Often times the relationship between content marketing and SEO marketing are confused. We are frequently asked questions such as: How do both the concepts fit together? Can you integrate the internet marketing efforts and work on them together?
The confusion is rooted in a lack of understanding of what is modern SEO? While SEO firms seem to be a dime a dozen, there are very few good SEOs these days. In short, professional SEO revolves around content and the best content marketing is that which creates value. Good SEO, structures and organizes content to help incoming traffic obtain information they need quickly. I’ve heard one SEO specialist say “good marketing content is the best content marketing”.
Integrating SEO & Content Marketing Efforts
Without question, even amateur marketers recognize that internet marketing is an umbrella of services. However, what many individuals and internet marketing firms overlook is that modern SEO is now its own umbrella of services. Content marketing is simply a method in which we accomplish SEO (ie. make efforts to improve search engine ranking in organic search results).
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” The answer when it comes to digital marketing is simple, no! Marketing by definition requires an audience. Therefore, effective content marketing requires a strong understanding of how to do SEO keyword research and how to identify effective future blog posts. These techniques tend to fall under a traditional SEO service. The best content marketing is a balance of science and art; utilize the science of marketing to develop the best art and you can be sure that tree is heard.
A tree falling in a forest is no big deal, but a tree that falls onto Yonge St in Toronto is likely to end up on the radio. As a practical example, the writing of this article was outsourced at first. When we got it back the content was so crappy we couldn’t actually finish reading it ourselves. The writer would say the same thing over and over, unable to create content you would actually read and find helpful. If we published that content, it might provide some value to our SEO. However, looking at how competitive SEO is amongst professional digital marketing agencies – we’ll never receive links, shares, and build an audience that follows us. The article would actually do nothing for our bottom line online revenue and lead generation.
Now imagine an article that was genuinely helpful. For example, the content listed above from MOZ has thousands of incoming links from high domain authority websites. KABLAMO!!! And hence they rank at the top of Google for any relevant searches. That one link and piece of information will generate thousands of visits per month and create a greater impact than an infinite number of articles with no value.
Content Marketing Isn’t Contained in SEO
In order to understand how both the things are linked, the first thing to understand is that both the terms have different identities. There are critical aspects about each term which distinguish them from one another but besides this all, they cannot be separated:
What is SEO? It is more technical and narrow.
What is Content marketing? It is holistic and broad.
How do the two intersect?
• In order to apply SEO in a boarder sense, it has to be channeled with the technical undertakings into content marketing.
• In order to ensure the success of the content marketing strategies, you have to apply the SEO techniques.
How do SEO and Content Marketing Interact?
Consider SEO as the one who makes demands and Content marketing as the one that fulfill the demands. Within a digital marketing agency, an SEO expert identifies a need while a content marketer will be able to fulfill the need (obviously this isn’t the case all the time). Often, SEO lays downs requirements and content marketing meets them.
There are certain rules that are put forward by SEO and marketers who use content marketing for meeting these requirements.
SEO demands content and effective content marketing is content developed according to those guides (the science). SEO today cannot be pictured without content. Whether it’s blogs or websites, blog articles, keywords, verbiage and stories, all is included in the content.
Everyone who knows even a little bit about SEO would be well familiar with the role of keywords in optimization. The keywords are added in content because they are related to the SERPs. How are keywords used and applied in SEO? One of the answers is through content marketing. Every word in content is a keyword, optimizing for the right keyword is where phase 1 of the magic takes place. That said, search engines are very intelligent, so don’t waste a humans’ time or a search engines’ time by over optimizing / keyword stuffing.
Google’s Search Engine Primarily Works Using Links
Internet marketing and the SEO umbrella seeks links to improve rankings on SERPs. The Internet or “web”, can be depicted through a web of links, where each link is a website. One of the primary elements used by Google’s algorithm today are linkbacks. While SEO seeks to produce linkbacks, the best way of achieving this is through content marketing.
Like everything else, it is also fulfilled through content marketing. The technical side of optimization is put in place through content marketing for the purpose of enhancing the user experience. This plays an important role in serving the users and promoting the content.
In order to understand the connection, consider this. Why would anyone want a strategic sitemap? The answer is; so that users can find and access content easily. Similarly, technical/meta data is important to help humans and search engines generate accurate search results., they help in indexing and make it easier to find content. SEO is not just about creating content, generating articles and adding backlinks. SEO involves technical stuff too like adding Meta data, creating a sitemap, utilizing the tags, optimization of robots.txt.
Like everything else, it is also fulfilled through content marketing. The technical side of optimization is put in place through content marketing for the purpose of enhancing the user experience. This plays an important role in serving the users and promoting the content.
They are important because they help in performing accurate search, they help in indexing and make it easier to find content.
Nevertheless, everything in one way or another is related to content.
SEO calls for generating outputs consistently and this consistency is met through content marketing
All the search engines demand fresh content. Everyone who is doing SEO knows the fact that SEO demands fresh content that is indexed promptly. If a website that has authority updates the pages with fresh content, this will improve its SERP.
Consistent content output means that the content marketing efforts are regular and they are being done in the right way.
Content marketing is not going to stop, not in the coming years.
Conclusion
Now it is fair to say that SEO is not possible without content marketing and content marketing is not possible without SEO.
Here are some important facts about the two terms everyone should consider:
• You cannot be an SEO unless you are a content marketer. You cannot be a content marketer unless you are an SEO.
Both the occupations are blended together and they are inseparable. You have to know one to perform the other and vice versa.
• The SEO campaign cannot be successful unless it is integrated with content marketing. Similarly, a content marketing campaign cannot be successful unless it is integrated with SEO.
Set of rules for content marketing come from SEO. So, content marketing will be lifeless without SEO. If the content is not optimized, it will never come in the reach of the audience online.
The two concepts alone are ineffective; they have to be integrated together to achieve the desired outcomes.