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November 16, 2020 Content Chat Recap: Best Practices For Using SEO To Boost The Success Of Your Content Marketing

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Search engine optimization (SEO) has consistently been an area of importance for marketing teams, given that a team’s SEO strategy can easily make or break the success of their content (and, over time, the business itself). The challenge is that SEO spans a range of diverse areas, and new features and algorithm changes regularly rewrite the rules of what makes a winning SEO strategy.

In this #ContentChat, we’re joined by Diana Richardson (@DianaRich013), social media and community manager at SEMrush, to explore the latest trends in SEO and discuss the best practices for using SEO to boost the success of your content marketing. Read the full recap below, where we explore the foundational elements of an SEO strategy, why SERP features are important for your content marketing, what SEO trends we expect in 2021, and more.

Q1: Why is SEO critical for the success of your content marketing efforts?

Content marketing and SEO go hand-in-hand. High-quality content can underperform if people are unable to find it, which is where SEO comes in.

And per our poll, most of our community plans to increase their SEO spending in 2021, further reinforcing the value of SEO.

Q2: What are the foundational elements of an SEO strategy that all content marketers should be aware of?

Diana explains why search intent, title and description tags, internal linking, and content structure are foundational elements of an SEO strategy that every marketer should know:

Erika recommends that you first ask “What do we want to be known for?” and build your strategy from there, starting with keyword research. This requires an understanding of the audience you currently have and the audience you want to have.

On the topic of keyword research, remember that it is a balancing act and will require some experimentation. Being too specific could limit your success depending on the exact topic or piece of content.

And create content that is optimized for each stage of the buyer’s journey.

Competition is an important area for SEO, so your team should identify your competitors and follow the topics they explore and types of content they create. Use this research to inform which topic(s) your team should pursue and how you can break through (not add to) the noise in the space.

And remember that any of your past content can be reviewed and updated to follow SEO best practices.

Q3: What are some simple SEO fixes that brands can often make to improve the success of their content?

There are plenty of tools and plugins to identify easy SEO fixes, including SEMrush’s SEO Writing Assistant, Yoast, and Rank Match. What other tools do you recommend? Let us know in the comments.

Meta descriptions are an easy area to review and improve. Ask yourself: “If I saw this description as a search result, would I click on it?”

Link to other internal posts to keep your audience moving through a flow, just keep those links minimal and value-focused.

Optimize posts with headers and subheads.

And give every page a unique and informative title.

No matter what, though, write content to provide value for your audience and address their needs, not to meet SEO requirements.

Q4: Does long- or short-form content perform better for search?

Both long- and short-form content can perform well in search. The goal is to write content that meets the needs of your audience, answers their questions, and provides value.

Research your proposed topic to see what content already exists and in what length. This can give an idea of how long your content should be, and if you should even create it.

And can we agree to not write short-form pieces that are nothing more than clickbait?

Q5: What are SERP features, and how do they impact the SEO of a piece of content? What SERP features should content marketers optimize?

Diana and Keith explain SERP features (with helpful visuals) here:

Q6: Looking ahead to 2021, what SEO trends can we expect to be the most important for helping content marketers reach and engage their ideal customers?

Page experience signals are bound to be big in 2021…

As is passage indexing, which will roll out later this year.

We anticipate penalties for creators who post non-related videos on blog posts (and other ways to work around the SEO and SERP game).

And voice search is sure to rise in popularity.

What predictions and trends did we miss? Let us know in the comments.

Q7: How do you ensure SEO is considered at all stages of creating a piece of content?

Templates and checklists can be your best friends for ensuring all your SEO bases are covered.

Keep SEO top-of-mind from the start of your content creation, and include the SEO elements with your draft content.

Give your SEO team a seat at the table and enable them to weigh in on your strategy.

About Alek Irvin

Alek Irvin is a content marketing professional with a rich history in social media management, executive thought leadership development, and media relations. As a consultant at Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, he creates human-focused content and thought leadership platforms that help brand leaders connect and engage with their communities. Alek has worked with a range of startups and Fortune 500 companies across the B2B technology and consumer spaces, including IBM, Dell Technologies, Hitch Works, Emtrain, Integrate, and Frameable. Connect with him on Twitter @AlekIrvin.

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