Using Content to Improve SEO

This week we were joined by Andy Crestodina (@crestodina), Co-Founder and Strategic Director of Orbit Media Studios. An SEO pro hot off a highly rated Content Marketing World keynote, Andy shared his expertise on how to improve your SEO through content. Read on for an hour-long master class in creating SEO-optimized content the right way.

Q1: What is SEO and why should #content marketers and bloggers care about it?

A1: SEO refers to Search Engine Optimization & bloggers should care because it’s what helps direct people to your site! #contentchat

— MioDatos (@MioDatos) September 12, 2016

A1: SEO is one of the three main channels for #contentmarketing. The other two are social and email. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/ml7WWM0Jfq

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A1: Technically, #SEO is ensuring your site is “optimized” for search bots to crawl your site & understand what it is about. #contentchat

— Kevin Mullett (@kmullett) September 12, 2016

A1: SEO is about the content you create reflecting the language and search habits of your audience/customers online #contentchat

— joel m harrison (@joelmharrison) September 12, 2016

A1: #SEO and #contentmarketing are a handshake of “WHAT are people asking abt” and “HOW will they find us?” #ContentChat

— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) September 12, 2016

A1: There’s a lot that goes into it, but this is what Analytics looks like for a page that ranks… #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/5R8sdd5C8m

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A1: If you aren’t keeping an eye on search rankings you’re writing for nothing. Make your words work. It’s content currency. #ContentChat

— Jeff Reno(e) (@Renoe) September 12, 2016

A1: Every page has the chance to catch traffic, like a sail catches wind. Google ranks webpages, not websites. #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A1: Search engine optimization helps drive people who are looking for your expertise to your site #ContentChat https://t.co/z5Xl4WsgzY

— Site-Seeker, Inc. (@SiteSeekerInc) September 12, 2016

A1: #SEO is what saves content from potential obscurity by elevating its discoverability. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) September 12, 2016

Q2: What is the biggest #SEO misconception amongst content marketers?

A2: Some people think #SEO is about sprinkling keywords everywhere. It’s not. #ContentChat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A2: SEO is about making the best page on the internet for your topic. Be the best page, but indicate your relevance. #ContentChat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A2: That it’s just technical and/or some sort of black box thingy. #ContentChat

— Sean Van Guilder (@seanvanguilder) September 12, 2016

A2: That SEO is just repeating key words and leaving it at that. #contentchat

— Livia Trevino (@livia_trevino) September 12, 2016

A2: #SEO is mysterious and too technical for a writer to fold into their approach to writing. #ContentChat

— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) September 12, 2016

Bingo. Good SEO has never been about high-risk, shady tacticts. That isn’t to say that those things never worked. #contentchat

— Kevin Mullett (@kmullett) September 12, 2016

A2: Bigget SEO Misconception: that you should try to trick the robots #contentchat

— joel m harrison (@joelmharrison) September 12, 2016

A2b: That content marketing and SEO are at odds. They share so many goals! #ContentChat

— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) September 12, 2016

Target the topic, not just the phrase. Google is all about semantics, looking for meaning and answers, not just words. #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A2: “JUST” write good content. If true you would never end up on crappy sites. You still need to understand #seo foundation. #contentchat

— Kevin Mullett (@kmullett) September 12, 2016

A2: There are a lot of misconceptions. Here is the “dark side” of SEO…https://t.co/C8QSEF81GM #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

Q3: SEO can seem overwhelming. What are some tips for getting started optimizing your content for #SEO?

