How to Integrate Content Marketing & SEO

It’s not always about creating a virtual presence of brands online. Sometimes, it is also about using modern marketing techniques for storytelling and captivating the audience’s attention online. And integration of content marketing strategy and SEO does the same for a brand. It offers the benefits of two digital marketing strategies in one.
For years, traditional marketing has been combining different techniques for better results. For instance, creating ads that suit the likes of both newspaper and television audiences is not new to many. However, since many companies are shifting their focus to digital marketing, it is not surprising that many brands have started combining digital marketing techniques to gain maximum traction and increase sales numbers.
In this article, we’ll take you through the reasons why the integration of content marketing and SEO can reap benefits for brands. But before that, let’s understand the meaning of content marketing and SEO.

What Is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is a digital marketing strategy focused on developing effective content that adds value to the knowledge of the customer. The main aim of content marketing is to persuade customers to buy a product or service using words in the form of ads, texts, emails, blogs, articles etc.
It is believed that content marketing is one of the effective ways to attract and retain customers. That’s why many brands are using content marketing to promote their brand.

What Is SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a widely used digital marketing technique. Marketing managers who find it hard to articulate digital marketing definition can easily define SEO. So, what is SEO? It is a process that helps a website or an advertisement rank high on search engines. It is different from paid advertising as it helps brands generate organic traffic with the help of optimized content and intelligent strategic planning.
Content marketing and SEO emphasize the content or message of the advertisement. That’s why integrated content marketing and SEO strategies help brands gain more traction and reach. Here’s how to integrate SEO and content marketing strategy to gain a competitive advantage.

How to Integrate SEO And Content Marketing Strategy?

Companies worldwide have started working on publishing SEO-optimized content on their website to achieve their business goal. If your business goal is to attract audiences and increase your sales numbers cost-effectively, then here are some techniques that will help you integrate SEO into content marketing strategy and reap benefits.

Keyword strategy

Keyword strategy holds a great significance in content marketing and SEO. The dictionary defines a keyword as “a word or concept of great significance.” A keyword strategy is a process of seeking keywords matching the target audience’s needs. Many companies have started applying keyword strategy while writing content to rank high on search engines organically.
For developing SEO-optimized content, the writing and marketing team seek keywords that hold significance to their target audience. Then, they use it while formulating content for advertisement or customer interaction and get more traffic.

Integrating campaign planning

Every company follows an editorial calendar that includes – the framework of the long-term content and marketing plan, consistency and quality of the content, roles, and responsibilities of the team in the marketing plan, and more.
A great way to integrate content marketing and SEO is to align the editorial calendars. It will help the marketing and content team create plans that include different content marketing and SEO strategies. Primarily, it will help brands attract more audiences with a well-designed plan.

Evaluate content

When the content and marketing teams work in alignment, brands achieve what they desire. That’s why many brands are integrating the teams to reap the benefits of amalgamation. With the help of the marketing team, the content team can perform a timely evaluation of content, which will help them make changes according to the trend and generate relevant content. In addition, it will help search engines track and place the brand’s content on the top.

Concentrate on quality

For years there has been a notion attached to digital advertisements that quantity matters. However, in 2011, a Google survey report revealed that quality advertisements rank better on the search engine. So, brands took the survey results in stride and shifted their focus to developing quality content. But the content team of many brands found it hard to wrap their head around the content prerequisites stated by Google and other search engines. It led to poor quality of content.
However, whenever integrated content marketing and SEO teams work together, they formulate content that matches the Google prescribed rules. As a result, SEO-optimized content increases the chances of attracting massive traffic to the website or product pages.

The understanding first page of the search engine

Integrated content marketing strategies help the content team understand the first page of the search engine. As a result, they get to know about the trending topics on a search engine, headlines that are most likely to get clicked, keywords that need to be used, and more.
The content team spends months working on the content of the brand.

They do in-depth research and qualitative research to formulate a unique brand message that resonates with the company’s vision. However, without proper implementation of SEO, SEM, and other strategies, the content cannot intrigue the audience’s attention. Therefore, brands are integrating content marketing and SEO to widen their reach. Continue reading to know why content strategy and SEO need to work together.

Why Should Content Strategy and SEO Work Together?

Here are some reasons why content and SEO teams should work together.

• Integrated content marketing and SEO strategies help build a connection with the customers.
• Helpful in tracking leads and optimizing content for maximum traffic generation.
• Thoughtful, integrated content marketing and SEO strategy help in improving the organic search presence of the brand. In addition, brands can get their content ranked on the first page.
• SEO helps in optimizing content and also proliferates to target audiences easily.
• Integrated content marketing and SEO strategy produce content that elevates the user experience.

Although integrating content marketing strategy and SEO is not imperative, there are many benefits that a brand can enjoy.

What Are the Benefits of Using A Common Strategy?

There are many benefits of using SEO-optimized content. One among the many is that it helps brands stay one step ahead of their competitors. In addition, it also helps brands captivate the market by featuring on the first page of the search engine. Furthermore, the integration of content and SEO proves cost-effective and less time-consuming.

For instance, if you are a brand waiting to proliferate into the market, then having a common strategy for promoting your product or services will help you recover the costs in no time. However, integrating these two processes is no child’s play. You will need talented and skilled employees who will carry out the amalgamation process in the organization. So, you’d look out for digital marketing professionals having a professional certificate or experience in digital marketing.

Similarly, if you are an aspiring digital marketing professional, it is highly recommended to take up a digital marketing programme. Emeritus India‘s digital marketing training programme will prepare you to carry out many strategic functions without any peril, helping you accelerate your career and secure a high-paying job.