The New Year is almost here and while you might be writing down some personal resolutions, how much effort have you put into some website resolutions? Let’s face it; Google has practically demanded all website owners to beef up their quality and stop fooling around, so your #1 resolution this year should be to take your website’s content seriously. Well, if you want to rank high that is.
Content Strategies that Rank Websites
We’ve drilled this concept into your head time and time again: content is crucial. But for the sake of being consistent we’re going to do it again. If you don’t have high-quality content, Google won’t rank you period.
So if you’re ready to boost up your rank and (hopefully) increase your website’s earning potential, it’s time to take New Years to a whole new level with these critical steps for writing rankable (and bankable) content for 2014.
1. Create a Content Strategy…We’re Serious
How many times have you seen the words “content strategy” from us? Well it’s clear: you need one. Everyone needs one. Even if you’re the best writer there is and you have the juiciest topics and greatest content, you still need a strategy.
Think of it like you’re going to war. The search engine is the enemy, the competition is teaming up with the enemy, and now it’s time to find a way to take them both down. In a battle, would you just run full speed ahead and hope for the best (hopefully you don’t lose a leg…kind of like losing your search engine rank) or would you strategize so you keep your limbs (and your rank)?
We’re thinking a strategy might be a good idea. We personally like our limbs…and our ranking.
All right, so what’s a good strategy? A good content strategy is well thought out and it’s certainly not something you can write up in a day (if you did, you might want to review that one more time). Your website is unique, so we cannot give you the golden formula that tells you exactly what your strategy should say, but we can tell you what it should at least entail:
You need goals. If you don’t have purpose when you write your content, you’re not really going to get results. Think of what you want before you write.
Your unique selling point. Think about it. What makes your products sell? Why are you awesome? Only you know the answer to this and you had better use it to your advantage in your content.
A defined target audience. If you don’t know whom you’re writing to, you’re not really going to reach them on a personal level now are you? We know you, that’s why you’re still reading this.
These are the three critical things every content strategy needs. Audience Bloom has an article about how to write a
“Kickass Content Strategy” and we highly suggest you breeze through it.
2. Show Your Audience You Actually Care
Today’s audience is selfish and that’s OK. You should write to the audience and show them you actually care about your content. Be unique, fresh and actually give them something. When you dribble on and regurgitate the same old content out there already, you’re just telling your readers you’re too busy to show them you give a darn. It’s true.
Sit down and take some time to write out your content. Give your readers some valuable insight that no one else has. You’re the industry and business expert, right? You know your products and you know stuff that the Average Joe or Jane doesn’t. Share it! Internet users want to learn and walk away from their computer screen feeling savvy.
So, again, how do you show your audience you care?
By writing high-quality, unique content
By giving them something other than what they’ve already read 500 times
By offering some real insight and value
Think of the websites you follow. Do they teach you something? Do they give you something to walk away with and implement right away? You want your site to be just like that, so create content that gives to the reader and you will do just that.
3. Long-Winded is OK, If You Do It Right
By long-winded we aren’t talking going on and on about nothing. That’s not good. However, the length of your on-page content needs to get a little fatter. Not just in quality, but in length too.
Google wants more words on the page. While they’re not advertising how many words (keeping to their notorious reputation for being vague), the length seems to correlate with how Google ranks authority.
Now, before you go off and write a 2,000-word blog about nothing, stop.
Google feels a longer article or blog post showcases authority only if it has quality writing, value, and research. Filling a page with a wall of useless text is not authoritative and will not get you a high ranking with Google. According to WebDesignLedger.com, content with more than 1,000 words has a better chance for ranking higher.
We think this is because Google looks at time and effort. When you take the time to do in-depth research, analysis and write up something that offers a multitude of value to the reader, it shows Google you’ve gone the extra mile. Since Google is all about quality, quality, quality, that extra mile means a higher rank.
So, in 2014 try to sprinkle in a few longer posts — we’re thinking over 1,000 words will certainly do the trick. But, make sure each post is well researched, thorough and gives readers in-depth knowledge.
