3TopFor some time now, search engine optimization is going through a fundamental change thanks to the new magic word of "content marketing". Only by offering the right combination of quality content and strategic web optimization, businesses can effectively achieve top rankings in search results.

How to achieve this is explained below.

The key point of Content Marketing in SEO is to generate attention and links to your own website through high quality content. But it is no longer sufficient to come up with search-, category- and product-texts to propel you to the top in this highly competitive web environment. Today all content, from texts, to photos and videos must be aligned more than ever with the users’ interests and provide an added value. This is because the search engines reward content that invites the user to linger on a webpage, therefore keep the following in mind:

  • Know your target audience: Successful content marketing managers know their target groups and know what information is relevant to them. Topics, that clients are interested in, can be found in comments or customer questions, for example.
  • Create original and quality editorial content: Good content encourages to continue reading and is often recommended and shared by readers. Therefore keyword stuffing should be strictly avoided, as texts which are purely optimized for keywords rarely offer exciting and easy-to-read content.
  • Offer diverse content for free: Whether text, infographics, videos, pictures, e-books or streams - there are many ways to present suitable and appealing content. Companies that publish diverse and interesting content for free, increase their chance to be found by the users as well as the search engines.
  • Increasingly switch to publishing the content on your own website: It is becoming more and more common that modern marketing content is no longer offered just through link building to external pages, but is found directly on the websites of the dealers themselves. Spread them through blogs and topic pages of influencers. The idea is that the users are your indirect link builders through the sharing of the content.
  • Spread the target content through various channels: There are numerous internet platforms where companies can place their content - from the company's own website, via a corporate blog, or though social networks like Google+, Facebook, Xing, YouTube and Pinterest. But never lose sight of your audience and select the proper channels to spread your content.
  • Be a consultant, not a salesman: It is important to build up your reputation as an expert and opinion leader in the network, so do not write the content from the perspective of a salesperson, but a consultant. Offer guidance, tips and instructional information, besides provide videos on your company website or your social page that give your visitors added value.
  • Tell true stories, no tall tales: Whoever is able to tell fascinating stories about his company and its products, has understood what content marketing is all about. By being original and delivering interesting and at the same time entertaining stories, the content anchors itself better in the memory of the user. Whoever makes up tall tales on the other hand runs the risk of losing reputation.
  • Encourage users to interact: By offering exclusive content, exciting discussions or relevant surveys, target groups can be integrated into the brand communication and be mobilized in addition. The comment function and the integration of social media plug-ins, such as the "Like-Button" (Facebook) or "+ 1" button (Google Plus) on the corporate website, allows users to comment through valuable content on the Web, as well as distributing and recommending your product.
  • Engage internet users as authors: Each user has a story to tell about products and services (user generated content). Through contests or sweepstakes users may be animated as authors, who create their own contributions and distribute them through their own private and social media channels. This is rewarded by Google and also has the nice side effect that users’ questions also generate valuable long-tail keywords.
  • Sign with your real name and use the Google Authorship: Many companies post content under the company name - that's wasted potential. Real authors who link their Google+ profile using the Google Authorship markup for their contributions to corporate pages increase, from Google's perspective, the credibility of the content. Google Authorships, where a photograph of the author is seen next to a part preview, stand out from other search results, attract more attention and achieve a higher click-through-rate.

I hope that this information will help generating some new ideas to further optimize your web presence.

By Roger Stadler