Let’s stay on top of our marketing game in 2022. First order of the new year – planning goals. When thinking about SEO content marketing in relation to your business goals, it might not be clear how important it is. Yes, good content will take you far, but good SEO-enriched content will take you even further. Companies that fail to tie their content goals to their business goals are what Rand Fishkin, a marketing expert and the co-founder and CEO of SparkToro, calls “one of the biggest problems in marketing.”  

Tying your goals will not only give you more clarity on your specific marketing strategy needs and the tactics to get you there, but will also help you figure out which areas of marketing you may want to invest in. Since marketing is a costly investment, you need to ensure you’re getting the most for what you pay for. According to a marketing report done by Hubspot, in 2021, 63% of marketers planned to increase their budget. To no surprise, SEO was also the second-most prioritized approach. You might be wondering— how can I incorporate SEO to reach my goals? The following tactics will help guide you in the right direction.

Tactic 1: Make Your Headline Engaging

It may seem simple, but it’s surprising to see how frequently content authors miss the mark on the headline of an asset they have invested heavily in – only to make it less appealing for users to click on. In a recent SparkToro webinar led by Rand Fishkin and Amanda Natividad, they advise writing the headline of the content piece first. Headlines are the first negotiation tool to win over your audience. The people that click on your title and stay engaged in the article, are assisting Google in deciding where the content piece will rank in a search result. Start with having the goal of your article in mind. For example, in this article, our goal was to increase traffic from a company’s “decision-makers” by informing them how content marketing and SEO could be worth the investment. Thus, the title, “Score A 2022 SEO Content Marketing Strategy That’ll Meet Your Goals,” would be fitting. 

At Saltwater Collective we recommend including the following in titles:

Remember, headlines are “the face of the business,” so make sure it catches the attention of your audience without being spammy and still balances the importance of integrating the right keywords to drive the success of your SEO campaign like awareness or traffic generation. One of the first things we do at Saltwater is to find keywords that a targeted audience would be searching for. An in-depth keyword analysis will further lead us to a selection of the right keyword based on the goals we’re reaching for.

Tactic 2: Writing Readable SEO Content 

After you have thought of the perfect title, use an outline for your content.  In the SparkToro presentation, Fishkin provides an effective content outline called the hook, line, and sinker. The purpose of this outline is to grab attention, deliver a promise, and leave something for the reader to ponder or take with them. This will help deliver great content while improving SEO ranking.  Below, you will see we even used the hook, line, and sinker in this article.

Hook:

Let’s stay on top of our marketing game in 2022. First order of the new year – planning goals. When thinking about SEO content marketing in relation to your business goals, it might not be clear how important it is. Yes, good content will take you far, but good SEO-enriched content will take you even further. 

Line:

You might be wondering— how can I incorporate SEO to reach my goals? The following tactics will help guide you in the right direction.

Sinker:

Notice what we did here? We used the tips within this blog post to create the post you’re reading.

At Saltwater Collective, we like to use the following method to increase readability:

Tactic 3: Leverage All Page Optimization Opportunities

 In addition to an enticing headline and readable content, the meta title, meta description, and heading tags go hand in hand with winning over your audience. Ensure these elements reflect the style and tone of the heading you worked so hard to craft. At Saltwater Collective we suggest that the meta title tag be descriptive and include your primary keyword in a meaningful way. As for the Meta description tag, make it informative and compelling enough to entice searchers to choose your page above all others. Within the content, use descriptive, relevant, and keyword-rich headings to help break up the page into sections and ensure they are tagged appropriately (H1 – H6).

Tactic 4: Delivering Your SEO Content

Notice what we did here? We used the tips within this blog post to create the post you’re reading. And LOOKEY HERE – our post made its way to the exact audience we wanted – YOU (hopefully). The same can be done with any topic you choose to write about. You can find opportunities to increase content marketing efforts by adding your perspective on specific topics that align with your business goals. This can be done by leveraging tools to create an alert that will send you a notification when a topic you’re interested in is mentioned in the news. We also suggest sharing the piece on social media with others that could build on it. The article, “20 Places You Should Be Sharing Your Content” offers additional content-sharing ideas. 