4. Stop Using Vanilla Headlines
You obviously cannot smell through the computer screen, so we’re not talking about vanilla extract. What we’re talking about is boring, usual headlines.
Headlines are in bold, but if the text isn’t as equally eye-catching, it won’t do your site much justice.
Now, you’re probably asking what a headline has to do with your rank. Headlines influence traffic. In fact, according to SocialMediaToday.com, only 20 percent of the people who see your headlines will actually read much further than that — that means 80 percent of Internet users glance and move on.
However, if you can grasp the attention of a reader with that single one-liner, you’re in.
When your website shows up on a search engine result page, the headline, and your brief description is what a reader sees. Therefore, it’s rather important. Whether a headline influences your rank or not (it does, but we’ll deal with that in a minute), it’s important that the reader actually wants to click on your page when it shows up on their results page.
The research is clear on what attracts readers to click and what doesn’t. For your 2014 content strategy, don’t forget that the headlines do matter and include some of these ideas:
Lists and Numbers – You’re reading this blog, aren’t you? Lists tell readers exactly what they’re getting. For example, “10 of the Best Vacation Spots” tells you you’re about to find out the ten spots you’ll have the best time at.
Defining Headlines – You need to explicitly tell the reader what he or she is getting. Instead of saying “Writing Compelling Content” you should say “10 Ways to Write Compelling Content” — see the difference?
Add a “You” In There – When you call out to the audience, you instantly spike a little interest. For example, instead of saying “10 Ways to Earn More Money” you could say “10 Ways You Can Earn More Money Now”
Optimized Headlines – A headline still needs to be optimized. Adding a keyword, naturally, will help with that. For example, your keyword or target phrase is “Increasing Rank” so a good, catchy title might be “10 Ways For Increasing Your Rank”
5. Don’t Be a Keyword Diva
Yes, keywords still have their place, but they’re not as important as they once were. It’s time to quit being a keyword diva and drop the act. Having perfectly optimized content that targets every keywords interferes with your ability to meet Google’s other expectations — quality, natural flow, etc. So, you need to go about your keywords right.
Utilize page titles.
Page titles are a great place to drop a targeted keyword. The closer you get it to the start of the page title the better.
Use it in your headline.
If you can naturally put a keyword into your headline, then do it. Don’t force it! Now, if you’re going to use a keyword in your headline, make sure the content under that headline is relevant. There is no bigger error you can commit than using keywords and irrelevant content on the same page.
Use it in your content.
Primary, secondary, and other keywords can be used in your content a lot more naturally than they can in headlines and page titles. There’s no real density recommendation that we can give you, but we can tell you what not to do: cram every keyword in there. If it doesn’t read naturally or sound right, take it out. Keywords should be used in a natural-flowing manner. If it doesn’t flow, it goes.
Add it to your images.
Using keywords with images is a good idea. While you’ll not see a significant spike in traffic from image search, it’s still good to use keywords on the image’s title, surrounding text and in the attribute if you can.
Put it in the Meta description.
Before you gasp and say that’s wrong, listen.
Your page’s Meta description doesn’t influence your rank, but it can influence whether or a user clicks on your link. When a user enters a search term, they’re looking for something. They read the descriptions and headlines on a results page to see if a website is giving them what they’re looking for. Therefore, by adding in the keyword you might increase your visibility with the user.
6. Remember Changes Are Coming…
In HBO’s Game of Thrones all you hear every season and every episode is “winter is coming.” The same goes for search engine updates. Changes are coming and will continue to come. When they rear their ugly head, you must be prepared to adapt and stay up-to-date.
2014 is going to be the year of SEO for mobile. It has been said that Hummingbird was just the tip of the iceberg (the small snow flurries of winter that mean bigger storms to come). Google plans on adapting to the rapidly growing trend of mobile use.
Your site’s performance in the mobile sector could greatly impact your SEO rank. Therefore, start preparing your site’s content for mobile just as much as you prepare it for PC.
So What Have We Learned?
2014 is certainly going to spark some changes for everyone and it’s better to be prepared than be that guy (or gal) stuck in the past.
To recap what we’ve gone over, for 2014, your content needs to include these six steps:
Create a Content Strategy – Without a strategy you’ll be that website that looks cool, but really doesn’t have any direction.
