SEO vs. Content Marketing: You Pick the Winner!
by Josette MIllar
Web marketing is full of difficult decisions. Classic link-building is being challenged by content-creation strategies. Approaches evolve so quickly – sometimes its hard to keep a fix on what is working best as opposed to what folks have decided was last weeks fad.
On Links, Competition and Analytics
Whats up in the online marketing world this month? Are we being encouraged to stick with the classic link-building and keyword-marketing techniques – or is it time for the broader realm of content marketing?
Smart, online entrepreneurs and long-established businesses alike are asking the same questions. Should we focus on the classic SEO, keyword targeting and link building, which works and shows this when analyzed? Or should we start thinking broadly in terms of a full content-marketing strategy? Link-building means researching keywords to target. Then you go out and find potential opportunities for earning links. Follow this up with a little bit of comparative analysis.
This means that the faithful run the Keyword Difficulty tool to look at how people ranking for that same keyword have done. They look at the link metrics versus on-page optimization, but mostly it’s around link opportunities.
With active outreach, competitive links and open link opportunities emerge all around the Web. It pays off when you push for direct outreach and direct link-building. This process is definitely not passive. And you move up in the rankings.
Links are still a big part of the search engines’ algorithms. For both Google and Bing. In time, if the needle is moving up on your links more than your competition – chances are good you can outrank them.
Content Marketing is a Completely Different Approach
To effectively approach content marketing you will utilize a very different strategy. Success depends on asking the right questions, and providing the right answers.
- Who is the audience I want to reach?
- Who and where online are all the people in that audience group?
- What forums and modes of communication or information sharing do they use?
- What channels are they using to discover content, share interests, and influence one another?
- Where are they going to discover new stuff – like the products, services, or mission that you are currently trying to fulfill or make available?
- Are they using Twitter and Facebook?
- Where else can you find them?
- How do you approach them once there?
The secret is to create content that will really appeal to your target audience. Discover their favorite way to educate themselves. It can be by YouTube video, webinars, blog posts – even free tools.
What will attract your audience to you the most? Its all about generating inbound traffic to your website by luring them there through their keenest interests. You must deliver, though. Getting them there is only half the battle.
Anytime you deliver premium, significant content that delivers sought-after information – you will attract your audience with an opportunity to send them into your sales funnel.
The more valuable the content that is delivered, the more people will follow your social accounts, subscribe to your email, and become personalized by the connections they’ve developed with you or your staff. If they got to you through Google, their Google search results will be biased in your favor.
You’ll even move up a little in SEO because your domain authority grew some and you got a few links and referral traffic as well.
The Google Factor
Google’s algorithm has continued to get more and more focused on things that are outside of just how many linking root domains you have, or whether your anchor text includes your keywords, while pointing to a page that you’re targeting.
For small businesses focused on local visibility, marketing (sharing) content via blogs, Google+ and Facebook – attracting links doesn’t require mega-bucks. It is only a matter of effort and education.
When getting away from “building” links, you focus on solving problems with answers (content marketing) that people link to (and share), because it’s truly helpful.
This removes the temptation to hype – and your public will appreciate you for this.