Content consists of any text, photos, videos, or other created materials that you share with your audience. Every time your business writes a blog post, films a video, or posts something to Instagram, you are creating and distributing content. When your content is created with search engine optimization in mind, it could be considered SEO content. SEO article writing is not exactly the same as traditional content creation, but it involves many of the same key principles. Take a closer look at what SEO content is, why it has a place in the digital marketing world, and how to embrace it to enhance your online presence.
Understanding Search Engine Optimization
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing your website so that it is more likely to be found in search engine results. Every search engine, such as Google or Yahoo, uses spiders that crawl through the web and classify each and every page on each and every website. They use this incredible amount of data to guide people to the answers they are looking for when they type queries into a search engine.
For example, imagine that you type “best pizza in Los Angeles” into a major search engine. That search engine will look at all of the keywords you’ve used and then compare the information to keywords in online content. There might be a major article from the Los Angeles Times counting down the best pizza places in the city. Based on the ranking of the article, its popularity among past searchers, and the matching of keywords, the search engine might push the article to the top of the SERP, or search engine results page.
You are more likely to click on the first few results that a search engine provides. Therefore, being at the top of the search engine results page is a definite objective for most bloggers, business owners, and marketing professionals.
SEO Content and Inbound Marketing
To truly understand SEO content and why SEO content writing services are important, you need to have a basic understanding of inbound marketing. In the past, marketing attempts pushed products and services to a large audience whether or not the audience wanted to see the campaign. Today, there are more ways for readers and users to opt out of unwanted ads. Instead of pushing a campaign onto consumers, businesses need to provide interested users with specific information or content that has value.
In the pizza example detailed above, the user was searching for information. That person wanted to find the best pizza in Los Angeles, so articles about that topic provide the user with helpful, relevant information. Whoever creates that content will now be on the user’s radar. The user might even stick around on the website, clicking over to new pages, reading more, and potentially becoming a customer. That makes it a win-win situation for the user and the business. That kind of exchange is what makes up inbound marketing, and it relies heavily on SEO content so that the right people find the information they are looking for.
Different Types of SEO Content
When search engine spiders crawl through online content, they look at a wide range of attributes. The title is often key, as are the words used in headers. Also important is metadata, or added details that help spiders identify the content they are crawling through. Ultimately, however, the content still has to be valuable. You can’t put out content riddled with mistakes, or push duplicate content, and hope that readers will appreciate it. Attracting search engines is just half the battle. The content also needs to consistently appeal to readers.
The good news is that there is no one specific kind of SEO content that readers find valuable. Depending on your audience and your industry, there are a wide range of content types that can be useful. Some of the most effective types of SEO content are detailed below.
Blog Posts
Whether you run a small business or a huge international corporation, maintaining a blog can be a fantastic way to increase inbound traffic. Blog posts can be about any number of subjects, but they should relate to your business, your industry, or your desired audience in some key way. Since blog posts naturally contain a lot of words, you can use keywords organically for search engine optimization.
Product Pages
If you sell products online, you’ll probably have product descriptions. By using specific keywords in these descriptions, you’ll be able to attract more people right to each product page. The key is finding the right keywords for each product.
Videos
Not all SEO content needs to be written. Photos and even videos can have SEO value, but make sure you create a detailed description of the visual content. Crawlers can’t understand videos without a text explanation or metadata.
White Papers
Some businesses are appealing to a professional demographic or a very niche market. In these cases, longer and more researched content like white papers can be a valuable way to increase your audience. Keyword stuffing is even more apparent in white papers, so be sure to use keywords appropriately.
Always Tailor Content to Your Audience
Whether you’re writing SEO content on your own or relying on SEO article writing services, make sure you’re thinking about your target audience the entire time. It is not enough to write content that comes up in search engine results pages. That content needs to be found online, yes. But it also needs to be specifically targeted to your ideal consumer or reader. This ensures that they find the content valuable, thereby having a better opinion of your website or company in the process.
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The Purpose of SEO Content Marketing
Content marketing is the process of distributing valuable content to potential customers. That content comes in many forms, and it can educate, entertain, inform, or just appeal. Content marketing works because by releasing content, you can attract more eyes to your website and your business. By releasing a post about the best plants to grow in a Florida climate, you’ll be attracting readers who live in Florida and care about their gardens. If you’re a landscaping company in Orlando, then your content is reaching the ideal audience.