Write for the People – No, not politically. We just mean write with the intention of helping your readers. Go the extra mile, do some research and really write like you give a darn about it. If you can’t do it yourself, hire someone.
Write Longer, Researched Posts – You don’t have to make every post a 10,000-word book, but you need to add some real in-depth value to your site for your followers.
Write Compelling Headlines – Not just for the search engines, but also for the benefit of the people you need to click on your site.
Use Keywords Naturally – If it doesn’t flow, it goes. Enough said.
Be On the Lookout for Changes – Stay up to date on the latest algorithm changes and make sure you’re always adapting.
Ranking high with search engines should actually be easier these days. Google is no longer rewarding the people who know how to trick their algorithms. Instead, they’re rewarding the people who take time, put in a little effort, and really work to create awesome content. By just doing that, you’re a step ahead and on your way to better rankings.
Thanksgiving is upon us. (Happy Thanksgiving, if you’re reading this!) While everyone else is dreaming about a succulent turkey with all of the traditional fixings, perhaps you’re dreaming about better SEO rankings. Okay, maybe you’re thinking about the turkey a little more.
No Content Stuffing, It’s Simply Not Allowed!
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we felt it was time to talk about stuffing. But we’re not talking about Grandma’s famous stuffing – we’re talking about keywords and how stuffing won’t be as satisfying as your Thanksgiving meal.
Keywords Are Like Cranberry Sauce
We all know cranberry sauce. It’s tart, sweet and just the right amount on the plate amplifies your Thanksgiving dinner to the maximum. Now, add too much cranberry sauce and your plate is overwhelmed and all you taste is that tart, bitterness that too many cranberries can give. It ruins your dinner.
Keywords are like cranberry sauce. Stuff too much into your content and it comes off bitter not only to your readers, but search engines as well. Today’s Google looks at keywords like that red, iconic condiment of Thanksgiving: just the right amount to finish off your content is perfect.
So what is keyword stuffing? If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it refers to a practice of loading blogs and web pages with keywords in high volume as an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings. Often, these keywords are awkward, placed randomly and really don’t improve the content — sometimes they are not even relevant to the content, according to Google Webmaster Tools. Filling pages with rapid fire keywords won’t do you much good and will certainly give your readers a reason to move on to a different site.
An example of keyword stuffing:
“SEO, SEO services, SEO Los Angeles.” Notice how there’s no sentence structure? Just a bundle of keywords? This is an extreme example, but hopefully you get the point.
Here, read another, we dare ya!
“Here at SEO Experts in Los Angeles, we sell the best SEO services in Los Angeles. So if you’re looking for SEO experts in Los Angeles, be sure to check out our SEO services. We’re the best SEO experts in Los Angeles.”
It’s awful and quite painful to even read, right? Trust me, your readers will think the same, if that’s what they’re greeted with on your website.
So Keyword Stuffing Doesn’t Work Then?
Nope, not anymore. Google and other search engines have smartened up. Keyword stuffing no longer works because Google’s algorithms are trained to look over a site and determine if keywords are used improperly or in an unreasonable number. If you have an ultra-high density of a particular keyword, Google will drop your rank rather than increase it. If you’re a repeat offender you might notice your site is removed from the search engine index altogether.
What Happens If I Keyword Stuff?
Okay, so let’s say you add too many keywords to your content. Just like the cranberry sauce example, you’re likely to get:
Less engagement and sharing on your site. No one’s going to rave about your turkey (content) when it’s smothered in cranberry sauce.
You’ll be penalized by the search engines for keyword stuffing and recovery isn’t fun.
Your conversion rate will drastically drop (or disappear altogether).
No one will bother reading your content — would you?
So How Do I Avoid Keyword Stuffing?
It’s easier said than done. First and foremost, quit fretting about your keyword density — this isn’t as important as you think. Focus on long-tail keywords, as the Content Marketing Institute suggests. These are phrases with three or more words that offer a high volume of searches and are more relevant to your content — and also less likely to accidentally stuff.
