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  • What is a SEO Blog? Blogging for Business.

    What is a SEO Blog? Blogging for Business.

    Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

    SEO Blogs are essential to know about if you are a business. Especially if you’re going to be blogging for business. If you’re starting your own, or even outsourcing to a blog writing services, it helps to know what you’re getting into!

    We’ve created a comprehensive guide for beginners or those seeking clarity.

    Marketing is hugely geared towards online presence at present. It’s opened up a whole new dimension to marketing.

    This is where SEO Blogs have become a fantastic tool. It’s easier than ever to establish your company, all whilst pulling in leads.

    Blogging took off as one of the first forms of digital marketing. With the development of the internet universe, personal blogs made solid foundations in this new land. Personal blogs then bloomed into the perfect marketing tool.

    This form of content is so valuable, there’s now plenty of blog writing services specialising in blogging for business. Not to mention, plenty of comprehensive guides on how to create your own blog.

    Let’s delve a little further into what makes an SEO blog.

    We’ll even share the secret recipe with you…

    What is it?

    Simply, a SEO blog is a blog for business that is search engine optimised. SEO is the special ingredient to make your blog work for you.

    They are purposefully optimised to rank in SERPs (search engine results pages). The blog will still be engaging and relevant to potential and current customers. But, it will also play favourably into your website’s SEOs, whilst increasing blog visibility.

    This is done by structuring and writing inline with what search engines favour. To name a few more of the basics; sentence length and keywords. However, we’ll deep dive into this further on in the blog.

    If you want to see an example of an SEO blog, you’re looking at one! You can take a further look at our blog here.

    Why is it important?

    If you have a look at most successful companies, they generally have a blog. And, believe it or not, it’s for a reason!

    Below are some of the advantages of blogs for businesses that include SEO:

    • Increased organic traffic
    • Brand authority and trust, resulting in enhanced credibility.
    • Lead generation
    • Targeted keywords
    • Builds loyalty and trust with customers
    • Backlink opportunities

    How does it work?

    Search engines favour content that serves their users. This means content that’s well-structured, easy to read and includes keywords. Keywords are essential as they indicate what the content is about. Search engines match results by using keywords. As a result, keyword research is essential in creating an SEO blog.

    Although SEO is important, the first rule is to write for your readers first. Then SEO can follow.

    1. Engaging and Valuable Content

    A blog post should be interesting and engaging. This means it has a relevant topic and information that helps and engages the audience, addressing their needs and questions.
    To rank easier, long form content is generally favoured over short form content. For example, a 1500 word informational blog post will have higher chances of ranking than a 300 word mini post. With that being said, short FAQ answers can still rank if they have relevant keywords and best practices applied.

    2. Keyword Research

    As a rule of thumb, there should be a main keyword or long tail phrase. Following this, other relating keywords and phrases to what you’ve focused on that people are searching for. Keyword selection is based on matching the intent and relevant searches.

    With keywords, spamming a blog full of them won’t work! They have to be strategically chosen and relevant. Otherwise, it won’t serve your audience, ranking lower in SERPs.

    3. Content Optimisation

    By creating a clear, structured blog post, the search engine gods will favour it. Search engines love user-friendliness.

    To be more specific, this means:

    • Clear and formatted title with keywords
    • Formatted subheadings
    • Body text with relevant keywords
    • Meta description
    • Sentence lengths and structures

    Another part of content optimisation is internal linking. This is when hyperlinks are inserted in relevant sections to other parts of your website.

    Not only does it increase engagement, but it helps search engines understand your site’s structure and content.

    Using SEO Blogs in a Strategy

    To make the most out of SEO blogs, it’s best to have a blog strategy in place. A strategy consists of Pillar pages, followed by topic clusters.

    For example, ‘What is SEO?’ could be a pillar page. Topic clusters would then be further blogs linking back to the pillar page, such as ‘How to use SEO in Blogs’, ‘How to do Keyword Research’ etc.

    By creating regular blogs focusing on topics that are related to your business and customer queries, you are ranking for multiple keywords. This will draw in your targeted audience from all areas.