There are many reasons to pursue content marketing. It also pairs naturally with SEO, or search engine optimization. If you’re going through the effort of creating great content, SEO ensures that more people will view it. Dive deeper into some of the many reasons to consider content marketing for your business.
Increased Web Traffic
One of the most important reasons to consider SEO content writing services for your marketing campaign is because content marketing can increase web traffic. There are several ways that you can get more people to view your website. You might already be on social media, and you might even be paying for ads. That can work, but content marketing can be even more effective.
When you create content that people want to read, they are more likely to stick around. Great content means a lower bounce rate, and it might also mean more recommendations and shares. When your content appears on search engine results pages, more people will click on your content and head to your website. If increased traffic is your goal, then content marketing can help you see results
Cost-Effective Compared to Traditional Advertising Methods
If you create all your own content, content marketing can theoretically be free. This is incredibly impressive when you consider that content marketing can increase web traffic by a significant amount. It can be more effective than advertisements and marketing campaigns, but it costs far less.
Of course, creating content still takes time and expertise. If you were to reuse content or copy it from elsewhere on the web, you might get penalized by search engines. Duplicate content is never a good idea, and there are serious consequences involved. However, you can seek out professionals to tackle content creation. SEO article writing is a growing industry, and Textbroker is the gateway to skilled authors who have experience in SEO and content marketing. Even with the costs involved, however, content marketing is still inexpensive when compared with traditional advertising methods. It’s a worthwhile investment that can boost your online presence for years to come.
Promote Brand Awareness
Content marketing can also be the key to promoting awareness about your brand. Imagine that you’re the owner of that landscaping company in Orlando, Florida, mentioned above. When potential users head to Google and type in “landscape companies in Orlando,” don’t you want to pop up in the results? In today’s world, many customers make their decisions based on information and reviews they find online. If your business is not even on their radar, they can’t choose you over your competitors. Content marketing helps you appear more often in relevant searches online. Plus, digital content can be shared easily. You can post blog articles on your Facebook page, and others can, in turn, share this content among their networks. While not every piece of content is going to go viral, each can promote your brand in its own way.
Become a Leader or Expert Within a Given Industry
Content marketing is your chance to showcase your expertise. Whether your website sells clothes, offers IT services, or does anything in between, you are probably in a position to offer advice about your industry. Take advantage of that by creating content that offers that advice to your target audience.
If you sell clothes to women, you could write about the top trends of the season. If you offer IT services, you might explain a common IT problem and provide a solution. Sharing your knowledge puts you and your business in a position of authority, which is always a good thing in the marketing world.
Make Sales and Increase Conversions
Increasing brand awareness and boosting web traffic are goals, but they are often a means to an even bigger objective: Conversions. A conversion is anytime a person completes a step that you’re encouraging. That might mean downloading an e-book, signing up for the online newsletter, or buying one of your products. Content marketing can go a long way in boosting conversion numbers. While your target audience might see a traditional ad as intrusive, helpful information in the form of content may appeal to them more, encouraging a conversion or a complete sale. Content marketing creates more leads, and more leads mean more profit potential.
Educate and Inform Potential Customers
It is easy to see how content marketing is great for businesses. Increased web traffic, more leads, and boosted brand awareness are definite advantages to any website or organization. However, don’t lose sight of one critical fact: Content marketing is also beneficial to your target audience. As you’re creating content or placing orders with professional writers, make sure you can see the value in each blog post or video you create.
Is the content able to share some sort of valuable information? After reading the content, will readers walk away with more knowledge about your industry? Is the content entertaining? Content shouldn’t be overly promotional, and not every blog post needs to read like a sales pitch. While hyperlinks and calls to action are widely used, they should be complementing already valuable content. If your content regularly feels like an infomercial, step back and consider whether it is truly beneficial to readers.
