Marketers know web content isn't something they can set and forget, but do they have enough to meet the needs a billion more web users?

With so much buzz around internet marketing, it seems as though it couldn’t become any more important for brands to be active online. A recent Cisco study proves this to be a misconception, revealing the population of internet users will continue to rise at a rapid pace, putting more pressure on marketers to publish fresh content to gain search visibility and hold audiences’ attention.

At the end of 2012, around one-third of the world’s population was online (2.3 billion users). That number will grow to 3.6 billion individuals, or half of the global population by 2017. Brands that create content for SEO can dominate search engine results pages (SERPs) to drive new and existing users to their websites where conversions take place.

Reach is at stake for both B2B and B2C businesses. Cisco reported the business internet user population is expected to grow at a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 6.9 percent by 2017, at which point, the number of connected companies could top 1.9 billion. At the same time, residences with internet access will rise at a 6.1 percent CAGR, hitting 2.45 billion.

Brafton recently reported that 77 percent of agencies and 70 percent of brands now use content marketing to consistently deliver engaging marketing materials that make their sites discoverable and engaging.

Lauren Kaye is a Marketing Editor at Brafton Inc. She studied creative and technical writing at Virginia Tech before pursuing the digital frontier and finding content marketing was the best place to put her passions to work. Lauren also writes creative short fiction, hikes in New England and appreciates a good book recommendation.