    By drawing in target audiences from all areas, you’ll attract potential customers from different stages of the sales funnel.

    Example

    Let’s use the example of someone who owns an alcohol brand, with or without an online shop.

    They’ve recently started a blog with news, engaging information and drinks recipes. A potential customer has searched for a recipe for a gin cocktail, such as a Bramble.

    1. Searching for a delicious Bramble recipe, they stumble across our alcohol companies recipe. Great work! Those keywords must’ve worked.
    2. We already know they’re at the awareness and interest stage of the funnel, as their intent is to make a cocktail with gin. This is a product they offer and now on the recipe page, are aware of the brand.
    3. Their blog should (hopefully!) have a link to that product in their online store or where they can purchase it.
      If the potential customer already has gin, then the company has still achieved awareness and interest.
      Further down the line, this could lead to a sale. In an ideal world, the customer doesn’t have gin for the recipe and will consider purchasing their product.

    Do blog posts really help with SEO?

    As we’ve discussed above, yes! However, one blog post with SEO won’t have much of an impact, if any. To see improvement in SEO and lead generation, consistency is a must.

    Search engines prioritise fresh, updated content. By having a frequent blog, it says that your website is still relevant and active.

    By posting regular content, search engines will crawl and index your site more regularly. As a result, it will increase your SEO. If your content is valuable and helpful, overtime it will build a loyal audience and increase traffic. More organic traffic means more potential leads!

    Blogs can also be a useful tool to answer audiences queries. These queries might be stopping them from taking the next steps to purchase. By having a helpful blog, it can even improve your customer service.

    Disadvantages

    We’ve covered all the magical offerings SEO blogs can give us. But, what about the downsides?

    1. Time consuming and requires expertise
      To write a blog, you’ll need to have the relevant expertise. Expertise is essential in order to be effective. You’ll need to have a deep understanding of SEO and best practices. Good writing skills are also a must to create engaging content that reads easily.
    2. Results aren’t instant
      Blogging is a long-term content strategy, compared to other types. For example, with social media marketing, it’s easier to get an instant pay off but harder to keep this going. However, with blogging you have to be invested long term to see results. But, you don’t have to worry about only seeing short-term payoffs.
    3. Algorithm Changes
      Much like other types of content marketing, algorithm updates and changes can affect the visibility and ranking of your content.

    Which Blog is best for SEO?

    There’s no particular blog that’s best for SEO! It all comes down to tailoring a blog to your company. Relevance and addressing customers needs and questions related to your niche is key.

    Do I need a SEO Blog Writer, or can I do it myself?

    Many businesses blog for themselves, so anyone can create and maintain an SEO blog. There any many comprehensive guides on how to do this, ranging from beginners to seasoned bloggers. It’s important however to bear in mind if you have the skill sets to do this. Things to consider are writing and SEO skills.

    Another thing to consider is time. According to outranking.io

    ‘We’ve found that articles of between 1000 and 1500 words in length take at least 4 hours to research, write and optimise for SEO.’

    Being a company that offers blog writing services, we can also confirm that’s true!

    Managing your own business can be very time-consuming, so if this is something you can’t commit to timewise or is not in your skill set, you can outsource like many other businesses do.

    Did you find our blog helpful?

    Are you new to SEO Blogs?

    Any questions?

    Drop us a comment and we’ll get back to you!

  • What is the Difference Between Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing?

    What is the Difference Between Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing?

    Where does it all start?

    The Marketing world is constantly changing with various different niches.

    Whilst it’s fantastic that it’s constantly evolving, like our world, it can be hard to keep track of. Especially the differences between each type.

    Some types of marketing sound realtively simiar to each other and overlap on duties and services. For example, digital marketing and social media marketing, or the difference between Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing. Which is what we’ll be exploring in this article.

    In order to get customers through the door we come to marketing. In the last 10 years, social media and mobile ads have darastically changed the landscape.

