Content Strategy Step Four: Search Engine Optimization

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Step 1: Know Thyself
Step 2: Know Your Customer
Step 3: Determine Your Content Marketing Goals
Step 4: Search Engine Optimization
Step 5: Perform a Content Inventory
Step 6: Content Mapping
Step 7: Creating Content
Step 8: The Right Content in the Right Channel
Step 9: Measuring Your Content Strategy’s Success
Some Final Thoughts

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an extremely important part of any content strategy and without it, all of your efforts could be for naught. SEO research should be as ongoing a program as your persona development and upkeep. Search terms change. Industry influencers make up new terms and categories for your products and services and if your content doesn’t reflect the reality of how prospects find solutions like yours, then they’ll find your competitor’s solutions first, and yours last, if at all.

SEO practitioners understand how to divine search intent based on an exhaustive review of online search results and following the breadcrumb trail from search to source. They are also adept at weaving those results into a brand’s content and messaging so it shows up in online search results.

Then, move from the very broad to the very specific until you know the applicable terms and phrases for every part of your business you want prospects to know about.

As with almost all steps here, there are software solutions to help you perform these searches. You can also do-it-yourself using a spreadsheet and free online tools. Your results will be limited, but it is possible to at least start your SEO work without spending a lot of money on paid tools. 

This is a gross oversimplification of how to perform SEO research and we devoted no time to discussing how to implement it in your content.  There are a lot of great online resources to get you started in SEO, and of course, there is no shortage of people with the knowledge to help, if you don’t mind paying them.

— NEXT PAGE —

Chris Souther's avatar

By Chris Souther

Chris joined the Air Force out of high school. After four years of supporting communications for the Department of Defense, the White House, and stations around the world, he left the military and moved to Atlanta. For the next six years, Chris continued working in the telecom field, eventually traveling around the country teaching companies like MCI, Nortel Networks, and Cabletron, how to do what he did. When the dot.com crash happened, upon recommendation from his wife, Chris re-enrolled in school and earned his B.S. in Communications (PR & Marketing). Since then, he was worked in network security, healthcare, banking and finance (and FinTech), general high tech (AI/ML, Cloud, IoT), and most recently, application development fields. Now, with more than 15 years of both Marketing and Communications under his belt, he helps organizations grow their business through the proper application of marketing, communications, and content. And he blogs on the side. It keeps him sane.