A look at how Tribune Content Agency uses SEO to make content marketing/branded content better, more sellable, and to show the client positive ROI. Presented at PubCon Vegas 2014.

1. The Relationship
Between SEO &
Content Marketing
Carolyn Shelby
Director, SEO and SEM
Tribune Publishing

2. Tribune Publishing publishes
a lot of content.

3. How Tribune Does
Content Marketing
Case Study: A look at how the Tribune Content Agency
uses SEO to do content marketing better.

4. Tribune Content Agency
• Writes/distributes content for external clients.
• Provides a platform for distribution.
• Provides guidance on structuring campaign.
• Provides reporting to show performance.
• IS NOT THE NEWSROOM/EDITORIAL

5. Issues
• How do we sell this service?
• How do we improve our targeting/messaging to
help the client reach their goals?
• How do we determine/select our KPIs?
• and, of course, how do we measure those KPIs?
• How do we prove value to the clients?
• Beyond just ‘yo, we wrote this for you’?

6. SELLS THE CONTENT MARKETING

7. Issues
• How do we sell this service?
• Clients want their content to be found via search.
• How do we improve our targeting/messaging to help the client reach their goals?
• Keyword Research!
• How do we determine/select our KPIs?
• and, of course, how do we measure those KPIs?
• What is trackable/provable… almost always comes from SEO reporting.
• How do we prove value to the clients?
• Beyond just ‘yo, we wrote this for you’?
• Seriously, it’s like all SEO reporting.

8. The Content Marketing Cycle
Identify
Goals and
Benchmark
Select Topics
and Targets
Write
Amazing
Content
Distribute
and Promote
Run Reports
to Show ROI

9. Identify Goals and Benchmark
• What are we trying to accomplish?
• Who are we trying to reach?
• What do we want to happen?

10. Identify Goals and Benchmark
• Pull their current rankings (with KWPs)
• Check the number of pages they have indexed.
• Get access to their GA, make sure you can see
YoY data.

11. Select Topics and Targets
• Identify likely or desired consumer types
(personas)
• Determine topics based on personas.
• Determine best keywords based on KW
research + persona preferences.
• Select/time topics based on the above.

13. Distribute and Promote
• Your mad SEO skillz will help determine the
best places and times to place and promote that
content.
• Answer questions like:
• Who has users that match your target
demographic and when would they most likely be
interested in your content?

14. Run Reports and Show ROI
• YOY metrics (or campaign duration over previous
time period)
• Traffic overall (referrers, social, etc)
• Traffic to specific content pages
• Increases in total number of pages ranked
• Increases in total number of pages indexed
• Improvements in existing rankings (if applicable)

15. Can anyone successfully
use content marketing
without SEO?

16. ALIENS.

17. See the relationship?
• You need SEO to guide and inform the
process
• You need SEO to help define/refine the
message
• You need SEO (and its reporting) to prove
the value to the clients

18. Carolyn Shelby
Director, SEO/SEM
Tribune Publishing
Twitter: @cshel
Email: cshelby@tribpub.com
Thank You!