writing relevant content

Back in the day, all you had to do was stuff a few keywords onto a page and you were set with the search engines. Heck, you could put nothing but your keywords on a page and be golden. Today, Google has changed the way content and traffic play with one another – and let’s just say if your content isn’t playing by the rules, traffic won’t come hang out. If you aren’t getting traffic to your website, it’s probably a multitude of reasons. Although, there are some sites that just need a quick tweak to get the job done. Regardless, you should take a look at your site and see what you’re doing to drive away readers or worse, turn away Google. Reasons You Aren’t Getting Traffic We won’t go too crazy here, because the list could be hundreds of things long. But often websites that aren’t getting traffic are offenders of four common things: They Don’t Give a Crap About Their Content When you don’t care or put the effort into your content, it shows. When you’re passionate about a topic, it will show to your readers and people will share, send and come back for more. If, however, you don’t care about the topic or niche you’re covering, then there is a good chance you’re putting minimal effort into making the content for it. Caring about the topic is rather important – well, if you want people to visit your site. Also, a website isn’t something you build overnight. If you haphazardly threw your content together, it definitely will be a turn off to the average reader. Websites can take up to six months to build traffic, so use that time wisely. They’re Bouncing All Over the Map Maybe you do care about the topic you’re covering, but perhaps you’ve picked something too broad or you just aren’t sticking to the point. What do your blog posts look like? Are they sticking to a specific niche or are you covering off-topics things? You can’t just go wild when you create content. It needs a purpose and most importantly, needs to be relevant to what you’re marketing at all times. You’re Not Covering a Topic People Care About This might sting a little, but the problem very well could be you’re just covering a topic people don’t care about or aren’t searching for it. Choosing a narrow niche is always risky, and if you picked the lucky niche that a limited number of people are searching for or it’s just too boring for the average reader, you’re going to get a trickle instead of a heavy flow of traffic. You’re Not Using Keywords, Or You’re Using Keywords Too Much If you aren’t using keyword-focused posts, that’s okay. Keywords aren’t as important these days as the quality of the content, but a keyword should still be sprinkled in here and there to catch those users searching for something specific. If you’re one of those sites spamming your content with nothing but keywords, well, then you know why you aren’t getting traffic – Google probably blacklisted your site. Once you’re penalized by Google, your life gets a lot harder. KISSmetrics has a great post discussing 50 ways you can get penalized by Google. So if you’re not getting traffic, you might want to check that out too. One thing you’ll see consistently in these four reasons you’re not getting traffic is your content. Content is king and it has been said over and over again. If you have poor quality content, you’re not going to get traffic, get shared or get anywhere. Period. Content goes viral fast, according to Search Engine Journal. So if you write the content people are interested in, you’re going to see your traffic jump off the charts. Let’s put it this way: over 2 billion YouTube videos are watched every day, WordPress has over 200,000,000 blog posts read, and there are over 50 million tweets on Twitter every day. You want your content to go viral. 7 Ways Content Drives More Traffic to Your Site Since you know content is obviously the reason you’re not getting traffic, now it is time to discuss how you can increase your traffic with content. You have probably heard how to write content, but maybe you’re just putting that off until you get more traffic and better visitors to read your content. Well, the right content today means more visitors tomorrow. And here’s why: 1. It Answers the Question Readers are Looking For  People on the internet are always searching for something. Whether they are looking for ways to save money or how to cook dinner tonight – they have a purpose on the web. You are the answer to the searchers question. You will have that article, blog post or tutorial that guides them to the answer they’re looking for. By having the answer the reader needs, you also become their future go-to for additional advice and information in that same niche. Now, if your content doesn’t answer the question, you’ll be the first site that user avoids in the future. Its’ all about quality content that attracts the reader, but gives them something valuable. The reader shouldn’t be promised something in your headline or through keywords and then be let down when they take the time to click through. Deliver on your promise with high-quality content that drives the point home, gives the reader the answer he or she needs, and is made up of quality information. That means taking time to actually write your web content – including researching when necessary – and showing that you care just as much about what the reader is looking for and that’s why you’re developing the content just for them. Being thorough matters too. If you just write a 100 word blog post, it is unlikely that you’re covering everything about the topic. That means your readers will have to go to another site to find answers that … Read more