Review your keyword density before you publish. Less is always more with keywords so add a keyword or key phrase when it makes sense, but don’t focus on a density at a specific number. There is no magic number, but some say two to five percent is probably the safer goal to reach.
No matter what you do, don’t load your pages with irrelevant keywords. According to a recent article by WebProNews.com, using keywords that aren’t relevant to your content or brand marketing can be detrimental to your rank.
Some Tips for Success
Create a 12-month content strategy that has topics, titles and keywords that you will use (naturally) within the content.
Write to offer your readers value — don’t write for the search engines.
Create content that is practical and helpful. Be unique and show off your expertise — that’s why people are visiting your site in the first place.
Use title tags and descriptions for optimization.
Make sure your content is never duplicated.
Use spellcheck and grammar check — no one likes misspelled words.
Knowing who is going to be reading your content is key when you’re planning a content strategy. Marketing these days is hard, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s all about creating content that your audience will actually enjoy reading, continue reading, and even tell others to read. To make that to ‘die for content,’ you need a content strategy that dictates your voice and delivery, and this all starts with understanding your audience.
So Who Is Your Content Strategy Audience?
If you ask the average business owner to describe their target customer, you’ll often hear attributes of a too-good-to-be-true type of customer. Most target customers are based on assumptions and not facts, which is why a lot of great brands are never recognized — because they cannot create content that attracts their ideal customer (because they have no clue what their ideal customer is like).
There’s no one-size-fits all audience solution according to Inc.com, so you can cross that off your checklist right now. Your customer type is as unique as your brand and the products/services under your brand. A legal client isn’t going to be the same as a wedding planner’s client list, now will it? Your content must be customized to your industry and the type of customer who is interested in what you have to offer.
There are three basic questions you should answer with your content:
Who is your primary audience? Are you targeting teenagers? Retirees? Single mothers? You have a target customer and they can be somewhat categorized, so pick a category.
What purpose will your content serve? How is your content going to help the target customer?
What’s your typical customer’s attitude toward your product? Be realistic — not everyone is enthusiastic about every product or service out there, even if they need it.
Identify Your Target Customer
A good content strategy has mapped out the target customer. You should know the average age of your shopper, gender, race, etc.For example, a home loan agency typically meets with people between the ages of 25-30, probably both men and women, and ethnicity can vary depending on the region.
A company selling supplemental prescription coverage, on the other hand, might typically sell their product to retirees (above the age of 60) who need to supplement where Medicare and Medicaid lack.
Decide Your Purpose
Your content, service, brand, website, etc. serve a purpose. You are the answer to a potential customer’s issue — otherwise your business wouldn’t exist. What is your purpose? What are you solving for your target customer? According to the University of Maryland, you can’t write content without knowing what you’re solving for your reader.
A website designer, for example, helps companies and individuals set up websites that they couldn’t otherwise do themselves. Therefore, a website designer’s content should address the concerns of the average website owner, show the reader they understand the difficulties of building a website, and offer their services as a solution. You’re the go-to man (or woman). You know all the codes, the tricks and you have a portfolio of awesome websites to back it up. Use that to prove you’re the solution.
A personal injury attorney, for example, is there to help accident and injury victims receive compensation. Your content should be understanding, comforting and address the common concerns of your average client. You know your clients are probably worried about paying for their endless medical bills, getting their car back together, or paying for their mortgage. Address those concerns with a comforting, helpful tone.
Remember Your Target Customer’s Concern
Just because your services or products are necessary, doesn’t mean your customers are excited to buy them. Insurance, for example, is something everyone needs but no one wants to pay for or deal with shopping for. Address these issues in your content and call your customer out on their concerns. Have a valid argument against that issue so your customer has no excuse.
Remember the Viral Factor
Successful content is content that people want to share with others — and makes you go viral. It can be tricky writing that unique piece that people are compelled to share, but there are a few things that can increase the likelihood your content will go viral.
Improve the Reader’s Social Standing – Most readers only share something if it improves their personal image or helps forge relationships with others. So, share content that a reader would want to share with other people to establish a better relationship.
