SEO and content marketing: Creating content with keywords in mind

Thanks to Emily Thompson, online marketing coordinator for Kutenda Online Marketing Software, for this week's guest post. 

Couple thoughts I (Joe) had while reading this.  First, you need to understand your brand persona first and foremost when it comes to SEO and content marketing.  In other words, what do you need to be a true expert in to drive your business? That will help determine the tactics Emily speaks to. 

Also, regarding Emily's last point, design-intensive content marketing, through devices such as the iPad, is becoming more important.  As content marketers, we need to start understanding that "content" is the combination of words and pictures (and the context). We can and do gain credibility off of both.  Although I'm biased, like Emily, toward the word, I am more focused on the interplay between both more than ever.

SEO and Content Marketing

Content is King. If you’re doing content marketing, you understand its importance, and the trust it builds with the community and your target audience. Content is at the heart of all your online marketing efforts because it not only engages readers, it also tells the search engines that you have something of value. SEO and content marketing go hand-in-hand.

Keeping your SEO goals in mind when creating your content is extremely powerful. A great way to start is to construct your content marketing and creation plan around the keywords you would like to rank for. When writing your content, factor in the keywords you would like to focus on. Here are a few recommended first steps:

• Start by using a keyword tool, such as the Google keyword tool, to research which keywords could be the most profitable and provide you with the most traffic (the right kind of traffic). While the Google keyword tool is designed for paid search efforts, it can be a good indicator of traffic volume and introduce you to common variations of your product or service you may not have considered. It also provides you with the actual terms people are using in search-not just your industry jargon. The results may surprise you!
• After you’ve determined which keywords you’d like to concentrate on, it’s time to start incorporating these in your content. For on-page website content, it’s recommended to use three variations of your core keyword, about six-to-eight times per page, focusing the majority on your main search term. Remember to keep it natural, and provide good, informative text.
• It’s also important to be consistent with your chosen keywords throughout the other areas of your content marketing. Don’t use one term in your website content, and another in your white papers. Continuity is imperative to your online marketing efforts and it will help strengthen your position.
• Users will also link to sites that have great content. Those inbound links are vital to improving your search engine rankings. The search engines see an inbound link from a quality site as a vote for you - the more votes, the better!

In many ways, content is often more important than design. Visitors will return to your site as long as they can learn something, regardless of whether it’s the “prettiest” or not (think craigslist!). Remember, valuable content is crucial to attaining new business. By utilizing SEO and other online marketing avenues, you will bring attention to that content and help your business grow.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Comments

[cynthia bailey md]

I appreciate to concise recommendations on how many times to use the key words and to be consistent among my other content. My dermatology/medical blog is new and I'm developing my writing style. I need the reminder that key words count tremendously or I'm writing to a nonexistent readership. Thanks. Cynthia Bailey MD http://www.otbskincare.com/blog/

[Heather Lloyd-Martin]

Hello!

Great article - thanks so much for writing it.

Something to consider - there's not really a hard and fast rule about how many times to include a keyword. With some pages, including the keyword 6-8 times may be too much. With other pages, you may be able to get away with using more keywords. It all depends on the keyword competitiveness, the overarching content marketing strategy, and how the keyphrase "sounds" within the copy.

Also, another great keyword tool (and one that's probably a bit more reliable than Google's) is WordStream (www.wordstream.com.) WordStream has a free and a paid version - and even their free tools are very robust. Wordtracker (www.wordtracker.) and KeywordDiscovery (www.keyworddiscovery.com) are also very good. :)

Hope this helps! Thanks!

[Randy Duermyer]

Good post. I agree that keywords play an important role in content marketing, as I wrote about at http://marketitwrite.com/blog/2009/12/keyword-research-and-content-marketing/.

I also agree with Joe's intro that the keywords you use need to resonate with the persona you are targeting. What's not mentioned here is the additional consideration that should be given to keywords that are popular in your local market, if you operate locally or regionally and that's where your prospects are.