Have you recently made an online presence for your business? Are you trying to appeal to a larger audience by expanding your reach? Whether you are working on a new website or have always had one that could use an upgrade, you can’t work without search engine optimization (SEO). Previously, businesses made websites without SEO and content marketing because it was not as essential. However, with all the steadily increasing advancements in search engines and algorithms, it is now impossible to have an online presence without taking several aspects of SEO into account.
When you have a website for your business, you need to incorporate different SEO strategies in order to get the site noticed. SEO is all about optimizing your online presence in order to get more traffic and views. The more people that visit your website, the greater the possibility is that they go on to make a purchase or engage one of your services. With thousands of sites that have similar products and offer the same services as you, the only thing that can set you apart is if you have a higher ranking.
Did you know that 91% of sites on Google results pages don’t even get any traffic? This means that your website could have the highest quality products with excellent services, but no one will come across it because it didn’t show up in their search results. The only way to have a flourishing online presence is to make sure you direct as much traffic to your site as possible. The more traffic you have, the more chances for conversions.
One key aspect of determining whether your SEO strategies are working is by measuring conversions. The more conversions you generate through your website, with respect to how much time and money you spent in making modifications to your site will determine your return on investment (ROI). Many businesses don’t realize the importance of keeping a check on their ROI and often go months without making any profit. The longer you continue with strategies that aren’t working for your website, the greater the loss that you incur.
However, one strategy that plays a fundamental role in building the foundation of your SEO practices is content marketing. You could have an extremely aesthetically appealing website with graphics and buttons and even a social media or YouTube account to accompany it, but unless you know your way around content marketing, chances are that you aren’t even reaching half of the potential customers that you could attain.
At SEO Resellers Canada, we can help you come up with the best SEO strategies that will help your website get to a higher rank. We know what the current SEO trends and algorithms are and what it takes to get a site to the first and second pages of search engines. Here is what you need to know about SEO content marketing.
Content
1- How Does SEO Work?
SEO involves multiple strategies that you have to keep in mind when you are working towards optimizing your website. SEO works through optimizing your website according to search engine algorithms in order to rank higher on results pages. The reason why you have to optimize your website and rank higher on results pages is because it’s one of the primary ways to have a successful digital marketing campaign. If you have a well-planned out campaign, know who your audience is and have spent months doing market research in order to come up with the perfect product, you will want your content to be seen.
How does content get noticed? The only way that your website is picked up and displayed among the top ranking results is if you have taken the algorithms into account and made sure that you’re following all the latest requirements. This means having a website that loads quickly and is easy to navigate through. It also means your content should have no broken links or pages that open to nothing. Making sure that your website has buttons that encourage sharing and a comments section where readers can leave their views or any questions is also important.
You’ll also want to optimize your website to be accessible on all devices, like tablets, PCs, laptops and cellphones. Another important aspect is making your website easy to use by those who are hard of hearing or who have difficulty seeing, which you can address by having helpful tips, directions or click-to-speak options. This way, people can have your website read aloud to them so they know where they are.
Whenever your website doesn’t meet the standards that people are expecting when they pay you a visit, it increases the chances of them bouncing off your site and going to another, more helpful one. The higher your bounce rate, the lower your ranking. This is because search engine algorithms determine this as a lack of effort on your part in maintaining an engaging and easy-to-use website. If you have articles that readers have to subscribe for or pay for before they get access to it, this increases the bounce rate as well. It’s always a better idea to let the readers have access to the article that they clicked on, and tell them that they have to pay for any further reading they would like to do.
The main purpose of SEO is to increase the amount of traffic towards your website. The reason why increasing traffic is so integral to a successful website is because the traffic is what leads to conversions. The more people you can manage to see your site and the products, services or articles you have to offer, the more likely it is that some of them will go on to make a purchase. In the time of pay-per-clicks ads, partnerships and sponsored posts, it’s getting harder to have your content at the top of its game. Businesses are going out of their way to gain as much visibility as possible, and algorithms are rapidly changing to give more credit to those sites that are frequently updating their content and have the most number of links to other pages which make them more credible.
Without SEO, your online business could stay in the dark forever. It’s rare that people even click to the third page of search engine results, let alone visit any of the website that they find there. You might have to invest months or even years for your website to have the kind of visibility that top-ranking websites currently have, but the only way to start working towards it is by improving your SEO strategies. The most integral one, that we discuss in this article, is content marketing and how it works in perfect unity with SEO.
2- What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing works by finding out what kind of audience you are aiming to reach and then using the power of keywords to get them to come across your article. The way content marketing works is by finding out the different ways you can use keywords to attract people to the topics you’re writing about. Of course, this can only be done if you make sure that topics you’re writing about are relevant to your readers. When you know that your potential audience is interested in a particular area, you make sure that the keywords you use are all related to this topic, hence, if someone searches up those words, they’ll end up on your article which they will genuinely want to read.
