Creating original content with a high search engine ranking is a delicate balancing act. Content needs to shares fresh ideas. It also has to be reader friendly so people will search for it, read it and share it with their friends. This sort of balancing act is a fact of life for every marketing agency. Grabbing the attention of their target audience drives everything they do.
Writing quality content and navigating the SEO waters are not mutually exclusive. You can employ sound SEO principles while capturing your audience at the same time.
Give Your Content Substance
Creating content starts with making it valuable, not figuring out the magic keywords. People only care about information when it directly impacts their lives. Making content original is good. Making it matter is much better.
Focus on creating SEO content that fills a specific need and educates your target audience. Keywords should grow organically out of the actual content instead of the other way around. Informative content will always win out over pages stuffed with popular keywords and useless noise.
Create a Test Audience
Manufacturers will test out a product before introducing it to market. They offer samples or prototypes to prospective customers and solicit their feedback. Then manufacturers use that feedback to refine the product before officially releasing it to consumers.
Marketing agencies can apply this principle to marketing SEO content. Creating a test audience from the target demographic can help an agency get feedback on what works and refine content so it better meets the needs of its intended audience.
Outsource SEO Projects
Content should match a client’s voice and convey their desired message. Bringing in a team of expert writers can make it easier to bring that voice to life in content creation when content branches out into more than one niche.
If a marketing agency manages blogs in multiple niches, outsourcing content to multiple SEO blog writers with expertise in those niches can ensure consistent production, quality content and many satisfied clients. It also opens the door to bringing in an abundance of new ideas from other sources.
Embrace the Power of Multimedia
Creating quality SEO content does not begin and end with words alone. Content must also engage its target audience on other levels. Audio and visual elements can accomplish this goal.
SEO content can have a lasting impact when it is truly multimedia. A blog post or web page should incorporate videos, podcasts, live chats and other forms of interactive communication. This will make the content feel more alive. It will also make it easier to share the content through social media.
Go Local or Go Home
Climbing the SEO ladder is a grassroots effort. It requires starting small and building in steps. Focusing content on a local audience will give your content shelf life.
Locally focused SEO content helps you better define your target audience and deliver articles and blog posts that address their specific needs. If they get the answers they are seeking, it builds credibility for your content and expands your audience.
John C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.