There was a time when SEO was all about helping the search engines to understand your content (you know, by including the right keywords in the right places etc…) and nudging them to rank you top by showing them loads of juicy, if not always high quality links.
But times have changed; you can certainly still put those keywords in your pages, but Google is pretty good at knowing what your page is about anyway – so, often the right keywords isn’t as important as creating content with the right context. And you certainly shouldn’t bother with those questionable quality links anymore.
What SEO is about now, is building a better website, and as part of that aim, we all need to be able to write/develop better content… Here’s how.
Keyword Driven Content
Using keyword research to come up with content ideas is ok, in fact, it’s often a good idea. By selecting keyword phrases that you know people are searching for, you can come up with relevant content ideas.
Don’t make the mistake of writing something barely relevant that just happens to mention the keywords you are targeting, instead think about what the user is actually looking for when they search for that phrase – think of your hypothetical search engine user and write the content for them.
Scoping The Competition
If you want to rank for a given phrase, look at other pages ranking for the same phrase. In particular, check out the top 5 results – these are the pages that Google thinks are best at answering the user’s question.
Try to spot the commonest themes in the content, key points that you may not have thought off. Also try to think of information that they are missing or anything that could be improved upon.
Take notes on everything, this will form the basis of your content.
Adding Features
Content is important, but also look for popular features and functionality.
For instance, if you want to rank for something link “Comparing used cars”, you might well have an advice article about exactly that, but you could also add a tool that helps the user to compare cars.
The point is that you want your page to be much better than all of the competition. It needs to be more complete, more up to date, easier to use etc…
What If You Can’t Compete?
In a word: Don’t. Another great thing about following this process is that you will discover how strong the competition is.
If you can’t think of at least a couple of ways to improve upon what’s already out there, you probably shouldn’t target that keyword.
By doing thorough keyword research, you will undoubtedly find a few phrases which are not being served very well.
Any time you Google a phrase and find a tenuously related Wikipedia article in the top position; that could be a sign that you can easily rank for that phrase.
Putting It All Together
Once you have done your research you should have a pretty good list of key points to mention, things you want talk about etc…
Use this list as a structure for your content, rearrange it and add anything else you think of along the way. Try to form logical headers and break up your content to make it easy to read.
Above all else; make sure that the end piece is thorough and comprehensive.
Summary
Writing great content takes a little practice, but by following the steps above, you should come out with a webpage that solves the users query very succinctly.
In time your website will be better as a result and your rankings should naturally improve.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Hey Mark!
That’s really an interesting post indeed.
I always believe in readers who actually build up the search engines. I write for them, I don’t write for search engines. Of course, I do a little bit of optimization for the title tag, meta data and all,; but, I never do it only for search engines. I use images to attract readers and not to improve my keyword density by putting it in the ALT tag.
I do agree with your words. Optimizing a well written article will definitely rank high.
Thanks for sharing Erik!
Regards
Koundeenya recently posted..How To Create A Writing Style That Matters
Thanks Erik, glad you enjoyed the post.
You’re right, as long as your focus is mainly on your readers you can’t go too far wrong!
Mark recently posted..E-Commerce SEO Techniques: Long-Tail SEO For Niche Products
Very nice and clear guide to produce the content. Definitely will follow the guidelines while writing the posts for my blogs. Your adding feature idea is good and gonna put all these advices while updating the related information for my blogs.
Thanks for sharing and writing the useful post!
Nirmala recently posted..Internet technology advancement and its importance in vital areas
Hey Mark,
Great points.
I have very simple principles when it comes to content creation.
- long tail keywords (technical aspect)
- feel good before while writing. (if it’s not fun don’t do it)
- write from the heart (no fear)
- write for others (help )
…..that’s it!
I appreciate the value
thanks
Akos
Akos Fintor recently posted..How to Create Easy Online Income BS
Great tips Akos, thanks.
Mark recently posted..E-Commerce SEO Techniques: Long-Tail SEO For Niche Products
very nice nd helpful tips thanks for sharing bro awesome article
Questo articolo e Tanta Roba !
anis chity recently posted..Your Website On WordPress – Is It Worth It?
I often think itis easy to overlook the competition. We come sometimes be so focused on ‘beating’ the competition, that we don’t actually see what they are doing. This is good to be reminded of, because if we cant beat it, then we need to be looking at a different angle. I think the keyword research is also vital for this!
Catherine Holt recently posted..Girls Night In Tapas Party
I like the idea of looking in the top 5 posts to see what you can fill in. In particular, I like to look down in the comments to see what questions people still have or what they might wish the blogger had covered. Then I can deliver that on my post.
Andrew recently posted..How Can You Easily Monitor and Manage Your New Twitter Followers?
Looking through comment threads is a great tip, thanks Andrew!
Mark recently posted..E-Commerce SEO Techniques: Long-Tail SEO For Niche Products
I really enjoyed I often forget about keywords and how important they are.Also checking on the competing sites works
marty recently posted..January 2013 FusionCash Earnings:Start the Year off Right!
A nice process that you have here Mark to create quality content. I like your point around adding features. There are so many articles that have the same message however what will make yours stand out and want to be shared by the audience is having that wow factor, adding a simple helpful tool sounds like a good option to get the wow….
Perry Pearse recently posted..How to Grab Your Reader’s Attention and Attract More Readers
Thanks for the comment Perry, glad you enjoyed the article. You’re absolutely right, there is a lot of the same stuff written everywhere and you can’t expect to rank unless you actually create something that is a little bit new.
Mark recently posted..How To Brainstorm Content Ideas & Create Linkable Content
Hello Mark
You definitely triggered my curiousity with this post It is a skill that I would love to learn. Any suggestions on articles, books or short courses, you can think of, that is worth checking out?
I always love the tips you share. Very detailed and realistic.
Sarah Park recently posted..10 Retail Sales Techniques
Great post for folks who don’t know much about content and ranking. I actually use keyword research because I want to make sure I’m writing for what people are looking for and how it can then be used by them. Good job.
Barbara
Barbara Charles recently posted..Journey To My 7 Successes – Working To Live
I love these ideas. It shows me that I should spend a lot of time on researching before writing.
Thank you so much
Son Nguyen recently posted..SEO Article Writing Tips: 5 Tips That Make Perfect Ranking
Staying focused while you write is the key to great content. Thanks for sharing the valuable guide.