SEO and content are powerful in their own right.
But it is the combination of the two where the best results are seen.
It’s not just about optimizing your content for search, it’s about taking a different approach and creating a unique SEO content strategy.
When we talk about optimizing content for search, we often emphasize what you expect.
Choose a keyword. Use this keyword in the title tag.Meta description.Header tags.Copy.Image file name.
This will get you some results And a few years ago, that was really all that needed to be done.
But today, much more needs to be done to get better results.
You need to intertwine SEO and content so that they are one in your strategy.
How to get better results from your content
Start by thinking about your audience.
Who do you write for? What are they interested in? What questions do they have that you can answer? What terms do they use for the topics you write about? Are they the same words you use or are they different terms?
If they’re different, you need to take note of that and speak to them in their language using the words they use, even if it’s not your brand terms.
Everything you create should be designed to help your audience. If you don’t provide valuable content, they won’t read more.
Your goal with all content development is to become a trusted resource for your audience. When users know they can get the answers they need from you, they’re more likely to come back and share your content with someone else, which helps your business grow.
How to use SEO and content together
Once you’ve clarified who you’re creating this content for, it’s time to start brainstorming.
You can:
Brainstorm. Check SERP terms your audience might be interested in and make sure your content aligns with search intent. Use your favorite SEO keyword research tool to generate ideas.
Search for keywords related to your main products or services. Find the questions your ideal customers ask regularly. Questions are often a great starting point for content development.
Step 1: Research topic
To conduct your research, you can use search features and tools such as:
Google: Autocomplete. Related Searches People also ask on AnswerThePublicQuoraMedia social
You want to look and see what people are asking about the topics most aligned with your business.
What questions do you have? What information do they need before making a decision?
Step 2: Research your keywords
Once you have a research-based topic idea, you know people are interested because they’re looking for information online.
Now it’s time to go back to the keyword research tool and see what keyword you want to target your content.
Choose the keyword option that gives you a realistic chance of ranking. It should also tie the closest to the topic and desired products or services.
Step 3: Write
Now you’re ready to start typing. You have a topic that you know people are interested in and searching for. You have a keyword that you have researched and you know that your website has a good chance of ranking at the top of Google.
It’s time to create great content that brings value to your ideal customer. You want to focus on them, their needs and their questions.
Don’t fixate on a specific number of words or paragraphs. Instead, focus on providing value, answering questions, and helping them.
You should have a good idea of your customers’ questions on this topic.
Writing tips
No one wants to read huge blocks of text. You will lose your readers if this is what you post. Make sure you’re improving readability for your audience by adding: Headings (H2s/H3s) Ordered/unordered lists.Images/videos.White spaces.Don’t write in a specific word count. Write to tell the reader what they need. Help them understand the topic. Anticipate the questions they will ask and answer them. Avoid unnecessary fluff. Don’t aim to use your keyword a certain number of times. When you write a word count or a keyword insertion count, you can end up with content that doesn’t feel natural and doesn’t get the results you want. Make sure your content is of high quality and follows grammatical rules. Edit it to make sure it’s easy to read and understand. Reading your copy aloud can help you spot keyword stuffing, grammatical errors, and more. It’s an easy way to make sure your copy sounds natural when read by your audience. Make sure your content is useful, valuable, comprehensive (have you answered all of your audience’s questions on this topic?), and ultimately better than your competition’s content if they want to outdo them.
In short, tell the story, add value, let the piece unfold naturally, and you’ll have better content.
Step 4: Optimize
Now is the time to optimize your content.
You have chosen your keyword and want to use it in the following SEO elements.
Title TagMeta DescriptionCopyHeader Tags Image File Name (formatted with a hyphen between words)URL
Be sure to follow SEO best practices when optimizing your content.
You should start seeing results as long as you’ve chosen a topic that you know people are interested in, a keyword that your website can rank for, written for your client and providing value, not fluff.
Optimization tips
Link to other relevant content on your website. Providing additional resources for your audience can help them better understand the topic. Update your optimization regularly. Optimization is not a one-time task; is ongoing You can update on a schedule or when you see an opportunity to improve keyword ranking for a piece of content. Sometimes an update and refresh can help an older piece climb the rankings.
The best content is SEO content
Simply producing content is not enough to win at SEO today. You need to create useful content for your audience.
Think of it as a unified strategy and use your SEO tools from the start, and you’ll get better visibility in the SERPs. Develop a strategy that focuses on your audience and their questions first and foremost.
Your content strategy should include topics that connect, are of interest to your audience, and are useful to your audience.
Link from one piece to another, providing additional resources and information that your audience would like to dig into and help your overall content SEO efforts.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
New in Search Engine Land
About the author
Rachel Lindteigen is the president and founder of Recorded Marketing. Rachel has over 20 years of content writing, editing and strategy development and 10 years of experience in digital marketing. He works with many of the top e-commerce retailers and develops local and national SEO strategies. Rachel has a BA in Broadcast Journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School for Journalism and Telecommunications and an MBA in Marketing.
[ad_2]
Source link