    The Rise of Online Marketing

    Before, marketing heavily relied on traditional sources, such as TV ads, Radio and billboard advertisements. Essentially, the traditional forms of media. Think finding a sofa or job in the local newspaper!

    This type of marketing was targeted but nowhere near as targeted as what we have now. With cookies and data collection, ads are more personalized than ever.

    Since the online world erupted properly, different niches of marketing have also exploded. With so many different avenues to explore the marketing world is at your fingertips.

    With that being said, it is also a very competitive one. Don’t let that put you off though!

    Let’s get to the nitty gritty.


    Let’s get into Digital Marketing

    With so much business jargon, especially in the marketing world, it’s important to remember some things are as they sound!

    Quite often you’ll see agencies that offer social media or content marketing. These are strategies that that agency specialize in. These strategies are apart of Digital Marketing.

    The easiest way to look at this, is to say that Digital marketing is the parent, and content marketing and social media marketing are two of its very many children.

    Digital Marketing is just another way of saying online marketing! It’s a term that covers all the different forms/strategies of marketing that involve being online/digital.

    Some examples of Digital Marketing Strategies are:

    • SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
    • Content Marketing
    • Social Media Marketing
    • Social Media Management
    • Email Marketing
    • Paid Online ads (Instagram, Google etc)

    What is Content Marketing?


    First of all, if you’ve read our article on ‘what is content marketing?’, then you should have a good idea about our first contender. For those who haven’t, give it a read!


    In brief, content marketing is the creation and distribution of digital content. Content Marketing services might offer content marketing through paid advertisement, through social media, writing and publishing blogs, podcasts etc. This is a long-term marketing strategy.

    Example of a Content Marketing Strategy

    To give you an idea of what content marketing entails, here’s an example of a strategy a business might make.

    Goal:

    An alcohol shop or producer wants to improve customer retention, generate sales and brand awareness.

    Strategy:

    They start a blog about different types of their alcohol, pairings or cocktail recipes, particularly using their own products in recipes, to help generate sales. They then share and promote these through different channels, such as email, social media and their website.

    What is Social Media Marketing?

    Social Media Marketing is as it sounds, purely social media based. Generally, content will be made and then distributeed through social media with a strategy. This includes paid social media ads, such as facebook and instagram ads.

    Now, here’s where things get a bit hazy… Some content marketing agencies do include social media strategies. However, this is different to having a social media manager.

    Difference between Social Media Marketing and a Social Media Manager

    A social media manager is the person who will execute the day to day operation of accounts. They will launch social media campagins, creating and publish content, engage with the audience through messaging and comments, and manage social media accounts.

    Social Media Marketing however, is the broader overall strategy that has been created. This encompasses overall social media strategy and development, paid advertisements, promotions etc.

    Example of a Social Media Marketing Strategy

    A perfect example of a social media marketing strategy is pointed out in Socialinsider’s Blog.

    ‘One brand that is great at social media branding strategies like this is Nike. Their cross-posting is focused on platforms that prioritize similar content types.

    For example, focusing on short-form videos on video-based platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube shorts.’

    By making sure their content is high-quality and engaging, using story-telling, they’re maximising their strategy potential.

    What are their Aims?

    Before we get into what each marketing type offers, here’s what the aims are for both of them. They can be tailored to your business goals but this is what businesses find to be most effective:

    Social Media Marketing: Promote Engagement and Brand Awareness

    Content Marketing: Generate and Nurture leads

    Here’s a table comparing and breaking down the duties and services they might* offer so you know what you’re getting in for…

    *Every service is different, a lot of agencies or individuals might brand themselves as either one of the two but only offer select services.


    The Difference Between Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing

    Content MarketingSocial Media Marketing

    Creation of Digital Content such as blogs, infographics, podcasts and various digital marketing material.
    Creation of social media posts, stories etc. This might be photos, infographics and graphic designed posts.

    Distribution of blogs, podcasts etc on platforms.
    Distribution of posts through relevant social media sites.

    SEO and SERP rankings taken into account when creating strategies. This improves brand authority and trustworthiness.
    Daily audience interaction such as comments and messages.

