In Google, website content determines almost everything, including the keywords your web pages rank for. Unique content that is relevant to the searcher’s intent will often do higher rank what wishful words that do not satisfy this intention.
But before we talk about the importance of content for SEO (if ranking isn’t convincing enough), let’s educate ourselves by exploring a brief history of search engine optimization, starting with its inception.
The birth of SEO
Google launched in the late 1990s, but it wasn’t until ’97 that search engine optimization really took off. Yes, SEO is a child of the 90s. Today, this bouncing baby is about 26 years old.
Since its… birth, SEO has flourished. It started as a reckless inferno that valued excess and has morphed into a precise utility that pierces the internet’s cacophony with memorable messages. So, when it comes to modern online marketing, less is more.
But back to the question at hand: why content for SEO?
A string quartet of 1 million
In the time it took you to read this introduction:
Google recorded 6.3 million searches and hundreds of thousands of other activities, too: blogs posted, Tweets tweeted (or X’s, X’ed 🙄) and photos shared on Instagram.
The Internet is noisier than ever, and every second that passes (we’re now about 1.3 million Google searches away).
Conventional SEO wisdom tells us to turn up the volume to be heard: more fresh content, more word count, more domains. It used to be about quantity over quality.
The year 2005, black hat SEO practices were fooling Google. For example, overlay solid color backgrounds with plain text of the same color to create the impression of more content on a web page.
But Google’s algorithms have evolved over the years. The more data Google analyzes, the better the search result will be relevant to each user.
The 3 fundamental subsets of SEO
SEO as a concept is divided into three fundamental subsets that cover almost everything:
On-Page SEO: It’s about optimizing individual pages on a website to rank higher and get more relevant traffic on search engines. It involves adjusting elements such as website content and HTML tags (titles, headers, meta descriptions) and ensuring a good user experience. Basically, it’s about making your pages more attractive to users and subsequently to search engines.
Off Page SEO: Unlike on-page SEO, off-page SEO deals with activities that take place outside of your website. Includes backlink creation from reputable sites, social media marketing, and other external efforts that help improve your site’s credibility and authority. From Google’s perspective, if other respected sites link to yours, your content must be valuable and relevant.
Technical SEO: These are the nuts and bolts of optimization. Technical SEO focuses on the backend of your website, ensuring that it is technically sound and efficient for search engine crawlers. It involves factors such as website speed, mobile friendliness, indexability, crawlability and having a secure connection (HTTPS).
How does modern SEO cut through the noise?
modern SEO content try to establish high relevance on as many Google ranking criteria as possible. What’s important to understand is that these criteria have changed over the years and continue to change, which means SEO must evolve alongside them. Now more than ever, Google is erring on the side of quality, as it should be.
Let’s talk Algorithms
Here are what we consider to be the eight core Google algorithms that all content creators should focus on:
Hummingbird (released August 22, 2013): This fascinating algorithm allows Google to properly contextualize search queries. Hummingbird uses natural language processing to determine the intent of the searcher by trying to understand the meaning of a query. This algorithm looks good keyword-stuffed articles and other low-quality content.
Pigeon (released July 24, 2014): Pigeon applies Google’s basic SEO ranking criteria to location-based results. In other words, it forces local businesses to step up their offsite SEO game and encourages them to be listed in relevant business directories.
Mobile (launched April 21, 2015): Remember Mobilegeddon? 2015 happened and it completely changed the internet. Individual web pages optimized for mobile now receive a ranking boost. Also, web pages that are not designed for mobile or are clumsy on mobile interfaces will suffer in terms of SEO.
RankBrain (launched October 26, 2015): RankBrain is the genius little brother of Hummingbird and Google’s self-proclaimed third most important algorithm. Since late 2015, RankBrain has identified superficial content using machine learning to summarize a website’s pages in the index, and then use those summaries to align them with search queries. In other words, it focuses on the overall user experience and the macro purpose of each existing page, and gets better as it goes.
Panda (Updated January 12, 2016): Originally launched in 2011, Panda was promoted on Google Basic classification factor and algorithm in 2016 and remains there to this day. Score content by evaluating indicators of plagiarism, duplicates i thin content, spam and keyword stuffing.
