Tips on writing SEO-friendly web content
Being a good writer is important, but knowing how to write SEO-friendly web content requires an understanding of strategy and the ever-changing Google algorithms. Here are 5 tips for writing SEO-friendly web content, to help increase your rankings.
Whatever your KPIs may be; contact form completions, eCommerce conversions or information pack downloads, your initial objective is for your content to be found in the first place. For that, you need to have web content that Google finds worthy of ranking above your competitors.
Here’s how:
1. Consider your keywords
What words best describe your product or service?
Whatever your content is about, choose the keywords that best describe it, for relevancy. Now get in the mindset of a user searching. What phrases associated with that keyword might they search for?
You can use the Google AdWords Keyword Planner to help you find phrases that have search volume.
2. Be careful how you use your keywords
The most important thing here is readability for both search engines and users. This needn’t be two separate strategies. In fact, quite the opposite.
Google no longer favours content with too much keyword density. Adding keywords too many times in a piece of copy looks unnatural. Ensure your keywords / phrases are in your page title, headers, URL and first paragraph. Other than that, don’t overdo it.
Google’s complex algorithms use a semantical approach to content relevancy and look for synonyms of keywords. Synonyms naturally appear in descriptive content about a subject and therefore look authentic rather than programmed. With the free keyword research tool from SEO Scout you can find a whole new set of synonyms and modifiers to add to your articles.
3. Link to other content
Consider your content as the door to a library. A visitor arrives there looking to answer a specific question. They could find one book and leave straight away or they could discover multiple reads that would keep them captivated.
Providing added value by linking up your web content to other information sources on your site, makes for a quality user experience that captivates the visitor and is more likely to keep them engaged.
4. Reference your content
If you mention quotes, statistics or brands, link to their origin.
Ok, so this may contradict the last point, but having a link affiliated with an established and/or well-respected business is a positive tick for Google in terms of content quality.
You are also making it easy for users to research something they have just read, without having to fire up a browser (and risk them dropping off your site).
Just make sure you set the links to ‘open in new tab’ so the user can research the point and resume reading your content where they left off.
5. Structure your content
Readers on average read just 20% of your webpage. So, it’s important to say what you want clearly and concisely in the first few paragraphs, but also try and maximising the time the user spends on the page but creating compelling content.
Write your USPs close to the top of the page. Have a clear optimised heading and relevant sub headings so that users can see relevancy the minute they land.
Break up chunks of content with visual aids such as images, infographics, charts and videos.
Bold up some of your keywords and important synonyms so the users’ eye is drawn straight to them.
Finally, add a clear and simple CTA to assist conversion.
Google factors in the time on page and the bounce rate as ranking signals. A longer than average time on page and a lower than average bounce rate can indicate good quality content.
Do you need some advice on content marketing for your Kent-based business? Whitefish Marketing is an established digital agency, with a wealth of experience in SEO, content strategy and conversion rate optimisation. Call the team on 01303 720 288.
