Nothing at all changes the fact that content is now driving search engine rankings more than anything else. So, isn’t it the right time to stop delineating SEO from content and start thinking about it as more of a content exercise rather than a technical expertise? This article explains why.
Technical SEO is undoubtedly an inimitable influence and indispensable requirement in the world of search engine marketing. However is it really that tough to understand so as to remain out of bounds for the content people, when we know that even the content marketers of today are well qualified, and have complete understanding of the digital world.
Yes, the SEO expert in your company will try hard to make you believe that not everyone has the ability to understand all the technical sitemap.xml and fancy robots.txt tricks. However, the fact is that most SEO experts of the current generation never intended to become one.
They have evolved from different fields and it took time and efforts, and more than anything, a passion for the web to make it to a place where they can predict the trends of search engine marketing. And the biggest of these trends that’s doing the round for the year 2015 and holds true for the near future is that the age of content and more importantly and content marketers has finally arrived.
The over-stated importance of technical SEO
Even about a year ago, search engine optimisers would proudly declare their role as definitive in deciding the search engine success of your site, and that content marketing matters little. While they had an important role to play, the main purpose was only keeping the site from getting penalised by search engines.
Well, that’s what actually mattered. A technically optimised site having solid structural integrity, and keyword-rich pages were all that you needed to be a SEO success. However as every true expert will tell you, this doesn’t work anymore.
Having a technically optimised site isn’t a big deal anymore. Even the most basic website builders like WordPress have all the options to generate a site that is perfectly optimised, technically. In fact, with nearly every competitor having a technically optimised website, what makes you stand out? How do you expect Google to differentiate between you and a competitor with every important SEO element and feature firmly in place?
Technical SEO is compliance of some basic standards which have already been set in stone. Implementing sitemap.xml, writing a keyword optimised 65-character title or optimising your robots.txt doesn’t win you traffic and reward you with high-value link backs or click throughs. Content does.
Link building is now more about content than it is about SEO
One of the worst-kept secrets of SEO success is that the more authoritative sites link back to you, the greater is your website’s authority. And how do you plan to bring these links? Spammy blog comments? Forum signatures? Paid links? Or links from websites with unrelated topics? You are getting the point; content marketing matters here.
The key here is to create impactful content that catches the attention of influencers and inspires them to share your content, or cite it as a source in their own articles. Good content not only helps to drive more organic search traffic however also helps in gaining trust.
Technical SEO is extremely vital to even think of your website’s success. It’s like having a well built road which can sustain traffic for long periods of time. However, it doesn’t guarantee you any traffic. There are sites with shoddy website structure, broken URLs and unoptimised titles exploding with visitors. The only way it has been possible is through creative content marketing.
Content Marketing: The Key to your website’s SEO success
The real source of traffic to your site is its content. And the real heroes are the content marketers. That’s a bold statement, however with everyone following the technical SEO rules, you have to do something different in order to differentiate yourself and gain traffic, and the sole way to accomplish it is content marketing.
In a survey by Smart Insights, 29.6 percent of marketers cited content marketing as their top digital tool, for the year, ahead of Big Data,(14.6%), Marketing automation (12.8%) and far ahead of SEO (4.3%). Thus, there is little doubt over the fact that content marketing is the most important digital marketing activity in the current times.
It is the future, which, in part, also explains the growing demand of content marketers in the digital industry. However, this also reflects a tough competition ahead and the need of a focused plan.
Some technical SEO wizards may argue that since everyone is doing content marketing, that doesn’t gives you any additional advantage. However there is a difference and it is huge.
Content marketing works where SEO doesn’t
You can’t attract more traffic by technical SEO, since there is a standard level of achievement beyond which everything is the same for everyone. However, better content marketing matters in that it will help you in gaining an edge over the competition. According to B2BMarketingInsider.com, 90% of all organisations are doing content marketing. However a lot of them are not doing it right.
A recent survey by the Content Marketing Institute, North America says that 50% of marketers still find producing engaging content as one of the major marketing challenges. Thus, there is great scope for improvement, and the better you get at it, the better are your chances of winning the competition.
Content marketing is invaluable, it is indispensable and will single-handedly drive search engine marketing campaigns in the future. It is essential that you have your technical basics right, however once the road is paved it’s all about sustaining the traffic through effective content marketing.