    Conducting Marketing Research to see where target audiences are ‘hanging out’ and what trends and topics are coming up.
    Strategies used to promote audience engagement, building relationships with audience.

    Developing a content marketing plan using tailored strategies.
    Building relationships with influencers and online communities.

    Tracking and management of content performance. E.g. Social Media graphics/content or blogs on website.
    Data Analysis of campagins and trends whilst working with marketing teams.


    As you can see there is a fair amount of overlap. So how do you know which one will work better for you?

    Which Should I Choose?

    Which type of marketing you should choose depends completely on your needs. Being a start up business could see you turn to Social Media Marketing initially or using both, with social media getting immediate traction.

    Being a new brand means you’ll have little to no visibility or awareness. By focusing on social media marketing you’ll be stamping your brand on the digital space.

    With that being said, content marketing does cover a wider scope of possibilities for you. If you’re looking for long-term results then this is something to bare in mind.

    Here we’ve broken down what businesses use each type of marketing for

    When Should I use Social media Marketing?

    Social Media Marketing is a great marketing resource, for all levels of business. ‘With 5.24 billion social media users worldwide’ (Curtesy of backlink.io), you’ll undoubtedly find your target audience. This is where a compatible strategy can maximise your results.

    Companies often use social media marketing for the following reasons:

    • To improve brand awareness, visibility and trust
    • To directly engage with their audience
    • For ecommerce sales

    When Should I use Content Marketing?

    Content Marketing can again, be incredibly rewarding at any stage of your business. Whether you’re just starting out, or have already established yourself. If you’re looking to grow you won’t go wrong.

    Companies often use content marketing for the following reasons:

    • To build or maintain SEO and SERP rankings.
    • Strengthening and curating brand advocates and relationships, by offering genuinely beneficial material to audience.
    • Boosting brand visibility, mostly through search engines.
    • Establishing authority. For example, ‘hubspot’ are fantastic for this. Because of the relevance and quality of their content, they’ve become known as experts.

    What about Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing together?

    This can be a fantastic combination as both strategies can feed into each other. Essentially you’re building your own customized digital marketing strategy at this point.

    With the knowledge on how they both work, you can create a tailored strategy that suits your needs or goals. Alternatively, you can get a digital marketing agency to do this for you. As mentioned in the comparison table above, both strategies can be very time consuming to execute them effectively.

    Round Up

    So, there you have it! The difference between social media marketing and content marketing. Choosing and investing in a marketing strategy can be a tricky choice if you don’t have a big sag bag for budget.

    But, with knowledge and information, you can make the best decision for your business needs.

    Marketing strategies can be built up overtime. For example, with content marketing, you could begin with a blog strategy and then stretch into podcasts.

    A content marketing agency or social media marketing agency will track how certain content in your strategy performs. From this, they will then tailor and trial different content to see what works best.

    Did you find this helpful?

    Got any questions?

    Drop us a comment!

    Do you know someone who would find this useful?

    Share the love!

  • What is Content Marketing?

    What is Content Marketing?

    Home » Archives for Culty Content

    Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

    Table of contents

    Content is King! I’m sure we’ve all heard this phrase. But what is Content Marketing?

    A match made in heaven for any business. 

    Entering into the marketing world can seem a bit daunting. Especially with the many varieties of marketing on offer. If you’re already in this world, I’m sure you’ll be familiar with these.

    What about digital marketing? What is digital marketing? Social media marketing, search engine marketing, Digital mktg?! That’s a thing? Ah… Digital marketing. Influencer marketing, guerilla marketing… The list goes on. 

    So what is content marketing? We’re here to help clarify and define. Whether you want to know more about a service before hiring, or to take it on yourself. 

    We’ll go over what it is, how it works, why it’s important and the different types.

    What is Content Marketing?

    Content Marketing Definition:

    It’s a type of marketing that involves the creation and strategic distribution of online material. These could be blog posts, ebooks, videos etc. 

    Essentially, it can be a variety of digital content to provide information to your audience and is an essential part of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). 

