Almost everyone involved in search engine optimization will agree that compelling, exciting, interesting content is one of the very most important factors in how your website will rank. Of course you must pay attention to your chosen keywords, as well as scattering the appropriate number of those keywords and key phrases throughout your page. The bottom line, however, is that if your reader is not fully engaged, then it absolutely will not matter how shrewdly you’ve placed your keywords, because the reader will be clicking off your website in nothing flat. Really great content will compel your readers to link to your pages from their own sites, which in turn increases your inbound links and your overall exposure to potential clients and customers. The question is—how do you write such amazing content?
Is Your Content Relevant?
The primary factor in writing great SEO content is to ask yourself whether or not the words on the page add up to relevance to your reader. Narrow your field when you pick a topic; rambling or introducing too many ideas to your readers only confuses them and muddies the waters. If it appears your subject is expanding, split the article into two, or write a blog posting which addresses the additional subject matter then a user types in words on their search engine, they want to find the answer to their problems or question; if they can’t immediately do that on your site, they will be quickly moving on. Your content should build trust among your users, giving them the information they need the most.
Provide Real, Solid Answers
When you are writing your article, think about the questions a potential customer might ask you if they walked into the door of your brick-and-mortar business building. Then turn the situation around and pretend you’re the customer who knows nothing about your current business, and is just beginning to research. What questions would you immediately want answered? Avoid using business jargon—keep it simple and informative. Once you’ve determined the answers you need to provide to your users, ensure those answers are easy to find. When users have decided to buy a product from your site, then are unable to find the price or the shipping specifications, they are quite likely to click away to a competitor’s site.
Write for Optimal Readability
Internet searchers scan rather than read, so content should always follow those dictates. Break your content up into short, easy-to-read paragraphs and use bulleted or numbered list to draw the reader’s eye. You should have a primary heading which grabs your reader’s attention, as well as headings for your short paragraphs which engage the readers, giving them a preview of what the paragraph holds. Incorporate unique content into your page, through graphics, slideshows, photos or “top ten” lists.
Proofread—More Than Once!
Finally, if you want your website to represent your business—and you—in a professional manner make sure you have looked it over more than once. You don’t want any grammatical errors or spelling errors to make your users think you are sloppy or just don’t care that much about your site. If you would not hand out business cards with misspelled words or glaring errors, then don’t let your website out there until it’s been fully checked and re-checked for any problems, misstatements of fact, or any other type of error.
If your content is engaging and readable, then your visitors will return time and time again. Even better they will link to your page, tell their friends about your site, and include your link on social media sites. All of these things will boost your website up the page rankings in ways you have only dreamed about, and because this is considered organic SEO, your site will stay high in the rankings.
