Is it just me, or have all the so-called SEO strategy experts gone crazy in claiming that content marketing is slowly overtaking SEO as the primary method for better search engine rankings? Are the two really that separate? Or do they even have to be?
If you do a Google search using the keywords “SEO” and “content marketing,” you’ll most likely find results that make you believe the two are separate when they’re actually not, or should they be.
You see, with today’s ever-changing SEO trends and content marketing techniques, people are starting to become confused over search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing. This is why you often get questions like, “which is better for small businesses, SEO or content marketing?” when the truth of the matter is both of them are most effective when put together.
SEO is all about content marketing and vice versa.
Have you ever heard of the phrase “content is king”? Do you know what it refers to or what it actually means?
Content is king because whether you’re doing SEO or content marketing, the quality of your content has a significant impact on your SEO efforts. The same goes with the inverse: without a quality SEO method, your content will not reach the audience it’s intended for.
In other words, SEO and content are like ketchup and fries, peanut butter and jelly, or bacon and cheese. They’re good individually, but they are even better when put together in a balanced, seamless fashion.
So what is the problem? Why isn’t your small business SEO strategy working? You’ve tried partnering up with the best content writing services available, but still you’re not getting the results you should? Why is that?
Well, the most likely culprit is that your SEO and content marketing strategies are not fully integrated, they are not synced well, and both strategies just don’t fit together as they should. This is ultimately the crux of the problem—believing that SEO and content are two entirely separate entities when in fact they are not.
The Truth about SEO for Small Business and Content Marketing
If you want to understand the role of content in SEO and the role of SEO in content marketing, you must first accept the fact that both are intertwined. There is no SEO without content and there is no content without SEO. That is if we’re talking about real and lasting SEO strategies, not some black hat SEO tactic that will only get you in trouble with Google.
The key to a successful SEO or content marketing campaign is proper integration of both elements, a synergistic approach that can only be achieved through proper understanding of both concepts.
SEO and content marketing should be viewed as one, not as separate, entities.
Now, just because SEO and content marketing should be viewed as one doesn’t mean that they don’t have differences or any distinguishing factors. SEO and content marketing can be distinguished from one another through several crucial aspects. Remember, though, that while there may be several contrasting points between the two, it is still impossible to separate them entirely.
The key differences between SEO and content marketing:
- SEO is the technical side of online marketing. It’s a bit narrower and more precise.
- Content marketing is the more holistic approach and a bit broader.
With these key distinctions, at which point do both elements converge in the online marketing process?
Well, SEO works well with content marketing when the specific technical aspects of SEO and its more efficient techniques are applied in the implementation of your content marketing strategy. And the best way to maximize the effects of your SEO strategy is to apply the holistic and broader approach that content marketing provides.
As you can see, the integration of SEO and content marketing offers a far better effect than the sum of its individual parts. That is the power of synergy.
The Marriage of SEO and Content Marketing
SEO and content marketing fit together perfectly because one fulfills the need of the other and vice versa. Here’s how both elements complement each other:
SEO requires content. Content marketing is all about creating quality content.
Whether it’s SEO for small business or SEO in general, it can’t survive without proper content. SEO needs content, it needs substance, keywords, descriptions, articles, blogs, and so on in order to become relevant. In other words, SEO can’t exist without content.
In the past, SEO may have been an independent online marketing strategy. But today, with organic search and Google’s sophisticated search algorithms, content has essentially become all-powerful in the online marketing game. In short, all SEO strategies rely on SEO content writing services to produce high quality content.
SEO needs keywords. Content marketing is all about using keywords in an organic and natural way.
The use of keywords or key phrases has always been a staple, a fundamental component of the SEO process. SEO specialists spend considerable amount of time researching keywords, utilizing them in an effective manner, and tracking the website’s ranking of them in the search engine results page (SERP).
Now, here’s a question. How are you going to use those keywords and key phrases? You’ve invested your time and effort in researching high ranking keywords; what’s next? The short answer is content marketing.
That is the only way your tireless research will payoff, by using the keywords you’ve uncovered throughout your content in an efficient and strategic manner.
Keep in mind that content marketing is all about creating high quality content that appeals to your target audience. But to make sure that your target audience finds your content in the vastness of the Internet, you need to use the right keywords and key phrases. And you find those through top-notch SEO work.
SEO addresses onsite technical optimization. Content marketing relies on optimum user-experience.
As previously stated, SEO is the technical side of online marketing. It’s more than just keyword research and integration, blogs, linkbacks, and articles. SEO is also about optimizing web pages through proper optimization of metadata, meta tags, strategic sitemap construction, optimization of landing pages, and so on. The goal for all of this effort is to provide better user-experience.
Now, in order for your content marketing to work efficiently, you need web pages that offer great user-experience. And you can achieve that through proper technical optimization, which is covered by none other than SEO.
How the Marriage of SEO and Content Marketing Will Affect Your Online Marketing Efforts and Your Business as a Whole.
1. SEO is content marketing. Content marketing is SEO.
If you want to boost your brand’s online presence, you need to implement top-quality content marketing strategies. To ensure the best content marketing strategy, you need top-notch SEO. And if you want your SEO to be effective, you need quality content.
2. SEO campaigns are doomed to failure without proper content integration, and vice versa.
It may seem redundant, but this is an important point. You can’t expect your SEO campaign to succeed without properly integrating quality content marketing. And you can’t expect your content marketing strategy to work without proper SEO.
