Search engine optimization is full of fiddly bits. Lots of them. H1 and H2 tags, internal site links, backlinks, meta descriptions, keywords — for the love of Google, keywords. It’s easy to get lost in all of the SEO details, post after post. Consistency is key, but we’re all human. Sometimes an SEO detail gets missed. Though we strive for digital publishing perfection, there is one key SEO element that cannot be overlooked, and it has nothing to do with all of those fiddly bits. 

Serve Your Audience

Sure, you want views and clicks, but if your content doesn’t say anything — even if it’s filled with consistent and correct SEO best practices — it won’t have any value to an audience. Content should inform, interest or educate your audience, and your audience can’t be: Everyone in the world!

It typically doesn’t work like that, especially in business-to-business marketing. You know who your audience is — make sure your content says something that grabs their interest, improves their business or speaks to the challenges they face. 

It’s an easy content creation aspect to blog about, but it can be difficult in practice. You have to be involved in your market, talk with customers and other industry players, and understand the massive changes that are happening in all segments of business — especially automotive.

Peruse any Babcox Media site and you’ll find story after story of how technology is impacting audiences like:

• Powersports and motorcycle dealership: Dealerships Shouldn’t Say, ‘I Don’t Know’ (motorcyclepowersportsnews.com)

• Automotive aftermarket shop owners: Do EVs Require Special Brake Pads? (shopownermag.com)

• Tire dealers: SUV/CUV tires continue to grow and adapt (tirereview.com)

• Body shops: Opening a Vehicle Calibration Station: Will You Be a Partial or Total Solution? (bodyshopbusiness.com)

• Heavy-duty fleet managers: The next steps for autonomous trucks (fleetequipmentmag.com)

The list goes on. Yet for every Babcox Media brand, collectively posting more than 1,000 posts per month, each post consistently speaks to the audience to help them navigate the exciting but constant changes in their business worlds. And that singular SEO focus helps every brand reach the right person. And that’s no small feat because within the SEO world itself, there are a multitude of changes.

The Dirty Little SEO Secret

Here it is: Every site on the internet is a subject of our search engine overlord: Google. And subsequently, social media. Those channels drive the majority of traffic across the digital world, and they like making changes. In the past 12 months alone, we’ve seen two major Google search algorithm updates that have impacted traffic for better and worse across the internet. 

Why are these changes being made? What can we do about it? How do we know that they won’t change six months from now? There are differing opinions on all of those questions and as soon as we think we have answers, the SEO goalposts move again.

Keeping up with the SEO changes can be challenging and frustrating, but most critically — it can take the focus off the most important aspect of content creation: Your audience. Traffic may ebb and flow, but the audience abides, as long as you’re creating content for them. And among all of the changes that Google has made, they generally push toward content that holds value to an audience.  

Luckily, you’re not alone in the quest to create engaging content. Babcox Media has been producing content for B2B audiences for more than 100 years (!!!!). Our editorial crew is always happy to talk through the latest industry trends and changes, and from a marketer’s point of view, the best part of editorial coverage is — it’s free. As long as you’ve got a good story. Drop me an email if you’re ready to make your pitch and we’ll tell that story together —[email protected].

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