Any successful content strategy will not only ensure that your target audience will love what they are reading but search engines also.
One of the biggest mistakes that any marketer can make in their content strategy is to solely focus on writing for search engines. It is the ultimate goal to keep them happy but this will often result in unnecessary and unhelpful content that will not interest your target audience. Search engine algorithms are sophisticated enough to detect poorly written content.
Search engines and people love to see and read well-thought out content.
But, how can you ensure that this quality content is as optimised as possible so that even more people can discover and enjoy it?
Choosing the right content
Of course, first and foremost, you want to write content that will resonate with your audience and provide value. This could come in many forms, from a relevant piece of industry news to an informative blog on a certain topic, through to interesting company updates. We would recommend starting with a list of non-timely topics that you can gradually work your way through (and continue adding to), which you can subsequently supplement with industry and company news as and when it comes along.
Optimising your content
Well optimised content should follow the same principles as the rest of your website. That is, it should be responsive across devices, load quickly and have a clear URL. In addition to these, there are plenty of further ways to optimise your content so that search engines can easily index it:
Keywords
Despite the fact that SEO practices now consist of a vast range of tactics, keywords still remain an integral part (when implemented in the right way). For articles, long-tail keywords will work very well, as these are often very close to what people will search for.
Content Structure
Breaking up your content will allow your readers (and search engines) to get a better grasp of what it covers and the most important sections. This can be done by separating sections with headings (utilising those all-important long-tail keywords) or even by using bullet points and numbers.
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Your title tag and meta descriptions will be that small snippet of information that appears on search engine results. For SEO purposes, your title tag should clearly state what the content contains so that it can be accurately indexed, whilst your meta description should entice your target audience into clicking through and reading more.
Your Images
When adding images to your content, try to keep the file size as small as possible without impacting upon its quality. Large images will reduce your page loading speed, something that search engines take into account when indexing. In addition to this, most CMS platforms will allow you to add an image ‘alt tag’; as search engines obviously cannot physically see an image on a page, your alt tag should provide a description of what it contains.
Having outlined the basics of optimising your content for search engines, there are many other techniques that you can utilise that will keep both your target audience and search engines satisfied with the content you provide. One of the main things to keep in mind is to always write with your audience at the forefront, as search engines will recognise this and rank accordingly.
If you need assistance with writing content for your website, whether it is for landing pages or blog posts, get in touch with us today!
