As a business owner, you probably already know how important Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is for your business. What you might not know is how much your website can benefit from both paid and organic SEO practices and how the two are closely tied to content marketing. In short, SEM and Content work together. Let’s explore how these two types of digital advertising can work together to help get your brand gain more customers online.
What is Search Engine Marketing?
SEM is an effective way to attract new customers and increase sales, brand awareness, search engine rankings and website traffic. It utilizes both paid and organic search advertising tactics to increase online visibility. Paid search in particular is extremely beneficial when launching a new product or service, or expanding your reach into previously untapped markets.
What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing works on the premise that when you create great content, more people will visit your website. This leaves you with plenty of opportunities to connect emotionally with customers—a move that ultimately leads to improved customer loyalty and sales conversions. This is why six out of 10 consumers are more likely to convert after reading descriptions on product pages than those who don’t read them at all.
The Relationship Between SEM and Content Marketing
SEM and content marketing are deeply integrated. While SEM focuses on getting more people to visit your website, content marketing is about getting them to stay and convert. Ultimately, the two are more effective when used together strategically than when they’re used separately. Here are some ways in which they can work together to drive more qualified leads to your website:
Google’s E-A-T Principle
Google relies on the E-A-T principle to gauge if your website content is reliable, accurate, and relevant to its users. E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness, and the popular search engine expects all three qualities to be reflected in your content.
An important step in creating E-A-T compliant content is understanding the user’s intent and using relevant keywords. This will allow you to design content that specifically addresses your clients’ problems, encouraging them to stay on your website longer. The longer dwell time will not only improve your SEO score but also provide you with an opportunity to connect with prospective customers and establish a memorable brand identity.
Moreover, when you regularly publish relevant and engaging content that answers your client’s questions, visitors are more likely to bookmark your pages, share them on social media, and revisit them later. This will also positively impact your search engine rankings.
Link Building
Content marketing is a valuable tool for getting links and backlinks (which are important criteria for SEO – SEM and Content work together). For example, if you create an article about how smartphones have changed over time, then someone might link back to that article on their blog or website because they like what you wrote about smartphones in general or maybe just your particular take on things. The more people link back to your homepage or other pages on your site from theirs, the higher Google will rank those pages.
As search engine algorithms continue to get more sophisticated over time, it’s vital to pay close attention to your content marketing strategies. The SEM and content marketing experts at Mike Hamm Communications can help you kickstart your digital transformation. Book a consultation today!