This one needs a much bigger rewrite than the last several. The current version is very 2023, generic, and mostly treats “editorial content” as opinion pieces. That definition is too narrow for the search intent you want to capture.

I’d reposition it around what editorial content is, how it differs from promotional/SEO/service content, and how businesses can use it strategically for authority, trust, links, and organic visibility.

I can’t see any hidden WordPress hrefs in the pasted version, so when you replace the copy, keep any existing internal links already attached in WordPress and add the explicit links below.

SEO title

What Is Editorial Content? Examples, Types & SEO Benefits

Meta description

What is editorial content? Learn how it differs from promotional and SEO content, see examples, and discover how businesses can use editorial content to build authority and search visibility.

What Is Editorial Content? Examples, Types & SEO Benefits

Editorial content is content created primarily to inform, educate, analyze, explain, or offer a useful point of view rather than directly sell a product or service.

It can include:

• Expert articles
• Industry analysis
• Opinion pieces
• Interviews
• Research
• Case studies
• Guides
• Commentary
• Trend analysis
• Educational resources
• Original reporting

For businesses, editorial content can play an important role in SEO because it gives you an opportunity to demonstrate expertise, answer customer questions, build topical depth, earn links, and help potential customers understand your industry before they are ready to buy.

But editorial content is not simply another name for a blog post.

A blog can contain editorial content.

It can also contain promotional content, company news, product announcements, SEO content, or material with very little editorial value at all.

The difference comes down to purpose and substance.

Quick Answer: What Is Editorial Content?

Editorial content is content created to provide useful information, analysis, expertise, commentary, or perspective rather than primarily promote a product or service.

Good editorial content usually has a clear purpose, is based on reliable information or firsthand experience, and gives the audience something useful beyond a sales pitch.

For example:

A med spa might publish an article explaining how different skin treatments are used for different concerns.

A financial advisor might analyze common retirement-income mistakes.

A contractor might explain why certain remodeling materials perform differently in San Diego’s climate.

An SEO consultant might publish a guide explaining what makes Google trust a website.

All of those can be editorial content because the primary purpose is to help the reader understand something.

Editorial Content vs. Promotional Content

This distinction is important.

Promotional content is primarily designed to persuade someone to buy, book, call, subscribe, or take another commercial action.

Editorial content is primarily designed to inform.

That doesn’t mean editorial content can never support sales.

It absolutely can.

A useful editorial article may introduce someone to your brand, demonstrate your expertise, build trust, and eventually lead that person to a service page.

But the article itself should still provide genuine value even if the reader never becomes a customer.

For example:

Promotional content

Our company offers professional Local SEO services in San Diego. Contact us today for help improving your rankings.

Editorial content

Local SEO involves optimizing your website, Google Business Profile, reviews, local authority, and location signals so search engines can better understand where your business operates and which customers it serves.

The first is primarily selling.

The second is primarily explaining.

Both have a place on a business website.

They simply have different jobs.

Editorial Content vs. SEO Content

Editorial content and SEO content are not opposites.

Good editorial content can also be optimized for search.

The problem happens when SEO becomes the only reason the content exists.

I’ve seen articles written around a keyword that technically contain the right words but provide almost nothing useful to the reader.

That isn’t strong editorial content.

A better approach is:

Start with something worth saying. Then optimize it so the right people can find it.

SEO can help determine:

• What people are searching for
• Which questions matter
• How search intent differs
• Which page should address a topic
• How the content should be structured
• Which related pages should be linked
• Whether the topic deserves its own URL

But SEO should not reduce editorial content to keyword placement.

I explain this distinction further in my guide to search intent in SEO.

Editorial Content vs. Service Pages

A service page and an editorial article usually serve very different search intents.

A service page might target:

SEO company San Diego

The visitor may be evaluating companies and looking for someone to hire.

An editorial article might answer:

How long does SEO take?

That visitor is probably looking for information.

Trying to make the same page satisfy both intents can create a confusing experience.

This is why I like assigning each important page a clear job.

