Coloring Outside the Lines: Mastering SEO for Content Marketing by Katy Katz

1. COLORING OUTSIDE THE LINES:
MASTERING SEO FOR
CONTENT MARKETING

2. Hello!
I am Katy Katz
Senior Consultant
SmartBug Media
You can find me at:
@katykatztx
#StateofSearch

3. Let’s talk SEO and
Content Marketing

4. “I endeavored to make [my content] both entertaining
and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such
demand, that I reaped considerable profit from it.”
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

5. “I endeavored to make [my content] both entertaining and
useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that I
reaped considerable profit from it.”
- Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth (1758)
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

6. “Content is the reason that search
began in the first place.”
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

7. “Content is the reason that search
began in the first place.”
- Lee Odden, CEO of Toprank
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

8. THE
PROBLEM
MARKETERS EXCEL AT
RUINING A GOOD THING
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

9. Link Spamming
#StateofSearch @katykatztx
Image from White Rabbit

10. Keyword Stuffing
Image from SEOPressor
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

11. Over-Automating Social Media
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

12. #StateofSearch @katykatztx
“Content is a game that
every type of team and
agency plays, so we’re all
competing for a piece of
that pie. Meanwhile,
technical SEO is more
complicated and more
important than ever before.”
- MICHAEL KING, FOUNDER
iPULLRANK

13. SEOs BE LIKE
- Cyrus
Shepard
(speaking
about TF-IDF)
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

14. WRITERS BE
LIKE“Language is my whore, my mistress, my wife,
my pen-friend, my check-out girl. Language is a
complimentary moist lemon-scented cleansing
square or handy freshen-up wipette. Language is
the breath of God, the dew on a fresh apple, it's
the soft rain of dust that falls into a shaft of
morning sun when you pull from an old bookshelf
a forgotten volume of erotic diaries; language is
the faint scent of urine on a pair of boxer shorts,
it's a half-remembered childhood birthday party,
a creak on the stair, a spluttering match held to a
frosted pane, the warm wet, trusting touch of a
leaking nappy, the hulk of a charred Panzer, the
underside of a granite boulder, the first downy
growth on the upper lip of a Mediterranean girl,
cobwebs long since overrun by an old Wellington
boot.”
- Stephen Fry, Linguist
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

15. Why’d we have to
go and make things
so complicated?
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

16. “I believe that more than
90% of the content
marketers are going to
have a long cold winter,
and many of them will
end up looking for new
careers. I don’t want that
to be harsh, but a big
content marketing glut is
coming. “
- Eric Enge, CEO Stone
Temple Consulting (via
Didit)
SHIT!
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

17. GOOD
CONTENT
NOW, MORE THAN EVER,
YOU NEED
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

18. “Mediocre content will hurt your
brand more than nothing at all.”
- Joe Pulizzi, Author
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

19. “Slow the *&%^$ down and do your content
marketing right – or don’t do it at all.”
- Ann Handley, Content Marketing Institute
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

20. People Now Use Ad Blockers
- PageFair 2015 Ad Blocking Report
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

21. SEARCH OPTIMIZED CONTENT IS NOT GOING
ANYWHERE BUT IT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN
EVER TO OPTIMIZE FOR YOUR
PERSONA FIRST
AND APPLY YOUR
CHECKLISTS AFTER
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

22. “Annual growth in unique site traffic is up
7.8% for content marketing leaders
compared to followers.”
- Aberdeen
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

23. Pepsi has invested big in
a state-of-the-art content
studio in Manhattan.
- Image source Ad Age
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

24. BACK TO BASICS
content
headlines
meta descriptions
on-page SEO / formatting
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

25. MAKE IT
USEFUL &
INTERESTING
THE CONTENT SECRET?
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

26. CONTENT

27. GOOD CONTENT
SPEAKS TO A
PERSONA
Your target market needs
to connect with what
they’re reading to forge a
relationship with your
brand.
IS WELL
CONSTRUCTED
Use tools or hire a real
editor to make sure your
content is interesting to
read and follows writing
best practices.
ANSWERS QUESTIONS
Make sure your reader
comes away feeling that
you’ve added value and
that their visit was worth
their valuable time.
SERVES A PURPOSE
Think about your end goal
– amplification, lead
nurturing, raising
awareness, sealing the
deal – define the goal
ahead of time and stick to
it.
DRIVES TO A CTA
The end of your content
(and throughout if
possible) should help point
the visitor in a direction.
Spell it out for them!
SHARE & SEARCH
OPTIMIZED
Apply your checklist at the
end so that you don’t
sacrifice creativity for
technicalities.
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

