Google keeps rolling out new updates and algorithms throughout the year to improve users’ experience. But, if you want to ensure good rankings, despite whatever new algorithms are, SEO optimised content is your safest bet. SEO-friendly, high-quality content is the only way to rank higher, and therefore having an SEO Content Strategy is crucial. This blog will deconstruct what SEO content is and how you can write it for your website. We have piled up some good practices for writing best SEO content in 2022 that will help you to rank higher on Google.
What Is SEO Content?
The word ‘SEO Content’ comprises two words, ‘SEO’ and ‘Content,’ and to understand it, let’s understand them separately. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) refers to the practice of optimising your Content for the search engines to achieve organic-visibility to your website and increase quality traffic through search results. Whereas, Content refers to any information relevant to the topic either in the form of text, images, videos, infographics, or a combination of all.
How To Write Best SEO Optimised Content In 2022
Here is a complete guide to help you create the best-performing Content for your website to increase your chances to increase visibility, CTR, and conversions.
It all starts with a Keyword.
Keyword refers to the search term people are searching for. The first step of writing optimised content is to do your homework by conducting extensive keyword research to understand the audience’s interest. It will help you:
- Have a sense of direction by highlighting what type of content you need to produce to cater audience’s interest.
- Increase chances of your website being visible on search engines.
There are two simple ways to perform keyword research:
- Google Keyword planner
- Google Search Results
But there are several other SEO Tools such as Semrush and Ahrefs that let you do Keyword Research.
Choosing the best Keyword.
The entire goal of performing keyword research is to find the right keywords with high search volumes and low competition to write your content for. In most cases, studying what key phrases your competitors are using can be helpful. As a good practice, your starting point should be long-tail keywords, as the competition is low for these phrases. Thus, ranking for these on Google is comparatively easier. Once you start ranking for the long-tail keyword, your next focus should be on mid and head keywords.
Write long-form content.
Google and other search engines prioritise user experience and the value provided by a website the most, and that’s why compromising on that stands no chance if your goal is to rank higher. There are no such word limits when it comes to the content that you can curate for your audience. However, it is always advisable to write long-form content that covers the topic you are writing from all sides so that your audience does not have to juggle between sites. This will not only improve the average session duration but also help you target more keywords without overstuffing.
Place keywords at different places in your content.
The placement of your keywords dictates a lot about your content to search engines. This is why using keywords in the right places plays a positive role in helping you rank for those keywords. Ideally, the 1st paragraph of your content should have your focus keyword(s). Similarly, 1-3 times between different paragraphs, and 1 time in the last paragraph.
Your keyword density should be around 1-2%.
Gone are those days when Google used to overlook keyword stuffing techniques for SEO content because, over time, it has realised that most SEO writers were just writing content for the sake of SEO and ignored user experience. Writing SEO content with keywords is important to let Google know what your content is about. However, overdoing it will surely kill the purpose, and Google would likely penalize your content by de-ranking it. To avoid this, a good practice is to have your keyword density around 1-2% while keeping a balanced approach for keyword placement. Also, to rightly optimize your content, you should be using your keyword in the main page title, meta description, introductory paragraph, heading, subheadings, and concluding paragraph.
Improve Readability.
Your goal should always be to provide ‘value’ and improve ‘user experience’ to ensure better rankings in search engines. Readability is a crucial factor that Google takes into consideration because if your content is not well-structured and clear, chances are people will be less likely to spend time on your website. Your text needs to be easier to read, have a clear structure with subheadings and clear paragraphs. Keep your paragraphs under 200 words or use sub-headings to further break them.
No one likes a Copycat.
Many people puzzle ‘original content’ with ‘new content’ and struggle to find topics to write content. In fact, the truth is that these two are treated differently when it comes to SEO. If you are writing content that has fresh ideas, is unique, or adds value to your website by giving a structured overview of older information, it is considered original. However, copying content from other websites can negatively impact your SEO rankings, therefore, should be avoided.
Use transition words.
For writing great pieces, coherence is very important. This is why using transition words such as “additionally, “in contrast,” “most importantly,” “therefore,” “because,” or “besides” is a good idea because they let you craft a coherent text.
Other tips for SEO Content?
There are several other things you can focus on to improve your SEO, such as:
- Your sentences should have no more than 20 words. This will help you write content that is short and clear.
- Try to avoid starting your sentences with the same beginning word. This will improve the overall readability of your content.
- Don’t repeat your points. Writing the same things several times not only decreases the quality of your content, but Google also discourages such content.
- Use other content forms in your blogs to improve engagement and add value, such as pictures or videos.
- Adding numbers, statistics, and bullet points also improves credibility and structure.
- Always use internal links to channel your audience to improve chances of longer average durations and conversions.
Conclusion
Google’s working every day on improving its search results to ensure it provides the most valuable content to its users. Therefore, the crux of the matter is that you should align your SEO content goals with Google’s goal to improve your chances to outplay other competitors and rank higher in the search results.
We hope this blog provided value and helped you to optimize your content for SEO. If you are looking for a Digital Marketing Agency to help you with SEO, Social Media Marketing, Web or Mobile Development, or Google PPC campaigns, get in touch with AdRush Digital today and let our experts help you improve your position in the digital space.