Combining SEO and Content Marketing to Win Clients

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A coordinated content marketing and SEO strategy has never been more essential to winning clients. The two have long seemed to be at odds with each other, or at the very least, seen as very separate marketing methods. In fact, the they aren’t entirely different and achieve the most when they work in coordination with each other. For businesses looking to generate quality leads, the both strategies in unison make for a powerful combination.

Oil and Water?

In the early days of SEO, it’s true, content marketers and SEOs had their battles. In the nascent stages of Google’s search algorithm, it was easier to trick the system using techniques like keyword stuffing and link buying. For a while these practices worked, and it drove content marketers insane. Spammy pages often contained little to captivate prospects once they arrived on a website. Soon though, search engines caught up with those gaming the system and they’ve since become sophisticated enough to differentiate authentic content from black hat SEO techniques.


Photo Credit: Emojipedia

We Go Together, Like…

The fact is that that content marketing and SEO intrinsically work together, and when you’re doing both right, that’s where the magic happens.

Search algorithms reward relevant, genuine content. It’s good for them; they want their users to continue using their service, so they want to ensure search results are relevant and high quality. As a result, spammy content with overused keywords has been replaced with optimized content that’s engaging, compelling, and naturally incorporates valuable keywords. The opposite is true as well. Great content pieces are based on a solid foundation of keyword and traffic research that verifies topics are truly interesting to prospects.


Photo credit: Kissmetrics

All of this is good, but how does it relate to how to attract new clients? We’re getting there.

SEO: Right Time, Right Place

Technically speaking, the building blocks of SEO are keywords; researching them, utilizing them, and achieving rankings when users search for them. The overarching goal is simpler: Search Engine Optimization is about positioning yourself in front of customers at the right time, in the right place.  When your customers jump online to search for a product or service like yours, or information related to your industry, will you be part of the select group that they consider?

Content Marketing: Kindling for the Fire

If SEO says, “Consider me!” then content marketing screams, “I’m the one!” Once SEO (surely with the help of content marketers drafting clever page titles) funnels traffic to your website, content marketing engages, tells a story, and creates a relationship with your audience. To satiate search engine algorithms and to reinforce the connection to the user’s original search, keywords are carefully placed throughout the piece. As with SEO, the overall goal of content marketing is straightforward: to create a relationship.


How to be an SEO Content Marketing Jedi

  1. Every piece of digital marketing content content should be backed by the right keywords. Keyword research allows you to understand what information, products, and services your prospects are truly looking for. In the end, there’s no point in creating content that no one will read.
  2. Similarly, SEO and content marketing should work hand in hand to achieve both site optimization and a quality user experience. Why create a good sitemap? So that users on your site can navigate your content easily.
  3. Stellar content makes getting backlinks easier. Noteworthy content gets shared naturally. Mediocre content requires begging and pleading to get the occasional backlink.
  4. Finally, both SEO and content marketing are rewarded for frequency and consistency. Which means, if you’re combining the two, you’re essentially killing two birds with one stone. Create compelling, keyword-optimized posts on a regular basis.

So is it SEO or Content Marketing? Who Cares!

In the current landscape, SEO and content marketing can’t live without each other. Yes, content was king, but compelling, SEO-backed content now rules. Many make the case that SEO is the same as content marketing, but the fact is that it truly doesn’t matter. Stepping out of the trenches of marketing minutia makes it very clear that employing both of these strategies effectively maximizes opportunities and brand awareness.

Is your organization looking to be in the right place at the right time? Contact us to learn about NetStrategies’ digital capabilities and how we get our clients more wins.