SEO, short for search engine optimization, is a buzzword you may be familiar with if you’re well invested in the digital marketing aspect of your business. A key element of online marketing, SEO is a superlative and essential tool to drive traffic to your website.
Search engine optimization essentially means creating content that has the keywords that users type when looking for a certain product, service or information online. SEO has the power to bring traffic to exactly those pages where you need it, which makes it a highly customizable and organic tool of modern-day marketing.
If your content has the right SEO keywords and if it is original and high-quality, Google and other search engines will see your content as worthy of being on the first few pages of their search results. For instance, if a user types “leather watches under 50 dollars,” and if that’s the product you’re marketing through SEO-driven content, your product page has a strong chance of topping the search results.
If you’re new to content marketing, or are simply learning how to write great SEO content, you will find the following tips useful.
Write content that will appeal to your target audience
The first rule of writing SEO-rich content is to write great content. It’s that simple. Search engines today determine the quality of your content by checking for originality, quality of language, grammar, and so forth, which means you cannot afford to upload substandard content on your own blog or on other websites where you guest-blog. Your post will of course appear in search engine results, but not where you want it and where your potential customers or readers can see it.
Writing content that is informative as well as engaging is best entrusted to a seasoned writer who is not only proficient in the language, but has sound knowledge of the subject, the key concepts and the terminologies. For instance, if you have a website that sells luxury resort stays in the Caribbean Islands, you need your content on credible travel websites, written by travel writers who know what they’re doing when they’re writing SEO content to boost your business.
Moreover, high-quality, genuine content tells your present and potential customers that your services are authentic and worthy of their trust.
Use keywords but don’t go overboard
Search engines use artificial intelligence to determine if your content has the keywords or key phrases users are searching for. Your headlines as well as content need to be rich in relevant keywords and key phrases. Online shoppers want to quickly know what your content offers and a crisp yet gripping headline does the job. That is why writing blog titles is considered no less than an art!
At the same time, stuffing your articles with keywords can invite penalties from Google and such, along with poor search-engine ranking. Not to discount the fact that the reader will quickly know that what they’re reading is actually SEO-saturated content that has nothing interesting to offer them.
Once a website’s reputation is established as one that posts sub-quality content, it’s hard work to change that perception in the minds of thousands, if not millions, of discerning readers and bring them back to your site.
So be frugal when it comes to placing keywords in your content and strive to give the content an organic feel. The reader should not feel they’re reading marketing material, if you want to make a sale at all. Instead, add relevant tags to enhance the SEO-worthiness of the content.
Use link building effectively
Link building refers to linking a new post to great content you’ve already published on your own blog or elsewhere. An important element of content marketing, linking back to an article that received good readership in the past (or is simply a great, informative post that must be read) ensures that the reader will stay on your site longer.
Also, if another website or blog picks up your post in the future and re-publishes it, the links that you added in the post will bring traffic to your site. It’s like building a network of links that will slowly but steadily boost traffic to the original site. Posting photos and videos in particular is a great way to get more people to view and share your content.
If you’re looking for practical advice on how to get your online business more traction, read this article for some great tips on how to boost traffic to your website.