Question: Why do we need to blog and create content to be found on search engines? Is it really that big a deal or can we just optimize our page?
Everybody wants to rank on search engines…
They want to be found for short-tail and long-tail in all the right areas and they want to be in the magic top 3 because less than 20% ever scroll beyond the top 3.
In order to do this they launch an SEO campaign. Targeting certain phrases and keywords that they think they can win. But here is the problem.
If your site has stale content that isn’t constantly changing and evolving it is going to be nearly impossible to compete for rank for any of the terms that matter.
If you weren’t aware, between social media, video sites and blogs there are thousands upon thousands of pieces of content created every minute. That creates a ton of competition for any site. Even if you had a keyword or two that you were dominating with the continuous evolution of content it would be hard to stay on top with just the static content you have.
Social Is Also Key
So beyond just rapid production of dynamic content making it hard for static websites to rank, there is the social factor.
In a recent Searchmetrics study it was found that 7 of the top 8 factors driving SEO are actually social signals. Meaning that content that people get social with is the content that ranks highest for search. If you don’t have a steady drip of content for people to interact with you are at a huge disadvantage. (Here are the study findings – click to enlarge)
In fact, most of the traditional on page optimization methods that were long used by SEO pros are now much less significant in driving search rank.
So in short, the real reason small businesses need content is this:
“Creating a flow of content is more than just a buzz, it really is a requirement for companies looking to be found, seen and heard in a cluttered digital world.”
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Daniel Newman is the co-founder of V3*Broadsuite and is an experienced C-level executive, serving as a strategy consultant for small and mid-sized businesses. He’s also an insight/analyst partner to four Fortune 50 enterprises and previously served as the co-founder and CEO of EC3, a hosted IT and communications services provider. Prior to that, he served as the CEO of United Visual, Inc. in Chicago Illinois.
He is a widely published writer who contributes weekly to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post and industry publications such as Commercial Integrator, Sound & Communication and Corporate Tech Decisions. He’s also author of three best-selling business books including The New Rules of Customer Engagement, The Millennial CEO, and just recently Evolve: Marketing (^as we know it) is Doomed.
Daniel has established a reputation as a leading thinker in topics such as Social, Big Data, Cloud and Mobile. He has been named to many top influencer lists in all of these areas, including recognition by the Huffington Post as one of the 100 business and leadership accounts to follow on Twitter. He is also an adjunct professor of management at North Central College.