Content is the most effective search engine optimization tactic—but it’s also the most difficult to execute
originally posted by emarketer.com
The right content makes all the difference when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). According to an April 2014 survey of marketing professionals worldwide conducted by Ascend2, quality content creation was the most effective SEO tactic, cited by 57% of marketers. However, just because something is effective doesn’t make it easy. Content creation was also the most difficult tactic to execute, with nearly half of respondents saying so.
It may be difficult, but creating quality content isn’t preventing marketers from achieving their top objectives—lead generation and website traffic—likely due to the fact that it does prove effective when executed. Just over one-quarter of marketing professionals worldwide said that lack of quality content was among the most challenging obstacles to achieving important SEO objectives. Instead, limited budgets and skill sets were the top hurdles to reaching success.
Nearly half of the professionals polled said that SEO marketing had become at least somewhat more effective during the prior year, and a January 2014 study by Econsultancy found that marketers were increasing their SEO budgets as a result. Nearly two-thirds of client-side marketers worldwide planned to increase their SEO spending in 2014. Interestingly, this only trailed content marketing, on which 74% of respondents planned to spend more.
With marketers finding content to be an effective SEO tactic and a nonissue when it comes to achieving goals, it’s likely that quality materials will flow through to SEO efforts.
