We are frequently approached by businesses that publish weekly blog posts that aren’t driving search traffic. It’s frustrating; they are putting in the time, money, and effort, so why aren’t they seeing results?
Blog writing without a content marketing strategy woven with SEO tactics, is often a waste of time and resources. Without one, your blogs may suffer from limited visibility and discoverability in search results. A proper SEO content strategy will help you gain visibility, attract the right audience, convert readers into customers, and ultimately achieve sustainable long-term success.
What Is Content Marketing and Why Is It Essential for SEO?
Although this article will touch solely on the blog portion of content marketing, it is important to understand it as a whole. Content marketing refers to the strategic approach of creating, publishing, and distributing content to attract and engage your target audience, help you rank better in SERPs, and ultimately generate leads. It is blogs, videos, audio, or other types of media that can communicate your brand value, demonstrate your expertise, share your experience, and build trust in an authentic way.
It is essential for SEO because Google’s algorithms are always evolving to give people helpful and relatable content. If you want your website to be more visible in search results, you need high-quality and optimized content. Without it, Google has limited understanding of what your site is about and therefore may not suggest it to searchers.
Without a content marketing strategy that carries forward known on- and off-page SEO tactics, your content has less value online.
Blogs Can Improve Your Visibility Online
A study done by Demand Metric shows that companies with consistent blogs produce 67% more leads than companies without. Blogs contribute to SEO by:
- Improving your company’s ranking in search engines.
- Establishing your business as a thought leader in its field.
- Driving traffic to your website.
This works for several reasons.
- With a proper content strategy, you can target and rank for long-tail keywords.
- Your website ranks for a number of keywords related to your business, driving traffic to your website.
- If the content is valuable, other businesses will link to it as a resource, providing you with backlinks.
- Google uses these keywords and backlinks to rank your company as a legitimate information source and begins suggesting your content to searchers with the right intent.
Creating a Cohesive Content Marketing Strategy for SEO
A cohesive SEO content marketing strategy is pivotal to achieving the desired outcomes from your blog. The foundation of this strategy should be rooted in data-driven decisions, recognizing that the goal of your SEO content strategy is to improve your visibility online, thus driving traffic to your website
Your overall strategy will lead the direction of your content. It encompasses an understanding of your target audience and their interests. Ask yourself what they might be searching for online. How can your content help them? What frequency of content publication aligns with your objectives? And, how will you amplify your content’s reach among your intended audience? With these questions in mind, conducting keyword research, and creating a thorough content calendar will help to keep you and your content on track.
Every single piece of content you put out needs to be engaging, valuable, and search-focused, and include SEO best practices.
Start Optimizing Your Content Today
A strong SEO content marketing strategy is essential. Without it, you’ll struggle with visibility, audience engagement, conversions, and sustained success. At Method and Metric, we blend content strategy and content creation with SEO to ensure that your blogs drive results. Get in touch today!