You must have heard it a million times, but there’s no place that doesn’t rely on keywords more than within your content. Businesses that are generating content may use keywords in a number of ways. You can either use popular keywords to build more content around, or you can integrate popular keywords into the content you already have. In the case of the latter, you might find yourself going back to old articles and optimizing them with newer keywords as trends change. If you’re making newer content, it’s more likely that you will use keywords to create a topic to write about.
3- How Does Content Marketing Work?
Content marketing works quite similarly to any other kind of marketing, except that it is based online and requires more research. You might want to hire a content writer, or partner with a blogger, YouTuber or influencer if you want you content to get more views. The way that content marketing works is by creating content that does not directly encourage people to make a purchase. Unlike other forms of marketing, which talk about the pros and cons of a particular product in order to convince people to buy it, content marketing works by creating a wide following of readers that are potentially going to be interested in a product you may or may not even be talking about in every blog.
So, how to do content marketing in SEO? The purpose of content marketing can vary. You can either be building up awareness of your brand through pushing out different articles and tutorials which address a certain issue, or you can just be trying to get the highest ranking on search engines that you can manage. You could also be experimenting with different keywords in order to determine which ones get you the most views. The better the idea you have about what kind of content and which keywords are working in your website’s favour, the more rigorously you can work on improving that content.
Businesses also use content marketing to build connections with other websites and brands. If you refer you another business’s product in one of your articles as a complementary feature to what your business is selling, you get other businesses to mention your brand as well. As readers, people want to feel like they are making an investment in a reliable and credible place, so if they come across your brand in a number of different blogs or through different influencers, they are more likely to feel safe with ordering and investing in your brand.
You can use content marketing in various ways as well. You can have articles that talk about the hardships that people with flat feet face, and how they may feel insecure about their feet because of their shape. You can link an article such as this to a YouTube or Instagram post where you discuss your particular product and showcase its aesthetic appeal.
The reason why content marketing is so successful is because it leads to more conversions. Why is that? It’s because you already know that the people that are visiting your blog or have been frequent visitors of your blog are genuinely interested in the topic that you are regularly posting about. This means that when you finally post about the product or service that you have been working on, you have more chances of striking a chord with people and giving them a product they were actually looking forward to. If you have enough of a rapport established with your readers, there’s a high chance that they will proceed to purchase your product when it comes out as well. This is how content marketing can help you generate a strong following of interested buyers.
4- Do SEO and Content Marketing Work Together?
The answer to this is yes, content marketing and SEO can only work when they work together. Although SEO includes several other aspects, while content has its own share of requirements and writing strategies, you cannot get your content noticed without SEO, and similarly, your SEO strategies will go to waste if you do not have the content to go with it.
If you have great content, with several ideas, tips and tricks to help your readers through a problem related to your product or service, you have only done half the work. The only way for people to come across this helpful, informative content is if they searched up any of the keywords that were included in your content. If you don’t have the right keywords based on current SEO algorithms, even the best content will go unnoticed.
There are currently hundreds of websites out there that have never had a single viewer, not because they did not have quality content, but because they never took the measures to boost their website’s visibility and credibility. Similarly, you may have used other SEO strategies like optimizing your website’s speed and creating social media accounts to increase engagement with customers, but unless you have content that complements your product or service, your fast-loading website or social media posts are of no use.
The only way to show your audience that you are a credible source of information is by putting up information that is relevant, updated and full of references, links or videos that help readers gain further clarity on what they are reading about. If you don’t have content that generates a larger group of readers and keeps the satisfied with the information you provide, you are missing out on the most important part of content marketing. When you don’t have content marketing optimized in such a way, then any SEO strategies you use will only work temporarily, because people need to see that the website they are purchasing from is a trustworthy and helpful through the content they post.
5- How to Make SEO Content: Strategies?
Now that you know what SEO and content marketing are, and the importance of them working together, you will need to come up with ways that you can incorporate your knowledge of both and use them in a way that increases your website’s search engine results page ranking. Remember, neither SEO not content writing can work in a vacuum, so if there’s one thing you should be able to take away from this article, it’s that you need to define strategies that help you use both SEO and content marketing hand in hand so that they can flourish on their own and through each other’s support as well.
Make sure that your content is always updated. The last thing you want to do when it comes to gaining and retaining a large audience is to have old content that no longer contains the most relevant information. When you’re trying to build up a potential audience for your next product launch, you will want people visiting your website that show prospects of being interested in the product you are about to launch. The only way to have a sustainable group of people that are invested in your website and trust you enough to purchase the products or pay for the services that you offer is to reassure them that you’re the most informed authority on their topic of interest.
You can do this by having blogs that talk about certain problems that your potential audience faces. It can then go on to talk about how the product that your company offers is one of the ways that people have been resolving this particular issue, and what the pros and cons of it are. The more people can relate to what you’re writing about, the more likely they are to feel a connection to your brand and potentially make a purchase.
For example, if your brand sells medicated shoe insoles that make walking much easier for people with flat feet, you can start off by publishing numerous blogs about the troubles of flat-footed people. You should have blogs that talk about different ways their lives are affected, what strategies people have been using to deal with their foot pain in the past and what new techniques there now are to correct or manage the issue.
