Gin and Tonic, Mac and Cheese, Mario and Luigi. These are iconic duos where you just can’t have one without the other. What’s another iconic duo? Content Marketing and SEO.
Some small business owners, and even digital marketers, use the two interchangeably. However, the reality is that they are separate entities. Of course, SEO and content marketing are natural complements and work seamlessly together at times. But it’s important to know the difference between the two, so you can use both aspects effectively when growing your business.
Once you understand and implement both efforts properly, they will build on each other to take your marketing campaigns to new heights. In fact, at Uyo Digital Marketing, content marketing and SEO are our bread and butter (another iconic duo) for exceeding client expectations and helping them grow their businesses. Schedule a consultation with our experts if you’d like to know more.
So, let’s chat about the differences between content marketing and SEO, how they work together, and how you can combine them to create excellent results.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” Simply put, this technique is the process of improving your website for increased visibility on search engines. Increased visibility in search means more opportunities to garner attention, build brand awareness, and attract more paying customers. When people search for services or products related to your business, you want them to find you instead of your competitor.
SEO can get your small business where you want it to go through technical tune-ups, targeted optimization, and regular maintenance. However, without high-quality content, your SEO will struggle. Search engines want to give their users the most helpful information possible. So their algorithms favor well-written, accurate, and up-to-date content.
What is Content Marketing?
Think of content marketing as the sales pitch. Depending on the customer, you might need to speak to their interests, emotions, pain points, budget, curiosity, or a vast number of other things to get the sale.
Content marketing’s goal is to take that sales pitch and share it with a group of people that share the same interests, values, or pain points to get sales or clients on a larger scale. Along the way, you’re also providing value to this targeted audience, building brand loyalty, and establishing yourself as the go-to in your industry.
Why are some people die-hard Apple users while others are die-hard Android users? In part, it’s because of great content marketing campaigns aimed at those audiences.
Of course, you may have the most exceptional piece of content ever written, but it’s no use if people can’t find it to read it. That’s where SEO comes in. Content is like a great meal at a restaurant, and SEO is like the signage telling you how to get there. You can’t eat the world’s best lasagna if you can’t find the restaurant where it’s served.
How to Bring Content Marketing and SEO Together
There are entire college courses that discuss how content marketing and SEO dance together. For the sake of brevity, let’s talk about two of the main ways you can include both for a successful marketing campaign.
Write Content with Search Engines in Mind
Create content for your website that appeals to your audience and answers their questions. But also be mindful of how search engines are crawling and indexing your writing. For best results, follow these tips:
- Write about niche topics that directly pertain to your business’s services or products.
- Link to other related content on your website and outside websites.
- Include important keywords that your audience may be typing into a search query.
Alternatively, if you’re outsourcing your content marketing to an agency, make sure that they’re well-versed in the ever-changing methods of SEO.
Publish New Content and Update Older Content Regularly
Creating high-quality content on a schedule gives your visitors a reason to keep coming back to your site. These repeat visits put your products and services in front of them over and over. But refreshed content also benefits you from an SEO perspective.
Search engines rank you higher when they see that you continually update your site and add fresh content. Each new piece of content also adds to the potential keywords you could rank for, giving you more opportunities to draw in new customers.
Remember, search engines want to provide their users with the most up-to-date information possible. So be sure to update older content if something in your industry or niche has changed. For example, if you own a real estate business, you may need to update that article you wrote three years ago about the housing market.
Organizing your SEO and content marketing efforts takes time and consistency, especially when you’re beginning to grow your business. But the results are worth the investment.
If writing and optimizing content is falling to the wayside, it might be time to outsource it to a trusted professional. Uyo Digital Marketing is happy to take care of it for you. Contact us today to get started on a plan that helps you realize your business’s potential.
