Content still reigns as an essential method for attracting and retaining your ideal customers, but determining what to publish is challenging. How can SEO and content strategy work together for improved marketing?
our own recent research (report coming soon!) show that SEO content generates 8x more traffic than organic social media and all paid media COMBINED.
So yeah, SEO still has a vital role in contemporary content strategies!
We are helping to drive millions of website views every month for our clients and want to share what works with you. So let’s dig into how SEO should influence your content strategy and what actionable steps you can take now to start getting better traction with your content marketing.
Key Takeaways:
- You must meet your audience’s needs by targeting your ideal customers, publishing information on the correct topics, and using effective long-tail keywords.
- Your SEO and content strategy requires that articles have attractive and helpful layouts.
- Attention to practical considerations, such as link building, optimizing old content, and paying attention to metrics, help direct your content marketing.
SEO and Content Should Work Together To Meet Your Audience’s Needs
SEO is not just about tinkering with technical website operations behind the scenes. What you present to your audience can make or break your rankings. Since almost everyone knows about SEO and content strategy, you have to create a solid plan to compete. These steps are a good place to start. .
Define Your Ideal Customer Persona
You need to know who your target audience is before you can discern its needs. Identify one or two ideal customer personas who are of high value to your business. Give your ICP a name to make the persona live in your mind. You need to create content with this individual in mind.
Discover the pain points of your ICP and what these individuals want most. Determine how you can solve their needs with practical information to understand how to craft pieces that provide immediate value.
Find the Right Topics
Once you understand who your preferred customers are, uncover the topics that interest them with SEO tools that show the search volume for popular short-tail keywords. While keywords are still a useful part of your SEO and content strategy, don’t tailor your article around a bland discussion of the keyword.
Discuss subjects that people want to read and that relate to those keywords and variations. Once you have attractive topics, you can sprinkle in the correct keywords as your secret ingredient that helps boost SEO.
Use Tailored Long-Tail Keywords
A company that sells bicycles will struggle to compete for rankings by only focusing on the broad keyword of “bicycles.” However, relevant articles that discuss specific types of bike repair, recent innovations for electric bikes, or bike rides in a specific location can target the kind of clients the shop wants in the desired areas.
Utilizing these tailored long-tail keywords focuses your content toward your ICP. We use this strategy to great effect with our clients.
Your competition can enlighten you as well. Discover the kind of content that ranks on the first page for keywords that relate to your offerings. Use the ideas as inspiration for how to present your own spin on the subject and improve on what’s already out there.
Devise an SEO and Content Strategy That Looks Good
What you write is not the only consideration in your SEO and content strategy. Your presentation matters a great deal, so don’t forget an attractive layout.
You wouldn’t eat a four-star meal that someone served to you on a garbage can lid, no matter how well the server cleaned it. Pay attention to your site’s design, how you craft your content, and how often you offer new content.
Make Information Easy To Read
Readers and search engine bots are seeking efficiency and readability. Your audience wants concise and easy-to-understand answers. Thus, well-organized content ranks well. Breaking up content with headings and lists makes your articles more palatable to the public.
Use keywords naturally and periodically throughout a piece to show what your content is about and boost rankings. However, don’t stuff keywords randomly, or you risk search engines and readers flagging you as untrustworthy. This can kill your rankings and ruin your SEO and content strategy.
Avoid long, unwieldy sentences. Remember that more searching occurs on mobile than on other devices. Your pages should be accessible to all types of traffic, especially those that people use most.
Use Various Formats
Yes, you still need a blog. Blog posts are one of the best ways to provide value that your target audience can repeatedly reference. Still, you cannot neglect other formats where you can spread your content and repurpose it.
Add videos, images, and infographics to your blogs to offer additional value to your readers. These visual aids can dramatically increase the number of shares your content receives.
When you build up a substantial amount of content, consider compiling it and editing it into an e-book, which is not just a fantastic way to boost your credibility and authority online. It is also a great ways to get leads from your content marketing traffic.
Image Source: Niel Patel
Publish Content Regularly
Remember to post consistently. A content scheduler can help you stay on track. With our SEO and content strategy, we find that clients get a substantial boost from at least one article a week and even better results from two articles a week. Train your audience to expect regular beneficial information from you as a reliable resource.
Make Continual Adjustments
You can’t simply publish post after post and expect positive results. Continue to monitor your performance to improve and gain ground on your competitors.
Set and Review Your Metrics
Set goals for your content marketing and implement a process and methodology that tracks your progress. Monitor the results to determine what works and why. Similarly, figure out what does not work and adjust. Keep up with your analytics tools to stay in tune with your audience and provide what they want through your SEO and content strategy.
Refine and Optimize Old Content
You can apply many of these suggestions to your old content for a “facelift.” This strategy is another one we use that offers a quick return on investment. Take an old blog post and do the following:
- Add videos and images
- Insert high-authority and internal links
- Include current high-conversion long-tail keywords naturally
- Edit and improve the writing
- Add a “Last updated” tag
A few adjustments can freshen an older page and help it rank higher.
Focus on Link Building
Link building remains a vital part of a successful SEO and content strategy. Linking to other trustworthy websites with relevant content can boost your reputation as a reliable source. Proper link-building techniques make it easier for readers and search engines to find and navigate your website.
Another strategy we use effectively is internal linking. Doing so improves engagement, enhances the user experience, and drives conversions. This method is another way to get the most out of constant content and older pages.
Image Source: Niche Pursuits
Find a Partner To Help With Your SEO and Content Strategy
Content marketing works best when partnered with intelligent SEO strategies. If you lack the time and energy to reap the full ROI on these efforts, let’s chat! Our team here at Marketing Insider Group is ready to collaborate on a winning SEO and content strategy for your business.
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