Creating relevant content remains the most effective search engine optimization tactic. Over half of marketing leaders surveyed (57%) cite relevant content as the best SEO tactic, according to Ascend2’s new Search Engine Optimization Strategy study. Other top tactics cited include keyword/phrase research (cited 49% cite as highly effective), social media integration (39%), and external/internal linking (36%).
At the same time, 48% of marketers say the creating good content is the most difficult SEO tactic. Other tough jobs include external/internal linking (45%), keyword/phrase research (35%), and increasing webpage load speed (32%).
Because quality content creation and link building are difficult and time coming, 76% of companies execute all or part of their SEO tactics with external resources. Most marketers (81%) say their SEO strategy as successful to some extent. As with many marketing methods, the more effort applied the greater the success.
The Importance of PR
The research highlights the potential benefits of integrating SEO and public relations. While PR and SEO have customarily employed different methods and sometimes come into conflict, the two disciplines share essentially the same goals and, by working in concert, can improve marketing results. PR is traditionally skilled in content creation and relationship building; SEO professionals know the techniques to gain better search placement.
The new poll also supports the assertion that “content is king.” Content is one of Google’s top three ranking factors — so it plays a central role in successful SEO strategies. Yet many content marketers misunderstand that tenet. “While in some respects this saying is true, in my opinion, this one phrase has done more damage to our industry than anything else,” writes Search Engine Land columnist Ryan Shelley.
Marketers often churn out massive amounts of posts, believing they’ll rank higher than competitors if they only hit the publish button more frequently. WordPress users alone produce about 73.9 million new posts – about 2.4 million a day — and 49 million new comments each month.
Defining Good and Bad Content
Most of it is junk, Shelley says. Its sole purpose is self-promotion. It provides little or no value to the reader. It is usually very “thin” and does not solve the user’s end goal.
Quality is harder to define. Basically, it serves its audience, but different audiences have different needs and desires. What may work for a bakery will most likely not work for a law firm. So, when creating content, it’s essential to know who you are writing for, he points out.
Rand Fishkin at Moz says great content:
- Serves visitors’ intent by answering their questions and helping them complete their goals.
- Delivers an easy, pleasurable, accessible experience on every device and every browser.
- Gets the right information and experience to visitors FAST.
- Does all of the above better than any of the competitors in the space.
Longer does not Equal Better
Like more posts, longer posts do not equal better content. Studies that correlate length with quality and higher search rankings fail to account for confounding variables. Fishkin recommends examining your data on viewing times and abandonment rates to ascertain how many people read long-form posts to the end.
Fishkin’s proposal: “Rather than applying a tactic like long-form content universally or setting length as the bar (or even a metric) for greatness, we instead match our content to our audience’s needs and our business/personal goals.” He argues that 700 additional words will not help you reach your SEO goals any more than seven more words unless the additional content meets the audience’s educational and informational needs.
Bottom Line: Most marketers agree that “content is king” and that creating quality content is the most effective SEO strategy. But, creating outstanding content is also the most challenging way to gain higher ranking in search results. Audience needs are primary. Ignoring the audience’s information needs and publishing huge amounts of mediocre content will not achieve SEO success.
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