Tactic 5: Monitor Your Performance

Once you’ve applied this new content marketing strategy and dispersed it to your ideal audience, check the performance of your efforts in relation to the KPIs selected. SEO and content marketing are long-term strategies, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t see immediate results. At Saltwater we like to allow at least two months for search engines to fully interpret changes to a site or new copy added. Based on performance, tweak old content if needed and remember to apply this strategy to new content.  

We hope you see success with this strategy and that next year you find you’re creating even bigger goals! Looking for additional marketing insight? Check out the Saltwater Collective blog for the latest and greatest on industry trends and marketing wisdom. 

MASTER YOUR CRAFT

Web content marketing has been the rock star of the greater marketing universe (it’s a real place!) for a few years now, and it’s popularity is showing no signs of slowing down. Of course, said “popularity” is based on need, which is great news for content writers. Earning your wages as a word pro isn’t as easy as it might seem, though.

With such a high demand for production, there’s a danger that the work itself can suffer. Plus, competing with the gaziillions of content pieces already in cyberspace is no small task. With all this knowledge setting the stage, here are some content writing tips to help you better hone your craft.

1. BRING A STRONG DELIVERY

Headlines are the hook, so you have to make them sharp. In a world where writers are shouting (with words) to be read, your headline needs to scream “read me, I’m interesting!” A boring headline is like an undercooked pizza; someone is going to take a bite or two and then stop eating. Headlines should be clear and concise, but never dry. Draw your readers in and keep them engaged.

2. GET TO THE POINT

Don’t waste your reader’s time with long, unorganized, sentences created for your own edification, and don’t wait until the end of a piece to make your point. People are interested in reading content for one reason: to learn something. They don’t want to jump through hoops to do it. In this fast-paced world, people want everything delivered quickly and efficiently.

3. QUALITY BEATS QUANTITY

Heavy output isn’t a bad thing if the material is compelling, but don’t overdo it. It’s great to produce a lot of work, but it’s better to write a reasonable amount of high quality pieces than a slew of mediocre ones. Don’t let the demand for web content stress you out or hyper-extend those writing muscles. Focus on always producing your best work so when you do publish, readers will be hooked.

4. YOU HAVE A VOICE, SO WRITE WITH IT

Don’t be afraid to add some spunk to your writing for content marketing! Readers respond well to humor and wit because it’s entertaining. Inc Magazine encourages writers to “inject” their own unique personalities into their content. Stale, boring web content is a buzzkill for people craving a good read.

Adding life to your writing will keep readers entertained, interested, and wanting more. Transform your passions, hobbies or areas of expertise into analogies and stories to be worked into your content. Don’t get overly personal, but give enough to allow the reader to feel like they can connect with you.

5. KNOW YOUR SEO

SEO content writing can be tricky. Readers will know from a mile away if you’re keyword stuffing to tap into extreme search engine optimization (Google will spot it, too). A lot of web content writers produce an article with their mind focused on getting in as many keywords as possible, but again, go with quality first. Good writing beats excessive keyword writing every time.

When it comes to content marketing, try this simple approach: Write the article first, focusing on what you want to say, and how you want to say it. When you’re done, go back and find places to subtly work in keywords without overdoing it. Your readers will appreciate it, and so will Google.

THERE’S A LOT OF CONTENT OUT THERE. A LOT.

The information overload experienced by consumers has become nauseating as new mediums have swelled in popularity, mobile has become an extension of our hands and content continues to multiply at an exponential rate. This has created obvious obstacles for businesses trying to sure-up a content strategy that resonates with their target audience and converts potential customers.

Content strategy needs to be applied to every piece of collateral leaving your marketing department. Whether that be website content, out-of-home advertising, media buys or social media posts, everything should be aligned with your overall content strategy.

So this beckons the question, how do you stand out? How you do you find a way to craft content that captivates, informs, and encourages action?

To create content that resonates it must be purposeful. Arbitrarily curating content and seeing what sticks is an inefficient and ineffective way to communicate with current and prospective customers. A strategic approach to content paired with exemplary creative is a formidable combination.

And while it would seem obvious to pair these two apex jungle cats all the time, most businesses only succeed at one or the other. Knowing your customer and how to reach them are paramount. Creative ideas and professional execution are essential. These two together will help attract new customers, support them on the path to purchase, and lead to more sales.