SEO Content Marketing Strategy for More Traffic
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and content marketing are two different tools that work best when strategically used together to generate more leads to your business.
An integrated SEO content marketing strategy can get you the best results out of your digital marketing campaigns and can take your brand’s marketing to the next level.
It is imperative to include SEO in about every post you create if you want longevity with your content. They both are linked and one will not succeed without the other. You have to understand that SEO is more technical while content marketing is broader and more holistic. The only way to ensure the success of content marketing is to implement SEO techniques in it.
To better understand the SEO content strategy; we will first dive a little deeper into what is SEO and content marketing separately. And then lay out the steps on how you can develop your SEO content marketing strategy.
What is Content Marketing
Content marketing is creating valuable and relevant content to generate leads, drive profits, or customer action. The desired outcome of generating relevant content is not always sales but maybe to drive your customer to download an eBook or set up a consultation. Sometimes content is generated simply to educate, inspire, or entertain an audience. Either way, the content must add some value to your audience.
Creating content that is relevant to your target audience and then tactically promoting it on various social media channels is crucial. Once the content is developed in front of the right audience you can build relationships with leads and customers.
Creating a successful content marketing funnel helps build relationships by demonstrating your expertise in the selected area by providing valuable information to the consumer that helps them make a smarter purchasing decision. It’s important to create content that appeals to the audience in each step of their journey – from those who are just researching to those who are ready to buy.
Everything starts with the right content and then SEO. Providing the right content means giving the information that people are looking for. There are hundreds of contents online about a particular subject yet there are many topics that are to be raised. Identify these topics and creating the right kind of content would appeal to the audience.
Blogging started to be the essence of content marketing but now it has an outreach to other forms such as eBooks, Webinars, Podcasts, TedTalks, Email Campaigns, Social Media Posts, Online courses, Influencer Updates, videos, and many more. And according to the 2020 analysis content marketing will expand to live streaming, voice search-optimized, augmented reality (AR) experiences, and personalized content that according to your audience location, online behavior, or demographics.
According to a statistics study in 2020, it’s projected that by 2023 more than 7 billion people worldwide will own a smartphone. That’s nearly the entire current population of the world. Your content has the potential to reach a truly global audience now than ever before.
Professional courses to check out
What is SEO and why it is important
SEO is the technical process of bringing in organic traffic from the search engines attracting maximum visitors to your website. It is imperative to the business with its website traffic, brand awareness, and lead generation.
All search engine page delivers results based on what users have typed in the search bar. Businesses aim to rank their content based on the keywords that are relevant to their target audience through SEO. You can increase the online visibility of your business by optimizing your website and content for the search engines.
You must understand that your content alone is not important for search engine ranking. There are numerous factors however we are going to focus only on the most important elements of SEO.
You must start with finding keywords and phrases used by your target audience to find a brand like yours on the search engines. Create content around these keywords to rank on the search engine results page. You must aim for more specific long-tail keywords and phrases that can help you bring in more relevant traffic.
SEO is used to strategize around content marketing since every website needs words, posts, articles, keywords, etc. To develop a successful strategy, SEO and content marketing must go hand in hand. SEO is a combination of technical and marketing. It makes a site appealing to users and search engines.
SEO ensures online technical optimization of a website and makes sure that Google can read and index the pages, its desktop, and mobile rankings. It does online innovation for search results and consumer usability. It helps consumers and engines easily define a section of the site, its importance, and its relevance to organic search queries and subject matter.
The SEO also promotes sharable content via outreach, link building, and lead signals from authority sites in the same domain of the site are optimized and you get links that Google likes. If we simply explain it, SEO is about making the right choices based on accurate SEO data and the latest Google trends.
How to set up SEO Content Marketing Strategy
- Define your topic area/niche
The first step to integrating SEO into your content strategy is by defining your brand’s purpose and mission. Find out what unique knowledge and expertise you can offer to your audience related to your chosen industry. When you are just starting out picking up a specific area of interest is best.
Your selected topic area will help you streamline your audience research, keyword research, and SEO strategy. You must know your key topic area before you start writing or publishing anything. Once you nail down your expertise you can create content topics that appeal to your audience.
Identify the topics and points that your ideal readers are trying to find answers to. Discover this by reading blog comments, explore forums and Q&A sites, check your chosen topic-related book reviews, review emails from readers, do subscriber surveys, or conduct interviews.
Choose a tempting topic and focus your efforts on one aspect of a larger process or one specific outcome where you provide detailed information. Having a niche shows potential clients or customers that you have the necessary knowledge and experience to create great content. Also having a niche allows you to hone your skills in a particular area and further developing your knowledge making you an expert.
- Research your target market
The next step is to find out who is your target audience. Your content must be focused on reaching the audience that is best suited for your products or services.
One of the important things is to understand your audience’s challenges and include types of questions and concerns in your target market research to have a better idea of what they might search for online. Conduct a survey and figure out what they thinking about your product or service.
Look at your current customer base, if you have any. Look at their common characteristics and interests. List out features of your service or product and describe the benefits of each of these features. You can choose specific demographics to target or consider psychographics.
Study who your competition is targeting and understand their social media strategy. Outline the benefits of your product or service and determine the type of people who might need it.
You can also create audience personas that represent an ideal customer based on all the data you extract. Refer to these personas when you create content to speak to your audience.
- Do your keyword research
Now that you have chosen your expertise and researched your target audience, you can combine this information into keyword research. The most essential element of SEO is to research and find relevant keywords so that the content ranks high in the search engine result pages.
