Marketers Should Make Content Interesting, Not Sales-Focused

Content marketing is an efficient method for businesses to engage new prospects, nurture leads, and upsell clients. 

To create effective content, your business must speak directly to a buyer's needs and pain points and include SEO best practices to increase the likelihood the content will rank well in search engines and get in front of potential customers. When you create SEO-optimized content, you'll begin to see higher quality traffic, increased conversion rates, and drive more revenue. 

Your business must write content for both readers and search engines. Relying too heavily on one aspect could detract from the other and reduce the overall effectiveness of your content marketing efforts. 

For example, if you create a pillar page where improving SEO is the primary goal, that content should still offer significant value to the user. The page should answer the reader's question and satisfy their reason for coming to your site in the first place. Doing so will ideally drive them further down the marketing funnel and progress through the sales process. 

Create Engaging, Buyer-Centric Content 

When it comes to satisfying a reader's demands, it's essential to speak to their challenges and explain how your solution will help. Instead of speaking autobiographically about your business or products, create buyer-centric messaging that translates features into benefits and highlights how these will directly impact the reader. 

Avoid SEO Pitfalls 

While creating SEO-focused content is imperative, companies sometimes rush to rank highly and may attempt to "trick" Google to win favor. You should NEVER use methods like keyword stuffing, blog spamming, link wheels, mass paid linking, and article marketing. 

Google scrutinizes elements such as low-quality links, overly optimized anchor text, content farms, duplicate content, and high bounce rates now more than ever.

SEO Best Practices 

While Google's SEO algorithms may be challenging to master, marketers need to think about the basics of human engagement when creating content. Website content should be useful, relevant, and maybe even funny or entertaining. While this list certainly isn't exhaustive, here are a few SEO best practices to keep in mind for your website: 

• Optimize on-page SEO: On-page SEO optimizations to consider include reviewing and updating h1 and h2s, alt text, and meta descriptions. 
• Optimize for mobile: Mobile devices accounted for 54% of website traffic in 2021. Ensure your website is responsive (meaning it fits multiple screen sizes) and provides a great user experience on mobile devices. 
• Fix website errors: Some common technical issues to watch out for include slow load times, broken links, or "noindex."
• Add conversion points: Use a call to action (CTA) that provides additional value for the client and progresses them through the buyer journey. Consider content such as an eBook, webinar recording, success story, or white paper. 
• Measure the impact and iterate: Analysis and data are fundamental to iterating and improving your results. 

While there isn't a magic formula for effective content marketing, following some of these SEO-best practices and understanding your customer's needs are two vital components for effective content marketing.  

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.