Content for SEO fuels Google Organic Traffic
What is a ranking factor?
In SEO terminology, a ranking factor includes pretty much any variable that a search engine might use to index results for a specific search. Ranking factors include domain authority, page speed, optimization for mobile, user experience, external and internal links, backlinks, social signals, HTML code, and other components. But even if your website is perfectly calibrated, the actual content needs to match the intended search results.
For example, if someone looks for “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson,” they’ll first see on-page results from a highly-respected web page like Wikipedia or IMDB with basic filmography. The top-performing pages will almost definitely have evergreen content, come from reputable sources, and have lots of relevant information related to his life.
Right below that, you’ll probably see some top questions, both asked by Google fans (and answered by him in a video format), as well as other questions people really want to know, like “What does the Rock eat in a day?”
Below those search results, you’ll see trending news from reputable sources and ads on similar topics.
How do you rank an article?
How does this example relate to ranking factors? For starters, high-quality content, whether an article, photo, or video, shows up at the top. After that, content coming from trusted domains ususally gets high positioning. However, if you were to tweak your search and look up a long tail keyword phrase like “Dwayne Johnson diet,” the top-performing results come from websites like manofmany.com, which isn’t an impossibly difficult domain to beat out.
If you want to ensure your content stays on top of SERPS, even after the next algorithm update, here are a few pointers to add to your writing checklist.
- Do your keyword research before you start writing so you know what your target audience really cares about and how to address those issues. This first stage of the content creation process is the time to also look at the search volume for specific topics. Many tools will offer that and a list of terms that might give you better results when searching for a quality keyword. That way, you can get better results on topics with similar relevancy. Yes, relevance matters, whether you’re blogging or writing more serious content!
- Pay attention to the technical aspects of your writing. Even if you write great content, if you neglect some technical SEO components, it will be more challenging to rank on SERPs. So don’t forget to include a meta description, external and internal links, photos that are clearly labeled with your keyword, or even an infographic that might illustrate your topic. All of these elements go a long way towards overall content creation.
- Promote your article on social media. Not only will social shares get more people to read your article, but they’ll also improve its ranking. Remember– readers will often share good content, but they won’t share junky articles. And you have to go find your community and your tribe because often times they are the only ones who will support you by sharing your content even if they are strangers in real life.
What is the most important ranking factor?
In case you missed it earlier, to use the cliché, content is king! So if you want to see your search traffic increase, investing in SEO content that will bring viewers to your site remains a crucial objective. Creating blog content that people actually want to read matters! Even if a few of your technical aspects need improvement, if you can create the type of content your audience is looking for, you’ll see tremendous ROI (Return on Investment)on your content marketing efforts.
Create quality content that ranks well
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when confronted with everything you need to consider when creating great content. But you don’t have to embark on this journey alone! The rellify platform guides your content creation process from the topic ideation process to writing, editing, and publishing. It even monitors your published article so you can see how your content is performing. Contact one of our experts to learn more!
If you want help with content creation message me today! We offer content creation like copy writing for blogs, emails and newsletters.
