Building a reputation online these days is nearly mandatory for every business. And yes, that includes every business in Toronto too. But what can you do to win the digital world for your company? Simple: SEO and Content Marketing. Both are completely different techniques, they are opposites that can be used together for the goodness of your business. In this blog, we’ll explore the world of SEO and Content Marketing, and explain how these two marketing strategies work together and are the ultimate business couple that can be used together for your Toronto-based, internet-owning business.

What is SEO & Content Marketing?

Imagine a library with all sorts of information. SEO is like making sure your website is on the top shelf, right where everyone can see it. That way, people looking for info can find your site easily. In simpler terms, SEO is all about improving your website and the things on it so it shows up at the very top of search results whenever someone searches for something related to your business. This way, more people who are already interested in what you offer will find your website and become your customers.

Content marketing is all about creating useful and interesting content for a specific group of people you want to be get in touch with. It’s like having a communication with them, teaching new things to them, and giving answers to their questions. The goal is to build trust with these people and turn them into customers who can buy your products or services. This can come in all sorts of formats, like blog posts, pictures with info graphics, videos, or even social media updates – anything that people are interested in learning about.

Why can’t SEO & Content Marketing be separated?

Imagine SEO as the beacon that helps users find your content and content marketing as the valuable content that they are searching for. Here are some reasons why they should travel together:

• Relevancy & Credibility: SEO helps you target the relevant keywords that users are searching for in Toronto. With content marketing, you can now create quality content for those keywords, demonstrating your expertise and gaining credibility as a go to source.
• Makes your site user-friendly: SEO helps people find what they’re looking for on your website easily. If your content is good, users will stick around and browse for a while.
• Backlinks & Authority: Search engines look at backlinks, or links from other authoritative websites, as a measure of authority. If the content marketing strategy is effective, your site will naturally attract backlinks as other sites cite or link to your quality content. This in turn, boosts the effectiveness of the SEO strategy.
• The Constants in a Successful Strategy: SEO & Content Marketing Factors

So now that we’ve explored the magic behind the duo, let’s get into the main points of each strategy:

• Keyword Evaluation: At the core of any successful SEO and content marketing strategy lies your keyword research. A Toronto SEO company can help with this process, as they’ve got the tools and expertise to identify relevant keywords that hold high search volume and low difficulty. This will ensure that your content is optimized for the right search terms driving qualified traffic from your target audience.
• Quality & Solid Content Strategy: Although content is king, in content marketing, quality is king. Put effort into creating informative, engaging, and well-written pieces that add value and speak to the needs of your ideal audience. Create a content schedule to keep your production consistent and users engaged.
• User Experience (UX): A slow, cluttered or confusing website will send your users running. Toronto SEO services companies optimize your website for user experience. Make sure your site is easy to read and navigate, your load time is fast (especially on mobile) and your menu structure makes sense.
• Traffic: The goal is to drive more traffic to the website. With a strong SEO and content marketing strategy in place, you’ll see a substantial increase in organic traffic bringing more eye-catching customers to your door.

Difference between SEO and Content Marketing

Both SEO and content marketing work hand in hand perfectly, but each of them focuses on different aspects:

• SEO is about On-page & off-page optimization processes that help to rank higher in search engines.
• Content marketing is about creating high value content that strikes a chord with your audience and fulfils your marketing objectives.

How do they complement each other?: Content Marketing & SEO

Think of it as a well coordinated, symphonic machine:

• You do keyword research: You research relevant keywords that people are searching for in Toronto.
• You create content for your audience: You create high quality content that targets those keywords.
• You optimize the content for SEO: You optimize your content with the right keywords, meta descriptions etc. so that search engines can digest it.
• Then you distribute your content: You distribute your content strategically through social media, email marketing, industry publications etc.
• Then the traffic starts pouring: Search engines recognize your optimized content and rank it higher in the search results page. People clicking on your title and then land on your website. This is known as organic traffic.
• User dwells longer: Since your content is high quality, users engage longer with your content, which is known as dwell time. Bounce rate reduces.
• Backlinks & Authority: Users love your content so they share it and link back to your website from their own websites. This increases your authority in the eyes of search engines and hence your SEO ranking goes up.

This process becomes a loop which strengthens your SEO and content marketing efforts simultaneously.

SEO & Content Marketing – Working Together to Your Benefit

Here are some tips on how to make this powerful combination really work for you:)

• Keyword Strategy based on Content: Keywords should not be selected merely for search volume but rather based on user intent and the intent search queries and then create content that fulfills the intent and uses the keyword.
• Content Pillars & Topic Clusters: Content strategy should include creating wide ranging content clusters around overarching topics within your industry/niche and then create pillar content (such as in-depth guides or evolver pages) that acts as a hub for all the related topic and sub-topics and link out to the relevant content pieces that cover that specific aspect in greater detail. This strategy is far better for the user experience and for SEO as it shows Google you cover a topic very well.
• Optimize & Readable Content: All content should be optimized for search with keywords included in titles, headings, meta description and image alt tags but be careful to avoid keyword stuffing and focus on making content readable for humans first.
• Promote Your Content: Having content simply sitting there is not enough, you need to promote it and get the traffic flowing towards it. Use social media, email campaigns and even influencer marketing to promote your content.
• Monitor & Measure: Make sure you monitor the results of your SEO and Content Marketing efforts using your website analytics tool. See which keywords are bringing in traffic, which cities, which content pieces are used the most by readers and so on.

Some of the popular challenges in SEO & Content Marketing

The online world is undergoing rapid changes and some of the popular challenges are:

Search Engine Algorithm Changes: Google along with other search engines keep updating their algorithms regularly. Keeping a track of those changes and optimizing your SEO strategy as per the updates is a must.
Content Overload: There is a flood of content online. To get noticed, you need to create something really unique and valuable which can give the readers a new insight.

Competitiveness: The online world is really competitive. You need to develop a robust content marketing strategy along with a good SEO strategy to beat the competition and get noticed.

Summary: A Winning Combination for Toronto Businesses

When you leverage SEO & content marketing, your Toronto business can achieve tremendous potential for online growth. An experienced Toronto SEO company can guide you master the dynamic SEO landscape and a well designed content marketing strategy will help you engage your targeted audience through quality content. Remember, SEO is the light which guides the users and content marketing is the precious content which users look for. When combined, your brand builds trusted authority, attracts qualified leads and converts them to buy – leading you to online success in the competitive Toronto market.