Today’s business owners want sales funnels that work! We want leads that come in consistently and quickly. We also want our website traffic to thrive so that we can collect more leads and generate more sales. To do this, you’ll need an SEO Web Design. A website already destined for search engine success, right from the start. Caution, you can’t depend on a website developer to do your Search Engine Optimization work! You want your website to feature all your goods and services while converting traffic into paid customers. To do that, you’ll need to rank your website high in Google search result rankings. and Your website can achieve all this and more by learning how to develop an SEO Content Marketing Strategy.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a strategy to ensure your website communicates with Google. Investing in SEO will bring your website to the first page for strategic niche-related keywords and phrases. It’s important to work with an SEO content writer who can help with identifying low competition strategic keywords. Based on keyword optimization, your website content writing can answer what your target audience is searching for in search engines. By focusing on writing strategic content onto your website with the right keywords, SEO helps bring free organic traffic to your website.
Of course, there is On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO. Let’s explore this further to see how it plays into your SEO content strategy!
On-Page SEO Content
On-Page SEO focuses on how content can be optimized to better communicate with Google. We do this by targeting keywords that align with what your ideal client is searching for in Google. Many business owners create websites that do not search engine friendly because they just write content from their hearts; instead, they need an SEO content strategy.
Technical On-Page SEO
A lot of small business owners want to do their own SEO because they think it’s just a matter of fabricating website writing that is full of strategic keywords. No, my friend – that’s not the case. Actually, SEO is very technical. And, for most business owners that do not like technical website stuff, then it’s best to let an expert handle your SEO. The reason is the technical on-page SEO needs to be taken care of. Here I am talking about:
- Schema Code Tags
- Alt Image Tags
- Image Compression
- Geo-tagging images for Local SEO
- Meta-descriptions
- Heading optimization
There is a lot to consider when doing on-page SEO. It’s not that you can’t do it yourself, it’s just that it’s going to take you a much longer time. And, that slow progress will hinder your return on investment, over time.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO considers how many other websites are pointing to your website. Meaning, how many other websites on the internet have your link on their website with your specific keywords. The more “backlinks” your website has the more authority Google grants your page. Generating backlinks is considered an off-page SEO strategy and is essential to ranking high in search engines.
What is an SEO Content Marketing Strategy?
An SEO marketing content strategy considers who your ideal client is, what they want to read about, and how you can deliver rich, high-quality content. However, it does not forget about keyword research. In fact, your SEO content marketing strategy must be built upon the low competition keywords that were identified in the fundamental keyword research process.
How to Create an SEO Content Marketing Strategy
Firstly, start with writing out a list of topics you’d like to write about. For example, for my business, I give tips and advice about writing your first blog post, the differences of PPC vs SEO, the importance of SEO, SEO copywriting services and more related to content marketing. But, let’s say you have an Ottawa plumbing business and so a list of topics you’d like to write about might be frozen pipes, hose bib replacements, kitchen plumbing renovations, and so on. Making a list is essential to ensure you have enough topics to write about. You want to be thinking of at least 1 blog post a week, even better if you can do more than that. I’ll explain the importance of frequent blog posts.
What is Essential for a Successful SEO Content Marketing Strategy
While keyword research is important, and I will cover that in the next section, what is also important is truly understanding your ideal client. You want to determine what bothers your client and how you can provide a solution. The more you know about your perfect client, the easier it will be to connect with them and sell to them. While SEO is about communicating with google, your content marketing strategy is also focused on providing your target audience with valuable information. This, of course, relates to greater trust and higher chances of a successful conversion rate.
What Every SEO Content Marketing Strategy Should Answer:
- Who is my exact ideal client? What are their characteristics? Where do they live? Where do they shop? Find out as much detail as possible.
- What keeps them up at night?
- How can I solve their issue?
- Why are we different from our competitors?
- How can our expertise help solve my ideal client issue?
Keyword Research
After making a list of topics you’d like to cover, let’s look at the data. A website without keyword research is not SEO optimized. You don’t want to have your website appear on the 100th page of google. Instead, you want it near the 1st or 2nd page to gain traffic. We can accomplish this with adequate keyword research. Once you have your list of topics, jump into the Google Keyword Research Tool. You can start to see the search volume for that specific topic and how competitive it is. The key to ranking quickly to the first page of Google is to target low competition keywords. You want to make a list in terms of intense competition and a priority for your business. Try to get at least 10-15 keywords to start.
Long-Tail Keywords
What if I told you that there was a way to find exactly the right keywords for your business? Well now, thanks to Google’s long-tail keyword tool – this is possible! With just one or two phrases in their system- they will provide us with more specific and relevant terms. And best yet?! These aren’t any ordinary search terms either; these hint at what people might be searching for when they need something similar to what your business offers! You can look at google searches itself to identify long-tail keywords.
Editorial Calendar
Now that you have a pretty comprehensive mixture of low competition keywords, it’s time to make a plan. I do this using an excel spreadsheet on Google sheets. This way, it’s always backed up to the cloud and is easy to share with my clients. My editorial calendar plans out exactly which pages and blogs I will create, and with which keywords. I usually make an editorial calendar 2-3 months in advance and am mindful of upcoming events or holidays. Blogs are organized to be published weekly, usually always on the same day of the week.
How To Set Up Your Blog Post
Setting up your blog post is fun and exciting, as each post is a chance to rank for a new keyword. While the SEO process can take time, if done correctly, it works like a charm!
- Be sure the title contains the keyword you wish to target
- Limit the number of times you use your long-tail and short-tail keywords. Avoid keyword stuffing at all times.
- Write for your audience, not for Google!
- Link relevant blog posts with other blog posts you’ve created. Make your website interconnected by the use of interlinking.
- Find relevant pictures to your subject matter and add the keyword to the alt-tags for the optimization of images within your blog posts.
How to Build Your SEO Content Marketing Strategy
Now that you’ve got a good handle on who you aim to serve, how to conduct keyword research, and how to blog, it’s time to put your SEO content marketing strategy to work.
- Determine your objective. Are you looking for people to sign up for your newsletter or to generate phone calls for your service business? Your overall intent matters. Reverse engineer what you’d like to happen in your content marketing strategy.
- Get to know your audience. Have you spent time talking to your ideal client? Do you already know what they are struggling with the most and how you can serve them? Have you figured out what content can be created to help them? Remember, in business, you will be successful when you stop thinking about benefiting yourself, and instead, how others can benefit.
- What sets you apart from your competition. Zoom in on how you are genuinely different than everyone else. Make sure you develop and know your elevator pitch. Or, do you know your value enough that you could explain it to a four-year-old? It shouldn’t be complicated but relatively simple and easy for others to understand.
- Use all this information to boost your editorial calendar. Choose blog titles based on the information set out in #1, #2, #3 and the keyword research. Find out your voice and how you’ll address each struggle of your ideal client.
Blog Once a Week/Minimum
The more you blog, the more keywords your website can rank for. The more keywords your website is ranking for, the greater the likelihood of your website landing on the first page of Google. And, the quicker you start getting free organic traffic, the better! So, what are you waiting for? Here are some easy tips for writing your first blog post today. Anything less than one blog a week will not gain enough traction with Google.
I need help with my SEO Content Marketing Strategy!
Are you like most business owners who want to focus on their business instead of worrying about online marketing? If you are like the majority of my clients, I’d love to hear from you. Let’s set up a free 30-minute consultation where you can tell me all about your business and your goals. Together we can build an effective SEO Content Marketing Strategy. Remember, the quicker we start, the quicker you can reap the rewards of free organic traffic! Book a free consultation to get started.
