Marketers often take a fragmented approach towards content and SEO, keeping them as separate entities in a marketing plan. However, this is a huge mistake. In fact, the relationship between content and SEO is an integral part of your marketing strategy. Just as including the correct keywords in your content helps it rank better, adding strong content improves your websites authority and boosts your SEO. The two are proved to work better together than alone.
SEO and content do require different skills for the best implementation, but the purpose of both is to improve the ranking of the site on search engine results for key terms, which are important for the brand. By following a set of best practice guidelines and bringing creative flair to the execution of your ideas, you can improve your chances of increasing traffic, conversion and improving user experience on your website.
Research
Research is key to both your SEO and content strategy. Decide your USP, and then determining what your target audience is searching for. Make sure you have key pages on your website for some of those key searches. Sounds simple, but a classic mistake is when using jargon that is correct but not understood/searched for by the average user. Write in a language understood by all, not just as a specialist in your given area. Classic examples are the health industry, we may search for ‘chest pain’ but it may be described as ‘thoracic pain’.
Keyword Optimisation
One of the most essential elements of SEO is keyword optimisation. However, improper implementation of keywords is by far the easiest way to mess up your website. This is especially true if you get hung on a particular phrase and try too hard to force its way into your copy.
So, what do you do? Authenticity is key. Google’s algorithms are clever and they know authentic copy when they see it! Make sure not to be guilty of ‘keyword stuffing’, where the keywords are added to the copy in an unnatural way. Repeating keywords can also have a negative effect on SEO. Not only does the content need to be clever with the keywords, but it also needs to be backed by user experience. This means that the content needs to be relevant, easy to use, and part of a well-designed website.
Horizontal vs Vertical Search
When Google searches through written content, it is classed as a Horizontal search. Vertical search, however, is a search for images, visuals and video. This also helps improve your overall ranking even when the content side is not being picked up. So although your copy is important, it is also important to have a well-designed, content-rich site with various images, infographics, videos and memes.
Quality Content
Your content strategy needs to be consistent, fresh and unique. This kind of content is more likely to rank higher than low-value and repetitive content. The content must be able to help solve a particular issue for your user and lure them to your website. Making sure your content is creative, and updating your website with consistently relevant content is key.
Backlinks
Another major factor in SEO is backlinking, as having high-domain authority sites link back to your website drastically increases your traffic and ranking. The best method for doing it is to create expert content. If your content is engaging and interesting to relevant industry websites, they’re more likely to use it as a guest blog or something similar and link back to you.
SEO and content marketing shouldn’t be treated as completely separate parts. Both of these need each other. Content marking is only successful if it has the right SEO behind it. Integrated optimised content is the magic behind getting targeted traffic and ensuring a great user experience!
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