One primary search intent should generally have one primary destination.

That principle is central to the keyword mapping process I use on larger websites.

Why Editorial Content Matters for Businesses

Editorial content can support a business in several ways.

1. It Demonstrates Expertise

Anyone can say:

“We’re experts.”

Editorial content gives you an opportunity to show it.

A knowledgeable business owner can explain:

• How they solve a problem
• What they commonly see
• Mistakes customers make
• How an industry works
• What factors matter when making a decision
• What changes they are seeing in the market
• What they have learned through experience

That is much more persuasive than repeatedly telling visitors that your company is experienced.

2. It Builds Trust

Useful editorial content gives potential customers an opportunity to learn from you before they contact you.

If someone reads several helpful articles and consistently finds practical, accurate information, they begin forming an impression of the business.

That doesn’t mean an article automatically creates trust with Google or customers.

Trust is broader than that.

But useful, experience-based content can contribute to a stronger overall digital presence.

I go deeper into that in What Makes Google Trust a Website?.

3. It Can Support Important Service Pages

Editorial content can help explain topics surrounding an important commercial service.

Suppose a medical practice has a treatment page.

Supporting editorial content might address:

• Who may be a candidate
• Common questions
• Recovery expectations
• How different treatment options compare
• What patients should consider before choosing a provider

Those supporting pages can naturally link to the appropriate service page.

The editorial content educates.

The service page converts.

That creates a much cleaner website structure.

4. It Can Build Topical Depth

One strong service page may explain what you sell.

A collection of useful supporting editorial resources can demonstrate how much you understand about the broader subject.

For example, a retirement-planning firm might create useful resources about:

• Retirement income
• Social Security
• Roth conversions
• Tax-efficient withdrawals
• Required minimum distributions
• Estate planning
• Medicare
• Long-term-care considerations

Those topics help create a coherent body of information around the area in which the business operates.

That is one reason I think about topical authority and topical depth when planning content.

But more content is not automatically better.

The content needs a reason to exist.

5. It Can Earn Backlinks and Mentions

People rarely link to:

“We provide excellent service. Contact us today.”

They are much more likely to reference:

• Original research
• Useful data
• Detailed guides
• Expert commentary
• Industry analysis
• Statistics
• Case studies
• Unique frameworks
• Helpful resources

Editorial content gives other websites something worth citing.

That can help build legitimate authority over time.

6. It Can Introduce Potential Customers Earlier in the Buying Process

Not everyone begins with a commercial search.

Someone may first search:

What type of financial advisor do I need?

Later they may search:

fiduciary financial advisor San Diego

The first search is informational.

The second is much closer to hiring someone.

Editorial content gives businesses a way to appear earlier in that journey.

That does not mean every informational visitor will eventually become a customer.

They won’t.

But useful content can introduce the right people to your brand before they reach the final buying stage.

Different Types of Editorial Content

Editorial content can take many forms.

Educational Guides

These explain a subject thoroughly.

Examples might include:

• How Local SEO works
• How to choose a mortgage
• What to expect from a particular medical procedure
• How retirement withdrawals are taxed
• How to prepare a home for renovation

These are among the most common forms of business editorial content.

Expert Commentary

This is where professional experience becomes particularly useful.

An expert might explain:

• What they’re seeing in the industry
• Why a common recommendation may be wrong
• How they approach a problem
• What they think businesses should prioritize
• What has changed over time

Opinion can be valuable when it is backed by experience and reasoning.

Original Research and Data

This can include:

• Surveys
• Internal business data
• Industry benchmarks
• Search data
• Customer trends
• Case-study results
• Original experiments

Original information can make editorial content especially valuable because it gives people something they cannot simply find copied across hundreds of other websites.

Case Studies

Case studies show what actually happened.

A good case study may explain:

• The starting problem
• What was changed
• Why those changes were made
• What happened afterward
• What was learned

I use SEO case studies on my own website because they let potential clients see actual examples of my work rather than relying only on marketing claims.

Interviews

Interviews can add perspectives that the business itself may not have.

