Digital marketing is the “in” thing today. It has been for quite some time now. Within itself, though, it’s a race. A race to grab attention. A race to connect and network and a race to stand out. Words like content strategy, social media and SEO are thrown around throughout every company, from the basic SMEs to the MNCs. But, lately a lot people I have met (and who are new to digital) have been asking me about SEO (search engine optimization) and how it helps brands move ahead in this race. And even a more pressing doubt – if we use SEO, does that mean that we can’t have cool videos, images and even limericks?
No, it definitely does not mean that. See, here’s the challenge – content and SEO aren’t mutually exclusive aspects of digital. You need to have good content to optimize it for SEO. Your website can’t just be made up of keywords. Yes, it will lead to clicks from search engines, but you don’t want to leave users disappointed once they check it out. It needs to be appealing and exciting enough to make them want to sign-up for newsletters or download your white paper and come back for more.
Content marketing needs to follow SEO rules, but doesn’t necessarily have to rely on it. All you need to remember is if your website is about bananas, make sure you mention bananas here and there. Maybe insert a picture of monkeys with bananas (with alternate text, of course!) or maybe a link or two talking about bananas. Search engines have become pretty smart with their algorithms. They not only check for keywords, they actually conduct a Quality Check to ensure that you are who you say you are.
Imagine if Animal Farm was optimized for search engines! There would be words like utopia, socialism, social structure, labor laws, capitalism, all over the place. Would that have been fun to read? Or if Harry Potter started as “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, living in UK, were proud to say that they were muggles, not wizards, not from the magic world, did not know any spells. They also had a muggle son, Dudley, and a nephew, Harry Potter, who was a wizard.” It does include all the main keywords from the book. But, would you have gone past the first page? Probably not.
To sum it up, winning in the game of SEO vs. Content is fairly simple. High quality content should be the utmost goal and should not be compromised for anything. When you have kickass content, it’s more likely to be linked to by other sites, also increasing your chances of visibility. Having said that, it is perfectly possible to write content that is not only creative but also SEO-optimized.
Want to know more about combining SEO and Content, two major elements of digital marketing? Buzz us!
To read more about how to infuse your social media content with SEO, click here.
Overdrive Interactive is an SEO company in Boston that drives measurable ROI. Our search engine optimization programs not only drive natural search traffic – they connect prospects to high quality user experiences that encourage desired behavior. Our SEO services and the resulting search engine presence connects visitors to content that satisfies their needs. As an award-winning Boston SEO company, we are passionate about your success!
