There are differing camps. One says that Content is King. The other claims SEO is the only way to get eyeballs on your site. And it is 2016 now which means everything is viewed through the lens of Social Media.

The truth is a hybrid: SEO and content marketing are two different critters, but they work together in tandem to offer several benefits. Social Media is a blending adjunct. Since there are dozens of social media apps, concentrate on the half dozen most popular or the handful that are most appropriate to your particular issue, business or industry.

Let’s look at why this is important:

First, this troika gets searchers to your site. Second, they keep those viewers on your site and actually lead them deeper into it. Third, they entertain and inform to motivate people to become new customers.

In a real sense SEO and content marketing
are actually two sides of the same person. However, the problem lies in the disconnect between SEO and content marketing.

Like a tightrope walker, balance is critical for success and balancing SEO and content is the only way you’ll be successful across the board in your business — both physical and online.

The Truth: SEO and content marketing overlap a great deal, but they are very different.

SEO and content marketing are distinguished from one another in several critical areas. And while they have points of differentiation, you still can’t separate the two entirely and be successful in today’s marketing climate. Social media is the conduit that brings your message to people and draws them to your site and service or product.

Rather than chase down all the variations let’s point out this simple set of contrasts:

• SEO is narrower, and more technical.
• Content marketing is broader and more holistic.

Social media is the driver that brings these to your attention.

This is the way in which they all converge:

• SEO is a broader method to channel specific technical terms that attract viewers into your content marketing.
• Conversely, the only way to ensure the success of content marketing is to deftly apply continuously changing SEO techniques in its implementation that read smoothly and work with search engines and the social media apps.

SEO essentially makes demands on the tech side. Content marketing fulfills those demands while informing on the human side.

Think of it as a conversation between two people.

SEO states the requirements. Content marketing fulfills them.

SEO demands content. Content marketing is content.

There is no such thing as SEO without content. SEO is search terms with the key words you use to find information. However, those phrases need to be couched in real sentences, paragraphs and cohesive structure that provides what you seek. You need words, articles, substance, keywords, verbiage and more, all fit and solidly written to satisfy your requirements.

Yes, Content is King.

Don’t argue about it anymore. It’s a truism of the SEO industry. Content content content. Without it, SEO is meaningless.

And what is content marketing all about? It’s about the quality of the content. The practical application of SEO within the meaningful content is the very substance of content marketing.

Does it make sense now?

Here is the flip side:

Content means using key words in order to convey and connect your search via SEO, through Social Media to get to the content with the answers.

The fundamental component of SEO is keywords. You must utilize them, and track your ranking of them.

So, the next question is: How to apply keywords? How is all that time and expense in research funneled into keyword practical application?

Welcome to content marketing. Yes, you have arrived at the goal. Content marketing is the only method to utilize those select keywords and employ them strategically throughout specific online content.

Here is what is important: Content marketing consists of superior writing, crafted for humans, while using the keywords targeting the technology.

If you overwork the words the programming will stop you. However, when SEO and content marketing blend to do precisely in balance…you have arrived.

That balance is why you do not trust yourself to select SEO and/or craft content. Outsmarting continuously changing and shifting technology while still being informative and entertaining is a very tough assignment

But the best way to build links is by having professional teams write, craft and publish amazing content, and letting the masses link back to it.

Then, you repeat repeatedly. This is the real way to continual SEO success.

All of this is so much more involved than simply peppering pages with SEO laden content. SEO is far more than just blog articles, keywords, and backlinks. SEO is additionally about optimizing the robots.txt, building metadata, inserting proper tags, and organizing a strategic sitemap. Technical and creative stuff that the likes of us mortals cannot full enjoin.

Again, the link between SEO and content is constant and unbreakable in today’s technology and social media. Want a good sitemap? Yes, you do! This is so people can quickly and easily find you and then fully access your quality content. Why do you want an optimized robots.txt? For the spiders, obviously! Search engine spiders crawl your site looking for the elements that rank you and help people find you. You want the right tags in the right places? Why? So your content find great indexing, obtain accurate search results that include you at the top, and more readers come to see and appreciate your content. Ah, there it is again. It all comes back to content.

So, let’s review. SEO demands consistent output. Content marketing requires consistent, quality content. Social media requires a balance of SEO and Content to insure honesty in the processes, and that the best quality with the best elements are taken directly to your device and presented to you as the solution to your web searches. Simple, right?

Google demands fresh content and has the technology to insure you adhere to those demands. And those demands are not only stringent, but they change and intensify continuously. Virally or generically beating the Analytics and the weekly changes to the algorithms is a daunting and nearly impossible task.

SEO is about changes all the time. SEO requires fresh content that gets rapidly indexed, in order to register higher in the SERPs than older low-value content. When this fresh content appears on a site with old content, one can be certain that it’s going to have a SERP boost.

Quality SEO, then, means consistent and constant output of content. Consistent output means that you’re creating content marketing, and you’re doing it right. There is no other way to do this successfully today.
Content marketing is an active verb, with ongoing action. You don’t just do it, and then stop. You do it, and keep doing it. And on and on.

Content marketing and SEO converge again.

Conclusion

SEO is actually all about content marketing. And content marketing is all about SEO.

Here are two takeaways that I want to leave you with:

You’re not an SEO, unless you’re also a content marketer. You’re not a content marketer, unless you’re also an SEO. And if you are into Social Media, you are part of the equation, but only as a conduit for SEO and Content.

The point here is that your content marketing needs SEO, and your SEO needs content marketing. And both need Social Media to get the message out and obtain response. These are no longer disparate departments with disconnected efforts. An SEO needs to know about content marketing, and vice versa. Both need to understand various social media to get their message to the greatest audience and obtain response.

2. Keep in mind that your SEO campaign will fail unless you integrate content marketing. Your content marketing campaign will fail unless you integrate SEO. And both must be targeted to a host of Social Media outlets.

So, let’s have a final conclusion that you can take with you to your site, marketing efforts and well beyond:

Clearly, content marketing is only going to be successful if it has SEO features. Look at it this way: Your content is going nowhere unless people search and find. In order to make it found, you need SEO. SEO must have quality content to cover it or else it is gibberish that the search engine spiders will toss out, overlook or worse — degrade intentionally. Unless you toe the line, your work will be for naught…or worse, you could be penalized to a degraded zone of Internet purgatory where any hope of being found is lost. So, bring these two together. Alone, they are impotent. Together, they are dynamite. With balance, social media will carry your message and obtain response that will take you to a driving and continued success for now and the foreseeable future.