To be successful expanding your brand’s digital presence, you must learn how to master both content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). While the two are closely related, there are some key differences to understand if you want to create SEO content that both highlights your products and boosts your search rankings.
A common problem arises when businesses try to have the same people both write their content and develop their SEO strategy. Content writing requires a creative approach, while SEO is much more technical in nature. They require using completely different parts of the brain.
To that end, it can be very difficult for an SEO specialist to write strong digital content, and conversely, for a copywriter to conduct in-depth keyword research. While there are some especially talented people who can do both, it’s likely you will need at least two separate professionals to handle these critical tasks.
Great digital content starts with SEO
In many cases, SEO specialists don’t have much input on the content that appears in a website’s content or on its blog. Rather, they focus on researching and selecting the best keywords for a particular business—a process that can take dozens of hours.
In addition to research, these professionals also must pick the right keywords to optimize on each page of SEO content. Once that’s done, the SEO specialist hands off the keywords to a copywriter, who creates the web or blog content with a keyword (or several) in mind.
Once SEO specialists have determined the best keywords to use on a website, they then make sure each page has a unique and optimized meta title and description. They also work with the technical aspects of the site to ensure Google and the other search engines can easily find and index it.
SEO content writing is an art and science
When it comes to creating SEO content, copywriters today must have a strong understanding of what it means to optimize a website and its pages for the search engines. They also must write content that speaks to visitors and informs them about the subject of the page.
In other words, readers should have no idea that a web page or blog post has keywords incorporated within it. The content should read naturally and provide value to the visitor, without the awkwardly constructed sentences that often come with keyword stuffing.
The best SEO content writers can master this balance of writing compelling, informative content that also enhances a website’s search rankings.
Let the two work together
Although their roles are quite different, it’s important for SEO specialists and copywriters to work together effectively if the end result is to be a well-optimized website that offers compelling content that encourages customers to buy. There should be fluid communication between the two parties. Each should have a cursory understanding of how his or her activities impact the other’s job.
Therefore, you shouldn’t expect your SEO person to be a great writer—and your digital copywriter will likely have relatively little knowledge of the technical aspects of SEO. Allowing both parties to focus on their respective roles will lead to more effective SEO content for your brand.