The 2 Sides Of Digital Content Optimization

A medley of collective on-page and off-page (technical) approaches are used to make digital content perform more optimally, but these optimizations usually cater far more towards search engines and their algorithms than they do towards users. 

Such search-focused optimizations (commonly referred to as SEO) also tend to be more quantitatively focused towards measurable outcomes.

However, tweaking and manipulating content "just for the numbers" isn't exactly a user-centered approach. This is an important consideration in that it's the actions of users (such as clicks, shares, likes, comments, subscribes, downloads, and purchases) that generate the highly coveted metrics and insights marketing stakeholders always seek to glean and report.

In other words, optimizing content only for search engines and not for users makes your content optimization efforts only half-complete. 

True content optimization, in turn, holistically combines both quantitative and qualitative content goals to develop balanced, content-performance outcomes for your campaigns and digital strategies.