By Chad Hill
You've likely read about the demise of SEO. Run a Google search on the phrase “SEO is dead” and just look at the results!
Truth is, most small businesses wish that SEO was dead, that SEO would just go away. It’s hard and it’s costly and most can’t do it without professional help. Sorry small business owners . . .
SEO is Alive and Well, and Still Necessary
These days, SEO is pretty much synonymous with content marketing. The Huffington Post sums the situation up pretty well: "The concept of SEO will never change, but the techniques to maintain rankings will always change." We can thank Google Updates, like Panda and Penguin, for that.
Those who are caught up on the idea of saying that SEO is dead need to be far more precise: shady backlinks and mass linking scams are over. Sure, people still sell all sorts of link scams and sometimes they work for about a minute, but Google’s gotten pretty good at shutting them down and penalizing the websites that get caught.
Whether you are taking on SEO/content marketing as a do-it-yourself project or hiring a professional SEO provider, it’s important to understand the scope of content marketing opportunities.
The Big Picture
Search engine optimization applies to a number of different areas. All of it, directly or indirectly, falls under the umbrella of content marketing:
- Onsite content
- Offsite content
- Guest blogging
- Newsjacking
- Quote in a news story (as an industry expert)
- PPC advertising
- Infographics
- Videos
- Email marketing
- Social media activity
- Native advertising
The ultimate goal: distribute your content far and wide and EARN links to your website. Google recently reaffirmed that links are still a factor in determining search results.
Now, let’s look at five important considerations for an effective SEO/content marketing plan.
1. Make it Good or Don’t Bother
Quality used to be the last thing on the minds of SEO providers because it didn’t matter. No one was going to read articles created for SEO. Everyone was writing for the search engines, meaning that keyword stuffing and anchor text keywords were all that really mattered. If an article made no sense at all, who cared?
Now quality is the first consideration — or should be! Your articles, videos, infographics, blog posts, all of it should have value to real people, and when you get it just right, those people will want to share your content with others. We’re now writing for people, not the search engines.
2. Supersize Your Reach
For every piece of content, you need to a plan to distribute that content. Start with social media (see #3 for more on that). Look into content discovery tools like Outbrain and Taboola (they’re not free, though). Post every video you produce on your YouTube channel and write keyword-rich descriptions to accompany your posts. Many websites will accept a guest post if you have a well-written, newsworthy item to contribute. Did you know that you can apply to write for influential websites like The Huffington Post and Forbes?
Many small business owners are published on those sites. Certainly, it takes time and perseverance to get published, but just imagine the payoff. Don’t forget to save a few pieces of great content to post on your company blog. Your onsite blog counts as SEO too.
3. Social Media Is Less Free Than it Used to Be
Most SEO providers advise businesses to use social media, and that is good advice. It used to be that you could post content on social media and your fans and followers would see it. Now, you have to pay for a Promoted Post on Facebook and a Promoted Tweet on Twitter if you want more than a small percentage of your followers to see your content. If you really want a particularly strong piece of content to have wide social media reach, it’s not a bad idea to pay to have it promoted.
4. The World is Mobile -- You Should Be Too
People are glued to their smartphones, and you need to adjust marketing tactics accordingly. Content needs to be mobile friendly and easy to read and skim. NEWS FLASH: On April 21, 2015, Google began considering mobile-friendly status as a factor in rankings. The mobile-friendly update known as “Mobilegeddon” is reportedly still rolling out. Don’t let your rankings suffer because your site isn’t mobile friendly. Google’s "Mobile-Friendly Test" will tell you whether or not the Googlebot sees your website as mobile-friendly.
Take a look at Google’s Guide to Mobile Sites for more information.
5. Reality Check
Most small businesses don’t have a true content marketing strategy. Those that do typically don’t know how to measure its effectiveness. SEO is a tough business and the content marketing part can be brutal. Correction: Is brutal. You have to devise a plan, implement the plan, and measure its effectiveness. Small businesses that have an SEO professional on staff or set aside budget for outsourcing SEO are going to be in the best position to compete.
Conclusion
Search engine optimization isn't dead — it’s just on a different path and the path is always shifting. Small businesses that actively participate in SEO and content marketing will generate more leads and sales than those that don’t.
