SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization is the
communication link between a web page and the search engine (Google, Bing,
etc.). By integrating specific keywords and high-quality links into the web
content, the search engine is able to connect search queries to relevant sites.
Digital marketers use SEO, this catch-all acronym, like a
magician’s sleight of hand. They manipulate high-quality content, instilling
more than what meets the eye.
The content on a webpage is meant to engage the reader, leading them further down the sales funnel. But without SEO (and its communication link to the search engine’s algorithm), the reader would never find the content. Instead, the web page would be lost amongst the thousands of other pages all vying for those precious top spots on the SERPs.
To capture the attention of Google and your Readers, you
need to optimize your content strategy for SEO.
Look at Your Content Strategy Through an SEO Lens
Before you can start on the nitty-gritty details, take off
your rabbit-stuffed top hat and put on your thinking cap (as all good creatives
do). It’s time to strategize your overall game plan.
SEO is more than just sprinkling in keywords and links, and none of the optimization techniques detailed below will work without the foundational content. To that end, let’s build this article, as you would build your well-formed SEO strategy.
In Part 1, you will learn how to optimize the content:
Understanding your
audience
Coming up with
your article’s angle
Considering the
medium (where your content will live)
Building quality content.
In Part 2, the SEO optimization will begin:
Keyword
optimization
Inbound and
outbound link optimization
Semantic search platform optimization
In Part 3, it’s time to take a step back and look at your
content and the SEO magic as a whole. Before you hit publish, you’ll want
to answer a few fundamental questions:
Does your article
answer the article’s title and prompt?
Does your article
flow with an introduction, clear transitions, and a conclusion?
Does your article
reflect the overall tone of the brand’s voice?
Once this is done, you’ll enjoy all the fruit of your
SEO-inspired labor: increased site visibility, high-quality leads, and traffic,
and developed trust between you and your readers.
Remember: Your Readers are real people on the other end of a computer or phone. Treat them as such. Avoid excessive jargon and erudite vocabulary. Breathe life into your articles, create the narrative, and most importantly, make it informative.
Considering Your Audience and Your Angle
You wouldn’t write a business pitch without considering who
will be at the other end of the conference table for its debut. In the same way
you wouldn’t prepare for a speaking engagement by walking on stage blindfolded.
No, in order to create engaging content, you must first be
engaged. That means asking yourself the following questions:
Who is your
audience? Maybe you’re writing business-to-business (B2B) or
business-to-customer (B2C), but either way, you need to use the language of
your audience. A conversation with financial analysts in a professional work
environment looks and sounds a lot different than fitness junkies about to try
a new supplement.
What is the tone of the brand? Homing in on the brand’s tone will give a sense of
personality and relatability in a more casual context (B2C), or establish a
persuasive and authoritative voice in a business-oriented context (B2B). What
is the brand trying to accomplish? Relatability? Or do they want to be the
industry’s thought leaders?
What are the goals of the piece? While long-form content gives more opportunities to weave in keywords, keeping your writing on task is important. Whether there’s a follow-up step, call to action (CTA), or point of sale, readers need to be led in some direction, and the core topic should be addressed immediately.
Consider the Medium | People Are Products of The Tools
They Use
According to Statista, roughly 63% of Google searches in The US came from mobile devices in 2019. This means that not only does your site
need to be optimized for mobile, but the content does too.
How does one optimize content for mobile?
Shorter paragraphs.
Basically, if you’re fluffing up your content, your readers
will look at your giant text paragraphs through their small screens and decide
that this waste of time does not mesh with their on-the-go lifestyles. (Oh
snap!)
SEO Loyalty from Beginning to End
Optimizing content strategy for SEO purposes requires
setting tone and intention beforehand, carefully integrating keywords and links
during, and making structural revisions after (in that order). Optimizing
content isn’t something you can do at the last second and expect everything to
come together.
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