There are quite a few studies showing that companies publishing more blog posts and more content in general equates to generating more business than those that don�t.
I suppose if you�re starting from scratch, adding any kind of content has the potential to improve a company�s ability to attract people seeking to buy. Since content creation is one of the biggest obstacles to companies realizing gains with content marketing, it�s no wonder that advice about how to produce articles, blog posts, infographics, white papers, and visual marketing has become so popular.
Which brings me to the point of this post. When looking for help with content marketing and content creation, there�s a difference between what one gets from a SEO agency and a content marketing agency. That difference is not so much about one being better than the other, but more about sizing up which is most appropriate for your situation.
In fact, it would be nonsensical to limit one�s options to just SEO and content marketing, so keep in mind this post is intentionally narrowly focused.
Many pure SEO agencies have added content marketing to their mix of services in the past year if not completely re-inventing themselves that way. This is the nature of SEO, adapting to the changing nature of the industry to provide current services for improved online marketing performance.
Starting as a Public Relations firm in 2001, TopRank has been in the content creation business (messaging strategy, press releases, case studies, newsletters, white papers, email marketing, etc) for a very long time. As we evolved into more of a digital marketing agency, those PR centric content efforts evolved into blogging, social media content, ebooks, infographics, video and other visual content. But we don�t create a diverse array of content types simply because we can. We create them when it�s the right thing to do for a certain audience to affect a particular outcome.
Therein lies the fundamental difference between today�s SEO focused content and what content marketers offer.
SEO is accountable to metrics like search visibility, organic search traffic and any measurable actions that lead to and result in conversions. The more content that can serve as a �hook in the water� of search results, the more the SEO can show an impact on the investment.