The goal of SEO and content optimization is the same: to increase your online visibility and attract more viewers for your website, blog, or other online presence. However, you need to know the differences between the two in order to create the most effective text in a timely, cost-effective fashion.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. Keywords play a significant role in SEO and written content created specifically to help a website appear in search engines like Google.
When used properly, a specific keyword and/or keyword phrase (like “marketing” and “Philadelphia area marketing”) appears in your website’s page title and then multiple times in the quality content created specifically for that single website page. The aim is to naturally create keyword density—about 3% or 3 words out of every 100—for one particular keyword per page. (Additional website pages focus on other keywords and keyword phrases.) Your target audience can easily find the information they are looking for because you use the same keywords and phrases in your text—including image captions and alt-tags, metadescriptions, headings, and subheadings—as they are using in their search queries.
What is content optimization?
Content optimization focuses on the many possible needs of your ideal client. Your well-written content concisely answers their frequently asked questions.
While keywords and keyword phrases still play a part in content optimization, the aim is no longer keyword density. The intent is to be able to predict your target market’s most frequently asked questions and then provide the best, most thorough, and/or most useful responses as determined by Google.
To do this, you need to understand your audience.
• What questions are they asking?
• What devices are they using to search for answers?
• Are they searching while on the road, nearby, local, for delivery?
Once you have these answers, you can create optimized content that matches specific parameters. You can create a Frequently Asked Questions page on your website and list each question and its answer. You can make your website mobile-friendly and responsive so visitors can find you and the information they need on whatever smartphone they have wherever they are. You can include phrases like “Greater Philadelphia area” or “Malvern” to let people know you are nearby.
You don’t have to do any of this alone. At Tate Design, we can help you decide whether SEO or content optimization or a combination of the two is best for your purposes and we can help you create content to match. Call us at 610.725.0702 or e-mail [email protected] to optimize for better search engine results.
SEO That Delivers Contextually Appropriate Answers For Google