Here at c3, we’ve combined our SEO and content experts to create the overall Organic Search team. This is because, for most clients, we employ a connected strategy allowing the two teams to work closely together in order to deliver the best results for our clients.
The ultimate content and SEO starter pack
The ultimate content and SEO starter pack
The ultimate content and SEO starter pack
The ultimate content and SEO starter pack
The ultimate content and SEO starter pack
The ultimate content and SEO starter pack
Contents
01
What is SEO? Why is it important?
At the moment, there are many agencies hiring for digital PRs…
It’s a tricky task to try and sum up SEO, but we’ll give it our best shot. In a nutshell, SEO (which stands for Search Engine Optimisation) is all about optimising a website for visibility on search engines such as Google.
There is an even more technical side to SEO, which focuses on enhancing the technical parts of a site to improve its rankings. This can include:
- Making sure the website speed is up to scratch
- Checking the indexability of pages
- Identifying possible duplicate content
Ultimately, SEO is all about ensuring that a website is ranking as highly as possible, in turn bringing increased traffic, whether that’s customers, clients, or another type of audience.
Wondering how we put this into practice? Discover our approach and what this involves by reading about our SEO services.
02
What is content? Why is it important?
Content falls within SEO, as it shares the same goal of boosting rankings and driving traffic but refers to all the written work involved. This includes blogs and other website page copy.
Having content as part of your overall marketing strategy is crucial. Apart from the obvious, a solid approach to content will prompt Google to take notice, keep your readers onsite, and result in conversions.
For more information on exactly how we do this at connective3, you can read all about our content strategy and content writing services.
Different content formats
On top of the strategy side of things, a lot of the work the content team undertakes involves different types of writing. Below are a few examples of the different content formats our team writes:
Informational articles
These tend to be the most common type of content writing for our team. Most of the time, these are SEO-focused blogs and guides written with the intent of boosting organic search rankings. However, other times they may be long-form articles on topics important to a client’s audience. Whatever the subject matter, these types of informational pieces are useful for helping a client become an authority
PR blogs and press releases
Most of the time, when our PR team launches a campaign, they need a relevant page to link back to, which is where the content team comes in. As well as writing the onsite campaign content, they also support the PR team in creating press releases that can be used during outreach.
White papers
White papers are report-like in style, compared to typical informational blog posts and other long-form articles. The goal is to delve deep into a certain topic and provide an expert analysis.
Landing page copy (PLPs – product landing pages)
Shorter in length, landing page copy is another type of writing our team does frequently. Essentially, landing page copy focuses on what the page has been built for, such as “maxi dresses” or “midi skirts”, whilst targeting relevant commercial keywords and improving internal linking, with a CTA (aka call to action) promoting the services.
Optimisations
To make sure content is performing as well as it should be, the content team go in and review what’s already there to see what can be improved. This might include implementing more relevant keywords, and even potentially adding entirely new sections.
Interactive tools
If a client is developing a new interactive tool for their website, then the team can write up the necessary copy for the page, or even just review and offer feedback and recommendations on what should be included.
03
Helpful tools that we use in content and SEO
Like any industry, there are lots of helpful tools available which definitely make our lives (well, jobs) easier. If you’re curious about which ones we use the most at connective3, here are a few of our top picks:
GA4
A holy grail tool for the entire Organic team is GA4, aka Google Analytics. This tends to be the main tool used when reporting and highlighting results to our clients, including users and sessions.
It’s a free web analytics service that’s part of the Google Marketing platform and provides all sorts of stats and analytical features which can be used to look at how customers engage with a client’s website.
Ahrefs
Another tool our team uses on pretty much a daily basis is the SEO software tool suite, Ahrefs. A popular choice for many people in the industry, some of its key applications for the team include keyword research, competitor analysis, and monitoring rankings to name a few.
There are also other tools for our keyword research purposes, including Semrush and SERPAPI.
Google Keyword Planner
The official source of keyword information, Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool from Google itself. Find new keywords or check volumes against those from other tools like Ahrefs; it’s extremely straightforward to use.
ScreamingFrog
ScreamingFrog is a website crawling tool which allows our team to crawl websites and analyse various key SEO elements, such as broken links, duplicate content, and overall site architecture. Both our content and SEO experts use this often when auditing or conducting health checks.
Grammarly
One which our team don’t rely on but still think is worth mentioning is Grammarly. It’s a great tool to have if you just need a little nudge on your grammar every now and then. It can also be set to American English, which is particularly nifty if you’re not certain on all the different spelling changes.
Google Search Console
An essential tool for anyone working in SEO, Search Console is great if you’re looking to keep your site well-optimised and in good health. The tool offers an all-in-one place for handling several key aspects:
- Sitemap upload and management
- Core web vital analysis
- Validating page indexing (and page indexing requests)
- Error checking
- Top page and query analysis – current and historic
- Site/page visibility and clicks – current and historic
Google Search Console also offers a view of performance, allowing you to see how many ‘clicks’ and ‘impressions’ each page and keyword is driving.
