Content Marketing and SEO: optimization from creation to conversion

Content Marketing and SEO go hand in hand! And not just for content optimization, the data provided by Analytics is invaluable for producing content that reaches the target, achieves objectives and generates conversions. When you commit to a content creation strategyHow can you ensure that your efforts are not in vain? In web marketing everything is connected! Did you know, for example, that social networks have an impact on your SEO?

For your content to bear fruit, it must meet SEO standards, be shared on social networks and be viral. Only by putting all these elements together will your content marketing be useful for the growth of your business.

In fact, whatever its quality, your content only has value if it meets the right audience. That’s why it has to be like this SEO and SMO optimized to achieve maximum impact and so that its effects on your audience and your business are measured.

The latest changes to Google’s algorithm are all aimed at providing the user with the most meaningful content in response to their questions. Brands that include their efforts in a solid content strategy, centered on people (meet the needs of your core target) and web marketing processes (SEO, SMO, etc.) are rewarded with better performance in organic search, through more traffic, conversions and greater revenues. Even small businesses can benefit significantly from content marketing.

Combining Content Marketing and SEO isn’t just about optimizing your content for search during the creation process. Writing for the web requires very specific skills, both marketing and technical. Google Analytics data analysis is extremely valuable to web editors in providing insights into what content is producing results and achieving your goals.

Here are 7 key steps marketers should take to optimize their content, from creation to conversion.

Understand your audience before creating content

Between 60 and 70% of the content produced by B2B companies is not actually used. Sure, it gets posted on your website or posted on your Facebook page, but it serves no purpose because it doesn’t trigger any action from your audience. This statistic should send a small shiver down the spine of a large number of marketers. Know the time and effort it takes to create content and disseminate it. If you don’t get real metrics on their usage or an analysis of the value your audience places on them, you’re doomed to do all this work in vain

Before creating content, it’s really important to understand who you’re writing for and why. It’s a good idea to start by analyzing existing content. Use your web statistics to determine which content attracts the most visitors, which converts the most, which is downloaded the most, etc..

To do this, in Google Analytics, you will need to set up goals. If you haven’t already set it up, do so as soon as possible. Click on the tab Administrationthen in the column Hey, click Goals. In the news window that appears, click on the large red button New goal.

The rest happens in three phases:

• In Lens setupyou can choose between a Model existing, choose one Smart lens (if you use Adwords) and a configuration Personalized (which I recommend).
• In Description of the objectiveyou can define a type of objective: landing page reached, a duration, an event or a number of pages per session.
• Finally, inside Lens detailswe will give more information to our goal. For example, let’s imagine that I aim to convert a landing page on which I sell a specific product, conversion tracking will be able to bring me the turnover on this specific page. This is what it might look like for example:

Finally, you can also analyze the statistics of your social networks to know the engagement generated by your productions. At the same time, create personal profiles that will help you tailor content creation to the needs of your audience.

Analyze the competition to identify opportunities and gaps

Understanding how your content is perceived by your audience and compared to the competition is the next step in the process. If you miss this step, you will lose a huge budget compared to your competitors, in terms of traffic, conversions and sales.

Analyze what your competition is doing well and determine what you could improve. What keywords do they use and how. What topics and themes do they address and what results do they generate? This will guide your content creation and optimization efforts. There are many tools that can help you do this. For my part, I use Semrush which allows me to identify myself the content that works best across a set of keywords or by domain. As for social networks, to know the contents that generate the most engagement, I use Buzzsumo.

So you don’t just have to analyze your SEO data, but also that of your competition.. Take inspiration from the best, analyze their performance, examine the content that works and adapt these recipes to your business.

Tailor your content topics to your personas and purchase path

This step is more complex because it requires a real editorial line adapted to multiple personalities and needs. Not all your customers are the same. Some arrive on your site already knowing what they want, others have not yet identified their need. You need to be able to meet the different needs of your characters. This requires additional investment and empathy to fully understand your customers’ buying journey.

Knowing what content converts and at what stage of your customers’ purchasing journey will allow you to do soadjust and optimize your resources to maximize conversions throughout the purchase funnel. Not analyzing existing content means missing hidden opportunities by not reproducing content that can increase conversions and sales.

How to proceed? Categorize the content you create by persona type, determine a conversion goal for each, and analyze what works best for each persona type over time. Remember, you don’t write just to be read! Write to create an interaction with your lead, to start a conversation, to trigger engagement on their part.

Give your writers the right topics and keywords

Thanks to all the data gathered from the previous points, you have a better idea of ​​what content to write to attract new leads, with the added benefit of minimal risk. In fact, if you observe the success of your previous content and that of your competitors, you have little risk of making a mistake.

Your site’s editors can be employees of your company or external editors, as I do for some of my clients. Whichever model you choose, it matters provide the topics they should write about, as well as the keywords your articles should rank for.

Organize a regular editorial board. The SEO and marketing teams determine the keywords to use based on the objectives to be achieved and the editors set the content to be written based on this data. You will thus obtain a precise editorial calendar where all objectives, personas and keywords are established in advance.

Think of your marketing as a service in itself. The efforts of some support those of others. The Content Manager must be in touch with the SEO, sales and editorial strategy. Avoid silo effects in your digital marketing. Only at this price will you get satisfactory results.

Optimize your content to meet user needs and competitor content

In the content marketing battlefield, a large number of companies use content to attract attention. With so much content being pushed, only the most creative brands are able to bring their content to the surface. This is where your site’s images, videos, and design will really help you stand out.

We talk a lot about content saturation. The reality is that it is only low-quality content that generates saturation. Whatever the sector or theme, we always need attractive, entertaining, informative and quality content.

Don’t hesitate to challenge preconceived ideas about your profession, to create provocative content, as long as there is substance. Produce good quality illustrationsput your graphic designer to work for original content, use image banks or applications to generate professional and engaging images.

Live video is also a trend to follow. Periscope, Facebook Live and Instagram allow you to connect with your audience to broadcast web conferences and webinars.

Amplify and distribute your content

Distribute your content in every way possible. Social media and email marketing, for example, allow you to expose your content to your audience. When brands regularly produce content that consumers enjoy, those consumers are more likely to share their content on their social media accounts. Beyond just sharing, it plays an important role in determining how much people trust your brand.

So obviously, I’ll grant you, it doesn’t have much to do with SEO. However, articles shared with a large audience are more likely to be read and this provides you with data in Google Analytics for your next Content Marketing campaigns.

Furthermore, promoting your articles will definitely produce inbound links (inbound links), always useful for your SEO and to further extend your visibility. In short, once the contents are finished, the Community Manager’s work begins…

Measure your successes and compare them to business results

While each piece of content should serve a particular purpose, it’s critical to have the right metrics to demonstrate the value of your efforts. Setting the right KPIs helps you get a more holistic picture of how your audience interacts with your content. It’s essential to know how to measure your content marketing in ways other than traffic data alone.

Conclusion

A good understanding of SEO and the uses of your readers and customers allows authors to create the right content that will interest the right consumer. Using Google Analytics data, content creators will be able to identify the topics that interest your customers and prospects the most. This data is invaluable in enabling you to generate more engagement, climb the SERPS and increase your chances of conversions.

Close collaboration between the marketing teams and the Content Manager is absolutely essential. I work with my clients daily, in close collaboration with their teams, to determine the content to write. You don’t need to be a big brand for this. If you are a small business and don’t have the teams to define everything we talked about above, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll be happy to help you!