As the value of content marketing becomes more widespread and companies and organizations look to implement the strategy, an interesting debate has taken shape as to whether or not content marketing has usurped search engine optimization when it comes to online marketing. The general impression seems to be that SEO is fading and content marketing now reins supreme.
In fact, our clients increasingly ask me about the differences between the two strategies and which is best for their specific brands. My answer is usually that SEO and content marketing work hand in hand, and that while rich, engaging content should be the number one goal, your content should also continue to make use of targeted keywords and phrases.
Barry Feldman has a great article on the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) blog on the “ridiculous” debate of whether content marketing or SEO is better for online marketers. Feldman makes the case that SEO is, in fact, content marketing:
We create content to support our marketing objectives. If we’re doing this wisely, a vital part of our execution strategies should be focused on optimizations that will increase the probability that our content will be discovered via search.
When creating blog content, articles, press releases, website copy and other types of content, the question shouldn’t be whether to use SEO techniques or content marketing strategies. Rather, you should brainstorm ways to combine to two for a comprehensive, content-rich and search-friendly campaign.
Steve Bailey is the executive editor of ProPRcopy.