Why Does Great Content Marketing Often Miss the SEO Sweet Spot?

Whilst it’s fair to say that traditional online marketers and SEO experts are often viewed as totally different ends of the scale, the reality is that they shouldn’t be.SEO and content marketing should never be seen as a different entity and here’s why.

Content Marketing Without SEO is Hard Work

A content marketer may well work extremely hard to get that desired Google placement but they can often drop the ball when it comes to getting links. Great content such as a clever video, an outstanding blog post or a marketing ad will always get picked up. The problem is that far too often, many organic pick-ups that use the content for their sites don’t think to give a link back.

Real Beauty – A Case in Point

A case in point is the hugely successful Real Beauty sketches by Dove. Although the content went viral and got a plethora of mentions along the way, the only ranking that appeared in Google was the paid listing on the first page. So how can this be? Quite simply it wasn’t accumulating link juice. A further search showed that there were around 512 search results spread over the internet mentioning the campaign, but surprisingly very few gave direct links back to the site.

So How can Content Marketers Stop this from Happening?

One of the simplest ways is to have a checking process in place as part of the campaign. Many marketers never go back to check for organic pick-ups and this is where good SEO practices come in. If you see an organic search that has picked up your campaign but doesn’t have a link back to your site then the best way to get one is to simply ask them for it.

A polite email containing the page that you found, plus a link that you want them to include should suffice. Then a quick thank you email after they’ve done it is always a good idea.
Just imagine if the Dove Real Beauty sketches add was utilised properly for SEO, how powerful would it be then?

In essence, stringent international search engine optimisation techniques and great varied content marketing should always go hand in hand. One complements the other. If SEO experts can leverage the technical knowledge that they have to great effect, and combine this together with scintillating content, then there’s no doubt that not only would it be a huge hit, but it would probably make you lots of money in the process.