How to Make a Successful Content Strategy for SEO?

When creating the best SEO strategies, people often get confused between SEO strategies and goals. The confusion between SEO strategies and ambitions produces those SEO strategies that are destined to fail. So, if you wish to prevent yourself from such occurrences and make a successful content strategy for SEO, we’ve got you covered.

Here, we will discuss the practical steps to create a successful SEO content strategy. But due to the confusion between strategies and goals, it is essential to discuss the concept of SEO strategy first. So, let’s delve into this discussion.

SEO Pros. Men shaking hands.

What Is SEO Content?

Before understanding the concept of SEO content strategy, it is essential to know what SEO content is. So, as the name depicts, SEO content is a combination of two words:

  • SEO:

    Content Strategy for SEO. SpongeBob SquarePants.

Figure 1: This GIF is taken from https://media.giphy.com/media/0qiwSa0SwH8DTNjQyR/giphy-downsized-large.gif

SEO doesn’t need any introduction, as it stands for Search Engine Optimization. The term ‘Search Engine Optimization’ means a tactic for increasing a website’s visibility in search engines.

Among the paid and other forms of unconventional advertisements, SEO is one of the most important aspects of digital marketing. But the end goal is to organically get more traffic on your website or blog and increase your brand awareness.

  • Content:

Content is everything you create, publish and see online in the form of blog posts, podcasts, videos, or infographics.

Thus, we get SEO content when we mesh SEO and content together.

The term ‘SEO content’ refers to creating any form of content to increase searches for your website. And the goal of SEO content creators is to increase the traffic gained through search engines.

The Most Popular Types of Content for SEO:

Generally, people refer to blog posts as SEO content. But as mentioned earlier, different media types fall in the ‘content’ category. So, let’s look at the most common content types and their role in SEO.

SEO for your website. A writer typing a blogpost.

  1. Blog Posts:

Figure 2: This image is taken from https://pixabay.com/photos/wordpress-blogging-writing-typing-923188/

One of the practical and easiest ways to build authority and organic traffic is by creating blog posts. In fact, according to a study, 77% of netizens still prefer reading blog posts even in 2022. So, you can decrease the bounce rate of your website by creating evergreen blog post content, such as ‘how-to guides.

However, the key to an excellent blog post is informing the audience without duplicating the information. So, if you prefer this content type and want to ensure your blog’s content is original, you can take assistance from plagiarism checker online.

Most cutting-edge plagiarism checkers work on advanced AI algorithms and deep searching techniques to quickly compare the uploaded content against billions of web pages. So, they are an authentic way to ensure that your blog post’s content is original.

SEO for a website. A diagram on a laptop.

  1. Infographics:

Figure 3: This picture is taken from https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-using-black-laptop-computer-7948060/

Infographics present complex information in an easy-to-digest manner. This type of content is challenging to optimize on its own. Therefore, content writers and bloggers include it in their blog posts for dual benefits.

SEO for mobile. A photo of a mobile device.

  1. Videos:

Figure 4: This picture is taken from https://unsplash.com/photos/O1mej4P-Rws

How many times have you read a text-only blog post and got bored while reading it? We know the answer—a lot.

There is no doubt that text alone can bore readers. So, to keep the readers engaged with your content, you can take assistance from videos.

You can pick video as a standalone content format or include it in your blog post alongside infographics to enjoy multiple SEO benefits. So, the choice is yours.

Thus, if the goal is to attract more visitors through organic search traffic, you can take assistance from any type of content in SEO content.

What Is an SEO Content Strategy?

After successfully understanding the concept of SEO content, the term ‘SEO content strategy’ will be self-explanatory for you. But if that’s not the case, we’ll simplify this term for you.

The term ‘SEO content strategy’ refers to a process where you organize your website’s content by topic. The goal is to increase the possibility of ranking your website higher in search engines.

8 Steps to Build an SEO Content Strategy:

By now, you may have correctly grasped the concept of SEO content strategy. Therefore, it’s time to answer the elephant in the room—steps to make a successful SEO content strategy.

SEO strategy. A woman talking.

  • Specify Your Objectives:

Figure 5: This GIF is taken from https://media.giphy.com/media/3o6Mbcz94dOkPD2lDW/giphy.gif

Whether you want to do marketing or anything related to your business, your first task is to determine your objectives.

Before diving deep into a marketing campaign or something else related to your business, you must understand your goals. When it comes to marketing or anything about business, the most popular types of goals include the following:

  • Collaboration with companies having traffic requirements.
  • Generate more revenue.
  • Increase sales.