04
Industry terms explained
As with any industry, there are certain terms that will be thrown about that you might not be familiar with. While it’s natural to pick up on these things over time, we thought we’d make it easier by compiling some of the most common industry terms everyone should know.
Keywords
In SEO, keywords are the words or phrases that are used when searching for something online in search engines. Sometimes they may also be referred to as ‘search queries’.
Keywords can be things as simple as ‘vegan sandwich’ or ‘wedding dresses’. There are also long-tail keywords which are more specific and made up of multiple words. This is because the person searching has a better idea of what they actually want to find.
For example, a typical keyword might be something like ‘wooden desks’, whereas a long-tail keyword version would be ‘small wooden desks for home office’.
A main part of both SEO and content strategy is identifying relevant keywords and targeting them in our work, to ensure a client is appearing when people search online. We have tools which allow us to see how many people are looking at each keyword per month, which gives us a good idea on whether to target them or not.
Search intent
Another element that has to be considered when it comes to keywords is the ‘search intent’. Basically, what is the person wanting to discover when searching for something online?
Google wants to ensure that users are being given appropriate results for what they’re searching, so it’s important that your approach satisfies user intent.
There are four main intent categories that most search terms fall into:
- Informational – This is when the user wants to find out some sort of information or learn something. Often, this will involve searching questions or specific queries such as ‘one direction first album name’.
- Navigational – This is the type of search when you just want to find a certain website. Search terms would be something like ‘amazon uk’ or ‘LinkedIn’.
- Transactional – Extremely relevant for commerce clients, transactional refers to when a user is ready to make a purchase, and they normally know exactly what it is that they want. Searches may be along the lines of ‘nintendo switch OLED’ or ‘iphone 14 deals.
- Commercial – Somewhat similar to transactional is commercial where the user is on the market for a product but open to seeing what’s available. Commercial searches are things such as ‘wedding guest dresses’.
SERPs
Probably most of the commonly used terms across content and SEO is SERP, which stands for Search Engine Results Page. As it states, this is the page that comes up when you look for something in a search engine like Google.
The reason why this is such a common term in SEO and content is that one of the overall goals is to see a client appear (or ‘rank’) as close to the top of page one of the SERPs as possible, if not first.
Think about it: when you search for something online, how likely are you to scroll down or go to the next page? Not many people do. What appears in the SERPS and where a page ranks changes depending on a search engine’s algorithm which tend to be updated and reviewed regularly.
Featured snippet
On the SERPs, we have featured snippets or ‘position 0’. These are the boxes that appear right at the top when searching for something and provide context for that search with a short paragraph, list, etc.
When writing content, one of the goals is often to try to earn featured snippets, as this is the highest possible ranking position on search engines other than advertisements. The reason these are so desirable is that people tend to stick to the top few results after searching for something.
A featured snippet is more attention-grabbing than a standard result due to being bigger and, in turn, is more likely to be clicked on by users.
People Also Ask (PAA) boxes are also like mini featured snippets where Google pulls out what they believe to be the best answer to commonly searched questions.
Meta titles and meta descriptions
Meta titles and meta descriptions are two important HTML elements and important to bear in mind for SEO purposes.
The meta title, sometimes called a title tag, is there to let search engines and readers know what the page is about – it’s also the text that appears as a blue link in the SERPs.
Meanwhile, a meta description is a short summary of the page’s content and the page’s primary keyword. There are various estimations of the ideal character count for a description, but typically the recommended number varies between 100-160. It’s worth mentioning that Google may not always display the meta description written, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.
Header tags
Header tags are a type of HTML tag that help to organise your content by separating overall text from headings and subheadings. This improves readability as users can scan through the text quicker to find whatever they’re looking for.
It’s also beneficial for search engines as they can detect the different header tags used. Each header tag provides context on what a particular section is about and it’s importance. All of this helps search engines decide where and when it is relevant to display this in the SERPs.
Header tags follow a hierarchy of H1-H6, although it’s common to just stick to H1-H4. These are the different types of header tags and their purposes:
- H1 – The main heading and title introducing the topic of your page (it’s recommended to just use one H1 at the top of your page)
- H2 – Subheadings or main points
- H3 – An additional subheading that specifically falls under a H2 to explain something further
- H4 – An additional subsection that specifically falls under a H3 to explain something further
Best practice says that you should include target keywords in your headers, although not overly so, and keep your heading text relatively brief and ‘summed up’. Remember, header tags add more value than just how they look visually on your page.
External and internal linking
When it comes to linking, this falls into two categories – external and internal. Links, whether external or internal, are an important ranking factor for Google as it gives them an idea of whether the content is of high-value or not. You can find out more about the different types of links and their value in our digital pr starter pack.
External linking is when you add a link to a website that isn’t your own; for instance, if you’re referencing them as a source. Internal linking is when you add links pointing to other pages on the same domain. In SEO, internal linking is the one focused on most, as it is in your control and can have real impact on how your website ranks.
Ultimately, internal links can help Google start to understand your site structure, as well as the relationship and relevancy between different pages. Having an internal link structure in place also enables users to better navigate your site.
