How Keyword-Rich Content Can Improve Your SEO
In the last decade, SEO has changed dramatically. The Digital Marketer explains the importance of quality content when it comes to improving your SEO.
SEO has changed dramatically over the last decade. We’ve come a long way from “information pages” of nonsensical text that repeat the same few keywords over and over. The search engines have gotten smarter, and that’s a good thing for searchers, readers, bloggers, and marketers. Here’s the bottom line: Good, quality content about a topic improves SEO.
That means digital marketing is now focused on creating a fair amount of useful content about a topic. The more you write about a subject, providing advice – not traditional marketing copy – the more likely a search engine is going to consider your website or blog a credible and reliable expert on that topic.
Still, you do need to optimize your copy so that search engines can easily find and consider it. This means that you need to incorporate search keywords into the headline and lead paragraph. SEO is most effective when you repeat these words several times in these key areas of your online presence.
For example, if your company makes bicycles, writing a blog that offers advice and tips for racing cyclists would increase your credibility and relevance in this area. Search engines would consider you a trusted source (as would readers).
To make it easier for the search engines, you might include the keywords “bicycling” and “racing” at least twice in the headline and lead paragraph. The logic is that a Web page that repeats the keyword two or three times is likely to be more relevant to people searching on those keywords. But don’t go overboard, search engines can recognize spam when they see it.
Here are some other simple SEO tips related to keywords:
- Know your keywords. To create good SEO, you need to understand how people search to find your website. One way to do this is to think like someone who is searching for information about your topic area. Nuance is important. To find tips for bicycle racing, will the searcher be more likely to search “bicycle racing” or “racing bicycles?” Google Insights for Search can help you understand the popularity of one term vs. another.
- Use the keyword field. If you’re using a content management system, like WordPress, be sure to take advantage of the keyword field. Add the keywords you’ve identified to this area of your post.
- Keep content fresh. Search engines give you more points the more frequently you update your website. So update your home page or your blog at least 2-3 times a week.
- Use keywords in social media and be sure to link back to the content. The more other sites link to your website, the more credible about a topic the search engines think it is. Thus, your website moves up in the rankings. Make sure you tweet, post on Facebook, and distribute links to new content on your site regularly.
Diane S. Thieke is the president and founder of Simply Talk Media, a digital media marketing consultancy. With more than 25 years in digital media and technology, she helps clients build stronger relationships with their customers and communities, using both social and traditional channels. Follow her on Twitter at @thiekeds or visit her blog at www.simplytalkmedia.com/blog.
About the Author
Diane S. Thieke is the president and founder of Simply Talk Media, a digital media marketing consultancy. With more than 25 years in digital media and technology, she helps clients build stronger relationships with their customers and communities, using both social and traditional channels.