Use Triggers – There are things that can trigger emotions and emotions are popular in viral content. Use fear, anger, humor, sadness, etc. in your content (where applicable) to incite an emotion in the reader. One of the biggest causes for viral content is awe, second humor.
Share a Personal Story – People like to know that there is a human being behind your brand. Share personal stories or have touching customer testimonials on your blog or website that reach your readers on a more personal level.
Learn more about what makes content go viral in this article by Entrepreneur.
Bottom line: if you consider your audience in your content strategy, you’ll deliver a much more powerful selling message than if you address what you think is your “target customer”. It takes time to research your ideal market, but that research investment pays off when you convert over 80 percent of your readers into customers.
As a marketing agency owner you already know why your clients are hiring you: they need you to get the word out for them. But if your website doesn’t market your own services effectively, why would a business want to hire you to market them? Marketing agencies must be good at creating effective marketing campaigns that catches the eye of potential clients and promotes their clients brands. Therefore, it only makes sense that your marketing agency has a content strategy in place to market yourself first.
Does My Agency Really Need a Content Strategy?
Bottom line: if your marketing agency doesn’t succeed, your clients won’t either. Having a clear content strategy for your agency is imperative for determining your own success as well as the success of your clients. After all, as a marketing agency you’re likely to take part in developing your client’s content strategy too. Content is crucial for any business and more people are starting to catch on.
So Where Do I Start?
If you’ve never developed a content strategy for your business, now is a great time to start. According to the Content Marketing Institute, there are seven initial steps everyone should take when developing a content strategy:
Define Your Goals: Why are you making this content? What do you need from your website?
Record the Metrics: Decide how you will track whether or not you’re achieving your results.
Gather Up Some Research: Research your typical buyer and how you can market your services to them. Do you market to home care agencies only? Or do you accept all business and industry types?
Decide on Content: Decide the type of content you’re going to write for your marketing agency.
Create the Content: Get writing!
Distribute Content: Whether that means publishing it on your site or distributing it through press releases, you have to distribute it somehow.
Follow-Up: Review your content and measure its performance. If it’s not meeting your goals, it’s time for a revision.
Keep It Diverse—Like Your Customers
As a marketing agency, you represent a variety of clients, industries and brands. If your content focuses on only one type of industry or customer, you’re going to limit your acquisition capabilities. A good content strategy should be diverse, just like your client list. Make your services appeal to the little guys as well as the corporate bigwigs. Make your content fun enough for those younger entrepreneurs, but sophisticated enough to attract the long-term owners.
Press Releases are Crucial
You’re a professional marketer, so you need to market yourself like crazy—literally. One of the best ways to get the word out about your service is through press releases. A press release is a news-like piece distributed through top press release distributor sites, like PRWeb or PRNewswire. Today’s press release, however, is a lot different than the press releases of a few years ago. Press release distributors are no longer allowing poorly written press releases through, and the information must be newsworthy. You can include keywords and links, but don’t think because you’ve done so your rank is going to shoot through the roof. Instead use press releases as a stepping stone to get potential clients to visit your site.
Not sure where to start on your press releases? Here are a few tips for success. If you need more, read this article by Forbes on how to write a news worthy press release.
Be concise. No one wants to read a 1,000 word press release and no one will read it if it’s a wall of text. Stick to 300 or 400 words maximum. Even better, use a numbered or bulleted list somewhere to drive your points home and sum it all up for the reader.
Be newsworthy. Your story needs to sound like news and be something urgent. Whether you’re updating them on changes in-house or a new client you’ve acquired, it must be newsworthy. Consider the newspaper and what you read. You won’t see a post about a computer breakdown, but you might read about a company signing on with a new computer repair service to add to their pool of clients.
Don’t sell. There should be no selling in a press release what-so-ever. Instead, tell the reader what news you have to share and redirect them to your site or blog for the sales speech.
Release often. You should release press releases a few times per month (perhaps once a week).
Get Blogging
Blogging is critical. A blog gives clients a sense of your personality and your range when it comes to marketing. In fact, according to the State of Inbound Marketing in 2012, 56 percent of companies who blog at least once per month acquire a new customer. About 92 percent of blogs who post multiple times per day acquire a new customer. Blogs that are posted just once a day have a 78 percent chance of acquiring a new customer. So, if your marketing agency isn’t blogging at least daily, you’re halving your chances of catching new clients.