It is essential to follow a strategic approach when using keywords for your content. You must never stuff a page with keywords and overoptimize the content as it harms SEO. Use the main keywords in the title and fill the body section with relevant information about the topic.
You can use Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, Answer the Public, and any other keyword analysis tool to analyze the most popular keyword volume and competition. Implementing appropriate target keywords is essential to rank well and boost traffic to your website.
Fortify your keyword search by reading your competitors’ most popular posts and note their best points. See what keywords your competitors are ranking for. Read popular books on your topic and deepen your knowledge. Read expert interviews to gather additional tips and advice.
- Evaluate your competition
Your post won’t be the first to cover your chosen topic. Research existing content that tackles the same problem and looks for weaknesses and opportunities. Find the popular post on the same topic and type relevant keywords into the google search.
Search for competitor blog posts on the same topic or posts that are popular on social media. Determine your unique differentiator in your post by choosing an approach or points that your competitors might have missed out on.
To do a competitive content marketing analysis, make a list of your competitors, and take inventory of your competitors’ content, evaluate their content quantity and quality, and analyze your competitors’ content topics. content analysis will help you stay one step ahead in your strategy and you can use your competitors’ efforts to your advantage.
Analyzing your competitors’ content marketing strategy can be time-consuming but is extremely beneficial and critical in creating unique content for your site that stands out from others.
- Create quality content
Once you have created a list of targeted keywords, start generating content around the topic ideas you have identified. You can write a conversational style of influential content that your target audience can understand and relate to. Well-written detailed content with relevant examples will help the reader better connect with your brand. Write short paragraphs and use bullet points to break up the content for easy readability.
It is crucial to create quality content using important keywords and optimize it smartly to make sure your content ranks in the search engines. Ensure to include your target keyword in the H1, H2, and meta description. Stick to a consistent publishing schedule and make your content relevant, and comprehensive.
You can differentiate your post by using design, colors, and images, and to create a visually stunning post. Use storytelling and emotions to connect with the readers and incorporate real-world data that competitors’ posts lack. Explore your topic and write in great detail.
It is also important to take time to craft a headline that makes readers tempted to click through and read your content. Use the 4 U’s method: useful, urgent, ultra-specific, unique to write an irresistible headline.
- Polish before you publish
Every epic post takes more than one draft before it is ready to publish. It takes several reviews and edits iterations to notice any errors and improve the clarity and flow of your content.
Polish your draft by letting your post rest for at least 24 hours before further reviewing and editing. Check the flow, read the content out loud, and remove any clumsy wordings. Get rid of filler words and lazy phrases that rob your writing of its power and replace them with descriptive words that paint a clear picture.
Your post is only as valuable as the information it provides. Strengthen your content with the knowledge and experience you already have by gathering supporting information through solid research. Illuminate your topic by adding relevant quotes and inspire readers. Provide real-world data or related case studies and explain difficult concepts with devise examples.
You can use editing tools for spellings, punctuation, grammar, and any inconsistencies in the writing. It is also advisable to run a plagiarism check and reword if you find any similarities with other texts.
Finally, one of the most important things is to spend some extra time on refining and tweaking your title and come up with something that is both SEO and user friendly.
- Promote your published post
It is a myth that good content will promote itself. Even truly epic content needs push to get the attention it deserves to kick off. You can use smart promotion tactics to give your post the reach to its audience.
If you already have people signed up to your mailing list send an email broadcast. It is a great way to promote your content because the audience is already engaged and is much more likely to share. Form deeper engagement with your community through social media groups like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn to target and engage your niche audience and use relevant hashtags.
Pay to promote by using pay per click or by several impressions to help your content get more reach on a variety of platforms. Connect with influencers and encourage them to share your content if it relates to them. Reuse your posts for other popular platforms, like Medium and SlideShare, and gain followers.
- Update your content over time
Finally, it is important to remember that most blog posts or website pages on your site will continue to bring visitors and will be revisited for years and years. Most content will need to be updated to remain relevant and effective. Content update is the heartbeat of your site and also sends signals to search engines.
You must make a habit of reviewing your content periodically and update it as and when needed. You can optimize your content with new relevant keywords. You can add content or update any statistics or facts that might be outed. Refresh Some of the language or your writing style to make it more interesting.
Even if the description of your product or service doesn’t require any change; it is still important to update your content by focusing on maybe answering a few questions and interact with your customers via contact forms, emails, or even phone calls. Learn about your customers’ needs and write pages or blogs about how your product has been used by the customer or show successful product use.
It is important to let your audience know that you are constantly working towards your brand and delivering meaningful messages.
Final Takeaway:
An SEO content strategy is about research, finding correct keywords, knowing your expertise in your industry, understanding your audience, and tying this knowledge into your content to make it relevant to your audience and to rank in search engines.
SEO and content marketing go hand in hand and are best when put together strategically. For a strong strategy, it must be ensured that both these tactics are working together for the best results. SEO states the requirements and content marketing fulfills those demands. The practical integration of SEO is the very substance of content marketing. As cliché as it may sound but it is true that: Content is king. Again, the only way you can use keywords is by integrating and employing them strategically throughout your content.
It is not a quick process but using the tips mentioned above, you can create a solid SEO content marketing strategy and make the most advantage of both of these tools can offer to your business. A good SEO strategy with drive more qualified web traffic, improve conversions and will have a great reach to your audience.
