Differentiation between content strategy and link magnets
Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2025 10:19 am
And here it is worth differentiating between a medium to long-term content strategy (there are many good ideas on this in Mirko Lange's blog, for example here and here ) and operational link magnets, where even with the best planning, a bit of luck is always required to get the right backlinks for the effort.
Of course, content marketing campaigns, eg in the form of link baits , can be planned and designed in such a way that new backlinks that are created as a result are more predictable, eg if you develop content ideas in advance that are specifically aimed at potential linkers. However, this is no guarantee of x number of backlinks or increasing visibility, at least not with the effectiveness that classic scalable link building can achieve.
Link magnets or linkbaits are individual campaigns that are planned in such a way that they are tailored to specific Linkerati groups and are distributed. (Linkeratis are people who are technically and/or responsibly able to set links.) Sasa Ebach is one of the pioneers in Germany when it comes to linkbaits. But linkbaits also pursue the marketing goals mentioned above in addition to link building. They are therefore not a means exclusively for SEO purposes.
Immonet implemented such a linkbait very well at the end of 2013. We have also had some very successful linkbaits on our blog in recent years (e.g. here ).
A content strategy , on the other hand, is a long-term strategy that is planned over several years and, in combination with individual link baits, can lead to better scalability in terms of link building in the long term. But here the focus is on the marketing goals mentioned above, not the SEO goals.
And this is where the crux of the matter lies with the newly hong-kong phone number data proclaimed "SEO secret weapon" of content marketing. It is precisely this long, sometimes arduous path via (content) marketing to the hoped-for backlinks that SEO agencies are all too keen to conceal. It is often trivialized according to the motto: "You have to publish good content, then the links will come by themselves."
Selling content marketing as link building/SEO is not the right way
As the above explanations show, content marketing is not primarily about backlinks and therefore not primarily about SEO or link building, and in addition to SEOs, a whole host of other people are also crucially involved in the process.
You are selling good content marketing for less than it is worth if you only define backlinks or link building as the goal. Content marketing is marketing or corporate communication and pursues long-term goals such as market positioning, setting up your own communication system and customer loyalty. Its main task is not search engine optimization. It does so much more and therefore needs to be provided with the appropriate budget.
SEOs are now realizing that content should not be created for search engines but for people. So what does that have to do with search engine optimization? When content marketing is seen as a means of building links, my toenails curl up and it shows me that many colleagues have perhaps only just understood it in theory. But that's all. But I've already said enough about that in the last 12 months in the articles mentioned above...
If you take the current costs per acquired link in SEO of an average of €150 - €600 and compare these costs with the backlinks generated through content marketing, they are significantly higher, especially in the early stages. It will even happen more often that content marketing campaigns do not generate any backlinks at all. And that's OK. Because the content, if it is well done, planned and promoted correctly, still fulfills its main purpose.
Of course, content marketing campaigns, eg in the form of link baits , can be planned and designed in such a way that new backlinks that are created as a result are more predictable, eg if you develop content ideas in advance that are specifically aimed at potential linkers. However, this is no guarantee of x number of backlinks or increasing visibility, at least not with the effectiveness that classic scalable link building can achieve.
Link magnets or linkbaits are individual campaigns that are planned in such a way that they are tailored to specific Linkerati groups and are distributed. (Linkeratis are people who are technically and/or responsibly able to set links.) Sasa Ebach is one of the pioneers in Germany when it comes to linkbaits. But linkbaits also pursue the marketing goals mentioned above in addition to link building. They are therefore not a means exclusively for SEO purposes.
Immonet implemented such a linkbait very well at the end of 2013. We have also had some very successful linkbaits on our blog in recent years (e.g. here ).
A content strategy , on the other hand, is a long-term strategy that is planned over several years and, in combination with individual link baits, can lead to better scalability in terms of link building in the long term. But here the focus is on the marketing goals mentioned above, not the SEO goals.
And this is where the crux of the matter lies with the newly hong-kong phone number data proclaimed "SEO secret weapon" of content marketing. It is precisely this long, sometimes arduous path via (content) marketing to the hoped-for backlinks that SEO agencies are all too keen to conceal. It is often trivialized according to the motto: "You have to publish good content, then the links will come by themselves."
Selling content marketing as link building/SEO is not the right way
As the above explanations show, content marketing is not primarily about backlinks and therefore not primarily about SEO or link building, and in addition to SEOs, a whole host of other people are also crucially involved in the process.
You are selling good content marketing for less than it is worth if you only define backlinks or link building as the goal. Content marketing is marketing or corporate communication and pursues long-term goals such as market positioning, setting up your own communication system and customer loyalty. Its main task is not search engine optimization. It does so much more and therefore needs to be provided with the appropriate budget.
SEOs are now realizing that content should not be created for search engines but for people. So what does that have to do with search engine optimization? When content marketing is seen as a means of building links, my toenails curl up and it shows me that many colleagues have perhaps only just understood it in theory. But that's all. But I've already said enough about that in the last 12 months in the articles mentioned above...
If you take the current costs per acquired link in SEO of an average of €150 - €600 and compare these costs with the backlinks generated through content marketing, they are significantly higher, especially in the early stages. It will even happen more often that content marketing campaigns do not generate any backlinks at all. And that's OK. Because the content, if it is well done, planned and promoted correctly, still fulfills its main purpose.