The Essential SEO Resources for Content Marketers

Before you cared about SEO, you heard “Panda” and thought of a cuddly black-and-white bear. Now you know that bear is ready to dish out penalties if your content is weak, your keywords stuffed or your bounce rate high.
And just when you thought Panda was all you had to worry about, you realized that Pigeon was getting ready to poop on your content marketing parade, and there’s a Penguin in the mix, too.
Or perhaps you’re wondering why I’m talking about pandas, pigeons and penguins when this article is supposed to be about SEO.

All marketers need to have a grasp on the SEO fundamentals

You’re a marketer, not an SEO expert, but you probably realize Google has the power and they’re calling the shots. You need to understand this SEO stuff despite its constant evolution—Google’s algorithm changes as many as 600 times per year¹—because the better your understanding of SEO and implementation of its fundamentals, the better your content will perform.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, we totally understand, because we face that very same feeling. And there’s no better way to combat that feeling by learning as much as you can about the topic of SEO and its impact on content marketing. Our favorite search-focused resources keep us updated without giving us that in-over-our-heads feeling that we get when too much tech speak is thrown around.

Avoid the SEO blues with these amazing resources:

• If you’re truly an SEO newbie, start by reading Search Engine Journal’s “2014 Beginner’s Guide to SEO” or Moz’s  “The Beginner’s Guide to SEO”. Regardless of your SEO skill level, consider the Moz and SEJ blogs required reading.

• For those who find Matt Cutts’ videos overwhelming, check out Short Cutts. The folks at Click Consult have pulled out just the most important snippets from Matt Cutts’ videos so you can understand the essence of what he’s saying without getting lost in the details.

• SearchEngineLand has been a favorite of ours for years. They cover a wide variety of search-related topics from the light-hearted to the actionable. It’s where I learned that Kim Kardashian is the most searched celebrity of 2014, but it’s also where I read this outstanding article on increasing click-throughs by writing better meta descriptions.

• You’re probably already reading MarketingProfs, but make sure you aren’t missing their search engine marketing articles.

• Neil Patel offers some very insightful and helpful advice on his QuickSprout blog. Posts like this one make it easy for marketers to understand the actions they should take to start improving SEO.

SEO is complex and slippery—just when you think you have a solid grasp on it, it has escaped your grip—but remember that you don’t need to know all the ins and outs. SEO is an important component to every piece of content your company writes for the web, so focus on the ways you can write SEO-friendly content that’s audience friendly, too.
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