You might interview:

• Industry experts
• Customers
• Partners
• Researchers
• Professional colleagues
• Community leaders

The strongest interviews provide information that would not otherwise be available.

Opinion Pieces

Opinion pieces express a point of view.

But strong editorial opinion should still be supported by:

• Experience
• Evidence
• Examples
• Facts
• Reasoning

An opinion is much more useful when the reader can understand how the author reached it.

News and Industry Analysis

Businesses can also publish commentary about:

• Industry changes
• New regulations
• Emerging technologies
• Market trends
• Search changes
• New research

The goal should not simply be repeating news another website already published.

Add interpretation.

Explain:

What does this actually mean for my customers?

That is where your expertise becomes valuable.

Reviews and Comparisons

Reviews and comparisons can also be editorial when they provide a genuine evaluation.

Examples might include:

• Comparing two types of treatments
• Comparing lending options
• Comparing software
• Comparing materials
• Comparing SEO approaches

These pages should be genuinely useful and not disguised sales pitches.

What Makes Editorial Content Good?

Not every editorial article is useful.

I look for several qualities.

It Has a Clear Purpose

Before writing anything, I want to know:

Why should this page exist?

Is it answering an important customer question?

Supporting a service?

Addressing a search opportunity?

Adding original expertise?

Helping someone make a decision?

If I can’t answer that question, I’m not sure the page needs to exist.

It Matches the Audience

Content should be written for the person who will actually use it.

A physician writing for patients should probably explain concepts differently than when writing for other physicians.

A financial advisor writing for retirees should not assume the reader understands every technical financial term.

Editorial quality includes making the information understandable to the intended audience.

It Provides Something Useful

Good editorial content should do more than repeat information available everywhere else.

Useful additions might include:

• Firsthand experience
• Examples
• Original observations
• Expert interpretation
• Step-by-step processes
• Data
• Photos
• Comparisons
• Specific recommendations
• Common mistakes

The question I like to ask is:

What does this page add?

It Is Accurate

Editorial content still needs factual integrity.

Opinions should be clearly distinguished from facts.

Claims should be supported when appropriate.

Technical, financial, legal, or medical information deserves especially careful review.

Credibility disappears quickly when content makes unsupported or exaggerated claims.

It Is Easy to Read

Editorial depth does not require making an article difficult to read.

Use:

• Clear headings
• Short paragraphs
• Logical structure
• Lists when useful
• Descriptive subheadings
• Examples
• Tables when appropriate

The reader should be able to understand where the article is going.

It Connects Naturally to Other Useful Pages

Strong editorial content should not exist in isolation.

If another page explains part of the subject more thoroughly, link to it.

If the article supports a commercial service, link to the appropriate service page when it makes sense.

This creates a more useful path for both readers and search engines.

Does Editorial Content Help SEO?

It can.

But publishing editorial content does not automatically improve rankings.

Editorial content can support SEO when it helps create:

• Useful answers to real searches
• Topical depth
• Internal-link opportunities
• External link opportunities
• Demonstrated expertise
• Better coverage of customer questions
• Additional entry points into the website
• Stronger relationships between informational and commercial pages

The key is that the content needs to be strategically useful.

Publishing 50 generic articles simply because “content is good for SEO” can create the opposite result.

You may end up with:

• Duplicate topics
• Cannibalization
• Thin pages
• Conflicting search intent
• Bloated navigation
• Weak internal linking
• Pages that never generate impressions

That is why I’ve become increasingly selective about what I publish.

I explain this in Why Publishing More Blogs Doesn’t Improve SEO.

Editorial Content and Keyword Research

Keyword research can help identify editorial opportunities.

But I wouldn’t start with:

“Give me 100 keywords and I’ll write 100 articles.”

Instead, I want to know:

• What does the audience actually want to know?
• Which questions relate to important services?
• What is the search intent?
• Does the website already answer this question?
• Which URL should own the topic?
• Would this article strengthen an existing topic cluster?
• Could it attract qualified visitors?
• Is the topic valuable enough to deserve its own page?

