Finding a Balance Between Content for SEO and Content for Your Audience

It’s not necessary for you to read another article about how ‘content is king’, isn’t it? I guessed so. As true as this premise is, there is a common problem many marketers find: how and where to use good quality content so it finds the right cause. Just like you wouldn’t use a Ferrari to go shop for groceries, finding a balance between coming up with content for SEO and content that is engaging to your audience can let you understand when and where to use the right pieces.

Understanding the use of Content for SEO

In my previous experiences, it did happen to me to have clients that wouldn’t really care about the quality of their content for SEO as long as it led traffic. In the other corner, I had some other clients that spent way too much time thinking and overthinking what they would come up with their blogs and landing pages; sometimes even relegating the SEO part.

Both positions proved to backfire. In both cases, there was a big waste of time and a misconception of the final purpose of content for SEO. The mere act of adding keywords to an article that doesn’t make any sense will not drive traffic, nor it will come up with a super technical piece or a dissertation that completely forgets about the proper use of keywords, subheadings, and so on. 

Although your blogs and landing pages should present original and relevant writing, most of the time the nature that content is informational. You want people to know right away what your product or services and more importantly, what benefits do they get by acquiring them form you. You can (and should) share your personal insight into your work and put yourself in the expert position. But remember: this is not about you, this is about your clients; their pain points, their needs. In the words of Donald Miller in ‘Building a Story Brand’, they are the hero in the buyer’s journey. And your business works as the guide and the solution provider in that journey. 

Brand Story: Your ‘Gandalf’s Staff’

So making a nerdy analogy, you have the role of Gandalf in your client’s buyer journey. And the implementation of a brand story is certainly a powerful weapon. First of all, because it will set a clear map of your business and your client’s position on that map. Through the brand story, you can have a clear understanding of the pain points and the needs I mentioned a few lines above. Once the brand story is set and done, you can strategize your content for SEO much easier and effectively not only through the proper use of keywords and other SEO techniques (which should also nurture themselves from the brand story) but also because you will be sending the right message through your marketing channels. And you would still be doing it by offering quality, original, useful content.

But let’s say you still have some really powerful piece of content; your Anduril (OK, last reference to LOTR) that needs to be used somehow. There’s a time and place for that, too. We definitely recommend that content for more middle of the funnel pieces like downloadable assets that aim to sales qualified leads (SQL): people who have already shown some sort of interest in your brand and can be lead to the next level by providing some more specific content that he or she can find attractive or useful, free of charge, and in which you finish the engagement by showing your expertise more comprehensively.

Is Content the Only Implementation of Brand Story?

Not quite! Planning your content for SEO is one of the multiple areas of your overall digital marketing strategy that can be greatly benefitted by the use of brand storytelling. Social Media, technical SEO, email marketing, and even some more ‘traditional’ aspects of marketing like brochures or proposals can be optimized through it. The brand story is the backbone of WEBITMD’s Growth Stack, a full-funnel marketing and sales solution that was conceived to generate genuine business growth. Download our free guide to learn more about it or book a 30 minutes session with Mattan Danino to start your journey of real growth.