SEO & Content Conversion Go Together Like Peas & Carrots
By Daniel Beldowicz
Last updated on March 14, 2019
One of Forrest Gump’s most memorable lines was, “Me and Jenny goes together like peas and carrots.” The same can be said for search engine optimization (SEO) and content conversion. While SEO and content marketing are not new, businesses and associations that combine the two are becoming more of a novel concept.
According to a BrightEdge Report, an overwhelming majority of marketers, 97 percent, agree that SEO and content marketing are converging, or have already converged. Fifty-one percent of marketers responded that creating and optimizing content for local markets is “very important” and nearly half are using data to drive content strategy.
When it comes to this, businesses and associations should stop focusing on the tactics and start concentrating on the customer. If the adage of “get in front of the right people, at the right time, with the right message” holds true, then knowing your target audience and their buyer’s journey will allow you to optimize the phrases in which they are searching.
Here’s how it works…
- SEO will help your website rank higher, in search engine results, thereby driving more traffic to your site and potentially more business. It also will allow your business or association to show up at the right time, when your audience is searching for you.
- Optimized conversion content, based on the buying stage your audience is in, will present them with the right message. Marketers are finally seeing the importance of the human factor involved in the tactics that work well.
There are two general parts to successful digital marketing—traffic and conversion. SEO-generated traffic is more likely to convert at a higher rate than ad-generated traffic, since the person doing the search is actively seeking out information and has a specific want and need.
Content conversion begins with content marketing, which is driven by creating and distributing consistent and quality content to your target audience. Content conversion has been studied at length over the past few years and an entire industry has been created from it, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).
Numerous websites are designed to convert website visitors into customers. The process of optimizing those conversions is exactly what CRO requires. These conversions happen throughout every web page, including areas like the homepage, contact, blog, news and landing pages, which have different types of content. All of these can be optimized for a higher number of conversions.
With the proliferation of content creation, millions of pieces of content are being loaded to the web every day—from blog posts and podcasts—to whitepapers and videos. Creating content should always have an SEO consideration to each piece, to generate leads, from keyword research to a linking strategy. You’ll want to track keyword conversions that result from organic traffic, to determine how well your organic search queries are driving conversions.
MonsterInsights recently shared steps on how to track organic keyword conversions in Google Analytics. They include creating a goal in Google Analytics and setting up organic keyword conversions tracking, to find what keywords are driving conversions.
When coming up with content, always have a conversion mindset infused throughout it. You should build it into the initial content ideas and content framing. Finally, always ask the question, “What do we want the reader to do next?”
Businesses can utilize SEO and content conversion, as part of its digital marketing strategy, through the following ways:
Building more robust and deeper audience avatars or brand personas.
They should include more psycho-graphical information, as well as phraseology, used throughout the buyer’s journey, which will allow you not only to create content for each stage of the buyer’s journey, but also to optimize this content in search engines. Employing this strategy will ensure that the audience is getting the exact content they need, at that time, to increase your conversion rate.
Working key phrase research.
While you’re creating content, it’s important to research key phrases to determine which ones will be most valuable. In addition to getting proper placement in search engines, this also will ensure that you are speaking your customer’s language, for that piece of content.
Creating more content on a continual basis.
Study after study shows that the more content you build on a continual basis, the more visitors will be generated. A content strategy that is focused on audience conversion will ensure your business shows up in the right place, at the right time and with the right message. In fact, in the BrightEdge Report, an overwhelming majority of marketers, 97 percent, agree that SEO and conversions, followed by engagement, and then traffic accounted for the top three answers respondents listed as the most important metrics of success for content performance. The marriage of content marketing and SEO offers one solution to reach those goals.
Marketers are beginning to realize and harness the true power of what’s really going on with SEO and how to leverage it in a conversion funnel. When approaching your digital marketing strategy, focus on the client instead of the tactic. If you do that, you will be one step closer to experiencing how the best digital marketing tactics can work in harmony—just like peas and carrots.
Are you interested in learning more about how SEO and content conversion can get results for your business or association? Contact us today, to begin the conversation.
Daniel Beldowicz is the Director of Marketing Services at CMA, a full-service communications, marketing and association management firm, which has provided its clients with award-winning and proven results for more than 30 years.