At a recent workshop we conducted for business owners in the Greater Toronto Area, we made an interesting, though not surprising observation. At least 80% of the participants said they had allocated a reasonable budget and were investing time and resources for SEO. As content providers, that is something we love to hear.
Our next question was, “How many of you do the same for content marketing?” Alas! Only around 30% of business owners present said that professionally written content was integral to their SEO strategy. We had to break the news to this group—“Without content marketing your SEO efforts will fail.”
To some it seemed like a rather bold statement, but many of them actually admitted that this was something they already feared. Yes, of course, content is king, but content marketing could now seek a higher claim on the crown of the SEO throne.
Many factors contribute to content marketing becoming a key factor in all SEO and SEM strategies. Firstly, there is now so much content available that many users struggle to find the information they seek. To ensure that your content can be discovered, it is essential to ensure that it is correctly and widely marketed.
Beyond this, the search engines, tired of increasingly black hat techniques, have focused on delivering relevant and quality results. Further, there have been growing problems with links that the search engines are endeavouring to address with new updates and algorithms. This leaves content marketing with a key role to play in SEO.
Quality Content is Oxygen for Your SEO Efforts
As business owners, you need to realize that today, search engines look for more than just on-page optimization factors such as META and ALT IMG tags. The breadth and types of content on your website, blog and other social properties have a combined effect on your search engine rankings. It is essential to market all content widely to gain visible popularity, audience and influence in order for your SEO efforts to be effective.
Many companies fail to appreciate just what counts as content. While a well-written article or blog post is content, so are white papers, PDF fact sheets, presentations, press releases, etc. These should all be valued as marketable content. There is also graphical content which is frequently overlooked, such as Infographics, images, audio and video. The important checks that need to be in place are—
- genuine not duplicate content
- relevant to your audience
- easy to read, understand and share
How and Where to Market your Content
It is imperative that your content marketing strategy includes an editorial calendar. However, the editorial policy must also be flexible to allow reactions to breaking news or industry developments. When a story is trending, that is the time your content will reach the widest audience. In subsequent days and weeks, readership and interest will taper off.
Your content marketing strategy should address the outcomes required as well as fit with your budget – both in cost and time. Human resources shortages can often be a bigger problem than the economics of conducting a content marketing campaign.
Don’t let the lack of resources and ideas hold you back from content marketing. Talk to us at MintCopy. We can take your SEO dollars farther with the right content suited to your audience and your business goals. Call 888-646-8003 or send us an email.