You market your customers and you know how to sell. Show potential clients your skills by marketing yourself first. Creating a killer content strategy can help market your services to a broad range of clients and ultimately increase your business. If you just can’t put it to screen the way you intend, consider hiring a professional content writing service instead. They can take your goals, help you with your content strategy and get you the large customer base your company needs to stay competitive.
You’ve taken the time to develop a content strategy, perhaps you’ve spent a lot of time creating a strategy, but it’s just not performing as you had hoped. Sometimes even the best content strategies need a little extra help. Luckily there are plenty of tools out there that help you during each stage of the content strategy planning process, implementation and analysis.
Know What’s In Your Content Strategy Before Creating It
Your content strategy should already include this, but if not, it’s time to add it. You should know what you’re posting and when you’re going to post it — that goes for web content too. There are a few tools out there that can help you keep track of your content and create an editorial calendar. Even if you don’t run a blog, having a calendar that schedules out everything from articles to press releases to social media posts is important. If you’re not sure how to create a calendar or you want to know how to organize it, read up on setting up your editorial calendar in this article by the Content Marketing Institute.
Some great content planning tools to look into include:
Google Docs – Google docs is free to use (as long as you sign up for a Gmail account). You can use the spreadsheets or use the Google Calendar to write down what posts launch and when they’re supposed to launch. Since you can add people to your calendars, you can keep the entire company in on what’s happening with your content next.
WordPress Editorial Plugin –WordPress.org has an editorial calendar plug-in that you can integrate in with your WordPress website. The plug-in is free and works with most WordPress platforms.
Make Sure Your Strategic Content Isn’t a Copycat
There’s nothing more detrimental to your website’s rank than copied content. Even if you don’t intend to copy, you have dozens of websites that might carry similar content (which means a few words might register on a plagiarism checker). There are a few tools out there that can help you scan your content before it’s published to keep you copycat-free.
Write Content That is Error-Free
You might be the authority in your industry, but if your content is riddled with spelling errors and grammar mistakes, your readers won’t think you’re the “go-to” for advice. Poor grammar can also impact your brand and your SEO, according to an article on Business2Community.com. Luckily you don’t have to be an English professor to get your grammar right, especially with today’s grammar checking tools.
PolishMyWriting.com – This unique tool offered by After the Deadline reviews your content for grammar, style, and spelling issues. Each correction is a suggestion, leaving you in control of what is changed. You can download the app directly into your browser to scan your content as you write it or just copy/paste into the site’s app.
Copyscape.com – Copyscape is a paid subscription, but it is also one of the best checkers on the market. You pay about $0.10 per scan and that small fee goes far. Copyscape will flag portions of your content that are copied, tell you how much of your content is copied and highlight the copied text so you know what to correct.
Grammarly.com – Grammarly offers a paid grammar checker that can catch up to ten times more mistakes than Word. It offers vocabulary suggestions, helps correct active and passive voice styles, and locates grammar errors instantly.
PaperRater.com – Check the grammar, spelling and style of your content for free with PaperRater. While it may not catch as much as Grammarly, it will catch a lot more than you might proofreading yourself.
Get Your Keywords Right
Keywords are still crucial to your rank, but only if they’re used in combination with good content. While Google might have taken away their Keyword Tool, there are still options out there to help you plan out the right keywords for your website, including Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Once you know your keywords, you want a healthy density in your content. Avoid going over three percent, if you can. To check your keyword density there are plenty of free and paid tools you can try. Live-Keyword-Analysis.com, for example, allows you to plug in your keywords, copy/paste your content and quickly tells you the density of your targeted keywords in your content. Another free tool to try if your content is already published on your website is KeywordDensity.com. Simply enter your URL, the keyword or key phrase, and let the app analyze your pages for density.
There are plenty of tools out there, plenty are free too, that can take your content strategy to the next level. With the investment you’ve made in making a content strategy, you can almost not risk wasting that effort by not using these killer tools.
