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Informational Articles * Business Blogs
SEO Content Marketing * Keyword Research

Connect. Compel. Convert. 

How to Use Informational Content for SEO and Online Prospecting

The primary intent of web searchers is research and education.  Long before prospects will be ready to buy or engage a service, they will seek information to aid in the buying decision.

This initial aspect of the online buying process plays a major role in organic search engine optimization (SEO) and online prospecting.  By writing informational articles that are optimized, individual web pages, you can draw prospects to your website and offer initial value by answering specific questions.  

You then have the opportunity to convert the prospect (get them to take a specific, desired action) and to engage them further in the sales cycle.

SEO and Inbound Marketing

To take advantage of web searchers that are in the educational phase of the buying cycle, you must anticipate what they will search on and align the content you create with the search queries.  This can be done using keyword research tools and by analyzing the needs of your target persona.   

Beyond just main keywords, article content can be built around related terms and phrases, called keyword niches.  By targeting the phrase or question a prospect queries, you give yourself a much greater chance to rank for organic search results than by targeting a short, highly competitive term. 

With the specificity of the search results, you get a lower volume of traffic, but it hits a more precise target. 

The scenario can be a business development dream come true.  Envision a prospect for your offerings that has a question or problem they want some initial information on.  They go on a search engine and make a query.  You have anticipated this search query and created an optimized page that provides useful, objective information that gives value and serves to introduce your company. 

This is the essence of inbound marketing as it relates to organic SEO.  

Instead of having to use interruption tactics like cold calling to hunt down the prospect (outbound marketing), you leverage technology to have them come to you (inbound marketing). 

With a strong conversion strategy, you now have a chance to get the prospect to identify themselves, and you have a lead to act on and nurture in your sales cycle.  

The Content Marketing Numbers Game

Telemarketing cold callers know the "numbers game" well.  In order to find enough receptive prospects, it is necessary to call out to and interrupt a huge number of people for whom the timing is wrong.  Difficult work.

With inbound marketing that targets organic SEO, the numbers game is reversed.  Inbound content marketers need to create a large resource of optimized web pages that match specific search queries. 

Keyword search experts Wordtracker report that half of all search queries are done using unique keyword combinations in the form of phrases and questions.  This means the more content you have, the greater your reach with search results. 

If you have 300 pages of content built around targeted keywords and your competition has10, you have a clear competitive advantage on organic search.

Website SEO

All of this content has a cumulative effect on your website's SEO.  

Search engines index and favor sites that add fresh, original content on a regular basis.  If you rarely add new content to your site, the search engines will regard it as loosing relevancy and your organic search results will drop. 

When it comes to SEO, content creation is an ongoing job.

Also, well written, original content that has stand-alone informational value serves another  SEO function that sales content does not:  it draws backlinks.  Particularly with Google and its PageRank algorithm, these inbound links are vital for both individual web pages and the site as a whole. 

Social Media Anchor

Beyond just search engines, comprehensive and objective article content serves as an anchor for social media marketing.

Sales content usually has little informative value, but useful, interesting content gets tweets, posts on Facebook, thumbs-up on StumbleUpon, and bookmarked.

Social media marketing is all about offering value.  Strong informational articles can be the anchor that you drive people to when networking and prospecting online.   

High quality, professionally written informational content is the basis for prospecting online and adding it to your website regularly is an essential SEO practice.   

Turn your website into a resource your prospects can find--and be glad they found.  In the end they will reward you with their business.       
  

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