7 Facts About Content Marketing Every Business Needs to Know

Research has shown that organic search is responsible for more than 60% of a website’s traffic, and Google currently has more than 93% of the organic search market, so being visible in Google matters.

Search engines have become an indispensable part of the decision-making and buying process, which means that visibility in organic search results is paramount for every business. Visibility in organic search results connects you with searchers who are most likely to engage with your company, but gaining visibility on Google is challenging for most companies.

Recent changes to Google’s search algorithm have had a major impact on how content is ranked in online search results, creating winners and losers in the process. The purpose of this guide is to provide you with the facts you need to succeed in today’s online search environment

Google Has Stacked the Deck Against B2B Marketers

Having an online presence does not automatically guarantee online visibility. In fact, most companies, regardless of industry sector, are not visible for most standard keyword searches and phrases. Why?

• Google’s primary focus is on providing consumer-centric search. As a result, the algorithm provides limited visibility for companies and B2B-related search.
• Google has a vested interest in limiting your company’s visibility because it increases the likelihood that your company will engage in a Google Adwords advertising campaign.
• Google’s latest changes to its search algorithm are designed to discourage link-building schemes and other nefarious activity from affecting search results, thereby providing higher quality information to searchers.

The net result is that it’s now more difficult than ever for your business to gain visibility in Google organic search results. Here’s another sobering statistic: According to Alexa, 75% of searchers never scroll past the first page of organic search results, so being visible on page 1 is more important than ever.

There’s a lot of misinformation about the effectiveness of social media and other marketing channels. Much of it is hype and should be ignored.

7 Facts About Content Marketing Every Business Needs to Know

There are no shortcuts for building an online audience.It takes time, energy, and resources. Here’s what works, and what you should try to avoid:

1 - Social media does NOT drive engagement for B2B. — Social media is wonderful for driving online traffic for trend-oriented businesses such as music, fashion, and other pop culture topics, but its impact on B2B-related search is limited. According to Forrester Research, only 7 in 10,000 (.07%) Facebook users ever engage with a brand, and on Twitter the numbers are even lower — only 3 in 10,000. Even worse, these numbers reflect not the general population, but social media users who have self-identified as brand followers. Companies need to maintain an active presence on social media networks, but should lower ROI expectations.

2 - Quality, long-form content is the key to online visibility. — Google’s algorithm now favors long-form content, such as magazines and news publications. Because content is updated on a regular basis, Google considers the information to be more relevant in organic search results.

The shift toward long-form content is both good news and bad news for companies. Developing long-form content means that companies must adopt a publishing model to build and maintain online visibility, and more and more companies are indeed building internal content teams. However, online publishing is an expensive proposition that requires a dedicated team of writers, editors, designers, and production staff to maintain — which isn’t necessarily practical for every company.

3 - Content needs to display cross-platform. — The world is going mobile, and Google aims to make the web more accessible on mobile devices. According to Google, 29% of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site or app if they can’t find information or if it’s too slow to load. Optimizing your site for speed as well as using responsive design to improve usability will ensure your content will be seen and shared across mobile and desktop platforms.

4 - Starting a corporate blog is easy, but building an online audience is not. — It requires a significant investment in time and energy. There’s currently a lot of hype around the effectiveness of content marketing, but here’s the reality: You can write dozens of high-quality posts and never gain any real visibility.

Posts only show up in organic search results after they have earned enough quality inbound links and social media signals to alert Google that your article is relevant to searchers, but there’s a catch…

5 - Inbound links require time to mature. — Inbound links are one of the most important factors used by Google to determine search rank position. However, recent changes to Google’s algorithm require any inbound link to be at least 6 months old before it is credited toward a site’s position in search results. Inbound link quality matters too. A link from Forbes.com has much greater weight in search ranking than one from Joe’s Auto Body Repair.

6 - Press releases have lost their effectiveness. — Recent changes to Google’s search algorithm have essentially eliminated press releases from displaying in organic search results. If you’re relying on PR alone for online visibility, you’re using an old playbook. PR is still an important part of the marketing mix, but a press release has value now only if an online publication that reaches the right target audience picks it up.

7 - Optimize content for your target audience. — Everyone engages with search engines differently based on experience and personal reference points. No two individuals begin an online search in exactly the same way. Therefore, it’s important to think about content from the standpoint of a searcher’s behavior.

Most people are task-oriented and tend to start their online searches using broad-based terms that are already top of mind. To maximize online visibility, content should be optimized across a wide range of keyword strings. In other words, it’s best to spread your search engine optimization (SEO) across a wide range of keyword phrases rather than focusing on a narrow range of individual keywords. Building an online audience means establishing authority across a broad spectrum of related industry topics and publishing on a regular basis.

Building an online audience requires a sustained effort over time, but the upside for companies is enormous. Content drives relationships, relationships build trust, and trust ultimately drives revenue. If your company can afford to build an internal content development team, you will likely see a strong return over time. If that’s not in the cards, then forge relationships with established publications that already occupy high online visibility within your particular industry sector.

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