A3: Make sure your site’s foundation is in place (technical seo). If it’s not, then good luck #ContentChat

— Sean Van Guilder (@seanvanguilder) September 12, 2016

A3: Make sure your site’s foundation is in place (technical seo). If it’s not, then good luck #ContentChat

— Sean Van Guilder (@seanvanguilder) September 12, 2016

A3c: use tools such as @answerthepublic, google trends, etc. #ContentChat

— Sean Van Guilder (@seanvanguilder) September 12, 2016

A3: Step 1: Know your “domain authority” and target phrases only if the high ranking sites are in that same range #ContentChat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A3: Step 2: Indicate your relevance. Use the phrase in your title, header and body text. But go big on details! #ContentChat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A3: Step 3: Use Analytics to find the pages that you are already ranking for, but not ranking high. Optimized those pages! #ContentChat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A3: Get past industry jargon & know what consumer questions lead to your answer. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/YN0fUbQG2D

— Tim Mohler (@TimothyMohler) September 12, 2016

A3: Be specific! Don’t target general topics you’ll never rank highly for. Narrow in on a topic you can truly own. #SEO #contentchat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) September 12, 2016

A3: Understand what battles you can win, then move forward. You can fix it, Moz can help. #ContentChat #SEO pic.twitter.com/r7B4V376UB

— Jeff Reno(e) (@Renoe) September 12, 2016

A3: The first step to becoming a SEO Samurai is know your SEO. FYI: The Beginners Guide to SEO https://t.co/j8WnYef2MO via @Moz #contentchat

— Wayne Hendry (@ideakid88) September 12, 2016

There are three types of searches… #ContentChat
• Informational
• Transational
• Navigational pic.twitter.com/pR7P0UxAyG

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

Q4: What common SEO practices should we stop using in our content?

A4: Creating subject matter purely for popularity reasons. Create content that makes you stand out 🙂 #contentchat

— MioDatos (@MioDatos) September 12, 2016

A4: It has been mentioned before, and I’m sure it’ll be mentioned again: KEYWORD STUFFING. Write relevant, interesting content #ContentChat

— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) September 12, 2016

A4: Here’s a list of 8 common SEO mistakes. Some doozies in there! https://t.co/64r9TtjTsm#ContentChat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A4: An endless stream of medium quality blog posts, without a strong focus on topics, without collaborators. <– #SEO mistake #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A4: As already stated, it’s time to stop keyword stuffing. So many content creators still do this! #ContentChat

— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) September 12, 2016

A4: Once again, focusing on keywords rather than what your content is actually saying. #contentchat

— Livia Trevino (@livia_trevino) September 12, 2016

A4: How about what common requests should we refuse to do? KW stuffing. Please for the love of God. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/Q2QL2aRg7E

— Jeff Reno(e) (@Renoe) September 12, 2016

A4: I’ll toss in 2: Forgetting internal linking structure (authority to pages) and getting your NAP/Citations cleaned up. #contentchat

— Kevin Mullett (@kmullett) September 12, 2016

A4: Stop using only the body field for content. Chunk that stuff up and use metadata and structured content. #ContentChat

— Carrie Hane (@carriehd) September 12, 2016

A4: This- Lots of Google-bait, but no thoughtful editorial quality so your audience returns/engages. #ContentChat https://t.co/lMBAaIieoW

— Tim Mohler (@TimothyMohler) September 12, 2016

A4: My definition of #SEO spam: something done purely for robots, with no consideration for humans… #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

Q5: How does content distribution come into play with improving your #SEO?

A5: SEO itself is great distribution. But social helps. Use social to make your content visible to content creators. #ContentChat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A5: Any promotion through any channel can help SEO. If a blogger sees it, likes it and links to it, that good for rankings. #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A5: You can tailor content depending on the distribution platform (social, PPC, email, blogs). Know the audience for each #contentchat

— Site-Seeker, Inc. (@SiteSeekerInc) September 12, 2016

A5: Create unique content in each channel that is search-friendly while intentionally leading consumers to the next engagement. #ContentChat

— Tim Mohler (@TimothyMohler) September 12, 2016

A5) The more your content is shared, eg on #SocialMedia, the more back links you’ll have, the better ‘quality’ in #SEO / SERPs #ContentChat

— Jim Carter (@MSLJim) September 12, 2016

A5: We have a spiderweb approach, post keystone content, grab bites and share share share w/ link back to keystone #ContentChat

— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) September 12, 2016

A5b: Using core keyword phrases as part of distribution strategy wins for us! #ContentChat

— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) September 12, 2016

Here’s how I use @MaureenOnPoint‘s spider web approach to outrank Hubspot https://t.co/Z35tS9kiJf 🙂 #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

Q6: What are some examples of high-authority websites with outstanding content and good SEO?

