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Ubersuggest now tells me the value of my organic traffic to my website. In other words there is a dollar figure assigned to drive website traffic. This figure is based on how much it would cost in ad spend for the same amount of traffic.
That’s why content marketing is such a good strategy to drive long-term value. There certainly is a cost when it comes to production but the results can compound.
Remember:
- Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing
- Content is the key to improving SEO
Of course, we want all the roads leading to our business website. Content marketing is how you build those roads. And more importantly keep them in the shape to carry traffic. It helps to envision content as the backbone of any online marketing strategy.
Let’s look at how to make it work.
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Getting internal buy-in
For content marketing to work you have to get internal buy-in and internal champions. Sometimes that means that you have to translate contact speak into speak of other departments.
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One way to get more buy-in from let’s say the finance people is to use their language. For example, Mike Stevens of InsightPlatforms.Com mentioned on “Reel Talk: The Customer Insights Show” that top of the funnel content should be referred to as future cash flow. More about the concept here.
That’s really a fantastic way to look at it and is the truth and works like that.
Understanding SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it’s the practice of using a combination of strategies to increase a website’s ranking on search engines. The idea is that the higher your rank, the more customers will see you, and the stronger your business will become.
It’s also important here to remember to find out what people are actually searching for and what you have a chance to rain
Read next: Local SEO: How to get local links that help your business drive more leads
What is content?
Content can mean many things to many people. It can look like images, videos, or written material. When done right, content is rooted in both information and experience.
In essence, content is any piece of speech, writing, images, or video that is used to convey ideas. For the purpose of marketing, content is the substance of any medium you use to get your message across, boost your brand, or promote a sale. At its core, you cannot have SEO without quality content.
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Why Does Content Matter?
Content matters for two fundamental reasons:
It’s What They Are Looking For
Users might be impressed with the design and color scheme of a site, but it’s the information therein that they come looking for. The relevance of the content of a website is just as important as how it looks. The visuals are a valuable part of the user experience, but their answers will be found in the content.
SEO
Written content is one of the most fundamental aspects of any successful digital marketing strategy, especially any strategy that focuses on SEO. Content allows you to answer questions users might by asking and insert keywords that help increase your online presence.
What Does Bad Content Look Like?
Before we can explain the best practices for content, it’s essential to understand what it should not look like:
Poorly Written
This one seems simple, but there’s more to it than misspellings and grammatical errors. Many new writers make some common mistakes that make their writing unreadable and unfriendly to SEO.
Issues like having large blocks of text, not having enough headers and sub-headers, or not varying paragraph structure can make it hard for users to read through your content and harm your chances of increasing your rankings.
Not Having a Well-Defined Audience
How do you expect someone to read your content if you don’t know whom you’re writing to? Understanding where your potential reader might be on the buyer’s journey or the type of questions they might be asking will inform your writing. If you do not think like your potential viewer, you simply won’t capture their attention.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is pretty much what it sounds like, over-using keywords in written content to try to trick search engines. This practice is egregious for two reasons:
- it’s generally unappealing to read if every other word in your blog does not make sense in context
- search engine algorithms have been updated to identify this practice, and if they catch you, it will negatively impact your position on search engine result pages.
What Does Good Content Look Like?
Good content is:
Original
You should always try to find new information that cannot be easily found elsewhere. The internet is oversaturated with content about the same topics, but if you can find a new perspective or tap into a different aspect of a topic that no one else has discussed, you just accessed a new niche in which you are the authority.
Informative
Users go online with questions, and it’s your job to provide the answers they need. Creating engaging and informative content that responds directly to user requests is the most effective way to engage people and keep them reading for longer, which ultimately helps your SEO.
Current
The job isn’t done after posting a blog or other content. Regular updates and making sure information is still relevant means you can get more mileage out of it. The more relevant to the current trends, the more effective your content will become.
Time to Start Improving Your Content Marketing Strategy
Understanding the principles of content creation is the first step to improving your process and, in turn, your SEO tactics. So, keep your content creative, original, and formative, and soon you’ll see your site rise in the search engine result pages.