How to Improve SEO Through Content Marketing

If you’re looking for ways to improve your website’s search engine rankings, you’re probably in the midst of developing a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. One aspect of a successful SEO strategy that you won’t want to overlook, however, is that of content marketing. Through the use of optimized content and targeted keywords, the content that you publish on your website and social media pages can help you rank better while also providing readers with valuable information.

Not sure where to begin when it comes to developing a content marketing strategy for SEO? There are a few things to keep in mind.

Why content marketing matters

Start with an understanding of how content marketing influences your search engine rankings. Content marketing and SEO may seem like two very separate practices, but in reality, they work together very closely. For starters, the more content you have on your site, the more opportunities you have for strategic keyword placement that can help search engines like Google pick up on your site. Furthermore, did you know that the more useful content you have available on your site, the longer you can expect users to stick around? This reduces your bounce rate, which is a significant factor in your site’s SEO rankings as well.

Written content also gives you the opportunity to include strategic backlinks (links to other pages or websites), which can also boost your search engine rankings. Linking to appropriate sites and pages increases your authority score, which in-turn may help you rank higher and boost your reputation within your industry.

Tips for successful content marketing

Now that you have a better understanding of why content marketing matters from an SEO standpoint, there are some specific tips worth keeping in mind as you seek to create and publish optimized content.

Know your audience

Start by taking the time to properly get to know your audience. This means not only knowing their demographics, but their interests and content preferences as well. A good place to start here would be to speak to some of the employees within your organization who deal first-hand with clients and customers. Speaking to your sales or customer service staff, for example, is a great way to get a better idea of what your audience is like, what type of content they will find most useful, and what their pain points are. From there, you’ll have an easier time crafting content that is actually useful and relevant to them.

Brainstorm unique ideas

More than likely, whatever topic you may initially have in mind for a blog post or other content type has already been written a thousand times (or more) over! This is why it’s always a good idea to Google your topic ideas and find out whether they’re actually unique or if they’ve already been covered. If a topic you’ve brainstormed has already been done, this doesn’t mean you can’t cover it again; what it does mean is that you’ll want to find a brand new angle or some other way of making your content unique enough to stand out from the rest.

The more unique your topic ideas are, the more likely they’ll be successful both to your users and from an SEO standpoint. A great way to develop fresh and unique content ideas is to relate your topics to current events and the latest industry news.

Utilize a content calendar

When implementing a content marketing strategy, it’s important not just to create great content, but to be publishing it on a regular basis. Ideally, you’ll want to post something new every day–whether it be on your website blog, social media page, or another avenue. With this much content to create and publish, it can be difficult to keep up.

This is where having a content calendar in place can make all the difference. Specifically, a content calendar includes a list of topics, along with target keywords, publish dates, and other relevant information to keep you (or your editorial staff) on-track. There are all kinds of free content calendar templates online, and there are even paid programs that allow you to not only keep a content calendar, but that will also allow you to schedule publishing of your content ahead of time. This way, your content is published automatically on your specified date and time so you don’t even have to think about it.

Set aside time to write

Finding the time to create new content can be difficult, especially if you’re aiming for several unique blog posts each week. This is where scheduling can really come in handy. It’s important to consider content creation just as important as any other aspect of your work; this means setting aside dedicated time not just to write, but to brainstorm, publish, respond to comments on blog posts, and more. If you’re really in a pinch, you might consider outsourcing your content writing to a freelancer. There are plenty of online services that allow you to post your topic ideas and keywords for qualified freelance writers to tackle for you.

Optimize your content for search

Publishing content that’s useful to your audience is great, but if you want the search engines to pick it up, you’ll need to do a little strategic optimization. One of the most important aspects of SEO in content marketing is keyword usage. Taking time to conduct keyword research will help you determine which keywords are being searched for the most frequently by your target audience. From there, you can incorporate these relevant long- and short-tail keywords into your content so that it gets picked up by the search engines. Just be sure to work relevant keywords in as organically as possible; otherwise, you could end up actually hurting your SEO.

The bottom line

Content marketing should be part of any SEO strategy, yet it is often overlooked. Great content is not only useful to your audience, but will help boost your search engine rankings in the process. And by following these tips and tricks as you develop a content marketing strategy, you’ll be on your way to success in no time.

Looking for more help with your digital marketing needs? Contact our team at Defined Digital today to find out what we can do for you.

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