Build a Content Strategy with SEO: How to Plan for Content That Will Bring Conversions
If Google’s updates this year have told us anything, it’s that content is key to a good SEO strategy, and SEO is needed for good content. But not just any content will pass the test of Google rankings. Google is telling us that generating quality, helpful content can help you gain the organic traffic you need and can also help you rank on Google. Ranking on Google opens the doors for many new eyes to be seeing your site, which will hopefully lead them to interacting with your site, or even completing a sale.
Search Engine Journal writes that the market for content marketing is going to grow over 500 billion dollars between now and 2027. This huge amount of growth prediction shows that business owners are putting their eggs into the content marketing basket. Now more than ever is the time for content strategy.
Some worry that AI is going to quickly replace content marketers, and the need for producing content, but I can assure you that is not the case. AI is still in development and is prone to mistakes. Human first content will always be the best avenue. Google has said themselves that they are already in the process of learning how to spot and keep AI generated content from ranking on Google. As internet users prefer spam free, useful content, so does Google.
What Content is Google Looking For?
Google has shown us time and time again that they want us to produce human-first content. They don’t want us producing spammy, repetitive content, rather, they want us to put our time and energy into producing content that will be useful to users of the internet.
When someone is browsing the internet, they will most likely be inclined to stay on the pages that serve them and will be quick to leave the pages with useless and unreadable content. Google improves with each update and gets better and better at weeding out spammy content, making it best to keep on the side of content production that best meets the user’s needs.
Why Google?
Whether liked or not, Google is the most used search engine and they have become synonymous with the action of researching, or looking something up. The name itself has become a verb, as the saying goes, we all know how to “Google it”.
Google has been the top search engine and search authority for years now, and its algorithm changes are what the experts look to for guidance when it comes to updating SEO strategy. It is important to pay attention to Google, as they predict and control the trends of SEO, content marketing, and beyond.
How to Write High Quality Content
· Proper Keyword Density: We know by now that Google penalizes keywords stuffing, yet the alternative of having too little keyword representation can keep you from ranking as well. Try to find the happy medium of putting the keyword throughout your content where it could naturally fall.
· Natural Language: Google may not be physically reading your content, but humans will be. If it sounds clunky, boring, or even too pretentious, then you run the risk of losing those valuable eyes on your content. Conversational language is key to a happy audience.
· Minimal Repetition: Content should be to the point. Don’t try to repeat yourself just to make your content longer. Use as many words as you need to in order to completely explain your topic and stay away from fluff.
Another great way to produce thoughtful and quality content is to follow the E-E-A-T method.
What Is E-E-A-T?
“E-E-A-T” is a phrase coined by Google that means Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
· Experience: Do you have an experience with your topic? Be sure to talk about it!
· Expertise: Are you an expert on the topic? Can you interview an expert in the field to elevate the expertise of your content? Be sure to also be linking to quality sources, as gives weight to your words.
· Authoritativeness: Present your content with authority. Your content from beginning to end should get right to the point and stick to that point throughout.
· Trustworthiness: Are your sources quality? Are you being honest? People can tell when content isn’t trustworthy or are being dishonest with them.
What is Topical Relevancy?
Topical Relevancy is the practice of building out content based on the topics of the service or blank that your business provides. The more quality content you build out, the more your site will be seen as an authority in that field of your choosing.
The types of links you have both linking out of your site, within your site, as well as too your site can greatly advance your topical relevancy and authority.
The process of achieving topical relevancy is essentially the act of building content, and then making sure that content has inbound and outbound links that are relevant to the content.
For example, if you are a construction company, you could produce content about building homes. In order to further build out this content, you can then begin writing content about the more specific aspect of building a home, such as wiring, plumbing, bath trends ETC, and then begin linking to your own content within your content.
Google determines authority and relevancy based on the number of links that connects your content. Building out your content and interlinking it, as well as adding links out to other trustworthy sources, signals to Google that you are also an authority.
How to Find Topics to Write About
Using a good keyword research tool is the best way to find topics regarding your content that you can write about. There are many free tools out there for you to utilize. Sites like Google Trends and Google Keywords are very good for initial research. They allow you to find questions that people are asking based on the keywords and topics you are researching.
You can also utilize autocomplete, to see what other people are asking Google, and base your topics off of that.
Once you’ve found a few good topics, then you can start finding keywords.
How to Find Keywords
Look at your topics, can you use a keyword research tool to find keywords that have a high volume, that may be synonymous with your topic? Using a keyword research tool is a great way to learn how strong the keywords you want to work out will be.
Look at your competitor’s keywords. Can you draw inspiration from them? Are there some they are using that could also work for you?
If you’re looking for a dedicated, hard working team to find quality keywords, narrow down some effective topics, or even create your content for your site with authority and expertise, contact our marketing team to see how we can help you today!
As Google is constantly updating and evolving their algorithm, so must we. Content should be up to their standards. Search engines also want us to produce high quality content, with Google specifically wanting us to focus on the person who is visiting our site, our audience, and our users. Keeping all of this in mind, as well as your SEO keywords, will help you get well on your way as you formulate a content strategy. Happy Content Making!