We all know that content is key, yet it’s surprising how many webmasters think it is unnecessary to invest time and resources into the creation of valuable content for their website. The evidence that high-quality content is directly linked to good organic rankings is indisputable, and this has been the case for the last decade; algorithms may change, but this has always remained to be true.
Whilst content has always been an important factor for SEO, links used to be the buzzword. Whilst gaining quality links into your site is crucial, well written high-quality content can help your website perform better and appear higher in the search results. Good content can dramatically increase your visibility and trust online if optimised correctly – but not only for search engines.
If you take anything away from this article, we hope it’s that it doesn’t matter how much content is on your website if it’s low quality. You could have hundreds of pages full of content but if it is a topic that has been covered time and time again, it’s not of interest to users or search engines unless you are adding new information.
Why is quality content important?
- As an expert in your niche, writing about what you do should be easy! If you are writing content that is very thin on information and looks to be just a rewritten version of an original article then this will make your business look like you don’t know what you’re talking about.
- In the age of the web where there are so many sites offering similar information, users only want to read the highest quality out there. Why would a user settle to read your 150-word paraphrased article when they could go to your competitor’s website and get in-depth, original information?
- Writing content for users but optimising for SEO should be done in such a way that when the user is reading your article there are not keywords stuffed into every possible sentence which makes it unreadable! An article written for the purpose of the user will perform better than one written purely for search engines.
- Put simply, an article written for the users can help and educate the users. An article written for the search engines cannot.
Are you ready to start writing content that will interest your target audience and improve your performance in the organic search results?
Writing successful copy for your website is a task that can sometimes prove more challenging than it appears. You could have created the best possible piece of content for your company, but without proper promotion, an increase in visits or conversions seen as a result of your article is highly unlikely. Below, we have compiled a list of the content marketing tips and tricks that could help to drastically improve the success of the articles you write.
Plan Ahead
When you have an original idea for a piece of content it can be easy to run with the topic and get the article out within an hour, but will it really be good quality? Planning your content and creating a framework can help you ensure that you are maximising the impact of your headline, subheadings, body content and everything in-between! Investing time into your content and creating a persona that your target audience will engage with can make all the difference to how your content is perceived.
Core Content is key
Core content can be defined as a piece of writing that covers a topic of great interest to your target audience and potential customers that is also highly relevant to the services or products that your business has to offer. The use of core content can work to improve the chances of a user completing a conversion as a result of the content on your website, however, it is not guaranteed that this particular type of content performs well completely on its own; users must first be convinced to read your article. Creating relevant and high-quality pieces to accompany your core content can assist in pulling visitors toward this content, encouraging them to read it.
Content writers should look to link, or slightly overlap, the topics that appear to be of interest to their audience, creating great core content that can be surrounded by other pieces of high relevance. When deciding upon new subjects for your articles, careful consideration should be taken to assure your articles are of high significance to both your business and the interest of your website visitors.
Aim to Produce Multi-Purpose Content
When writing high-quality content pieces for your business website, you’re more than likely putting a large amount of effort into researching, and then constructing, the articles that you create. This can sometimes be a largely time-consuming task, so, how can you get more out of this process? By leveraging your articles for use as other types of additional content, you can greatly increase the results gained from a singular piece of content, vastly improving your return on investment. A piece of evergreen content can, in part, be reworked slightly and thus reused as guest posts, support articles, and even the basis of a podcast. By creating multi-purpose content, you aim to increase the results you get back from the work that you put in.
Write For Users, But Optimise For SEO
At the end of the day, search engines are not going to buy your products or invent in your services. The content you write should be informative, engaging and persuasive to potential customers who are interested in what you offer. Yes, of course you should be optimising your pages for relevant keywords so that you appear in the search results to prospective customers but you should not make this the main aim of the content and it should not come across like you are writing specifically for search engines.
Use Keywords with Caution
If you’re an avid Internet user, then you’ve probably come across an article online that doesn’t read quite right…this is likely due to the author trying to stuff keywords into the article where they wouldn’t naturally occur. All content on your site should be for the benefit of the user; create a page on a specific service you offer so people searching for a similar service can find your page because it’s relevant, don’t create hundreds of pages based on keywords alone purely to rank for them.
Remember 5W1H
A simple recipe that you should follow by rule of thumb to write valuable, informative content is 5W1H.
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
- How
This rule should be applied to all content you write, whether that be a blog article, video or service page.
It may seem simple, but this writing method ensures that no crucial information is missed out and no questions are left unanswered. As a content marketer, your aim is to answer questions and solve problems.
Do your Research
In order to gain credibility and authority in your industry, you need to do your research. Double check and triple check your facts before you put them out there into the world – you don’t want to contribute to the ever-growing fake news culture.
Make fact-checking a staple part of your content marketing strategy, this includes any online sources already out there, and try to focus only on quotes from those who hold the authority to discuss the topic.
If we were to write a piece on the latest SEO development in the industry, we wouldn’t just talk to any Tom, Dick or Harry about it – we’d go straight to the top. Authoritative quotes from the likes of Matt Cutts, Danny Sullivan, and Barry Schwartz would not only add weight to the piece, but could also increase the credibility.
Get To the Point
It may be your website, but it doesn’t all need to be about you!
You have your ‘About’ page to share all your accomplishments and awards, leave your product and services pages for what they’re meant to be about – how what you offer can benefit the consumer and what your service entails. The purpose of your content is to address questions and queries whilst educating on the topic they came here to learn more about, not upsell and over promote. We live in an age where we are all hyperaware of advertisements and generally don’t like to be advertised to unless we’ve asked to be, so you need to understand the importance of balance.
Optimise Your Organic Listings
The title of your content and the meta description are what appear in the search results, these should be enticing and give the users an insight into what they are going to be reading if they click through to your site. It’s your job to tell the user why they should click through to YOUR article and not your competitors, are you offering an e-guide? Free download? Exclusive insight and/or interviews? Include keywords in your meta description but once again, don’t stuff keywords!
Provide Additional Rich Media
Content is key, but content is no longer just text based. Rich media can completely transform your article into an authoritative information source in your industry, providing illustrative examples to support your points can make the article a higher quality. Using images, infographics or embedded videos can not only further engage your audience but make them stay on your website for longer!
To conclude, successful content marketing is not just about writing the best copy that you can, but about assuring that you gain a great return on investment for your efforts. To maximise your success, you should ensure that you promote your content to its potential readers and reuse your articles to get the most out of your pieces. To learn more about content marketing, and what our digital marketing agency could do to help maximise your success and conversions, visit our dedicated content development page and discover what In Front Digital can do to help your business grow.