How to Explain SEO, Content Writing & Content Marketing

While researching the topic, I came across a number of questions that were either unanswered or someone just strolled through them. Therefore, this post is all about answering SEO, Content Writing & Content Marketing questions.

Hope you enjoy it, now, Let's begin,,

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ?,

The acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization; if you are reading this article that means you at least have some idea about search engine optimization. Search Engines like Google and others, run on algorithms that decide which page gets a higher ranking in the Google Search.

SEO in basic terms is understanding what the algorithm is looking for and optimizing your website to meet those criteria, so the search engine recognizes your website as the desired destination for information on a particular keyword or several keywords.

We will talk more about keywords and its importance in SEO later in this article.

What is the most frustrating thing about SEO ?,

Patiently waiting for my site to rank only to find out I rank for something that doesn't convert or makes me money, LOLS! What frustrates me the most is that SEO algorithm is a human made algorithm created by profit driven corporations,,

SEO algorithm is always a moving target with a hidden agenda behind it. At least with the laws of physics, there is predictability and I don't have to think about any hidden agenda.

What is Content Writing ?,

Why is it Content Writing Important in SEO ?,

Content writing – the ace in digital marketing and SEO; you must have also come across the phrase ‘Content is King’, and it’s rightly said. The whole digital marketing and search engine optimization would not be possible without a great content that adheres to the SEO guidelines.

Content writing is a form of online writing which is primarily used for digital marketing campaigns. This includes a wide range of niches areas such as article writing, blogs, product descriptions, newsletters, landing pages, social media content, email, and more.

Content writing also differs based on the industry, but regardless of the industry, every company must hire content writers who are also adept bloggers. Blogs are a great channel to attract traffic to your website, they convey your expertise in the particular domain and make visitors come again and again to your website.

From an SEO standpoint, content writing with the inclusion of primary and secondary keywords is absolutely crucial for a website to be found on Google search. A good SEO strategy goes hand in hand with social media optimization and social validation can only be obtained by generating high-quality content.

This is just one reason why content writing is important for SEO and vice versa. Without a proper SEO, a content cannot do much on its own.

What is Content Marketing ?,

Now that we know what are content writing and SEO, let’s see what is content marketing,,

Most SEO guys don't understand what Content Marketing is, their idea of content marketing is writing keyword sprinkled articles and adding it to a website. That's NOT a content marketing. Content marketing is the creation and distribution of content that your ideal client actually craves!

In other words, Content marketing is a strategic approach towards marketing where the company focuses on creating and delivering relevant, perpetual, and valuable content to attract and retain a particular group of audience and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

An ideal example of content marketing would be - suppose you are a travel ticket booking company and you run a blog on your website. Through the blog, you generate value for customers by posting blogs on popular holiday destinations and the places to visit, the stuff of that short. The customer obtains information from your blog and they visit the blog every once in a while to check if you have posted something.

After a certain period of time, when you have attracted a set group of followers who regularly visit your site. You subtly promote your product by adding a few lines about your travel packages for the destinations you write about.

Boom! You have a marketing strategy. The best marketing strategy is to have a strategy and sticking to it religiously. Most companies these days don’t have a clearly defined marketing strategy and they either change their strategy constantly or don’t follow their own strategy.

Keywords, Content Writing, Content Marketing & SEO ?,

What are keywords ?,

Keywords are the epicenter of content marketing and search engine optimization. Whenever you type a word or a phrase on the Google Search, for example – you are using keywords to find the images, videos, and recipe of your favorite food or information on something.

Keywords in Laymen’s terms is the text that you type on the search engine to let it know of the information, answer, product or services you are looking for. You landed on this blog because you typed a keyword that is present on the blog and Google decided that this page was the best result for your query based on the keyword you typed and used.

What is the Ideal Keyword Density of a Page ?,

There is no hard and fast rule to this. This topic has been debated time and again without any result and as you are reading this, some of you will use the comment section to suggest your ideas and it’s like this with this topic, because it’s such as big secret of Google. Until someone at Google reveals it, we really don’t know the mystery behind Keywords.

Keywords density may have been a ranking factor ages ago, but there is nothing to indicate that Google favors a certain density over another. It's important to use relevant keywords in your articles, but use them naturally. Stuffing keywords in where they don't belong will mostly likely do more harm than good, focus on keeping your articles natural instead of going for a specific predefined ratio.

So let’s trust Google and listen to Matt Cutts advice. According to him, there is no certain percentage of keywords that the Google algorithm looks for. The keyword density can vary from a content’s length, content linking to the topic chosen. He explains, the way Google works is when you mention a keyword for the first time, the algorithms detect it and rewards you by ranking you higher; the second time you mention the same keyword, it ranks you a little higher, but no substantial change; from the third time onwards the algorithm recognizes the keyword but the response of the algorithm is indifferent – meaning, you neither rank higher, nor lower.  

After a while, if you keep repeating the keyword to an unnatural amount of time, the algorithm recognizes the page as spam and drops the ranking drastically. Therefore, the best way to ensure that you rank higher on Google search is to scribe the content in a natural way that is pleasant to the ears and ensure that certain keywords are mentioned naturally.

What are the Benefits of Unique Content in SEO ?,

Content is one of the most crucial aspects that decide the search engine ranking of a website, if not the most crucial. Content on a website can be of various forms such as text, videos, and images.

Providing unique content that adds value to the customer is the best long-term SEO strategy that an enterprise can have. Illegitimate, plagiarized & spam content eventually gets punished by Google, where the search engine drops the ranking of such websites to drastically low levels.

Plagiarism-free and content that adds value are an asset for a website as they help in search engine ranking. SEO and content quality are forever intertwined. Websites that consistently utilize unique content on their website and for the purpose of SEO, rank higher in the Google Search in the long-run.

Does Social Media Affect SEO ?,

Yes, social media has an impact on search results, but probably not in the manner that you think. Social Media and SEO don’t stand against each other. But, they can be used in tandem to increase even more traffic to your website.

Impact of social media on SEO is a much talked and debated topic on the internet. Every expert has their own opinion but most agree, and Google’s Webmaster ace Matt Cutts confirms, “I can confirm, we do use Twitter and Facebook links in rankings”. Here is a link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofhwPC-5Ub4

In addition, Google also uses the reputation of the author or creator on Twitter and Facebook that has created the link for ranking purposes. So, yes, putting your link on social media and having reputed people interact with it or repost it can increase your search ranking, but only to a certain limit. Google gives emphasis to social media links, but only to a certain extent as it also measures a business or website on several other parameters. 

What is the Difference between Digital Marketing & SEO ?,

Digital marketing and search engine optimization are often confused for a synonym of one another. But, they are entirely different in their definition and function. In a modern business office, both SEO and digital marketing work in tandem and function similarly.

An SEO and content writing agency optimizes the content and other UI aspects of a website to improve it's ranking in the Google Search. To obtain a higher SERPs ranking, the SEO company utilizes various strategies and implements SEO guidelines. SEO and content marketing are subsets of digital marketing.

There you go, leave your comment down below if I missed anything :),

Source: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/all-you-need-know-seo-content-marketing-digital-harshvardhan-singh/ written by Harshvardhan Singh