Category Archives: Copywriting and Content Writing Tips

How to write content for the Google RankBrain System

What exactly is Google RankBrain?

What is Google RankBrain?

It’s an artificial intelligence system, and just like any contemporary artificial intelligence, it learns itself. It sometimes writes and modifies the ranking algorithm on its own.

The overall ranking process at Google is handled by the Hummingbird algorithm. RankBrain is a component of that algorithm that contributes towards assigning ranks to different links according to their relevance to the searcher’s intent.

Just like RankBrain, there are multiple components in the Hummingbird algorithm that analyze content.

Panda, Penguin and Payday components are used to fight spam. Pigeon is used to improve local search results.

Then, there is a Top Heavy component of the Hummingbird algorithm that assigns negative marking to ad-heavy pages.

To reward you for your mobile-friendly pages, the ranking algorithm uses the Mobile Friendly component.

Whereas conventional SEO is based on the type of keywords you have used when writing your content and the quality of backlinks, RankBrain calculates the relevance of your content according to its own interpretation, according to what it thinks should be ranked rather than according to how the web page of the blog post has been “optimized”.

You must have read it at multiple places – even I have mentioned it multiple times on my blog – that when you are writing content, focus on the “intent” of the searcher instead of simply creating content based on your keywords.

The intent is what matters to RankBrain.

Unlike conventional ranking methods, RankBrain doesn’t rank web pages according to predefined formula.

It modifies the rank according to the interpretive need of the user.

It practically thinks like the human brain. It interprets meaning and gives you the best search result according to your particular need.

For example, if someone searches for “what are the best shows this week on Amazon Prime?” RankBrain will show the latest results no matter how well an article or blog post you wrote on the topic last month and how many people have linked to it.

Even if in terms of SEO practices your link should show up on page 10 or page 20 of the search results, if it is fresh and fresh content needs to be shown, your link will appear on the first page, even at the top.

So, how do you write content according to the Google RankBrain system?

How to write content for Google RankBrain

To be frank, there is no particular way you can optimize your content for the RankBrain system.

As mentioned above, RankBrain doesn’t rank your content according to some predetermined parameters.

But it doesn’t mean you cannot benefit from RankBrain.

Content writing for RankBrain is very matter of fact: does your content solve a purpose? If it does, it will enjoy good search engine rankings.

The age-old wisdom that your content should provide the needed information to your human visitors still stands as in fact, such systems are developed by Google and other search engines to make sure that content creators create content that is relevant to people rather than machines.

When content is specifically created for machines it is open to manipulation. This is why Google has incorporated multiple algorithmic components to make sure that people don’t try to game the system.

How to make sure you enjoy good rankings in the times of artificial intelligence?

Search engine companies like Google aren’t creating sophisticated algorithms to stop your content from ranking well. They’re creating the sophisticated algorithms to make sure that content that deserves to rank well, does rank well.

So, instead of worrying about getting good ranks, focus on the quality, the relevance and the purposefulness of your content.

Do keywords matter when you are trying to optimize your content for the Google RankBrain system?

Not necessarily, but it doesn’t mean you stop neglecting them.

What are keywords after all? They are part of the language that you use to write your content.

Take for example this blog post. I’m writing about RankBrain, so I’m referring to it repeatedly, not purposely, but contextually. I’m not trying hard to use it repeatedly. It’s just happening.

Another focus of this post is content writing. I’m trying to explain to you how to write content that can convince the RankBrain ranking system.

Obviously these two terms are going to occur in my writing more than once, even multiple times. This tells Google that the foci of my blog post are RankBrain and content writing. There is nothing wrong in that.

But don’t just focus on your primary keywords. Use LSI keywords. Use semantic keywords. Even use the trending keywords if they are related to your topic.

Keywords matter when you’re writing content, but just make sure that they are there naturally and not stuffed. Quality, is what matters the most.

Focus on a better user behavior vis-à-vis your content writing if you want to make RankBrain happy

Since RankBrain avoids depending on conventional SEO benchmarks, it depends more on user behavior vis-à-vis your content. It observes the following while ranking your content:

What is your bounce rate?:

How many people stick to your website after finding your links on Google?

Do they immediately leave your link and come back to Google or do they linger on your website because they find useful information on it?

If your bounce rate is low RankBrain likes your content and improves its rankings.

How many people interact with your content?:

If your content is useful people engage with it.

They link to your content. They share your content with their followers and friends on social media and social networking websites. They even sometimes re-purpose your content.

The more people interact with your con tent, the better rankings it gets through RankBrain.

How in-depth is your content?:

The days of highly narrow content pieces are gone.

Remember when people used to create dedicated web pages and blog posts for every keyword combination for the same phrase? It is no longer acceptable.

You need to cover all your keyword combinations through a single web page or blog post, and this means, writing in-depth content pieces.

When you’re writing on a topic, cover practically every aspect of the topic within a single blog post or web page.

Is your content writing conversational?:

Conversational content writing is important because a greater number of people are using voice search and when people use voice search, they normally use a conversational tone.

