Search engine traffic is very important for your business.
But search engine traffic doesn’t just come your way simply because your website or blog exists.
You need to provide quality content to search engines like Google, constantly. The search engines are hungry for fresh and high-quality content.
The problem is, it isn’t just the quality of your content that boosts your SEO (although the quality is fundamental): you need to apply some tactics to make it easier for search engines to crawl, index and rank your website links for the appropriate keywords.
You need to keep it in mind that it’s the algorithms that are deciding which link to rank, and how. These algorithms go through various facts like
- what keywords you have used
- how you have formatted the information
- what is the quality of your writing
- and most importantly, how people react to your content.
You may like to read how Google actually ranks your content.
Most of the content marketers tell you that you needn’t worry about your search engine rankings as long as you are publishing great content.
Although this is theoretically correct and it may even happen in the future, right now, you have to take care of a few things to make sure that your content is indexed and then correctly ranked.
I have listed below 5 SEO tactics that can help you boost your content on search engines.
1. Focus on problems and solutions
People are normally looking for solutions to their problems on Google and other search engines.
For example, if I think that my content isn’t performing well, I may be looking for a content writer.
If conventional advertising isn’t working for my business, I may be looking for alternative ways to promote myself.
If I have a back pain, I would like to know how to cure my pain using home remedies or natural ways.
I might be looking for good schools in the new neighborhood I plan to move to with my family.
I may want to know what were the best songs in the 70s.
Web pages and blog posts that address the “how”, “where”, “why”, “when” and “what” of different situations fare well on search engines.
2. Do your keyword research before writing content
If you want to boost your content on search engines, then you need to take your keywords very seriously.
“Keywords” in SEO context means all those search expressions people may use to find what you offer.
For example, people who are looking for a content writer may like to look for “content writing services” or “small business content writing services”.
So, these are the keywords I should be focusing on when writing content for my website and my blog.
People also look for longer keywords, for example, “looking for content writer to improve my SEO”.
Similarly, if you sell handmade bags from your website some people may try to find you using “handmade bags” or “handmade bags as Christmas presents” or “medium-sized handmade bags”, and such.
Selecting the targeted keywords is a whole different branch of study and there are actually specialist people and tools that can help you find the right keywords.
Why is it important to do keyword research before writing content?
It’s because the keywords should be an integral part of your content writing process. They shouldn’t be an afterthought.
Also, a pre-compiled list of your important keywords keeps you focused. It constantly reminds you what content you need to write and create.
3. Use your keywords in the title of your web page or blog post
Your title is one of the most important parts of your web page or blog post. I charge extra for coming up with well-sounding SEO titles.
Whereas the complete body of your content exists on your website or blog, when it appears on other sources like search engines, social media and social networking websites, and on the websites and blogs of those who want to link to you, it’s your web page or blog post title that is used.
On the search engine results pages it is your title that appears as the primary hyperlink.
It has been observed that people click those links more that contain the search term or the keyword they have just used.
Perhaps, this is the reason why Google looks for the keywords in your title and a big part of your SEO is affected by the presence or absence of your keywords there.
4. Write shareable content
The benefit of writing shareable content is that it spreads fast. It is shared more on social media and social networking websites.
It is repurposed more.
More Webmasters and bloggers link to content that they think shareworthy.
Why create shareable content?
Google takes into account the way people react to your content.
How many people are linking back to your content?
How many people are reacting to your content in terms of responding to it and sharing it from their social media and social networking profiles?
How much time do people spend reading your content?
Useful content is shareable content. Content that contains lots of information that can be immediately implemented to improve something is quite useful.
List articles, popularly called as “listicles”, enjoy a greater possibility of being shared because they contain the exact number of steps, solutions or resources. People know what they are sharing.
How do you know what is shareable?
You can check out Google Trends to know what is trending and create topics around trending topics.
You can compile a list of solutions to a problem: 10 ways you can improve your SEO in just a week.
Make your title as compelling as possible and then pack as much information as possible.
5. Remain focused to your core subject
Don’t dilute the focus of your website or blog by writing about random topics.
If you provide legal services, then your content should talk about your legal services and how you can help people with your knowledge of the law.
If you are into carpentry, then talk about carpentry: the various tools you use, the qualities of woods you use, and the sort of work you have undertaken.
Staying focused on your core subject will help you create a repository of useful information on your topic. This tells Google that you are an expert and hence you publish authoritative content.
Authoritative content is ranked higher compared to general content.
Aside from these 5 tactics to boost your SEO you should also
- Write longer blog posts and web pages (Google and other search engines prefer longer text to shorter text).
- Use images wherever necessary. Try to use an image after every 300 words.
- Link to other blog posts and web pages from other blog posts and web pages.
- Make sure you use your keywords within the first 100 words of your web page and then in the last para.
- Use your keywords every 100-200 words, but not unnecessarily.
- Use shorter sentences. It makes it easier for search engine algorithms to make sense of your content.
Read 10 fundamental qualities of effective SEO content writing.
What are SEO tactics?
I normally don’t prefer to use the expression “tactics” in terms of SEO and content marketing, but since many people use it, I’m using it just to make a point.
The most important on-site SEO tactic to boost your content is, making it easier for the search engine crawlers to access your content, make sense of it, and then rank it.
For off-site SEO, try to spread your content as much as possible.
Share your content links on social media and social networking websites.
Repurpose your existing content using different formats – YouTube videos, GIFs, PDFs, infographics and slides – and then upload these to the appropriate platforms.
Encourage people to link back to your content to earn social validation.
Why I don’t call these tactics is because this is an ongoing process. You may call it, a way of life.
You need to create high-quality content otherwise it is not appreciated by your target audience.
You need to strategically distribute and disseminate your content because there is too much of it on the Internet and it is difficult for people to pay attention to a particular piece of content.
Become an information hub, and be known for the quality of your content.
Whether you call these tactics or an ongoing process, there is 100% guarantee that you can boost your content with these SEO practices.