Adelaide marketing agency reveals the tricks to getting the most out of your website blog posts
To get the most out of online marketing activities, SEO is a useful place to start. But it’s not the only piece of the marketing puzzle that makes up a successful online content strategy. Focussing on SEO and ignoring other basics, such as readability and user experience, can compromise your marketing efforts and cause your search engine rankings to plummet, says Adelaide marketing agency, Marketing Catalyst.
There are some simple reasons why your internet content should focus on readers first and SEO second. And in the process, you may just improve your SEO performance.
Adelaide marketing agency tells: why SEO matters
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the art of achieving high rankings in search engine results without using paid advertising. For example, when someone types a query into Google that matches the keywords used by your website, your website may appear in the results delivered to that person. The closer your website to the top of page one of the search results page, the better its SEO.
SEO plays a significant role in the online marketing activities. It’s spawned an entire industry and is now widely considered an essential business marketing tool.
The growth of the SEO industry has seen the advent of some tactics that are aimed mainly at improving SEO rankings. One is keyword stuffing, in which a keyword is continuously used throughout a piece of website content, regardless of readability, or even whether the content makes sense.
When it comes to website blog posts, it’s tempting to use such strategies because often they do return results. However, they are increasingly risky. Google and other search engines often change and update algorithms to eliminate poor quality or irrelevant content from search engine results.
The moral of the story is to write for people first, and the platform second. In other words, design your content for the person who will read it. Don’t allow your content to be “platform driven.” Because in the end, regardless of how or why search engines update their algorithms, the one consistent message seems to be that unique, quality content will win the long game. Not only is that great for your readers, it’s also great for SEO. It’s a win-win.
So how do you produce reader-friendly content? Here are 5 top tips from us, one of Adelaide’s top marketing agencies.
1. Provide something that’s of value to your readers
Find out what your readers want. Quite often they’re typing questions into Google. For example:
- “How do I …?”
- “What is …?”
- “Where do I find …?”
If you can produce blog posts that answer your customers’ questions, you’re providing something useful and establishing yourself as an authority. It also develops trust and helps readers convert to consumers of your service or product.
2. Make sure the content is relevant
It seems a no brainer, but you need to make sure that what you’re writing about is relevant to your chosen keywords. For example, there’s no point scattering “tomato seeds” throughout your blog post if the article is about women’s footwear. It’s an extreme example, but you get the idea. And while we’re at it, avoid keyword stuffing. Even if your blog post is about tomatoes, don’t mention tomato seeds randomly throughout the post. If it’s not part of the natural flow of the language, avoid, avoid, avoid.
3. Consider the layout and appearance
Layout is hugely vital for blog posts. Most people these days will only scan an article. If they can’t quickly see what they’re looking for, they’ll move on.
So instead of presenting them with a slab of words, make use of:
- Interesting images
- White space
- Dot points
- Headings
- Short sentences
And short paragraphs.
4. Use titles and descriptions
Titles and descriptions (often called title tags and meta descriptions) don’t usually appear on the page, but they will appear in the search engine results. They’re needed to give the reader a quick indication of what’s in the blog post and whether it will be useful. Titles and descriptions are even better if they contain keywords. All of this encourages the reader to click through to your content.
5. Focus on reader-friendliness
There’s wisdom in the KISS principle: keep it simple, stupid. The most successful website content doesn’t assume that the reader has prior knowledge of a concept. There’s an explanation (or definition) before a discussion. It the reader doesn’t need the information, they’ll skip that section and move on to the next. But if a reader can’t understand the article, they won’t attempt to read it. They’ll find a website that better explains it. That’s why you need to start with the basics.
Make sure your blog post:
- Explains any concepts, especially industry-specific terminology
- Is conversational. An informal tone allows readers to engage more easily
- Provides useful information
The final word
When it comes to blog posts, unique, high-quality content is the name of the game. Don’t post just for the sake of posting. Make sure you’re providing information that’s useful in some way. Maybe it solves a problem, provides an explanation or answers a question.
The great news is, when you write for your readers, you’re likely to get more engagement, which is a signal to search engines that the content is delivering something of value. In turn, it can improve SEO rankings.
The bottom line? The number one goal of search engines is to deliver excellent user experience. If your blog post provides what your readership is seeking, your SEO is likely to improve. Write for people, not the platform. Every. Single. Time.
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