Commercial terms and informational terms also serve different roles.

I explain that difference in my guide to finding money keywords.

Editorial Content Should Support Business Strategy

One of the mistakes I see is businesses separating content strategy from business strategy.

The content calendar becomes:

“We need four blogs this month.”

Why?

Why four?

Which four?

What business objective do they support?

Which service pages need more support?

Which search opportunities are close to page one?

Which customer questions are preventing conversions?

Which topics are competitors covering better?

Those questions are much more useful than simply trying to maintain a publishing schedule.

Editorial content should support the larger website.

The website shouldn’t exist to support the content calendar.

Editorial Content and Internal Linking

Editorial content becomes especially useful when it connects logically to the rest of the website.

Imagine a business has:

Commercial page: Local SEO services

Supporting editorial content might include:

• How Google Maps rankings work
• Why reviews matter
• How to do local keyword research
• How location pages should work
• What Google Business Profile optimization involves

Those articles can support the commercial topic without trying to compete with the service page.

That structure helps establish clearer page relationships.

It also gives readers somewhere useful to go next.

Editorial Content and AI Search

Editorial content may also become increasingly useful as people discover information through AI-powered search experiences.

AI systems can surface information from many types of sources.

That makes original, specific, credible information increasingly important.

Generic content is easy to produce.

What businesses can contribute that generic content often lacks is:

• Firsthand expertise
• Original examples
• Specific observations
• Proprietary data
• Real-world experience
• Unique perspectives

That is also why I would not create editorial content solely for AI systems.

Create useful material for people.

Then make the information easy for search systems and AI-powered discovery tools to understand.

If that area is especially important to your business, read my guide on how to get your business recommended by ChatGPT and AI search.

Common Editorial Content Mistakes

Writing Without a Clear Audience

Trying to write for everyone often produces generic content.

Know who the page is for.

Confusing Editorial Content With Advertising

Readers can tell when an “educational article” is really a long sales pitch.

Provide genuine value first.

Publishing Generic AI Content at Scale

AI can help with research, organization, and drafting.

But publishing large amounts of generic material that adds no original insight is not a strong editorial strategy.

Your experience should still be visible.

Chasing Search Volume

The biggest keyword is not automatically the best topic.

Consider relevance, intent, business value, and competition.

Creating Multiple Articles About the Same Thing

If you already have a strong page covering a subject, you may not need another one.

Improve the existing page instead.

Ignoring Internal Links

Editorial content should help strengthen the broader website.

Connect it to relevant service pages and supporting resources.

Never Updating Old Content

Editorial content can become outdated.

Review older pages periodically and update:

• Facts
• Links
• Examples
• Recommendations
• Screenshots
• Statistics
• Terminology
• Product or service information

Sometimes an update is much more useful than publishing another article.

How I Plan Editorial Content for SEO

My process generally looks like this:

1. Identify the services and business goals that matter most.
2. Review existing pages and rankings.
3. Look at Google Search Console.
4. Identify important customer questions.
5. Review search intent.
6. Look for content gaps.
7. Check for existing pages covering the same topic.
8. Decide whether the topic deserves its own URL.
9. Determine which commercial or supporting pages it should connect to.
10. Create the content around a clear purpose.
11. Add firsthand expertise, examples, or original information where possible.
12. Internally link it appropriately.
13. Monitor what happens after publication.
14. Update or consolidate when necessary.

Notice that:

“Publish as many blogs as possible”

is not on that list.

Editorial Content Examples for Different Businesses

A strong editorial strategy looks different depending on the business.

Med Spa

Editorial topics might include:

• How different injectables compare
• Who may be a candidate for a treatment
• Recovery expectations
• Common treatment questions
• How providers evaluate treatment plans

Financial Advisor

Editorial topics might include:

• Retirement-income strategies
• Roth conversion considerations
• Tax-efficient withdrawals
• Estate-planning considerations
• Social Security timing

Auto Repair Shop

Editorial topics might include:

• Warning signs of a failing component
• Preventive maintenance
• Seasonal vehicle preparation
• Repair vs. replacement considerations
• Common diagnostic questions

SEO Company

Editorial topics might include:

• Search intent
• Keyword research
• Internal linking
• Google Search Console analysis
• Local SEO
• AI search
• Content consolidation
• Technical SEO

Notice that each business stays close to the subjects it genuinely understands.

