perfect recipe for you just below!
1. Define your goals
This is simple. State exactly what you plan to achieve by using SEO and content marketing. Is it more readers and followers? Or, you’re thinking about becoming an influencer? More sales? Exposure?
It’s vital to put all these in numbers. Define exactly how much traffic you want as a result, how many email subscribers, social media followers, chatbot subscribers, etc. Otherwise, you will have a very vague idea about your goals.
2. Study your competition.
You gotta examine the battlefield first. Look at your competitors and study every little detail. What does their business site look like? How often do they post? What do they post? What brings them traffic? What keywords do they use? Every little thingy will help! If something works out for your competition, chances are you could easily do that as well. But keep in mind that you need to outperform your competitor in every field.
3. Make a scrupulous, comprehensive keyword research
Finding all the proper keywords is vital for your business. Keyword research will furnish you with a solid chunk of ideas for your new & helpful articles and guides. But don’t go only after high-volume keywords. Targeting just common keywords is a rookie mistake. If you don’t have much authority (yet) and your brand is not so famous, definitely bet on keywords that have less volume. The competition on them isn’t so harsh, it could be much easier for you to rank.
4. Pay attention to technical SEO
Conducting a complete technical audit of your website is a vital step of SEO regardless of your overall strategy. This includes reducing page loading time, making your website mobile-friendly, using the secure https protocol, adding sitemap and many other technical tweaks. All this can make a significant impact on your rankings.
5. Building Links & Content Promotion
This goes without saying. Your content needs some boost. It’s a must. Always post your articles & tutorials on social media, reach out to influencers in your niche, build backlinks.
6. Plan everything out
By now, you should have all the figures required to build up your distinctive SEO Content Marketing Strategy (suitable keywords, content ideas, competitors survey, technical SEO requirements). Create an all-inclusive, thorough plan that will help you accomplish your goals. It’s a great thought to create a strict timetable and write a due time for every point in your Content Marketing SEO strategy.
Content Marketing vs SEO
There’s been some uproar on the Internet about what’s more beneficial for your company’s online presence. Is it SEO? Content Marketing, maybe? Every business should administer both! That’s why juxtapositions like ‘content marketing vs SEO’ are irrational and unsound.
SEO and content marketing are meant to be used together. This is the nature of the beast. It’s just wrong to oppose one to the other. They are best when working together!
People won’t find you on the web by chance. Don’t even count it. In 99 cases of 100 – this is not going to happen. Without implementing SEO tactics, your content goes into oblivion. And how can you get started with SEO if you have no content marketing? Exactly.
Conclusion
Your content marketing tactics and SEO are linked, tied, located side by side, so use them jointly!
The plain fact is – SEO is built around content marketing. In many cases – you can’t do SEO without creating some decent content. Why? Because SEO is about boosting this exact content in search engines. Duh!
Hopefully, now you have a clearer perspective about SEO’s impact on content marketing, and vice versa. Make sure to drop us a line and tell what you liked best and what works for you!