28. DEMOGRAPHICS
+ Age
+ Gender
+ Salary
+ Location
+ Education
+ Family
GOALS &
CHALLENGES
+ Values and fears
MARKETING
MESSAGE
+ Elevator pitch
SOCIAL MEDIA
+ Platforms
+ Behavior
NAME & JOB TITLE
+ Where they work
+ Details about their role
PERSONA TEMPLATE
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

29. CRAVEABLE CONTENT
#StateofSearch @katykatztx
Makes us laugh or cry
Has an unexpected twist
Reminds us dreams
come true
Inspires action
Reminds us we matter
Reveals a secret
Surprises us
Encourages us to never
give up
Reminds us we’re unique
Where David beats
Goliath- Content Marketing Institute

30. A Bit More on KEYWORDS
MAP OUT
RELATED
TERMS
DESIGN YOUR
STRATEGY
USE A
KEYWORD
TOOL AT THE
BEGINNING
FORGET
ABOUT THE
KEYWORDS
TILL THE END
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

31. HEADLINE
S

32. HEADLINE MUSTS
➜ CLEAR
➜ RELEVANT
➜ FOCUSED
➜ CONCISE
➜ EXCITING
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

33. ➜ Yes, start with a keyword
➜ But then get creative with it!
Increase creativity by:
o Using a headline tool
o Testing multiple variations (like 25)
o Dropping over-used terms (*ULTIMATE)
HEADLINES
• Impactbnd.com Title Generator
• Hubspot Blog Topic Generator
• TweakYourBiz.com Title Generator
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

34. NOW CHECK THE SEO
ARE YOU AT
THE RIGHT
LENGTH
(55-60 characters)
EXPERIMENT
(test, test, and test
again)
IS THE
KEYWORD
UTILIZED &
RELEVANT
(aim for long-tail)
#StateofSearch @katykatztx
* FACT: Shorter title tags perform better in search than longer ones. – Study by Code As Craft

35. META
DESCRIPTIONS

36. But Google said that meta
descriptions aren’t a factor in
the algorithm so why should I
care?
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

37. Relevant Traffic
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

38. ➜ Again, start with a keyword
➜ But then get creative with it!
Increase creativity by:
o Researching competitive terms
o Circling in on THE WHY
o Focus on benefits over features
o Keep it clear and crisp
o Don’t repeat the headline!
META DESCRIPTIONS
#StateofSearch @katykatztx

39. NOW GO BACK AND OPTIMIZE
ARE YOU AT
THE RIGHT
LENGTH
(160 characters)
EXPERIMENT
(test, test, and test
again)
IS THE
KEYWORD
UTILIZED &
RELEVANT
(aim for long-tail)
#StateofSearch @katykatztx
* CHECK OUT THIS GREAT DISCUSSION ABOUT META DESCRIPTIONS ON INBOUND.ORG

40. STRUCTURE

41. ON-PAGE SEO & FORMATTING
KEYWORD
Is it in the title, URL,
introduction, conclusion,
and other key spots? Is it
used a natural amount?
HEADLINE TAGS
Did you utilize H1 and H2
tags throughout the
content? Bonus for
including a keyword in an
H2.
LINKS
Did you utilize a variety of
internal and outbound
links?
IMAGE
Did you include visuals
that support your content
and include your target
keyword in the Alt Text?
AMPLIFICATION
Did you make it easy for
your message to be
spread on social media
with prominent buttons?
CTA
Did you include ways to
keep people on your page
and clicking through to
other parts of your site?
#StateofSearch @katykatztx
Now is the time to break out the checklists!
Check out Moz’s SEO Checklist for more.

42. Great content is both
CREATIVE and
TECHNICAL.
#StateofSearch @katykatztx
Image Source: swelldesigner via Flickr

43. Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at:
@katykatztx
kkatz@smartbugmedia.com