Content marketing seen as key growth area for SEO

Matt Jones

Recent data has indicated that content marketing is thought by many working in search engine optimisation as being a key factor over the next year.

The survey, conducted by independent digital marketing advisor Econsultancy, canvassed the opinion from 1,300 industry professionals. Including representatives from agencies, major brands and key publishers, it was the first organised Content Marketing Survey.

When asked to comment on whether ‘content marketing will be more important over the next 12 months’, 90% of those agreed.

There was further support for its importance too

Nearly half, 44%, of respondents also thought that online content marketing is a more effective sales generator than advertising.

There is still much to understand about content marketing before its merits against advertising can be truly drawn, but it shows the direction things are headed in clearly.

This is certainly the case, with 55% of brands canvassed in the survey expecting to have a content strategy in place by 2013.

It is important to note of course that successful SEO is far more than all about the content. It is a key part of it, but it is far from the whole of it. There are a number of people working in SEO, in house or at agencies that neglect it though.

This could be dangerous, with content moving further towards the centre of marketing importance. Creating effective content though will increasingly take a lot more effort than is presently afforded, particularly in regard to understanding consumer behaviour, and being able to predict likely actions.