Are you wondering why “content marketing” is the new buzzword for SEO?
This short article will not only give you an answer to that question, but help you with the next steps as well.
SEO began in the early stages of the internet, even before it had an official name. As search engines grew more advanced, marketers had to learn the ever-changing rules that ranked websites higher than others. Keywords were critical in the beginning, and many site owners stuffed their pages with the words and phrases that people were searching for, often at the expense of those reading the sites. Search engines got even smarter, and the industry shifted to keyword placement and link building. There was little thought to content marketing as the belief was the words around they keywords were irrelevant to search engines. Until recently, when search engines became even smarter.
Importance of Content
The ultimate goal is to get visitors to a website where they will spend time browsing through products and eventually purchase items from the company. In the past, bringing customers to the site meant using links that may or may not have been legitimate and packing the site full of keywords so that search engines ranked the site highly. Everyone has visited a site with poorly written content with the same word or phrase appearing in almost every sentence, and, more than likely, everyone has clicked out of those types of sites without purchasing a single item. Content marketing puts the focus back on the content of the site rather than the keywords.
Keywords Still Important
It is important to remember that keywords are still important for search engines to find websites, but there is more to it than simply throwing a few words into content. Content marketing uses well-written, grammatically correct website copy that incorporates keywords so that they flow naturally within the content. Quality content also attracts links and, more importantly, social shares, which are also increasing website rankings in search engines.
What Now?
There are several ways to create quality content on a website. First, all copy should be written with a professional tone and free of grammar or spelling errors. Keep website copy itself minimal as few visitors will read large blocks of text on the site. One of the best content marketing strategies is to post blogs or articles directly on the website with helpful tips, suggestions, product reviews and other written information that presents the company as a good resource for information. Visitors will share the content through social media, email and other methods, helping increase visibility for the website.
Content marketing is the new SEO and experts believe it will continue to grow in importance as search engine algorithms continue to be adjusted to eliminate shady practices, like shady link building or keyword stuffing. By understanding how best to use content marketing, companies will see increased traffic to their website and the potential for customer base growth as well.