Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Content Marketing both have significant roles in modern marketing, yet they are often dismissed. In this post, I will describe how SEO boosts your online presence and how content marketing increases your audience engagement. I’ll also discuss how businesses can incorporate these models to boost their sales.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing, according to the Content Marketing Institute, is a technique that creates and distributes valuable, consistent, and relevant content to invite customers.

Promoted content can be effective when they serve the readers, in leisure, or through information. However, keep in mind that your content should also relate to your business. Energy drinks, for instance, will have content mainly focusing on sports news, fitness tips, and exercise routines. Your content, in short, will depend on your target audience.

What is SEO?

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a technique that generates traffic to your website. Search engine rankings will amplify your audience reach, and most small businesses are only concerned with Google rankings.

There are 3 fundamentals of SEO

1. On-page SEO

This is where you optimized your site pages and integrate them with relevant keywords.

2. Off-page SEO

This is the part where you start doing link building to increase the credibility of your site.

3. Technical SEO

The part where you deal with technicalities in your website that hinders the dwelling time of your audiences.

SEO ranking is undeniably important. However, most brands and businesses are shooting for the rankings too, which makes SEO competitive even with paid Ads.

Content marketing & SEO

In marketing, everything is about perfect timing. And in this millennium, when anyone has queries, they simply grab their smartphone and type their questions on Google or other search engines.

Even though potential customers are often in search engines, content marketing efforts are mostly found on social media platforms or emails. These platforms can be helpful, but you’ll technically rely on the off chance that your social media post, email, or advertisement reaches your target customer at the perfect time where they’re searching for your services or products.

Yes, social media can help with customer targeting. However, SEO gives you a great deal of getting customers who are already searching for your services/products. This is one of the differences between the 2 methods of targeting audiences. Content Marketing is for finding your target audience while SEO helps you show up when a potential customer is looking for what you offer.

But the goal is to be at the right place when you’re potential clients are searching for products. And the best thing is, we can apply both.

SEO and Content Marketing: Do they fit?

If you’re a part-time local service provider searching for new customers during your weekends off, then search engine ranking is likely not appropriate nor creating a website (yet!). It is, however, advisable to utilize a more targeted approach like social media advertising using content marketing.

If your business is not locally bound or has a scalable model, then combining content marketing and SEO strategy is your best shot. You’ll be able to generate more engagement without breaking your bank. Through SEO and content marketing, you can reach more people, regardless of their location.

Both of these methods interact with each other. You can write a well-optimized blog on your website and alert your audiences through an email campaign (content marketing).

But be reminded that SEO and content marketing is not always the correct approach if the goal, budget, or time is against it. However, if your business will profit from these models, you should start now so that your competitors can fall a bit farther behind.

Search Engine Optimization & content marketing strategy

If SEO and content marketing will help your business, and I’m certain that they will, here is the general gameplay to boost more traffic using both methods:

1. Plan your content
2. Research keywords
3. Draft valuable content for your viewers/audiences
4. Publish and Optimize your content
5. Share your content to your social media platforms while creating captivating captions
6. Do an email campaign to alert your subscribers about the new blog post you’ve published
7. Re-purpose your blogs
8. Check your links and update your sitemap at least once per month

Strategy-wise, it is best to find people who can take care of these tasks so you can focus more on the other parts of your business. Both SEO and content marketing takes time to build, it is impossible to acquire result in just a week.

After you release credible and relevant content, you should be realistic and patient about the results. If your content ranks highly, then it will be a good jump-start for your business. Remember that marketing is not simple nor instant, but it will help you scale your business to great lengths.