Top 10 Tips for Creating Successful Content for SEO
08/06/2018 - Digital Marketing
1 – Don’t Underestimate High-Quality Content
First things first, don’t underestimate the important role high-quality content plays in SEO. In case it isn’t already, look to make relevant content that delivers value to your readers a cornerstone of your digital marketing plans.
Providing a positive user experience is a critical part of online success. So although there are ways and means of attracting readers with good SEO practices, if your content’s no good, they won’t be returning in a hurry.
2 – Do the Research
‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ is how the old adage goes. This certainly applies when looking to create SEO-friendly copy.
Before writing content, look to prepare yourself with a strong list of keywords (see tip no. 3) around the topic you are writing on. Google AdWords and its keyword planner tool can be of use here.
Similarly, analysing what competitors are doing and finding out more about the current state of play is extremely helpful. You can see what is proving successful and what potential opportunities there are with a tool like SEMrush.
Another way to enhance your site’s authenticity is to continually deliver strong content on pertinent topics. During your research phase, there might have been a series of areas you identified as wanting to cover on your site at some point. Forming a clear content plan is a good way to continue to capitalise on the SEO kudos you are starting to acquire.
3 – Know your Keywords
Keywords play a massive role in how successful your SEO marketing plan is. That’s why it’s a good idea to carefully select them and look to incorporate them into your content as best you can.
Do try to avoid being too obvious with these though. There might be a temptation to cram in as many SEO keywords as possible and be guilty of ‘keyword cramming’. This is when too many keywords are used in quick succession, making it obvious to any reader worth their salt you are just trying to boost your SEO.
These days, it’s all about providing value to your readers and not stuffing your website full of keywords. Creating copy that looks spammy and doesn’t read well is no good – remember tip no 1.
Striking a balance between readable, high-quality content and ensuring that your content is targeted towards the right keywords is the key to creating strong SEO content.
4 – Get to Grips with Meta Tags
It’s important not to underestimate the importance of meta tags. In many ways, these are just as important as the quality of the content itself.
Meta tags come in a range of forms and should be carefully considered whenever a piece of content is put together. Rushing your meta tagging only lowers the chances of people finding your website online.
5 – Make Sure Your Layout’s Right
Making your content readable by laying it out in a digestible, efficient way is a good SEO tactic. This is because a site’s readability is considered by search engines.
Always aim to keep the hypothetical reader front of mind when writing and finalising content. Blocks and blocks of dense text aren’t ideal from a user experience perspective. And try to make it immediately clear what it is you’re writing about. Look to lay your pages out well with headers, subheaders, bullet points and the like.
6 – Link Up
Incorporating links into your content is an excellent way to enhance your SEO. Focusing on relevant internal links can also help you keep visitors on your website for longer.
Try to provide them with more valuable resources they might want to browse or read about.
7 – Sharing’s Caring
Something to consider is the ‘share-ability’ of your content. Is it easy for readers to post your article on social media for example?
Social media can play a key role in bringing people to your page from external sources, so don’t miss out on this opportunity. This kind of traffic also enhances your level of authenticity in Google’s eyes, so there are SEO benefits too.
8 – Double Check Everything
Nothing spoils content like a misspelling or a grammatical slip (we say, checking this article over one more time…).
The readability of your site will benefit from having everything in order on this front. If you spell one of your keywords wrong, it won’t be of use to anybody.
9 – Think Outside the Box
Having great, SEO-optimised content is a fine way to move towards your online goals, but written words aren’t everything. Presentations, videos and screencasts also present a chance for your content to be delivered to readers in exciting new ways.
Additionally, breaking up text with a visual element like a picture or drawing can help with your page’s readability. And new technologies are always emerging. Voice search is on its way, so it’s a good idea to try to move with the times and prepare your content for new mediums where possible.
10 – Consider a Technical SEO audit
Though adopting some of the practices on this list will go some way to enhancing your SEO, a technical SEO audit can provide you with a deeper level of understanding when it comes to how optimised your site is for search.
As an SEO agency, Un.titled can be of use on this front, helping you analyse and alter some of the elements within your website that you may not have considered before. We also deliver high-quality content marketing services.
