You know the age-old question: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
Same thought goes for content marketing. If a piece of content publishes in the midst of billions of others and no one is around to read it, does it make any impact at all?
Personally, my answer to both of these questions is no. But the philosophers can debate away about that! Key point is there needs to be a strategy behind your content to get eyeballs on it—and get it "heard." This can range from social media tactics to SEO.
Over the past couple years, I’ve learned a lot more about SEO—both its importance and how challenging it can be to achieve the results you want. Any content marketer should beef up their understanding on the topic and stay on top of the latest trends. If SEO is entirely new to you or you’re trying to tackle local SEO or long-tail keywords, here are some interesting articles and resources that I’ve found helpful.
The Beginners Guide to SEO
Moz recently published this in-depth ebook on SEO. From an overview on how search engines work to keyword research and measuring success, this is a great resource to get going with the SEO 101 basics. While we're at it, here's a nice cheat sheet for URL optimization.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Integrating Long-Tail Keywords Within Blog Posts
Looking to integrate more long-tail keywords in your publication? Or figure out what the heck that even is? Neil Patel provides an in-depth overview with some very tactical takeaways of how to research these keywords.
Optimizing Images for SEO
Yoast provides a great tutorial on how to optimize your images for SEO. More on how to actually pick those images will be in an upcoming blog post.
How To: SEO
Search Engine Land has an interesting compilation of how-to articles, including performing audits, uncovering content ideas, and optimizing content. The site is also a fantastic go-to for all of the latest news.
Local SEO
Back to Moz! I found their collection of articles very accessible when trying to get a grasp on local SEO. Local SEO is definitely a strategy and world onto itself.
Google Search: Mobile Friendly Websites and Mobile SEO Overview
Is your website mobile friendly? In the world of Google, it better be! Your keywords won’t matter as much otherwise. Check out these tips for your site straight from the source.
Of course, this is just the very smallest tip of the iceberg for resources on SEO. But I found these to be good primers. Diligence is what you really need to get content “heard” in the forest of search!