That’s the point.

Is Editorial Content the Same as a Blog?

No.

A blog is a publishing format or section of a website.

Editorial content describes the purpose and nature of the content.

A blog may contain editorial content.

It may also contain:

• Promotional announcements
• Company updates
• Event recaps
• Product launches
• Press releases
• Personal updates

Likewise, editorial content can appear outside a traditional blog.

It might appear as:

• A research report
• Resource center
• Guide
• White paper
• Video
• Podcast
• Newsletter
• Industry analysis page

The format matters less than the substance.

Final Thoughts: Good Editorial Content Gives People a Reason to Pay Attention

Editorial content is not simply content that contains opinions.

And it isn’t simply another name for blogging.

For businesses, I think of editorial content as useful, informative, experience-based material that helps people better understand a subject while demonstrating what the business actually knows.

Strong editorial content can help:

• Educate customers
• Demonstrate expertise
• Build credibility
• Support service pages
• Create topical depth
• Earn links
• Answer search queries
• Improve internal linking
• Introduce potential customers to your brand

But the goal should never be:

Publish more content because SEO requires content.

The better goal is:

Publish something worth finding.

If you’re unsure whether your website needs new editorial content, stronger service pages, better internal linking, or consolidation of content you already have, I can review what’s there and show you where I see the biggest opportunities.

I’m Jen Ruhman, a San Diego SEO expert with more than 20 years of experience working directly with businesses on SEO strategy, content, and search visibility.

GET YOUR FREE SEO ANALYSIS →

Or call/text me at (619) 719-1315.

Frequently Asked Questions About Editorial Content

What is editorial content?

Editorial content is material created primarily to inform, educate, analyze, explain, or provide a useful perspective rather than directly sell a product or service. It can include guides, analysis, commentary, interviews, research, case studies, reviews, and expert articles.

What is an example of editorial content?

A financial advisor publishing an article explaining common retirement-income mistakes is an example of editorial content. The article may support the advisor’s business, but its primary purpose is to educate the reader.

What is the difference between editorial content and promotional content?

Editorial content primarily informs or educates. Promotional content primarily encourages someone to buy, book, contact, subscribe, or take another commercial action.

Is editorial content good for SEO?

Editorial content can support SEO when it addresses genuine search demand, provides useful information, demonstrates expertise, attracts links, builds topical depth, and connects naturally to important pages on the website. Publishing editorial content does not automatically improve rankings.

Is editorial content the same as SEO content?

No. Editorial content describes the purpose and substance of the material, while SEO content is content optimized to improve search visibility. Strong editorial content can also be optimized for SEO.

Is a blog considered editorial content?

Sometimes. A blog is a publishing format. Blog posts can be editorial, promotional, informational, personal, or company-focused depending on their purpose.

Does editorial content have to include opinions?

No. Opinion pieces are one type of editorial content, but editorial material can also include educational guides, research, analysis, case studies, interviews, and factual explainers.

Can editorial content help build authority?

Yes. Useful editorial content can help demonstrate expertise and create deeper coverage of subjects relevant to a business. Authority also depends on factors beyond content, including reputation, backlinks, experience, and external recognition.

Should businesses publish editorial content every month?

Not necessarily. Publishing frequency should be based on actual opportunities and business needs. Updating existing pages, consolidating overlapping content, or strengthening important service pages may sometimes be more valuable than publishing something new.

How do you choose editorial topics for SEO?

Start with customer questions, important services, search intent, existing rankings, Search Console data, competitor gaps, and subjects where the business can provide genuine expertise. Then check whether the website already has a page addressing the same intent before creating a new one.