SEO, funnel, metrics: A crash course in content marketing fundamentals

Many people writing marketing content have never been marketers. In some ways that’s a strength: it’s easier to avoid jargon or share outside perspective if you haven’t spent years talking and thinking a certain way. But it’s also a disadvantage, because your clients expect you to understand their goals, frameworks, and vocabulary.

As a longtime marketer who’s transitioned into the world of writing and editing, I’ve found myself coaching many of our writers, who are former engineers and product managers, on what content marketers care about, how they think, and the jargon endemic to their practice. Here’s an adaptation of a high-level overview that we use within the agency. (We’ve also got a writer’s guide to tech marketers to round out your perspective.)

Working with SEO (and GEO)

These don’t have to be dirty three-letter acronyms. Sure, some content folks out there try to get as much SEO juice as they can out of their content, but hard squeeze typically comes at the expense of readability. Fortunately, there are proven ways to appeal to both humans and machines. Courtney, our SEO expert, has some general pointers that hopefully won’t hurt your tender writer soul. (Note that in her and our view, GEO or whatever we’re calling the optimization of copy for generative AI follows these same SEO principles.)

• Ask about it. If you aren’t given explicit guidance in the brief, check in with your client or colleague to get their thoughts. At the very least, it demonstrates that you’re thinking of all types of distribution, including organic. It also might encourage them to do a bit of thinking that can lead to a more useful piece.

• Optimize headings. Search engines figure that headings signal what’s discussed below, so it’s the ideal place for key search terms. Plus, Google and the like also reward well-structured documents. In Google Docs or wherever you’re composing, use H1 for the title, H2 for section headings, and H3 for subsections as appropriate. If you don’t typically write in such an explicitly structured way, try getting in the habit: not only is it best practice for SEO, but it makes it easier for readers to quickly find the info they’re looking for.

• Consider FAQs. Google’s People Also Ask (PAA) has resurrected the FAQ as a valuable way to structure content; LLMs also are more likely to surface your content if it’s in a Q&A format, given that that’s often how queries are posed to them. It’s a good idea to explicitly structured and title your FAQs make it more likely your content get picked up; while there are fancy schema for this, you can also simply insert an FAQ at the end of your post.

• Prioritize the metadata. Readers and search engines alike benefit from well-crafted titles and descriptions; offering to craft them saves the marketer time and shows you’re thoughtful. These show up in the SERP, when a link is pasted into a social network post or communication app such as LinkedIn or Slack, and sometimes when AI is pointing to your page. Follow these basic pointers:

  • The title tag should be 50–60 characters long. This can be the same as the H1, but sometimes it makes sense to further optimize it for display on a SERP or to narrowly target a top SEO term.

  • Meta description should be 70–160 characters.

  • Although less visible, the URL slug (that's what comes after the /) is very important to SEO. Make sure it includes the target keyword if the client has mentioned one. By default, a CMS will use the title to build a slug, which is okay, but often a missed opportunity to capture more SEO keywords or variants.

• Link the right anchor text. The words that you link (these are called anchor text) are a strong signal to search engines of what the destination of the link is about. Quality anchor text is especially important for links to your own pages, but also makes for a better reader experience overall. Avoid writing “click here” as the text to link, and look for opportunities to use keywords in links.

At the end of the day, good writing will continue to land well with both human readers and search engine algorithms, so we recommend keeping your focus on clear explanation and accurate research once you’ve gotten these SEO basics down.

The funnel

Tech marketers, especially B2B, obsess over the funnel, which is the journey someone takes from being unaware of your product, to becoming and staying your customer. The name comes from the shape of the audience over time: people drop out from one stage to the next. Here’s a quick and simplified overview as it relates to content writing.

• Top of funnel (ToFu): Content here is meant to make people aware of your product by answering broad questions. ToFu content is typically oriented toward SEO, but marketers sometimes distribute it through targeted channels such as ads. You typically don’t expect someone to buy your product right after engaging with ToFu content; an appropriate CTA (that's call-to-action!) is to learn more, whether it’s getting in touch with sales or reading more narrowly-focused content.