    Better SEO’s mean the Google gods or whichever engine you’ve focused on, will look down on you more favourably, giving you a better ranking in search engines.

    Why is it important?

    Content marketing has many creative and low cost strategies available. Not only that, but there are some impressive ROIs, making it a no-brainer. As we’ve just mentioned…

    • SEOs
      Want to be the top result on the web? Ehem, or, to be more professional, SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). You’ll need to be slick with SEO. Search Engines will favour certain websites and content. This is if they have good SEO. In short, being first page SERPs and being favourable equals more leads.
    • Brand Awareness & Trust
      Being present and offering valuable, relevant content for your customers is essential. Once customers know and recognise a brand, there’s a higher chance they’ll buy. By offering information and presence, familiarity and trust will grow.
    • Cost Effective
      With content marketing, you’re avoiding the steep costs of traditional advertising. You can either do this yourself, or there are many affordable services available who will do this for you. Generally, still working out cheaper than traditional advertising.
    • Lead Generation and Conversion
      By having high quality, interesting content distributed, you’ll have a higher lead generation and conversion. Content can attract people at different stages of the marketing funnel.

    How Does Content Marketing Work?

    1. Planning & Research Phase
      It’s time to put a strategy in place. This is where the important questions will be asked.

      Who’s your ideal avatar? What type or types of content marketing are you going to use? What are your goals and KPIs for each campaign? Do you need a calendar and planner? What are your buyer’s needs and behaviours online? Do you know your relevant keywords? Will you do it yourself, or will you hire someone?
    2. Create & Disperse!
      Time for the fun part! Get creating.

      Relevant and Engaging:
      Using your research, you can create content that’s relevant and interesting for your target audience. Overtime, this will draw in the customers you are looking for.

      SEO:
      Use those keywords! Yes, even on social media, keywords are essential. This means you’ll show up for the right search terms, matching you to your target audience.

      Get it out there:
      Now your content is ready, it’s time to distribute it through the relevant channels. A lot of material can be repurposed, make the most of it by ensuring you’re using all streams that your active users will hang out.
    3. Performance and Analysis

      Gathering the stats:
      This is where we’ll get the good stuff. You’d hope! Metrics and statistics will be tracked to get a gauge on the performance of the content. For example, traffic from social media, the type of demographic it’s reaching etc.

      Analysis & evaluation:
      From the statistics, you’ll then be able to see which content is performing well and which content may need some adjustment. This is the perfect time to try out different things and tweak as needed.

      Come back stronger:
      It’s time to refine your strategy and hone in on what you’ve found works, adjusting this continually for consistent improvement. 

    The Buyer Journey

    Content Marketing works very neatly with a buyer’s journey. Here, we detail the 3 stages of someone deciding to buy something.

    1. Awareness
      The buyer realizes they have a problem or need. They will then begin to research for a service or product that will fulfil this need. This is where they will come across your service or content, along with competitors.
    2. Consideration
      After gathering various different offers, the buyer will then take into consideration which one best suits their needs. They may need more information to decide.
    3. Decision
      They’ve now arrived at the final stage. With all the information and options, an informed decision will be made as to which service is best for them.

    Content Marketing plays into all of these 3 stages. By creating a valuable and well-thought-out content marketing strategy, you’ll begin to generate and close leads.

    Types of Content Marketing

    So, now you know what and why. Let’s have a look at the many types of Content Marketing available.

    Blogs

    Blogs are one of the top content marketing strategies. It’s easy to understand the appeal, with a worthy ROI adding the icing on top.

    Highlights

    • Building a community & trust: Your customers won’t get bored with information they WANT to know about. Once you have someone interested and engaged, you’re one step closer to receiving profitable customer action. It also answers a lot of FAQs, so you’re inadvertently improving your customer service as well!
    • SEO go getter: Blogs are a fantastic way to boost your SEO’s, also while drawing in new customers coming from different angles.
    • Generate more leads: With an uptake in traffic coming to your site from blogs, you can then generate leads. Customers will feel safer using your services or products when they have more information on you and your knowledge. 

