Content marketing better than link building?

Lately many webmasters have talked about the differences between content marketing and link building. And although they are really two different separate elements in your search engine optimization campaign, many agree that creating content for visitors is more beneficial to your website than trying to target search engines. It’s all about long-term results. And if we think about the fact that Google pays attention to our content and any search action is based on content and keywords, than we will surely agree that content is still king!

One of the reasons people agree that it’s better to focus on your content is that hiring a good and creative copywriter is or can be cheaper than contracting a good link builder. Of course nowadays more and more people develop their writing skills and everybody puts an emphasis on creativity, but let’s face it, it’s not that simple to find really good writers. So although it can be cheaper than hiring a SEO specialist, it’s much harder to find people with really strong copywriting skills. On the other hand, if you do find a great copywriter that’s good on blogging and has relevant social media experience, they could write high quality content that people will actually share and they will build trust and authority to your website and company.

Writing content and generating links in a natural way it’s much better than link building. Why not make an effort to offer quality information for you visitors and to encourage them to share your content and gain traffic through natural links? There are so many wonderful (and yet addictive) social networks - Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest - that people use daily to find and share information. And there are so many sharing buttons and applications, that is almost impossible not to spread your news in the online world. You just have to provide high quality content that could go viral, in any form that suits you: images, videos, articles.

Another advantage you can benefit from when you focus on content in your search engine optimization efforts is that it is easier to measure the value of content than the value of links. When you post an article, you know exactly how many keywords and links you inserted, how many links that articles had generated and how much search traffic was generated by that specific content.

Also, with all the penalties websites suffered after the latest Google Penguin update, it’s much safer to focus on content marketing than link building. When the next algorithm update will launch you won’t search for SEO tactics to fix your problems, you’ll just enjoy the benefits of your long-term strategy.

Content marketing it’s clearly more useful and rewarding than link building and we could say it’s definitely more fun. Besides the fact that Google prefers this strategy, it’s also fun to write creative content, to socialize with your visitors or clients, to be part of online communities, to make connections, to build your brand’s name in the online world. Anyone will agree it’s much more interesting than dealing with rows after rows of Excel data and submitting links all day long.

All in all, I think it’s a matter of choice. Some will agree content marketing is more effective on the long run than link building, but some will still be stuck on the fact that link building can generate better sales volumes and revenues. After all, you know what’s better and what works for your search engine optimization campaign, right?

Stay tuned! I’ll be back soon to talk about more SEO tips and tricks for your business!