  • Example ToFu content: foundational and broadly educational blog posts, social updates, podcasts

• Middle of funnel (MoFu): Prospects in this stage are researching the various options that might address their needs. Sometimes they’re deciding whether to build something themselves versus buy from a company. The goal here is to engage and educate buyers, and build trust through your expertise. Marketers often distribute MoFu content through direct communication such as newsletters or sales follow-ups, in addition to searches that have lower volume but suggest purchasing intent. Sometimes this is called the “nurture” stage.

  • Example MoFu content: reports, guides, case studies, webinars

• Bottom of funnel (BoFu): Content in this stage closes the deal by demonstrating the benefits and value of the product. This stage tends to be more tactical and is typically done by marketers directly (or, at some companies, marketing copywriters). However, technically-minded writers might be pulled in to write competitive comparisons or implementation guides to address concerns around choice and setup.

  • Example BoFu content: tutorials, data sheets, pricing page, comparison tools

Once someone’s a customer, there’s plenty more to be done to engage, upsell, renew, and even get them to refer. That’s known as customer marketing—a refreshingly straightforward term!

Goals and measurement

You’re not going to solve the content marketer’s measurement dilemma, but it’s good to be aware of it.

How do you prove that content drives sales? Well, you can’t, at least not rigorously, especially when supporting a long sales cycle with multiple touchpoints. Marketers can and do employ fancy techniques to see what content a prospect has viewed in their journey (see Marketing Mix Modeling), but deciding how much of the sale was due to a particular blog post or white paper is ultimately a mix of alchemy and guessing.

That said, there are several other metrics that are straightforward to measure; it’s up to the marketer and their stakeholders to decide how much importance to lend them.

• Views, time on page, time on site. Generally, content marketers want more people to come, stay for a while on the page to demonstrate that they read the content, and then go elsewhere on the site because the content was interesting. These are particularly useful metrics to compare how different types of content perform.

• Downloads. Some companies gate content, which means you have to give your name and email to download it. There’s a long-standing debate over whether it’s worth showing your content to fewer people in order to get this info: salespeople love the leads, and many marketers are comforted by the clear metrics, but you could end up shutting out prospects who chafe at giving over their contact info. (Plus, when content’s hidden behind a form, it’s likely invisible to search engines and LLMs.)

• Social engagement, email clickthroughs, ad clicks, etc. If they’re proactively distributing the content, they’ll pay attention to how many people engage with it. You can help out by offering to write the copy for the social post, newsletter section, etc.: you’re closest to the work, so you can likely whip up something very good in a few minutes, so long as you keep the copy focused on a strong hook and creating motivation to click through.

• Make an exec happy. Sometimes it’s as simple as someone in the C-suite wanting something written and published. Success depends on whether that person is happy with the execution, timing, and perhaps distribution.

Be aware of these goals but don’t stress over them. There are many factors outside of your control, from distribution channels to the vagaries of search algorithms to the decision of whether to gate. That said, thoughtful questions about goals and metrics will show the marketer that you’re aware of and trying to align with what matters to them.

Remember, fellow writers: you’re doing this work because a marketer thinks it will help them. Stay true to your craft, but also be aware of the purpose. As with writing in general, the more you work to find the balance, the better you’ll become.

FAQ

What is an SEO funnel?

An SEO funnel tracks user progress from initial search discovery through conversion, with targeted content optimized for each stage. It combines traditional marketing funnel concepts with search engine optimization strategies.

Which metrics matter most for content marketing?

Focus on engagement metrics like time on page, conversion rates, lead generation, and content ROI rather than just traffic volume. Track how content moves people through your funnel toward business goals.

What is ToFu, MoFu, and BoFu content? 

ToFu (top of funnel) creates awareness with broad educational content, MoFu (middle) nurtures prospects with guides and case studies, and BoFu (bottom) closes deals with comparison pages and pricing information. Each stage requires different content strategies and calls to action.

Should I gate my content behind forms?

Gating generates qualified leads for sales teams but reduces organic reach and SEO visibility. Consider your primary goal: lead generation favors gating, while brand awareness and search rankings favor open content.