Additionally, while planning your goal, you must remember that your business goal should meet the S.M.A.R.T. goal criteria. The term ‘S.M.A.R.T’ goal means having Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound goals.

Thus, whatever your goal is, you should determine it before focusing on the type of content.

  • Create Buyer Personas:

A business is about finding people’s needs and fulfilling those needs through your services. So, once you have recognized your business’s goals, the next task is to understand your target audience and the problems you want to solve through your business. That’s where a buyer’s persona will come in handy.

A buyer’s persona represents a detailed description of a business’s target audience. It is basically a semi-fictional representation based entirely on data and research. So, a buyer’s persona can help in understanding the target audience.

However, to enjoy the benefits of buyer’s personas, you will have to create one for your business. So, in such a case, you can take assistance from buyer’s persona templates to determine your target audience and their needs.

Types of Content for SEO. A man looking at the board.

  • Plan Your Content and Topic:

Figure 6: This image is taken from https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-standing-infront-of-white-board-1181345/

Once you have recognized the ideal audience for your business, you can move to the planning phase.

In the planning phase, you will plan your content and the topics to benefit your audience. However, suppose you are having trouble preparing your content and topic ideas. In that case, you can ask your ideal audience or search the relevant communities on Facebook groups, Quora and Reddit.

Additionally, you can run surveys about your audience on social media platforms. This technique brings dual benefits because

  1. It is an ideal approach to learning more about your audience.
  2. It allows your audience to input into your business personally.

Thus, once you have gathered the required information about your audience, you will have to create pillar pages and topic clusters according to their interests.

  • Decide on Content Formats:

Figure 7: This picture is taken from https://pixabay.com/photos/question-mark-choice-decision-3839456/

By now, you may have understood your business’s objectives, determined the ideal customers and planned the content according to your audience. Therefore, your next job is to select the content format.

The benefits of SEO vary according to the type of content format. For instance, a study by InVideo indicates that video is the most engaging type of content format. That is why video content ranks more easily on higher competition keywords than blog posts. However, just because statistics indicate the popularity of a content format, you can’t pick it.

Undoubtedly, ranking content on Google and other search engines is everyone’s goal. But if your content does not engage your audience, you are wasting your time and money. So, you also need to consider the content format your audience likes to consume. Again, you can take assistance from forum websites and social media groups to determine the type of content your audience wants to consume.

SEO content. A crossword with SEO words.

  • Be Consistent in Content Production:

Figure 8: This GIF is taken from https://media.giphy.com/media/StXXmOGdJ7GshYijVv/giphy.gif

Once you have determined your ideal audience, their problems and the type of content they want to consume, the next task is to be consistent in content production.

Undoubtedly, consistency is the key to success in anything. The same is the case with SEO strategy. So, whether you are in the habit of publishing content once a week or a month, you should follow your content publishing schedule, as your audience will be expecting content from you.

Additionally, the more content you publish, the better your chances of ranking first in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). But this doesn’t mean compromising on the content quality.

  • Content Publishing:

It is an excellent practice to have content of two months in stock before moving on to the publishing phase. So, whether you want to outsource the content or create it yourself, we recommend sticking by this practice.

Moreover, you will also have to wait three-six months to see the results. But trust us, if you have followed the proper guidelines, you won’t regret waiting a few months.

  • Content Distribution:

Every digital marketer wants their audience to find their content through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But how will your target audience know that you have published the content? That’s where content distribution comes into the picture.

Once you have published the content, your next task is to distribute the published content. For instance, you can take assistance from newsletters, social media, or even word of mouth to distribute your content.

  • Avoid Throwing In the Towel:

As mentioned earlier, you will have to wait 3-6 months to see meaningful results from your SEO campaign and analyze its output. So, don’t lose hope if you don’t see any major changes in your platform’s traffic before the 3-6 months time frame.

We know it’s easier said than done, but the key is to stay consistent and stick to the correct process.

Conclusion:

Generally, people believe that SEO content strategy is all about building X number of backlinks and ranking X number of keywords. But these are SEO goals, not SEO content strategies.

SEO content strategies are an excellent way to increase the likelihood of ranking your website higher in search engines. But how can you build an SEO content strategy for your website? Which SEO strategy will suit your content format? If you have these questions in mind, you can find their answers here.

From the concept of SEO content to explaining what SEO content strategy is, here, we have presented everything about building an SEO content strategy in an easy-to-understand manner. So, read the above guide to create a successful SEO content strategy for your website.