Keyword research: a key element of SEO & content marketing

Imagine that you are in an auditorium, facing a large audience of your best customers. You’re getting ready to speak to them.

You can say whatever you want, but there’s just one condition: As soon as you complete your first sentence, people can decide whether to stay inside and listen to the rest of your speech — or get up and leave.

What will you tell them in those crucial first moments?

This is a dilemma every business owner, blogger and content producer agonizes over every day. A visitor to your website decides within a few seconds if she is going to stick around and explore it or leave for another destination.

Unless your content is carefully planned and masterfully crafted based on a deep and intimate understanding of your target audience’s needs, your SEO initiatives will likely fail or underperform. Keyword research and analysis is one of the most critical elements of your content preparation, planning and production.

Key questions to consider here are:

1. How do you link SEO and keyword analysis to content marketing?

2. How do you produce content that your prospects will find irresistible?

3. How can you expand, grow and consolidate your profitability with an intelligent content strategy?

These are questions we’ll address in this column.

[Read the full article on Search Engine Land.]