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How to Create the Perfect SEO Content
Once you are aware of the value of content marketing and you understand the value of SEO, it is natural to take the next step and combine them. Creating SEO-friendly content means that you’re creating high-quality content that can easily be scanned and classified by search engines. Ideally, it will rank highly for your target audience and attract the kind of buyer personas most relevant to your business. Use this guide as an instruction manual on how to create SEO content.
Start With High-Quality Content
All too often, businesses start exploring the details of SEO without giving the content a second thought. SEO matters, and it can be incredibly effective. But it will only be effective if the content itself is relevant and well-written. Keyword stuffing is the act of forcing too many keywords unnaturally into content, rendering the text unappealing or even confusing.
Although keyword stuffing might technically tick the right SEO boxes, it won’t ever produce a truly successful piece of content. In fact, many search engines penalize websites that engage in frequent keyword stuffing. A much better long-term approach is to start out with truly great content. If that isn’t something you’re confident about, then take steps to find a professional author who can handle the job. SEO content writing services can ensure that content is king at your business.
Do Some Keyword Research for Your Industry
Next, it’s time to figure out the right keywords for your content. Keywords are the specific words and phrases that users might search in a search engine. If you run a donut shop in Boston, some common keywords you would want to incorporate into your content might include “donuts,” “Boston,” “donut shops” and “bakeries.”
Keep in mind, however, that these keywords are incredibly popular. Unless you run one of the largest donut companies in the world, you likely won’t appear as a top-10 entry on a search engine results page for the word “donut.” You’ll want to narrow down your audience by using what are known as long-tail keywords. These might include the following:
These are more specific keywords, so there is less competition. Using these keywords narrows down your audience and makes it easier to be seen in search engine results pages. More importantly, it helps you to be seen by precisely the right people. If you’re struggling to come up with long-tail keywords, check out which keywords are currently bringing users to your website. Or, take a look at the kinds of keywords your competitors are using.
To further improve your SEO, you might even want to perform a competitor keyword analysis in order to gauge which keywords your competition is ranking for. If you’re a flower shop, you probably don’t want to show up in search results that have to do with Bald Eagles.
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Incorporate Keywords Into Your Content Organically
What comes first: the keywords or the content? Ideally, you would start by determining your keywords. Then, you can craft content that includes those keywords organically. However, some businesses want to optimize their existing content for search engines. In these cases, you can do some tweaking to retrofit old content using newly determined keywords. Make sure that the content still reads well, and don’t sacrifice quality for a slightly higher keyword density. Just avoid copied or duplicate content, as that can be counted against you in search engine results.
Add in Appropriate Headers and Titles
When search engines send out their spiders to sift through your content, they will start with the key pieces of information. Typically, that means the title and any headers. You can help search engines to classify your content correctly by giving special attention to these key parts of the content. Your title should include one or more keywords, and so should some of your headers. You can use HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, to guide search engine spiders to your headers. This also makes the words bigger or bolder, helping readers find key information within the content.
Add Metadata Where Needed
Metadata is all the details about content that users don’t need to see, but search engines do. When you write a blog post, you can add in who wrote the blog post, and you can even create a short meta description about it. If this data is available, search engines will go to it first to classify the content. You can also add metadata to photos or videos. Remember that many people search for images on search engines, so including a brief description of each picture helps more people find your visual content and get directed to your website as a result.
Format Content to Be User-Friendly
Have you ever searched for something on Google, clicked the first link on the results page, and then immediately closed the tab? If so, you’re like many other users who let first impressions guide their online actions. Your content should be user-friendly, and that often means formatting it appropriately.
A good place to start is by ensuring that paragraphs aren’t too long. Many readers skim content online, and smaller paragraphs make that easier. Creating lists or adding bullet points can also help. Adding graphics or photos also breaks up the content and makes it more visually appealing. Remember that many websites are now viewed on smartphones, not on desktop computers. Ensure that your content looks good on any screen size before you publish it.
Share Your Content to Increase SERP Rankings
Search engines prioritize content that has already been proven. If lots of people have clicked to see a blog post and stayed on the page long enough to read it, search engines know that it is valuable. To give your content a boost, make sure you share it on social media. Not only will it increase web traffic right away, but it will also help your content rank higher in search engines in less time.
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Comments
Rahul 22. May 2019 - 11:39
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Jake Collins 20. February 2020 - 23:54
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