7 Smart Ways to Combine Content Marketing with SEO for More Qualified Search Traffic

If you are attempting to grow your qualified search traffic, you have to combine your content advertising with your SEO campaigns. Running them as separate strategies isn’t going to provide you with as big of a traffic increase as mixing them into one campaign will.

Here are 7 smart ways to combine your content marketing with your SEO efforts:

1 - Create content that even Wikipedia would love to link to

One of the best sources of appropriate traffic is Wikipedia. It ranks for almost every search term on Google, and it’s one of the most popular sites on the web.

2 - Write content based on keyword data

You shouldn’t be blogging for the sake of it. You should be blogging based on what your visitors want to read as well as what keywords you want to target.

3 - Create quality content before you aim for large quantities

When Google was in its infancy, you could throw up any kind of content and get thousands of visitors to your site. Eventually, they got smart, and their algorithm was able to figure out how to rank high quality content and not show low quality content.

4 - Don’t forget about FAQs
By using Qualaroo or Survey Monkey you can figure out why your visitors aren’t converting into customers. All you have to do is ask them questions like:
•    What else would you like to see on this page?
•    Is there is a reason why you didn’t convert into a paying customer?
•    What concerns do you have about the product or service?

5 - Target industry blogs for guest-posting opportunities

The more links you have, the higher your rankings will be. By having your content marketing team target industry-related blogs, you will build relevant links that drive relevant traffic.

6 - Focus on indirect conversions

If you only focus your SEO efforts on driving traffic from keywords that convert, you’ll find yourself capping out on how much traffic you can get. By focusing on helping your ideal customers with their problems through your blog, you’ll get traffic from random search terms that are related to your industry, but don’t convert right away.

7 - Don’t forget to cross-link

Adding content to your site isn’t enough. You have to cross-link your content. When I did consulting for blogs like TechCrunch, Mashable, and Gawker Media, I was able to increase their search traffic because I fixed their on-page issues.

Conclusion

Although a good content marketer has a different skill set than a good SEO does, it doesn’t mean they should be working separately. By combining your content marketing efforts with your SEO efforts, you’ll find that you are able to increase your qualified search traffic at a faster pace.