Possum (released September 1, 2016): Possum geo-targets the search engine and a company’s address. Interestingly, Possum has improved search rankings for many businesses that are out there the area where a search is made. A person is not limited to one city when looking for a service, especially not in B2B markets. Still, this algorithm it’s all about location, location, location.
Penguin (Updated September 23, 2016): Since 2016, Penguin (which was initially launched in 2013) has been running in real-time, continuously, as part of Google’s core set of algorithms. Reduce content that uses irrelevant links and/or anchor text to manipulate and spam web users.
Fred (released March 8, 2017): As a Google drug dealer, Fred talks about web pages that include ads with shallow, thin, or nonsensical content. This forces businesses to ensure that banner and video ads are complemented by high-quality content.
BERT (launched October 24, 2018; worldwide release December 9, 2019): BERT is a language interpreter. This algorithm helps Google better understand the context and nuances of words in a search query. With it, Google can understand the relationships between words in a sentence, resulting in more accurate and contextually relevant search results for users.
These updates mark important milestones in Google’s journey. Of course, intertwined with these identity-defining changes are more frequent core updates that help Google work better.
Where SEO content is today: On the cutting edge
Three words: attractive and quality content.
Google’s algorithms know real collateral when they see it, so content for SEO needs to be smart and engaging, but it also needs to be backed up by strong web design and UX (because RankBrain see everything).
Companies agree with this trend, and content marketing is more popular than ever. According to a study conducted by WordPress VIP, 58% of organizations expect their content budgets to grow by 2023. And while 61% are still creating month content, these companies begin to focus on quality over quantity.
However, quality content is harder to produce. It takes more time, effort and talent because it’s no longer a numbers game. It requires:
Context: With Hummingbird in charge, understanding and serving user intent is more important than ever. Keyword loading will no longer cut it*. Do you need:
stories
Facts and information.
Well done comment.
Concise but memorable landing pages.
Remember: Google’s self-proclaimed mission is to give people the gift of relevance. well, optimized content will be richly rewarded Search Engine Results Page (SERP) higher positioning and click-through rates. On the other hand, they’ll spot a volume game from a mile away.
*On-page SEO still plays a role. Marketers should follow best practices on the page with title tags, alt text, etc. But don’t you dare fool the search engines!
Variety: Yes, it’s important to anticipate the many iterations of search queries your target audience uses. But we’re not just talking about variety of language. You also need shareable resources like videos and infographics that people want to link to and embed in your blog posts. Each and every link in your media moves the needle. not to mention just because people are searching with words doesn’t mean they are searching for words (eg cat videos). Google made this distinction a long time ago, and so should you.
Phone: The other great thing about visual media is that it looks good on a mobile phone. Attractive graphics and bite-sized, quick-to-use videos are ideal for snacking on the train ride home or while waiting in the elevator. Careful, though. Good media collateral is no substitute for a mobile-optimized website.
Social: Social media is a popular content marketing strategy these days. Because? Links galore. Content i Social media share a symbiotic relationship They promote social platforms your visual and written content, and your content drives engagement on social media. Take one out and you kill the other. But together, they’re like peanut butter and jelly. Simon and Garfunkel. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Hell, even Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star.
So where does that leave us?
If you’re a really slow reader and it took you an hour to get to the end of this article (which it didn’t, but work with us here), there will be about 145 million Google searches when you’re done.
Just by the numbers, that means there is about 1 inch 145 quadrillion chances that one of those 145 million queries will land on your home page.
Okay, this is an incomplete assessment. We can’t just focus on the numbers; content matching queries is not random – and that’s the whole point of creating content for SEO. Google knows when you’re serving targeted web content that actually aligns with your target audience’s search intent and rewards you for it.
This means your content strategy for SEO needs to be firing on all cylinders, which we realize is easier said than done, especially now that most businesses are doing content marketing. This finally brings us back to the question at hand, “Why content for SEO?” which we can answer with another question:
“What’s the alternative?”
Yes, it’s a hard game to play, and yes, it gets harder every day. But as in life and business, the best response to adversity is to keep upping your game and rise to the occasion.
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