Write shorter sentences. Avoid writing very complicated paragraphs. Try to capture just one thought in a single paragraph.

All in all, the more human friendly content you write, the better it is suitable for Google RankBrain.

How to write remarkable content for your website

What is remarkable content?

Remarkable content makes your visitors happy about visiting your website.

Remarkable content should be conversational, to the point, easy-to-read, and helpful. People should be able to find it quickly on your website or blog.

Important attributes of remarkable content

The three attributes of remarkable content are:

Purpose: What purpose does your content solve? Why does it exist? What will your customers and clients achieve after having consumed this particular piece of content? Is it meant to create awareness? Does it educate your visitors? Does it provide them valuable, useful information?
Format: In what format does this particular piece of content exist? Is it a blog post? A web page? A landing page? A white paper? An ebook? A video? Remember that remarkable content exists in a format preferred by your target audience.
Topic: Topic is a somewhat narrower version of the purpose. Whereas the purpose attribute can be applicable to multiple pieces of content on your website or blog, topic is narrower, and is confined to a single link. Does the topic deal with a sales related question? Does it explain something complex and technical? Will your customer be able to achieve a task after going through this particular link?

Whom are you writing for?

Remarkable content is persona-centric. It’s like, when you talk to someone, when you have a conversation with someone, your talk is more meaningful if you know the other person.

This is why creating a persona is very important for writing or creating remarkable content.

Defining a persona helps you write content for a well-defined personality.

How to write remarkable content for your website or blog

Listed below are few points that can help you write remarkable content or at least, keeping these points in mind, you can attempt writing remarkable content for your website or blog.

You don’t necessarily have to stick to these points and even if you pay attention to one or two of these points you will be able to write remarkable content.

Provide solutions to people’s problems

People will love you if you solve their problems.

Your every web page, your every blog post, your every email broadcast should solve some problem.

This is because when people search online, they are constantly looking for solutions to their problems. They always look for information that can help them achieve something. If your content helps them achieve something they like you and remember you and this is how your brand presence becomes stronger.

Present a unique perspective

If you write content that is more or less the same as the others are writing, how do people distinguish you from the others? You have to present a unique perspective. Tell them something that they haven’t yet come across on another website or another blog.

They are on your website because they want to know what’s your take on a particular subject or topic.

Back your claims with credible data

Though personally am not a big fan of throwing around big numbers just to impress people, if you can present some credible data when making claims, it definitely helps.

Telling you that B2B buyers prefer to go through expert content before making a purchase decision might be less convincing than telling you that 96% B2B buyers prefer to go through expert content before making a purchase decision, and then linking to the source of the data.

Write in a conversational manner

Great, well-written content is always conversational.

When you write in a conversational style it seems as if you are talking to people, you are interacting with them, instead of delivering a monologue that is totally uninspiring and emotionless.

Conversational writing makes greater impact. It also engages your audience and encourages people to respond to your content writing.

Publish in a format preferred by your target audience

There was a time when it was mostly text on websites and blogs. Gradually, images came up. Then GIFs. Then videos. Aside from these formats there are slides, presentations, infographics and all sort of other interactive content.

People have different preferences when accessing your content. Although what sort of format people prefer also depends on your niche – people in food and travel industry prefer videos and images and people on Twitter prefer shorter updates, but B2B buyers prefer longer, comprehensive blog posts and articles to get as much information as possible from you.

Some people also like slides and PDFs.

Worried how you would create so much content for different formats?

Normally, content marketers write a blog post and then out of that blog post they repurpose content into various formats. Want to know how you can repurpose your content? Read this: How to repurpose old content.

Make it easy to access and find your content

This is where content marketing plays an important role. Simply publishing high-quality content doesn’t help you much unless you make it easier for people to find your content.

Do the following to make it easier for people to find your content:

Search engine optimize your content so that it ranks well and consequently, it’s easier to find them for appropriate search terms.
Distribute your content using your social networking profiles such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Encourage other Webmasters and bloggers to link to your quality content.
Invest in PPC campaigns.
Build and use your mailing list to broadcast to your mailing list subscribers.

It should be your constant effort to write remarkable content for your website because mediocre content, although it’s easier to write or create it, doesn’t help you much. It does not make a positive impact. It doesn’t improve your search engine rankings. It doesn’t improve your conversion rate.

Running out of content writing ideas? 5 ways to never run out of them

How to find all those elusive content writing ideas non-stop?

In the beginning, usually everything is very easy and hunky-dory. You are bubbling with ideas and you feel as if you’re going to conquer the content marketing world and become its King or Queen.

Then, after having published 10-15 blog posts or articles, you suddenly begin to panic. You can no longer come up with great content writing ideas.

Even if you have hired a content writer, he or she cannot, on his own come up with great content writing ideas. There has to be a mechanism for a continuous supply.

What do other content marketers do? How come other publishers never run out of content writing ideas? How come they are always coming up with great ideas? Are they a bunch of exceptional geniuses?

Not necessarily.

They have a system in place that gives them a never-ending supply of great content writing ideas.

