You must have heard the adage: Content is King!
This has been true since the beginning of time. And it has become even more significant in this digital age.
Want to know why?
Because according to Google, the leader among the search engines, having great content is an extremely essential ranking factor for a website. And the content must be perfect for the search engines and also offer enjoyment to the readers. Only then they will be crawled by the search engines and featured high on keyword results.
So, the obvious question that might come to your mind is whether the content of your website is optimized for both the people and the search engines.
Writing SEO-friendly content that is suitable for people and search engines alike is far from being an easy task. And if you can’t achieve both, Google is not going to consider it for search engines.
To produce great content, you need to engage in content optimization.
So, how can you optimize the content for search engines?
Here are a few tips that can come in handy.
Target the Right Keywords
When you draft a piece of content, keyword research must occupy a significant position. Align your content with the results of your keyword research effort as a part of content optimization.
To find the right keywords, you can use various tools. Some of the popular keyword research tools include Moz Keyword Explorer and Google Keyword Planner.
After you have the right set of keywords, do not write the content blindly. Instead, start planning with the set of keywords.
Do you know why you need to target the keywords from the word go?
Because, if you don’t target content using specific keywords from the very beginning, you will face a tough time later to rank high.
So, research thoroughly and choose right.
Consider User Goals and Search Intent
No matter what type of content you’re writing, you must design it based on your target audience. And once you know your target audience, it’s essential to draft the content based on their requirements. When you know the goal that your audience tries to accomplish, you can focuson content optimization by framing them on topics that addresses their queries.
This means, your content will be valuable for your audience, and won’t be just a bunch of popular keywords.
Use Right Headings
Looking to engage in Content Optimization?
You can’t ignore the headings of your content. Although they are essential for all content, headings are often overlooked.
Header tags are HTML tags used to provide an outline or structure to a blog post or an article.
Incorporate an H1 tag on each page. And ensure that you include just one.
Multiple H1 tags will confuse the search engines as it implies that the content is written on multiple topics. You must also avoid using the same text in the header for multiple pages to ensure that the content is optimized perfectly.
Optimize the Length of Your Posts
Google prefers longer posts.
According to a study, the average length of posts cropping up on the first page of Google search results is around 2000 words.
Though all your blogs need not be more than 2000 words, you will be luckier if you create slightly longer posts.
Break up the content into subheads, bullets and lists, as that will make your piece significantly more readable.
Put in Place a Perfect Editorial Process
Content optimization will be easy when you incorporate SEO well before you create the content.
Include SEO in the editorial meetings. This will not just help you get new ideas for your content calendar, but guide the theme of individual pieces too.
Editorial creativity plays a significant role in developing content that people love to engage with.
Design Good Content
Good UX is certainly good SEO.
If you can engage your users, they consume more content. They also interact with it and share it. Pay attention to aspects like structure and layout details so that your content looks good.
While designing content, keep your readers in mind, rather than the search engines. High quality content must:
- Be shareable
- Be written in simple and easy to understand language
- Be easy to scan
- Incorporate strong titles
Conclusion
As the SEO landscape is constantly changing, you must adapt your content and optimize the strategies time to time. The right combination of audience research and content optimization tools will help you create a structured content, capacitated to engage readers.