You’ve probably heard a great deal about the importance of using optimized content marketing and how it can expand your online brand presence. That’s because SEO and content marketing are incredibly effective for any size business when initiated strategically. In fact, 67% of marketers insist on SEO marketing as the most important online tool to grow your business. You won’t want to miss out on the opportunity to grow your audience and bottom line.
What Is SEO?
Understanding and utilizing these powerful online tools begins with defining them. SEO also referred to as search engine optimization, is a complex technical process that gives you the ability to increase the quality of site traffic to your website. This process guarantees that your content will be presented to your target audience. Several strategic tactics are used to increase your online brand visibility in search engines like Google. They are meant to make your business appear more trustworthy and friendly than others.
Why care about SEO? You want potential customers to know that you are open for business and that you have a unique solution to their problem. When your target audience is online looking for products and services you provide, you want to be one of the first businesses they see. When you don’t utilize SEO, you can allow your competition to service these customers and lose the opportunity to expand your business.
What Is Optimized Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a much simpler process of developing and marketing targeted content. Creating engaging content for your business website brings added value to your products and services when done right. The key is creating the right value mix that resonates with potential customers to encourage them into profitable action. That’s where optimization comes into play.
Optimized content marketing is content that is developed in such a way that targeted keywords or phrases, links and tags are all used to expand your brand. When content is optimized, conversion rates go up. That’s because optimized content marketing takes into account the purchasing habits of your customers. There are many ways you can accomplish this:
- Webpages — The difference between a normal website and one with content marketing is the level of interest that is generated. Additional content like case studies and white papers have become increasingly popular. But creating case studies that are interesting and fascinating will bring more visitors to your website and offer increased value that your competitors can’t deliver.
- Videos — Visuals are always a great way to attract customers to your website. This often untapped content marketing tool can be used to show your customers what happens behind the scenes. While most people may think it is difficult or expensive, simple videos can be made using your phone. Using videos to provide an intimate and in-depth look at your business can help create an immediate brand connection.
- Podcasts — This powerful online tool gives you the ability to present valuable information to your audience for free. It can also raise your visibility, particularly through the iTunes platform, and generate additional income by attracting new customers that may not have heard of you otherwise.
- Infographics — These online tools combine pictures with statistical or technical information that make relevant facts to your business easy to understand. They are highly effective when created with quality and design in mind. You can choose to create one in-house or outsource with a consultant that has expertise in developing infographics. When done well, they are quickly passed around on the internet within your target audience and beyond.
- E‑books — Last but not least, e‑books are highly effective at generating new customer interest. Whether you choose to sell your e‑book or give it away for free, there are potential customers who need the information you provide. There is still a perception that writing a book is difficult and can only be produced by known professionals, but with the amount of self-publishing tools available, anyone can produce a quality e‑book in no time.
How Can SEO and Content Marketing Grow Your Business?
It is not an issue of content marketing vs SEO but how these two can be combined to maximize business profitability. When SEO is combined with content marketing, nothing can stop your business from growing. The idea is to use SEO to enhance the content on your website to generate increased traffic and lead generation.
How is this accomplished? There are a few critical elements that when integrated into a digital marketing strategy can be highly successful. Consider the following components when developing optimized marketing content:
- Keywords - Your website should be the first webpage your potential customers see when they use a search engine. This is accomplished by researching relevant keywords associated with your business and target market. Using a strategic approach may include looking at a competitor’s website and keywords, using Google Keyword Planner, or Adwords database. By strategically embedding keywords into your content, you’ll be on your way to generating more traffic to your website.
- Content - Producing quality content should be a top priority when developing your optimized content marketing strategy. This means that all content should be fresh, creative, and distinctive from anything else on the internet. Producing influential content that solves a problem is how your business will shine above your competitors. Repetitive content is typically ranked lower in search engine results.
- User Experience — Utilizing robots.txt to improve user experience for potential customers can produce optimal results. Robots.txt also referred to as robots exclusion standard, instructs web crawlers and web robots where to go. It specifically tells web crawlers what they can and can’t request from the website and prevents your website from being overloaded. These technical components are crucial to a successful SEO content marketing strategy.
If you’ve ever seen the 404 error pages, you’d know that broken website links are unappealing to potential customers and can turn them away from your business altogether. To prevent this from happening, addressing items like metadata enhancement, appropriate tag use, and ensuring broken links are nonexistent and important for an excellent user experience. Tags allow potential customers and visitors to recognize information before they click on it. Sitemaps help create easy navigation for website users and quick access to content.
- Traffic - Generally, traffic refers to the amount of data received and sent from visitors to your website. Increasing traffic through the use of linkbacks, inbound linking, and link building is best accomplished through high quality and expert content. That’s because link building involves creating hyperlinks from other websites and connecting them to your own. In doing so, you want to achieve this through exceptional and relevant content so that these links are seamlessly integrated into your website and reach your target audience while providing value at the same time.
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