The Internet is a net for good reason. All around the world, we make 63,000 Google searches every second. That comes to over 2 trillion searches in any given year.
People look for a diverse variety of things. They want to learn a fact, or they want to find a service they need in their city. What they see is determined by many different factors, including the marketing strategies of the services themselves.
Content marketing and search engine optimization are two ways of making your company be seen. You may have heard of these terms before, and you may have confused the two. They have similarities, but they are distinct approaches to attracting attention.
Understand their distinctions and you can boost your revenues today. Here is your guide.
The Basics of Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a system of several different strategies. As the name suggests, the system is designed to optimize results on a search engine.
Google has many algorithms that determine where a website appears in results and rankings. The first relates to the meaning of the search.
It takes a search term that someone types in (i.e. “where to get a hamburger”) and finds texts that include it. The closer a text is to the term, the higher it appears.
The second is content quality. This algorithm looks at whether a page contains spam, plagiarized content, or hidden text. The more legitimate the page, the higher it appears.
The third is webpage usability. Google has multiple algorithms to examine if all users can access the website and whether the site loads quickly. The more usable the site, the higher it will appear.
Under SEO, you modify your webpages bit by bit. You add keywords that people use to find terms in your content.
But they must appear naturally. They must appear in content that is good-quality and informative. The page must load fast and be easy for people to read, with short paragraphs and clear headers.
The Essentials of Content Marketing
Content marketing is a specialized kind of Internet marketing. It focuses on creating and distributing valuable content online.
The content can be anything. Most people who engage in content marketing strategy write blog posts and social media posts. But you can also write E-books.
You can shoot videos, record a podcast, or run educational classes. The key is to provide high-quality content that establishes you as an entertaining expert.
You can host the content on your website, but you also need to distribute it. Social media is the most common way to distribute your content. If you’re not up for that, you can use email blasts and networking.
Content marketing strategy takes some time to execute. You must first conduct research and determine how you can stand out. View your competitors’ content and emulate their strengths while building your own voice.
Then you have to plan out what content you want to produce. Listicles, how-to guides, and news updates are effective for any medium. But you must write outlines for your articles and do research for each one.
You can repurpose your content, but you must adopt some creative ways of doing so. You can turn a blog post into a video. In general, you should experiment with different mediums and see what works.
Once you have content out there, you need to monitor its success. View the analytics page on your website platform and see how each piece of content does. If one becomes successful, try emulating it.
Content Marketing vs SEO
Content marketing and SEO work closely together. In broad strokes, content marketing fits into the high-quality component of SEO.
By following a content strategy, you will likely appeal to algorithms that look for strong content. You will raise your website up in search results.
However, content marketing can influence SEO strategy. You must include your keywords in sentences where they make sense. Content marketing can train you to do that.
Making connections is important in both approaches. You can ask someone to write a guest post for your page, then promote it on their website. This draws their audience to your service.
Both approaches are designed for the Internet. Other marketing strategies like television ads are independent of them. You need experience with the Internet in order to make the most out of either strategy.
Though SEO involves computer algorithms, you need to appeal to human beings. If your content seems artificial, humans will not follow through on contacting your business.
SEO is about more than producing content. It is about making sure that your audience can access your website. It integrates website design and safety into its system, which content marketing doesn’t consider.
You need technical experience to make SEO work. A good writer will go far, but they need to learn website design and computer programming.
Conversely, you need strong writing and marketing skills for content marketing. A good programmer can make an appealing website, but they then need to write with intelligence and charisma.
Find the Experts on Content and SEO Marketing
Search engine optimization and content marketing are necessities in our digitized world. You must use them, yet you must distinguish between them.
Search engine optimization involves website design. You appeal to algorithms so they list your website high on result listings.
Content marketing involves creating valuable content. It can be videos, podcasts, and writing.
Content marketing lets you produce content that appeals to algorithms. But SEO values technical intelligence. You need a strong familiarity with the Internet to succeed.
Get guidance from an expert. The Introvert Media Lab offers content and SEO marketing services. Book an appointment today.
