How Content Marketing Supports SEO
When it comes to content creation efforts, boosting your brand’s SEO is likely a desired outcome. Whether creating a blog that lives on your website or working to optimize content on your YouTube channel, content marketing services can do a lot for your brand’s SEO when done properly.
What is SEO?
Simply put, search engine optimization (SEO) is focused on getting your website listed on the first page of search, and ideally in the top spot. This used to be achieved by inundating your website with keywords. However, as search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing have become more sophisticated, we now need to expand our efforts to bring brands to the top. Let’s dive into some key tactics to boost your brand’s SEO performance.
Leverage outbound and inbound links to improve ranking
An outbound link is when your content links out to other strong content for reference. We’ve done that here with Search Engine Journal’s Why Links Are Important for SEO blog. This is good for SEO particularly if you are strategic about choosing trustworthy and relevant content. However, inbound links are really where it’s at. Ideally, when you create exceptional content, another party will link out to your piece. Search engines can see those backlinks, and the more content that points to your brand’s original content, the better that piece will rank.
Keyword rich content to support search queries
As we noted above, it’s no longer a good strategy to shove keywords into your content with reckless abandon. The algorithms will notice that strategy and it could actually hurt your SEO ranking. However, it is a good idea to select a few keywords that truly apply to your business or the topic being discussed and focus on those, weaving them in where it makes sense. A keyword planner can help determine which keywords are most important.
Metadata entices readers to click through
Metadata is the HTML portion of your digital marketing content that will help visitors know what to expect. Metadata includes things like page title and description, which can help a searcher know if your page is right for them. The more times someone clicks on your page, the higher the rank will be for that keyword search, as the search engine will see that people are selecting that content in relation to the search. So, you want to make your metadata enticing and clear to attract click throughs.
Strong content helps SEO
SEO strategies have changed over time, but one thing that hasn’t changed is that excellent content can help boost your brand’s ranking. By leveraging links, properly incorporating keywords and crafting clickable metadata, your brand’s content marketing will bolster its SEO efforts.
Case in point: We have helped a local law school increase its website’s organic visitors by 45.16% in a year through a blog program focused on answering key search questions, leveraging inbound and outbound links and strategic keywords.
Want to learn more? Connect with one of our content marketing experts to learn how Beyond Fifteen can help you build an online content marketing strategy to bolster your SEO performance.