3 Reasons Content Marketing vs SEO isn’t the question you should be asking

Pitting Content Marketing against Search Engine Optimisation is a loss for all involved, especially your business. Here’s why…

Have you heard the news?

SEO is dead.

Long live SEO!

Content is the new king…

…or so the headlines would have you believe.

Today I’m here to tell you that this isn’t the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

In fact, favouring one over the other may be one of the biggest mistakes your business could make.

But why?

Let’s find out…

Content Marketing killed the SEO star…or did it?

Like all good celebrity gossip, sites love pitching rumours of a split between Content Marketing and SEO.

And for good reason:

It makes for a great headline.

As we’ve covered in the past, controversial headlines are a key ingredient in creating viral content. What’s more controversial than announcing the death of SEO?!?

That’s not to say marketing doesn’t have its fair share of rivalries.

• Television or digital marketing?
• Facebook Ads or Google AdWords?
• And the list goes on…

But when it comes to Content Marketing and SEO, fighting really is futile.

Instead of pitting these two online marketing superstars against each other, here’s a few reasons you should be doing everything you can to bring them together in the name of search traffic, leads, and sales.

1They don’t compete, they compliment

Content Marketing and SEO?

As the cool kids on Social Media are wont to say:

“Name a more iconic duo…I’ll wait.”

In other words, these two couldn’t be closer.

That’s made even clearer when they try and fly solo.

Let me put it this way:

Even the greatest book ever written won’t garner a fan base if no one knows it exists. And the same can be said of content. Without the support of proven SEO techniques, your content will:

• Never be found or seen by your target audience.
• Fail to rank well within Google search engine results.
• Miss out on the links it needs to boost its – and your site’s – presence in search.

In the exact same way, SEO alone can only get your site so far if it doesn’t have Content Marketing by its side. You can optimise your site and ensure areas like Title Tags, Headings, and Meta Descriptions are working in your favour all day long, but…

…if you fail to follow this up with content, you’re nothing more than an empty book with a flashy title: largely hollow, and quickly placed back on the search shelf.

So if you’re looking to boost leads and sales, you need both on your side.

Why?

Because…

2They’re a match made in marketing heaven

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

If Content Marketing and SEO were a venn diagram, they’d be one concentric circle.

That’s why it’s just so absurd that anyone would try and break them apart. Sure, on their own they may achieve some limited success…

…but why would you ever want to limit your potential?

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that if you’re currently creating content or optimising your site without much thought to the other, chances are you’re wasting valuable time, money, and opportunities to engage with your ideal customer.

Not sure what I mean?

Think of it this way:

SEO puts you in front of the people who are searching for your products or services.

That is, it strikes up conversations with purchase ready customers, online.

But like any good conversation starter, it’s only as good as the content that follows. You know, the kind of content that continues this conversation with the aim of convincing, and then converting, these people into leads or sales.

Practically, this could see SEO boosting your content’s performance by ensuring you’re:

• Writing about the topics and pain points your customers are interested in.
• Optimising for relevant terms that purchase-ready customers are searching for at this very moment.
• Securing links, third party endorsements, and votes of authority that can see you supercharge its search rankings and brand awareness.

Similarly, SEO wouldn’t be what it is without content. It addresses issues with thin pages and duplicate content, boosts your site’s relevant keyword usage, and provides ample opportunities to promote and link back to your site.

At the end of the day?

One without the other is simply dooming both!

Luckily, chances are…

3You’re likely using both already, you just don’t know it

Here’s something that might surprise you…

Content Marketing and SEO both have the exact same goal.

It’s true!

These two forms of digital marketing are aimed squarely at increasing your search presence, boosting your brand reputation and, in turn, growing your enquiries, leads, and sales.

That’s why when you’re doing one, you’re more than likely inadvertently doing the other.

What do I mean, exactly?

Think about that blog post you just published to your accountancy site. You know, the one about choosing the right accountant. That’s a highly relevant piece of content that also uses relevant terms and keywords.

That’s SEO!

How about the optimisations you just made to your site’s Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, or Headings? When doing so, you wrote up a summary of your products and added this to your Services page to talk to and inform potential customers.

That’s Content Marketing!

These are all small ways you’re harnessing the power of SEO and Content Marketing, together.

Though while you may be doing a little of each…

…you could still be do better…

Maximising SEO & Content Marketing? It’s as easy as…

Are you looking to maximise your business’s potential by combining the power of SEO and Content Marketing? If so, then try these super easy ideas that’ll help you supercharge your results:

1. Carry out keyword research and find the terms that relate to your business’s products, services, and customer pain points.
2. Start creating some great content using these terms, while optimising both your content and your site’s Title Tags, Headings, Meta Descriptions, and even Image Alt Tags.
3. Combine the two together – your content and its SEO optimisations – with some proven white hat link building techniques like Guest Articles to really get the best of both worlds.

If you’re short of time, Found can work with you to combine the very best of both Content Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation into a strategy that increases the enquiries, leads, and online sales you get for your business.

Find out more by booking your free consultation.

CM & SEO = BFFs

At the end of the day, Content Marketing and SEO don’t have to be mortal enemies.

No matter what the headlines say.

Pitting these two against each other is simply limiting your business’s opportunities for growth, and for what? Start to bring the two together, however, and you’ll soon find you’re maximising your potential to generate leads, enquiries, and sales…and fast!