A6: @moz, @sengineland #ContentChat

— Sean Van Guilder (@seanvanguilder) September 12, 2016

A6: Copyblogger, MarketingProfs, Social Media Examiner #ContentChat

— Tim Mohler (@TimothyMohler) September 12, 2016

A6: I think @Zapier & @Trello do great work with content + SEO. #ContentChat https://t.co/St02WL8sxz

— Michelle Greenlee (@tinymwriter) September 12, 2016

@SFerika @crestodina @SFerika @crestodina A6: Absolutely love @moz and @neilpatel. And @ExposureNinja of course 😉 #ContentChat #seo

— Charlie Marchant (@charliejeanm) September 12, 2016

Q6: Props to @CMIcontent for sure. Great content leads to great authority …I should tweet that! #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A6: We love @SlackHQ and @helpscout‘s approach. #ContentChat

— DoneDone (@GetDoneDone) September 12, 2016

A6) @socialmedia2day, @SMExaminer, @MarketingProfs #ContentChat https://t.co/zNnHh1sxw8

— Jim Carter (@MSLJim) September 12, 2016

Q7: What are your favorite #SEO tools for #contentmarketing?

Q7: So many great SEO tools:@SEMRush@BuzzSumo@MOZ@GoogleAnalytics#ContentChat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

@SFerika A7: @BuzzSumo is the bomb! #ContentChat #contentmarketing

— Charlie Marchant (@charliejeanm) September 12, 2016

A7: Google Keyword Planner, @googleanalytics, @yoast and the @Moz SEO toolbar, for sure! #ContentChat

— Berrak Sarikaya (@BerrakBiz) September 12, 2016

A7 The Yoast app in WordPress points out when I forget or miss something #ContentChat

— randy clark (@randyclarktko) September 12, 2016

A7: I’m a big fan of @nuzzel right now! #ContentChat

— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) September 12, 2016

A7: Moz for measuring Authority / Difficult… SEMrush for competitive analysis… BuzzSumo for topic / influencer research. #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

Q7: Spyfu. TrackMaven. Google Keyword Research Tool. #contentchat

— Troy Janisch ⛴ (@socialmeteor) September 12, 2016

A7: Ever play with https://t.co/qFQXeRZWyv or keywordtool.io? Fun tools for researching topics. #contentchat

— Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) September 12, 2016

A7: #SEO #Tools overload in 3… 2.. 1. » https://t.co/4XM0hu2quG | Over 200 tools, so have fun with that. 😉 #contentchat

— Kevin Mullett (@kmullett) September 12, 2016

A7: @semrush, @KeywordPlanner, @seoquake, @BuzzSumo, Integrity for broken links and more #contentchat https://t.co/QInC6j9pDM

— Site-Seeker, Inc. (@SiteSeekerInc) September 12, 2016

@crestodina | A7: @answerthepublic is awesome. We use it @ExposureNinja to plan blog post topics for our clients. #ContentChat #seo

— Charlie Marchant (@charliejeanm) September 12, 2016

Believe it or not, I’m going out on vacation, so I won’t be hosting the next two editions of #ContentChat. Instead, my friend and #ContentChat regular Wayne Hendry will be taking over the hosting reins while I enjoy some Southern California Sunshine. That’s right—I’m going to Disneyland!

I’ll be back at the #ContentChat helm on October 3, with our very special guest Ann Handley. See you soon!