Google’s primary function is to provide its users with information and answers. In order to achieve the best possible service, Google judges the content uploaded to it and has developed algorithms to penalise poor content and reward good content. Consequently high quality content not only improves the user’s experience of a particular website but also improves its visibility in the search engine. Now that Google is scrutinising content more than ever, website owners need to consider how they can improve their content.
Original Content
Google has made it unequivocally clear that duplicate content will be punished. It is necessary that your website’s content is an original concept with an original combination of words, phrases and media aids. Not only does original content sit favourably with Google, but furthermore with your readers, who are more likely to comment on and interact with your content and even more likely to share it on social media.
Relevant Content
That is to say content that corresponds to both the searcher’s query and intent. With content that is more relevant, you immediately reduce the chance of the visitor leaving straight away or being dissatisfied with your service. A high visit time recorded indicates that visitors trust your website, and that you are beginning to build a rapport with them.
Helpful Content
Although this may seem an obvious piece of advice, many websites provide content that is distorted by a desire to sell their product or service. The ultimate purpose of a search engine is to provide answers. Help yourself by helping the search engine to do this with information that is accurate, reliable and informative. Quote authoritative sources, use facts and figures from known authors and add instructive content that your reader can apply.
Interesting Content
Make sure that your content is what SEO specialists Moz call “uniquely valuable”. This type of content may be found elsewhere, but your adaptation is presented better, explained better and has a unique style or tone. Start with a strong headline (80% of people will read your headlines but only 20% of those people will read the rest of your content). Remove the boring jargon and ensure you prioritise quality over quantity.
Finally
It is important to provide a high quality user experience. This insists upon content that is easy and pleasurable to consume on a wide variety of devices and may necessitate the use of visual aids to stimulate visitors who engage more with sights and sounds than words. More engaging content with no grammatical errors or spelling mistakes will entice your visitor to stay longer, potentially venture onto other pages and better still, stumble upon a call to action.
The need for good quality content is becoming more and more apparent in SEO. Gone are the days of poor content intended as filler to appease the Google robots. With online content, you certainly get what you pay for. At Relevance, we have a team of in house and freelance writers committed to providing engaging, original and search engine optimised content. We employ the methods featured in this article into our writing to effectively achieve higher search rankings, increased visibility and happier customers for you.
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