Anchor text
Anchor text are the words, or sometimes just one word alone, used when adding a link to another page, aka the clickable text. Often, this is highlighted in a different colour on a website to make sure it stands out from the rest of text.
Authority
Sometimes viewed as one of the pillars of SEO, in short, authority is how ‘strong’ your website is. A ‘stronger’ website should, in theory, help a website rank in the SERPs, although Google claims this isn’t actually a deciding factor.
Building authority takes time and is therefore part of a longer-term strategy, and can involve actions such as auditing the full website, optimising content and website structure, and link building to name a few.
Crawling and indexing
Crawling is a process done by search engines to discover new or updated content through the use of robots (aka crawlers or spiders). They do so by analysing code/content for each URL they can find on a site. From there, they decide if it is new content and/or if it is of any value.
Crawling is basically step one of having search engines see your pages, which is then followed by indexing.
Indexing is all about which parts of your website can or can’t be found by a search engine and, in turn, added to its index. It’s important for pages to be indexable if you want them to start ranking and driving organic traffic.
However, there are instance where you might want pages to be non-indexable, including those with low-quality or gated content that you only want to be accessible in a particular situation. If you don’t want a page to be indexable, then you can either add a robots.txt file or a “noindex” tag.
For more information on crawling and indexing, you can read our beginner’s guide to how search engines work.
05
How organic search works with other teams
At c3, we believe a connected approach is the best way to achieve real results. That’s why our SEO and content team, aka the Organic Search team, naturally ends up collaborating and working closely with other channels. Curious how we do that? Let’s find out.
Organic search and PR
Typically, you’ll receive a brief prior to the brainstorm which will include key information such as an overview, previous campaigns, industry news, competitor insights, inspiration, and some initial ideas so other people can see where to start.
Collaboration between organic search and PPC
Not everybody thinks the same way, so the same approach won’t work for everyone, and that’s fine. There are all sorts of ideation styles including brainwriting, figure storming, round the room, and change of scenery.
Organic search and social
Perhaps the most obvious way of linking up organic search and social is by using social media platforms to promote onsite content such as blogs and other articles.
Another way is by reviewing keyword seasonality and trends, and planning this into both your social and organic calendars. Identifying when certain keywords are popular is great for ensuring the most visibility on your content, which will likely translate onto social media searches too. Alternatively, looking at what’s trending on social media platforms specifically could also help to inform your content ideas and roadmap.
06
Starting your career in SEO or content
From writing a strong CV to impressing during the interview process, there are multiple important parts to consider when applying for a job in organic search.
To help give you a bit of a head-start if you’re wanting a career in SEO or content, we spoke with Jamie White, our Group Head of Organic Search, and Head of Content Strategy, Elle Pollicott, for their insights when hiring.
SEO and content interview questions
During an interview, in addition to the initial impression you give and your skills on paper, it’s important to nail the interview questions. Lucky for you, we want to give you an idea of what you might be asked when interviewing for a role in SEO or content.
Below are some examples of interview questions you might be asked in SEO, with some being for an entry-level role and others for a strategist position:
- What tools do you regularly use to carry out strategy work or technical SEO auditing?
- What things do you look out for when doing a technical audit on a site?
- What tests have you run to challenge SEO theory, and what were the results?
- What do you do to expand your knowledge of SEO outside of day-to-day client work?
- How would you approach putting together an organic strategy for a new client?
Alternatively, if you’re planning on going for a role in content, these are some interview questions you might want to prep for:
- How do you go about researching and writing about a dry topic, and make it engaging to read?
- What’s your favourite industry to write about, and what’s the least? You’ve just been briefed in by a client on a blog that you know absolutely nothing about.
- How do you go about getting that information?
- How would you optimise a piece of content for SEO?
- As you’ll be working on a range of clients across various industries, you’ll need to be able to switch up your tone of voice. Do you have any examples of where you’ve done this before?
Qualities and skills you’ll want to highlight
Of course, it’s not just about having the right answers to the questions but also about showcasing your previous experience and the qualities or skills you can bring to a job. Here are some qualities and skills that will serve you well in a content or SEO role:
- Self-starter – Being able to control your own workload and initiatives, and have good time management is key in this industry. This is a particularly important skill for any type of strategist role.
- Strategic thinker – It almost goes without saying, but these jobs require people to be analysing data and thinking about how they can utilise it for strategies.
- Challenging thinker – Don’t take everything at face value; always question and challenge.
- Good delegator – Essentially, this means you’re someone who is comfortable working with others and will recognise when you need to hand work out.
07
The impact of AI on content and SEO
With the emergence of AI and how fast it’s evolving, it naturally begs the question of how, or perhaps even if, content and SEO can take advantage of it?
This is something we’ve already been looking into at connective3, having written a couple of blogs like what generative AI search means for digital marketers and how the rise of AI will affect content.
08
Now you’re all clued up on SEO and content, what’s next?
Hopefully, you’re feeling all clued up now that we’ve covered all the basics of SEO and content. If you’re ready for a career in SEO or content, the team at connective3 is always growing, so be sure to see what openings we’ve got on our careers page.
To find out even more about exactly how we deliver results for our clients, you can read more about our services.