    Infographics

    Infographics are a visual representation of information. This could vary from charts, to text etc. It’s a way to understand information quickly at a glance. 

    Highlights

    • Effortless Engagement: By making something easy and attractive to read, it boosts how engaged your audience is. Higher engagement means higher interest in your content and brand.
    • Improved SEO: With full engagement comes better SEO results. SEO favours the customer experience, so if you’re making your content interesting and engaging, Search Engines will favour you for it. See how it all links in together?
    • More Backlinks and exposure: By having interesting and useful information, the chances of other blogs and people referring back to your infographics will increase. This boosts your SEO ranking as it builds authority. People are more likely to share your infographics, if they are useful and engaging. That translates to free advertisement and exposure!

    Podcasts

    Firstly, who doesn’t love a podcast? Since it’s gained popularity, it’s not come down and looks like it’s here to stay.

    Highlights

    • Boost Organic Traffic: If you make a podcast good enough to build a fan base or even pique interest, you’re guaranteed to have a boost in organic traffic coming to your business.
    • SEO Keyword Goldmine: By including a transcript or show notes with your podcast on your website, you’ll have a whole bazaar of keywords for a search engine to rake through. That’s why it’s helpful to centre episodes on areas you’re trying to rank for. Podcasts also show up on SERPs for relevant terms and keywords.
    • Loyal Audiences: People love to talk. That’s why if you have a great podcast with a loyal audience, they’ll become brand advocates, recommending it to their friends and family. This is fantastic for brand awareness and trust. It can also move people through the marketing funnel towards a future sale.

    Loyal Audiences: People love to talk. That’s why if you have a great podcast with a loyal audience, they’ll become brand advocates without realising, recommending it to their friends and family. This is fantastic for brand awareness and trust, also moving people through the marketing funnel towards a future sale.

    Videos

    Videos are a dynamic and magnetic way to market. With such a diverse use, it’s hard to find a drawback. They can be used in various formats such as Live videos, Showcase videos, Tutorials etc.

    Highlights

    • Direct Sales: A great video can persuade a customer to buy straight away. If not, it can plant the seed for future sales.
    • Awareness: By creating videos that are informational, educational or even commercial, it means you are creating exposure to your brand in a memorable way.
    • Enhanced Engagement: Videos are much more engaging and attention grabbing compared to static text and infographics. Social media reels are an excellent example of this.

    Email Marketing

    This type of marketing is still as relevant as ever. These campaigns are super flexible and can be tailored to difference target audiences.

    Highlights

    • High ROI: As of last year, according to HubSpot: ‘email ROI is an impressive $36 for every $1 spent’. I’d have to say that’s hard to compete with. 
    • Boost Sales: Through this medium of marketing, you can personalise. In addition,direct offers, such as exclusive discounts, personal product recommendations etc can close the sale.
    • Builds relationships & trust: By having direct contact with your customers, you can:
      1 – Tell them your story and who you are (building trust).
      2 – Update them on news (building trust and familiarity).
      3 – Send personalised content (increased engagement).

    Ebooks

    Much like podcasts, Ebooks are another tool to get your brand out there and offer something for potential customers.

    Highlights

    • Builds authority and credibility: By writing eBooks relevant to your industry/your services, you can show off how much of an expert you are. Furthermore this establishes a brand as knowledgeable but also as authoritative. Also authority also boosts your SEOs.
    • Increases Traffic: By raising awareness of your brand, you can draw in new traffic from audiences who’ve read your eBooks.
    • Trade for a Trade: Ebooks work beautifully for trade-offs. A lot of businesses will offer free ebooks in return for an email marketing subscription. Or, perhaps contact information to use for further marketing.

    Round Up

    We’ve covered the essentials for understanding what the content marketing meaning, what it is, how it works and all the types available out there to use.

    To see results, it’s important to maintain consistency and be flexible with your strategy!

    Did you know much about Content Marketing before reading this article?

    Got any questions?

    Drop us a comment!

    Do you know someone who’d find this useful?
    Share the love!