And the beauty of this system is, everyone has access to it, everyone can develop it.

Listed below are 5 ways you never run out of great content writing ideas.

1. Read and enhance your expertise

Writing about your topic on an ongoing basis means you need to develop some sort of expertise. If you have noticed, people who develop expertise in their field, write often.

Blog post after blog post, article after article, book after book, lecture after lecture, nothing seems to stop them.

A big reason why they never run out of interesting ideas is because they’re constantly acquiring in-depth knowledge about their field.

Even small topics and subtopics can be converted into highly engaging articles and blog posts.

There can be umpteen topics in every subject matter.

Even if you are a plumber you can write exciting series of blog posts on your experiences handling various plumbing jobs.

Reading is an essential part of writing. It is like, what goes in comes out. If you don’t feed your intellect with information and ideas, your intellect won’t be able to process new ideas.

Reading is like the seeds that you scatter over the productive land of your mind.

There is nothing wrong in first acquiring knowledge from the others and then creating your own take on what you have understood.

As Newton said, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

You can build new knowledge only when you have acquired existing knowledge.

Invest in books on your field. Read blogs dedicated to your profession. Follow people on Twitter and Facebook who constantly write about your field of expertise.

This can be time consuming.

But content marketing isn’t a week-long, or a month-long activity.

It is an ongoing process.

2. Be open to taking risks

People who always play it safe rarely succeed. In business very often you have to take risks.

How do you take risks trying to write interesting content for your business?

Swim against the tide – not for the heck of it, but because you really have something contrary to say.

Suppose there is a popular belief in your profession and it is considered a gospel truth. Maybe you think differently but you don’t want to annoy people and hence you keep quiet.

Make a thorough assessment of your opinion. Gather as much information as possible. Spend ample amount of time presenting your case. And then write a “controversial” post.

Even a single controversial post can present you with many blog writing opportunities with at least 10 more topics.

3. Constantly communicate with influencers in your field

If you continuously interact with influencers in your field you constantly get new content writing ideas.

This is because you are constantly exchanging opinions and ideas with like-minded people. There might be many issues you could have missed that can be brought up in various discussions.

Some people may have more experience than you. Some people may have different opinions. Some may come from different backgrounds serving different audience though the same business as yours.

A good way of keeping in touch with influencers in your profession is by remaining active on social platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. For your specific domain you will have to find out on your own which is the best platform.

If you feel you are not the talking types you can just track the ongoing conversations. Even reading through various threads will give you many content writing ideas.

4. Maintain a list of ideas

This is an oft-repeated suggestion. Content writing ideas can come to you anytime. They can even come to you when you are not ready to write.

So that you don’t lose great ideas, maintain a list of them. You can maintain a Google Keep note.

You can use a web clipper browser extension from Evernote or OneNote.

You can use a simple Word file or text file.

You can use a voice recording app.

You can simply send yourself an email whenever you get a new idea.

You can use an Excel sheet.

You can use an editorial calendar plug-in if you prefer WordPress for maintaining ideas.

I use Trello these days.

The point is, you must have a place where you can store the ideas and then you can quickly refer to it when you need a new idea.

5. Repurpose your existing content

You may not realize it, but there might be a cornucopia of great content writing ideas within your existing content.

You should anyway keep on updating your existing content to keep it relevant, fresh and topical.

While updating your existing content you can draw many content writing ideas from it.

Sometimes even a headline or a subheadline or a bullet point can trigger a complete blog post or a complete article.

For example, I could write a complete blog post on how to repurpose your existing content. In fact, you can go ahead and read How to repurpose old content.

Sometimes, while reviewing my existing content I come across an expression or a phrase that needs further explanation.

In the context of this blog post, you may wonder, what exactly is “an interesting content writing idea”? In a completely different blog post I can discuss what might be interesting and not interesting depending on a particular business.

Continuously coming up with content writing ideas is very critical for the success of not just your search engine rankings but your entire content marketing exercise. If you think you are all set, good for you.

If you think you may run out of quality content writing ideas in near future, or even after a few months, you should better start preparing a mechanism that allows you to save and track great ideas.

Looking for insightful blog posts on content writing, and SEO copywriting? You will find them on Credible Content Blog. Updated almost daily. Fresh, unique perspective.

Category Archives: Copywriting and Content Writing Tips

How to write content for the Google RankBrain System

What exactly is Google RankBrain?

So, how do you write content according to the Google RankBrain system?

Do keywords matter when you are trying to optimize your content for the Google RankBrain system?

Focus on a better user behavior vis-à-vis your content writing if you want to make RankBrain happy

SEO Checklist When Writing Content for Your Website in 2018

1. Create an SEO friendly URL

2. Do proper keyword research

3. Carefully study the links that are already ranking high for your chosen keywords

4. Select an appropriate person to write your content

5. Write a compelling title and description

6. Strategically use the keywords within the body text

7. Make sure your web page loads fast

8. Connect with influencers to spread your content

My personal suggestion for writing content in 2018 and beyond