The connection of content marketing to SEO tactics for small businesses today is becoming increasingly crucial.
To be competitive, it is not enough to simply have a website – you need to have a well-crafted content marketing strategy to attract and engage potential customers.
To help you understand the power of content marketing and SEO, we've created this introduction to content marketing for small businesses. We have gathered information about the statistics, strategies, and tips on measuring brand awareness that can help your business succeed online.
Let's dive in!
First off, what exactly is SEO?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) marketing is the process of optimizing websites or online content to increase visibility and organic (non-paid) traffic from search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
What is keyword optimization in SEO?
Keyword optimization for SEO is the practice of researching and selecting specific keywords to target in a website’s content in order to improve rankings for those words in search engines.
This involves incorporating the chosen keywords into website copy and relevant metadata, such as page titles, headers, and descriptions, in a natural and meaningful way, while avoiding overuse or “keyword stuffing.”
What is the goal of SEO marketing?
The goal of SEO marketing is to increase rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs) for targeted keywords and phrases, resulting in more qualified traffic to a website.
The keys to content marketing include various techniques such as keyword research, content optimization, link-building, and technical optimization. SEO marketing is a long-term strategy that requires consistent effort and ongoing monitoring to maintain and improve rankings over time.
Why do I need SEO content marketing?
SEO content marketing is important for small business advertising because it does each of the following:
- Improves your website’s search engine rankings: SEO content marketing helps your website rank higher on search engine result pages (SERPs), which can drive more traffic to your website.
- Increases brand awareness: SEO is how to generate brand awareness. When you create high-quality content that’s optimized for search engines, you’re more likely to get discovered by people who are interested in what you have to offer. This can help increase awareness of your brand and the products or services you provide.
- Generates leads and sales: By creating content that’s optimized for specific keywords, you can attract more qualified leads to your website. And by providing valuable information in your content, you can help convert those leads into paying customers.
- Builds trust and customer loyalty: When you consistently create high-quality content that provides value to your target audience, you build trust and credibility with them. This can help increase customer loyalty and ultimately lead to repeat business.
- Optimizes your marketing budget: Compared to other marketing strategies, such as paid advertising, SEO content marketing is relatively inexpensive. And because content can be repurposed and shared across multiple platforms, it can have a long-lasting impact on your business.
Statistically, how does SEO help?
Statistics back up the many reasons why you need SEO to drive traffic to your business.
Google now processes over 40,000 search queries every second on average (visualize them here), which translates to over 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. (Internet Live Stats).
Remember, you want your business to pop up first when someone does a search. The first position on Google search results on desktop has a 34.36% click-through rate (Advanced Web Ranking).
Today, everyone has a cell phone! In fact, mobile searches have surpassed desktop searches, accounting for over 57% of all web traffic (StatCounter). 61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority (HubSpot).
Google takes into account over 200 factors when ranking websites (Backlinko). Some of the most important factors are are based on mobile performance and mobile experience on your website.
These statistics highlight the importance of SEO marketing for businesses and the need to improve their organic presence to reach their target audience. Also, be sure to stay current on SEO and content marketing trends.
What are SEO best practices?
When it comes to SEO content marketing best practices, there are many things to consider. Here are some content marketing and content creation tips:
Keyword research and selection
In terms of keyword research and optimization, it's important to choose keywords that match your content and are relevant to your target audience. Sage can find the perfect keywords for SEO strategy for you.
High-quality content
You and your writers should create high-quality content that is also unique for target-audience engagement. The content marketing topics should be useful for your audience and provide value.
Mobile Optimization
Everyone has a cellphone these days, and therefore, a vast amount of Google searches happen on cell phones. It's key to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly and responsive across various devices.
Page speed and load time
Online marketing strategies for small business includes page speed. Optimize your website’s page load speed to provide a better user experience and improve search engine rankings. No one wants to wait on a slow page.
Metadata optimization
Optimize your metadata for your content creation business, including your title tags and descriptions, to make it easier for search engines to understand your content. Every single blog post you create must have a meta title and meta description, for example. Without these, your results appear less frequently in Google results and also engender fewer clicks as searchers are unable to figure out what your content is about from the typical scans everyone does on a SERP.
Link building
Focus on building high-quality backlinks from reputable and trusted sources to improve your website’s authority and credibility. Including links greatly helps your SEO search rankings.
Social media integration
It's a social media-driven world. This is important to note when marketing products for small businesses. Incorporate social media into your SEO strategy to increase your website’s visibility and reach to a wider audience.
Regular updates and maintenance
Keep your website fresh! Update your site with fresh, new content regularly, and conduct website maintenance to ensure everything is working correctly. If you still wonder how to start content creation, reach out.
Analytics and tracking
If you want to know how to measure content growth and brand awareness, measure your traffic. Use data analytics and tracking tools to monitor your website’s performance and optimize your SEO strategies.
User experience
To increase value the most, marketers should prioritize the user experience in their SEO marketing by making your website easy to navigate, interactive, fun, and engaging. High-quality content SEO is key.
Your company will thrive with great SEO marketing
Search Engine Optimization can help small businesses in many ways. Here are some benefits tips for small business owners.
Five benefits of SEO marketing:
- Increased Traffic: SEO helps in driving more traffic to your website, which in turn helps in generating more leads and sales.
- Better User Experience: A well-optimized website with successful content and a better user experience can help in retaining visitors and decrease bounce rates.
- Brand Visibility: Higher search engine rankings can also help in increasing the visibility of your brand, which helps in building your brand reputation.
- Insight into Customer Behavior: With SEO, you can track customer behavior and preferences, which can help you in making informed business decisions.
- Cost-Effective: SEO is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies that can give long-term results.
These content marketing tips are just a few of the ways that brand content marketing with SEO can help small businesses succeed in the digital world.
Let the SEO pros help
Small business content marketing is critical to your success.
Content marketing agencies like Sage SEO can help guide you with your SE content marketing ideas and strategies. We will tell you everything that you need to know to DIY your SEO. And even better, we do it with our software using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The truth is, we know you’re busy! So we take the pain out of high-quality content SEO marketing for small businesses. Our AI-powered tools are easy to use. We've custom designed our system for startups and small business owners just like you. Reach out today - our team has branding tips for small businesses and is happy to help!
FAQ
Q: What is thought leadership?
A: Thought leadership in SEO refers to establishing oneself or a brand as a leading authority or expert in the field of search engine optimization. Wondering how to build thought leadership? It involves creating and sharing valuable, informative content, insights, and strategies that showcase one's knowledge and expertise in the industry, and that can help inform and educate others.
Q: How long does it take to build brand awareness?
A: Building brand awareness with SEO can take anywhere from a few months to a year, depending on various factors such as the competition in the industry, the quality of the content, the strength of the brand, and the consistency of SEO efforts.
Q: How can I find customers and my audience?
A: High quality SEO will connect brands to their target audience through brand engagement.
