We have all heard the old adage ‘content is king’, but the concept of brand-published content influencing SEO is still relatively new. As we grapple with a foray of new platforms, it’s probably worth going right back to basics to ensure we first have the essentials well in hand.
So, what does content marketing actually mean?
In a nutshell, content marketing is the practice of creating and sharing of content in its many guises to acquire customers.
This content may come in the form of blog articles, white papers and case studies, video tutorials or interviews, images and so on. More important, perhaps, than the format of the content is the fact that it is of value to the recipient and is easily accessible.
The goal is to attract prospects and convert them into customers, while encouraging existing customers to become loyal ones.
What is content marketing NOT about?
Perhaps the most helpful way to explain content marketing is to define what it does not set out to do – and that is to overtly sell.
Content marketers tread a fine line here, as the type of content published is, naturally, closely related to the business’ product or service. Yet the point of content, as distinct from advertising, is to educate people around the product or service provided so that they come to know, like and trust you enough to choose yours.
Content marketing and SEO
Content marketing speaks to people who don’t want advertising when making purchase decisions – they prefer valuable information. You have probably heard that it is content that people are seeking out online; it is also good quality content that Google values and ranks well in its results.
Alluring as the prospect of high organic search rankings is, remember to write for your audience and not the search engines. Stuff your copy with keywords and the readability of your content will always suffer and your audience will drop off.
Offer informative content and this will result naturally in solid rankings and promote the sharing activity that search engines love – it will also ultimately drive conversions.
Fuel content marketing with social media
Social media marketing is the engine that drives followers to content published on your own site. Used correctly, it makes your content work far harder for you. As a minimum, you should be sharing each blog, video or other piece of content posted via links on your Facebook page, Twitter account and LinkedIn profile where appropriate.
Furthermore, social signals are an important component of SEO and will factor in natural rankings. As with backlinks, think quality and not quantity: the authority and activity of the account doing the sharing holds more weight than the number of shares.
The guiding rule here is to make it as easy for your audience to share your content as possible. You’ll need to install social sharing buttons to each post to make this as simple as a single click for time-strapped readers.
The importance of consistency
Once you have implemented a content marketing strategy for your business, strive to create consistent updates. Your audience will come to expect regular output and if they arrive at your site or social channels to find stale content, they’ll swiftly lose interest.
Optimal frequency of publishing will vary from business to business, with some posting updates throughout the day. We recommend no fewer than two updates per week to keep the momentum and interest going. Whether handling content creation in-house or outsourcing to an agency, aim to keep the tone, style and frequency consistent and avoid falling into the trap of starting out stronger than you’ll be able to maintain.
Photo: 10ch
