In March 2016, Google has confirmed that links and content represent the two most important factors which influence your website’s rankings. What could that mean for contemporary content marketers and website owners? I see it pretty simple. You build high-quality links and publish high-quality content on a regular basis, and Google will reward you. Really simple!
However, things get complicated when you need to start the actual work. Or you might have started it and the results might have been disappointing. Nevertheless, developing top-notch quality content is more like a combination of art and skill.
You need to have the proper knowledge and the genuine commitment to practice consistently. You can only become better at content development if you keep doing it constantly. As you go, optimize your process and learn new things as new experiences show up.
In today’s post, we’re going to explore several effective strategies for developing excellent content which will have a tremendously positive impact on your SEO marketing performance. In short, we’ll help you write the type of content that Google and all the other important search engines favor through their algorithms. Let’s begin:
1. Write Unique Content – All The Time
Let me share a simple yet very important rule: whenever you post content online, it should be 100% unique. That might confuse some of you, so let me put it another way. You can’t write content that has been previously posted online, so stay away from copy-pasting exact phrases. There’s a lot of software that detects duplicated content, and Google knows very well whether you wrote it by yourself or copied it from somewhere else.
Therefore, even though you may get some inspiration from other blogs, you should present the information from a different perspective. Create an outline and follow it strictly.
2. Develop Content with Unique Value Inside
Unique value is different from unique content. Unique content means not copying someone else’s work, while unique value means showing a website visitor something else. Something out-of-the-box. Something they haven’t seen on any other website or brand. You see, this is an aspect that differentiates your brand from the rest. The unique value you provide is super important for a prosperous growth!
Here are some clues on how to make your content unique and valuable at the same time:
- Make it helpful – It has to deliver solutions to problems and needs.
- Make it relevant to your specific audience – write for your audience only. You can’t solve everyone’s problems so don’t even try to do so. Focus on being relevant to a specific audience only.
- Make it unique – Bring something unique from your own personality, or approach a topic from a different angle.
3. Make Your Website’s Pages High Quality
Content creation and distribution is your first step. Then, you need to make sure that your website visitors will have a great user experience, which means that they’ll be able to go through your website’s pages without problems. You cannot permit any errors and mistakes such as broken pages and broken links.
Moreover, you need to optimize your website’s loading speed. Your users want to find information quickly. If your pages are loading slowly, many visitors will just leave because they’ll be annoyed. That will affect your brand’s reputation and therefore your business performance.
4. Make Your Content “Shareable”
To make your content shareable means to make it likable to the public. In order for it to be so, it has to be very simple to grasp, usually short (but not always), and it should be extremely relevant to a specific audience. For example, if you are targeting individuals who need counseling, you need to make your content emotional so they can open themselves up.
Mara Hudson, SEO Professional at EduGeeksClub, suggests:
“When you manage to make your readers feel emotional, they’ll immediately want to share the piece of content which impressed them. Make your content remarkable. That means worth remarking, so you can’t come up with something that everyone’s talking about. Develop a unique angle and you’ll capture your audience’s attention!”
5. Publish Only Impeccable Content
Impeccable content is error-free. Google doesn’t really appreciate webmasters who neglect their content. To neglect your content means to neglect your business and your customers. Therefore, you’ll be penalized whenever search engine crawlers detect misspelling and misuse of words and sentences.
You can avoid this problem by allowing different tools and software to aid you in your content development process. For example, tools like Grammarly or ProWritingAid can make your life so much easier. You can adapt them to your Word Processor and check your grammar as you type.
6. Pay Attention to Keywords
Many bloggers and website owners are trying to be “perfect” in the eyes of Google. How do they do that? Well, they try to find the “perfect keyword density”, an aspect which is almost impossible to get right. Google always changes its algorithms, so agonizing over your keyword usage is going to get you stuck.
Google is very fair at judging a website’s content value. Here’s what you need to know: you need to optimize your content and you need to use the right keywords. But like with anything in life, exaggerating will do more harm than good. One of Google’s webmasters suggested that keywords overstuffing decreases your website’s rankings, so stay out of the danger zone!
7. Figure Out the User’s Intent
When people search something on Google, they are obviously looking for something. Let’s dig deeper. That “something” is probably the solution to a problem or the fulfillment of a need. You need to find information regarding a local place? That’s a need. You want to play a game? A need. You need to learn how to cook? That’s a solution to a problem (of not knowing how to make your own food).
You see, everyone’s looking for answers. Therefore, your content needs to be optimized for the user’s intent. You must know your audience very well, you must detect their needs and wants, and you must know their most common problems. If you are able to figure that out, you’ll have no problem with leading them towards the right solutions.
Google truly appreciates content that solves problems, and they see it through the reflection of your website’s high engagement and social performance.
Takeaways
Developing high-quality content comes with a price. You need to commit to a journey, a learning curve, and maybe many challenges. However, that shouldn’t scare you off. Every failure represents an opportunity to learn and do better next time. No one’s rushing you, so you can take your time learning how to expose your information better all the time. Good luck!
