Quality SEO content is the key to finding your digital audience and commencing the conversion funnel.
If a content piece posts in the worldwide web woods, and there’s no one around to see it, does it make a difference? Absolutely not. Like resume sending, audition getting and anything at the start of the marketing sales funnel, you and your content must be seen first. That critical online business priority has led to a global search engine optimization (SEO) market that is expected to reach $122.11 billion by 2028.
To give your website the best chance of being found during web searches you need to produce quality SEO content, which will “please search engines enough” that they’ll rank your work well in results pages. To do that, start with these search engine writing basics:
Learn & Leverage
‘Know your audience’ is the most common rule in the content business, but for SEO it means comprehending search intent and tactically what keywords people will use in their searches. The more content answers people’s questions and addresses their search queries the higher ranking it will get. “It’s almost impossible to create ranking content without finding the right keyword,” writes Smart Blogger’s Liliana Benzel. Find them, know them, a key step and part of your content strategy before the actual writing process starts.
A content corollary to understanding one’s audience is to know your competition. After all, your content is competing against theirs for rankings, clicks and conversions. Reading competing posts already ranking on Google for your keywords is a good way to know the focal and tactical standard that is required.
The Write Stuff
It’s important to write for your intended targets but also for the system. After all, the latter ranks on that search intent, which comes from the people and the keywords they search on.
There’s no second chance to make a first impression, and so it is with headlines in SEO writing. To boost click-thru rate (CTR), try to use the following in headlines: numbers and percentages, the current year and special characters, such as parentheses, brackets and ampersands. Benzel adds that meta descriptions are second only to headers as the first things that readers see on search engine results pages so keep them dialed in and optimized.
Long-form content not surprisingly tends to keep visitors on the webpage for longer, which is a good thing according to SmartBlogger. Size matters per Google’s algorithm, which can even penalize shorter content. And remember the importance of quality subheads to get readers, nearly 80% of which scan a new page before reading it, to commit to a fuller exploration of said content.
Old & New School Elevation
Google likes links. When creating SEO content, make sure to link to external, high-quality content and to other content from your own website. This leverages authoritative sites to boost SEO ranking and, in the latter scenario, maximizes readers’ staying time while also making it easier for search engines to index your site pages.
The old rules of engaging content still apply: visually appealing copy — always optimize images — with multiple entry points will attract the most eyeballs. And commit to multiple rounds of editing as if the world will be viewing your content… because that’s the goal for top-quality SEO writing.
“Your website is your window to the world, but it’s a big place that can be daunting to navigate,” said Marcia Homer, infinitee’s Director of Brand Management. “To find your audience amidst all the commotion and ultimately feed your business, quality SEO writing is essential. Brands must do all they can to maximize connections back to their 24-7 marketing hub, the company website.”
TO BE CONTINUED
STAY TUNED for Part 2 of this conversation!