Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. What’s the difference between content and SEO content? Similar punchline, but fewer feathers.
SEO, or search engine optimisation, is all about getting your website to the other side of the dark depths of Google (other search engines are available). And without an effective SEO strategy, combined with a heavily researched content strategy, you might be stuck in the shadows (cluck that).
Having a healthy mix of both types of content on your site can be beneficial, appeasing the algorithm gods and keeping your audience engaged. Let’s look at the main differences, the benefits of both, and what this means for your business goals.
What exactly is ‘regular’ content?
These are your entertainment pieces, your thought leadership items, or simply things you’ve wanted to get off your chest and the internet feels like the only place for it. Often, they won’t have a lot of search intent behind them (regardless of how strongly you feel about a certain subject).
It might look like a press release, company announcement, or new service you’ve launched. These types of content have their place and offer a lot of value to your audience, but when it comes to giving Google what it craves, they don’t quite cut the mustard. A full outline of the different types of regular content includes:
Case studies and testimonials
Whitepapers
Interviews
Press releases
Surveys
The goal of regular content is to give your brand a voice, a place to show off. You’re under no illusion that your recent sponsorship of the local ultimate frisbee club will skyrocket your site to the dizzying heights of position one on Google, but you really want bragging rights. You do you.
What exactly is SEO content?
As the name suggests, this content is optimised for the search engines. SEO content knows its purpose and doesn’t mind getting down and dirty with Google. It’s got a tough job on its hands (or words) to beat off the competition, fighting for a spot in the search engine results pages, and enticing users in.
When planning SEO content, the focus should be on key search terms you want to appear for - but this can’t just be generic, broad phrases and words. It needs to be researched thoroughly and effectively thought out. We’re looking for high volume, low competition. We’re looking to drive relevant traffic, not just masses of users who bounce the minute they realise they’ve been bamboozled. We’re looking for useful, engaging content, which is well-structured and easy to read (just like the piece you’re skimming through right now). Some examples of SEO content might include:
Blog articles
eBooks and guides
Website landing pages
Which is better - SEO content or regular content?
Okay, so the handy little table we’ve put together makes it seem like we’re pushing an agenda. We’re not (maybe just a smidge…), but it illustrates how much SEO content involves and why it works so hard for your site.
Determining which is better, regular content or SEO content, really depends on your business or marketing goals. If you’re trying to achieve brand awareness objectives, then regular content can be extremely helpful. It provides you with assets to use across social media and within email marketing. What it won’t do for you is feed the search engines effectively. You’ll be recognised for fresh, updated content, but without further optimisation and content that targets relevant keywords, you’re producing content for content’s sake.
To counter that, you can’t simply rely on SEO content either, without an effective strategy in place. Simply picking a few keywords and phrases, without auditing your current content and website thoroughly, won’t be enough. Thinking about who you’re producing content for is essential - and then determining what questions they need answering and what pain points they might have at each stage of the buyer journey.
How should you think about content for your brand?
Don’t think of it as either or - it has to be both. Depending on your business objectives, your content needs to work hard and be genuinely helpful to your audience. Effective and engaging content, which is well-optimised, will provide the search engines with delicious data to eat up and index. But it will also provide your audience with useful information that might just be the tipping point to a decision.
Search engines have to trust your site as much as the users do - and vice versa. If your content isn’t optimised, it’s unlikely that Google will push your site to become more visible to your target audience (or any audience for that matter). But if you focus on creating optimised, useful, engaging content, trust starts to come naturally - from both sources.
Knowing the differences - and putting them into practice
Look at that, you’ve made it - and with time to spare. With this new knowledge at your disposal, it now means you can create two different types of content, keeping your brand champions happy, your marketing department, and yourself (let’s not kid ourselves; you’re probably all three).
Let’s review what we know:
Regular content helps create your brand voice and promote awareness
SEO content helps improve your website’s visibility within search engine results pages
A mixture of both types of content can effectively market your brand and address your business goals
You need an effective content strategy, implementing the mix, with thorough research.
Of course, if you’re not entirely sure where to start with your content marketing strategy, or you feel you’ve got a good handle on one type of content, but not the other, contact us today (and we’ll keep you from spitting feathers).