You can expand on the topic by publishing blogs about nail art and different moisturizers that keep your feet smooth and soft even in the summer. The most variety your potential audience can find within your website, the more they will revisit it and spread the word to their friends and family. It also builds up a following of interested people who want to try out the new shoe insoles that you’re about to launch.
One way to incorporate SEO into this is by making sure the content you choose to write about is trending and has been searched up frequently. You can use tools like Ubersuggest, which will tell you what keywords and what kind of topics are the most searched up and how you can make a topic out of them as well. It’ll tell you how many clicks a certain article with those keywords got, so you know what kind of competition you’re dealing with and how many clicks you should be aiming for.
Another reason why these tools are helpful is because they’ll give you whatever keyword phrases are the most popular based on the words you enter in the search. For example, if you’re unsure about whether medicated shoe insoles have any topics that are trending, you can search up “medicated shoe insoles” and find out what people are searching up with reference to it.
Another way to find out what content is going to get you the most views is the “people also searched for” on search engine results pages. This helps you find more topics to expand your website, because you’ll be able to cover a larger variety of keywords. The more different variations of keywords that you can include in your content, the more people will end up on your blog if they were searching for anything that was somewhat relevant to your website and business.
Think about what your brand is about. The most important aspect to define before coming up with a good strategy is to know what you want your brand to be defined as. Think of the general idea that all of your blogs will have, for example “flat feet.” Everything that you write about will have something to do with flat feet, even if the topic isn’t directly related to them. Having a defined area that you want to case your brand on makes it easier for you to search up and include any keywords that are about flat feet. For example, you’ll be able to generate an entire list of different keywords that indirectly or directly refer to flat feet and problems with flat feet, so that you can guide people towards your blog by referring to those keywords in your content.
Get an idea of the people that you’re targeting through your content. Knowing who is reading your content helps you modify your information and your vocabulary accordingly. If you know that the readers landing on your site are university professors looking for laptops and PCs that cater to their specific teaching needs, you won’t use simple words or explain what a laptop is in the introduction of your blog. Similarly, if you know that your readers are an older group of people looking for armchairs to put in front of the TV, you will use simpler vocabulary and perhaps explain the benefits of a well-made armchair for people with spine problems.
It’s also a good idea to check out what your competition is writing about, so that you know not to write on a topic that is too similar. You might want to remind yourself that there are hundreds of resources for the same topic, so what makes your blog stand out is the engaging, simple, yet informative way that you portray your information. The more cramped and verbose your article looks, the less likely people are to stay and read it rather than go onto a blog that looks like someone put more effort into making it readable.
You need to also keep your placement in mind. When it comes to keywords, readers don’t look through your entire content for the one sentence that assures them that they are at the right place. They need to be able to see the keyword either in the title, the meta title or different headings throughout your content. The more visible the keywords are, it increases the chances of a reader who was simply scrolling to slow down and read the entire article. How much time people spend on your website’s individual pages plays a role in your ranking as well, so make sure you have content that does an excellent job of portraying to the reader that it has what they are looking for.
Another aspect to consider when going about with content marketing is to make sure you have a solid space for your content. Although we have mentioned the importance of sharing visual content on sites like Instagram or Facebook, you need to make sure that all of it leads people back to a website that you can call your own. Posting on other platforms is helpful and gives you the assurance that there are a substantial number of potential viewers there, but you never know if your content is deleted or your page taken down. Although a social media account makes engaging with your customers much easier and more efficient, you should have your own website as well.
Lastly, you need to make an account of Google My Business to keep track of any reviews that people are leaving of your website. When you find out that people had issues with a certain aspect of your product, it’s easier to address the concern if you write an article or short blog post talking about how they issue can be resolved. This also makes your readers feel more connected with you and be more open to supporting your brand even when things go haywire. Having bad customer service or a brand that never addresses people’s problems can make you lose out on a huge chunk of customers, because their reviews will be public and new customers will always make it a point to go over reviews before purchasing any product or service.
6- Final Words
It’s important to keep updating your content and making sure that newer keywords are added into your older content. Search engine crawlers assess your site to see how frequently it is updated and how many pages it has. If the last time you posted content was years ago, there’s no chance that your website is going to make it to a higher ranking, not only because your content is outdated, but because you probably have not included the new, long-tailed keywords that are now used instead of two-word phrases.
As long as you make sure that the content you are writing, or getting written by a freelancer has been optimized using what you know of SEO, you are doing the best you can to get your site to the top pages of search engine results. Other measures you can take are to invest in pay-per-click ads, which might not work for the long term, but they will give you a general idea of what kind of content is giving you the most clicks and leading to conversions, so that you can generate more content along the same lines.
At SEO Resellers Canada, we know how important it is for any business, new or old, to have a strong online presence. With a number of tools and optimization strategies now present, there are hundreds of websites that are competing for the same spot in search engine results pages. If you’re looking for some ways that you can enhance your content and your website, consider working with people that can assess your website and guide you towards more effective strategies in order to direct more traffic to your site and lead to more conversions.
