Content Strategy That Maximizes Your SEO

All businesses benefit from a strong online presence. However, there is a lot of competition out there. Your website is an essential part of your commercial strategy. But how do you ensure that your website will stand out against the rest?

Do a quick Google search to test where you fall amongst other like-minded businesses. Ideally, you are a top result on the first page of results, but you may not be. That’s okay; we can help you build a content strategy that maximizes your SEO efforts.

How a Search Engine Ranks Websites

We will use Google as an example, but other search engines use similar systems.

Google uses a software application called a web crawler (also called a spider or bot) to constantly trawl through the countless number of sites on the internet. These crawlers scan webpages and then index them automatically. Keywords are important because they tell the crawler about the site or page.

The algorithms that a web crawler uses check for three things:

1. That your content is of value to a visitor
2. That your website meets a minimum technical standard
3. That your website is a trusted source

It is worth noting that Google constantly updates its algorithms and its web crawlers are always at work. This is why rankings change. When you build a content strategy, you need to consider that the system is dynamic and evolving to meet consumer demands.

1. Build a Content Strategy

To get your site listed as a top result on a search engine, you need to focus on your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. The following are strategies that you can use to maximize your SEO.

Create Unique Content

Your content should be individual and different. You shouldn’t simply reuse content that you’ve found elsewhere. You need to give your own opinion and your suggestions. It’s fine to quote another source, but you should always credit and link to your source. 

Use Detail

Use detail to describe your products or services. Being bland is boring and does not grab the attention of your target audience. At the same time, don’t overuse your keywords. This practice can be off-putting and sound fake and salesy. 

Be Useful

Google will judge your site’s effectiveness by measuring how long a visitor spends on your site or page. Are they reading the article and clicking on links? Or do they just glance at it and go back to search for something else? 

Visitors who enter and leave quickly show a high “bounce rate.” A high bounce rate is bad because visitors are not engaging with your content. 

Be Relevant

Visitors who see your listing on their results page will quickly scan your meta description. This description needs to be brief, relevant, and contain keywords they might be looking for.

2. Be Tech-Savvy

People who are browsing the web tend to be a little impatient. If a page is slow to load, they will click on something else. You can help your page load quicker by not incorporating too many videos or other content that takes too much time to download. People leaving your site quickly will affect your bounce rate.

3. Be a Trusted Source

To become a trusted source Google and other search engines will count the number of links to reputable sites on your website/page. These links are an indicator that others trust you. The more links you have, the higher your SEO ranking will be.

Ensure Your Site Ranks High on Search Engine Results

The following strategies can help you earn a higher ranking on search engine results, be mindful to review your target audience, content, and keywords often to have the greatest impact.

Focus on Your Target Audience

You more than likely know your target audience without even writing it down. But it would be best if you wrote it down to hammer out the fine details of your target audience; doing so will help you find ways to better engage and connect with new and existing customers.

Ask yourself questions like:

• What need am I filling? (And can I improve my current practices?)
• Why do my current customers complete a purchase with us?
• What is the competition doing right to pull customers away from me?

You can focus on your target audience and market more effectively when you know the answers. Your website can stress your strengths and cover the weaknesses that you have identified in the competition.

Keep Your Content Fresh and Relevant

Google changes its rankings constantly, and you must keep adding new content to your pages and updating information to remain relevant. This can be time-consuming, but it is necessary to keep your visitors engaged. 

Ask a popular blogger to guest write on your website blog, creating a network relationship and backlinks to their website and your site on their blog. You may also work with an influencer to promote your new products or services. No matter what you choose, remain visible and relevant in the eyes of your target audience.

Identify Keywords

You know keywords help identify your content. The keywords you choose play a large part in a website ranking. Be mindful of the keywords you use, and don’t be afraid to use sites like Semrush.com to check the popularity of your chosen keywords.

Final Thoughts

If your content is of value to visitors, meets current technical standards, and is a trusted source, you will have a greater chance of maximizing your SEO efforts. Build a content strategy that is easy to maintain and update as you meet the demands of Google and other search engines.