These two types of website promotion often come up in webmaster conversations. There is also some debate as to which of the techniques is better. To answer the question definitively, we need to first understand what each one means and look at what is happening with search engines.
Link Building
Backlinks have traditionally been the single strongest element of SEO. Basically, whoever who had the most links with a given keyword had the top spot in search engines for that phrase.
Acquiring the backlinks to fuel this strategy was a matter of finding every possible site that would accept the posting of the backlink. This was most commonly done through profile pages on forums and by submitting low quality “SEO articles” to content farms like no review article directories or social network sites.
Google’s latest search engine algorithm often penalizes websites for backlinks originating from spammy websites, link farms or websites that have no relevance to the website it links to.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a strategy that relies on actually producing interesting and/or informative material that people will want to view. This content serves the purpose of gaining the interest of would be customers or simply engaging them in a manner that they associate positively with the producer of the content
So, Which is Better?
Two years ago, this question would be completely up for debate. Today, most informed webmasters have seen search engines penalize sites for having a backlink structure composed of nothing but meaningless, self produced links. Webmasters who have relied on content marketing have seen their sites rise due to the real content they have created. If businesses today want their website to rank well in search results, they must understand that Google is looking for high quality, unique content on a website. The latest trend seems to “content is king” and this will only grow in significance during the coming months and years.
