Tag Archives: Content Quality

How to make sure your content is found by Google Discover

How to optimize your content for Google Discover

How to optimize your content for Google Discover

Google wants you to stop searching. It wants to search high quality content for you and then fill your feed with it. If there ever was a need to create high-quality engaging content, it is now. You need to optimize your content for Google Discover.

What exactly is Google Discover and why do you need to optimize your content for it?

Google Discover is a replacement for Google Feed that you often come across when you use the Google search bar on your mobile phone, especially Google Now. Of course, there might be many Android-based phones that may not have Google Now pre-installed, but in most of the cases, your phone, or the phone of your customer or client, may be equipped with Google Now.

Since Google Discover isn’t being sent out to all the phones yet, you may still be using Google Feed. The updates on Google Feed are obtained from your search pattern and browsing history. As you know, Google tracks every activity of yours (yes, it is creepy) on the pretext that it wants to give you the content you’re looking for even when you don’t know how to find the right content.

Google is constantly tracking you

Google is constantly tracking you

What is the difference between any other newsfeed, for example, Facebook Stories or even Flipboard, and Google Discover?

The first difference is, Google is after all, Google, and it is present in almost every non-iOS device. Hence, its feeds are automatically there on your mobile phone and unless you are hell bent on not using them, you will end up using them. Besides, Google claims that over 800 million users are using Google Feed regularly. The moment Google Discover arrives on their mobile phones, they will automatically start using it.

The second reason is, there is nothing negative about using Google Feeds. At one single place, it gives you all the information you need to organise yourself, even your flight updates if the information exists in your email. These are called “cards” and it gives you important updates on news, sports and entertainment.

Google constantly updates your feeds according to your search history.

Then it upgraded its feeds algorithm and started anticipating what you would like to read or watch.

Google Discover wants to predict what you want to find

Google Discover wants to predict what you want to find

It no longer wanted to depend on your search pattern or browsing pattern. It now aspired to predict what you’re going to like before you even knew it. Google Discover is a highly advanced version of its older Google Feeds Avtar.

The basic point is, if people come across your content without having to search for it, they may not search for it. This also means that if they are able to find your competitor’s content, there will be no need for them to search for your content. This way, they may never search for your content.

Using artificial intelligence, Google wants you to stop searching and start discovering.

For people to be able to “discover” your content, you need to convince Google that your content is worth discovering.

People who have used Google Discover say that there have been many design changes. There is a clickable topic header above every news item or update. If you tap on that topic header, feeds specific to that topic are displayed and Google takes note of your preference. At the bottom of the card, you will be able to indicate whether you would like to see more of such updates or less.

Topic header in Google Discover

Topic header in Google Discover

Google Feed was previously accessible only through the Google Mobile app but now, once the Discover feed is introduced, it will be available in all Google.com mobile browsers including the “OK Google” thing.

Optimizing your content for Google Discover

Interestingly, this shift towards discovering rather than searching is in the sudden shift. Google has been modifying its content discovering capabilities for many years now and this is why a lot of stress is put on creating high-quality engaging content.

Optimizing your content for Google Discover is like sowing a tree. To eat fruit you need the tree, and there is no escaping from it, but you cannot get the fruit immediately. You will first need to plot a sampling or sow a seed. In this case, you will need to encourage your prospective customer or client to interact with your content, to engage with it, and only then Google Discover will deem it fit to keep on discovering it even when your prospective customer or client isn’t actively searching for it.

This Search Engine Land blog post has some useful tips on how to optimize your content for Google Discovery and make it more discoverable.

The first thing you need to understand while optimizing your content for Google Discovery is that it is all about the experience. What sort of experience people have with your content and how they’re going to interact with it? Are they going to be passive towards your content or they are going to share it with their friends and colleagues, share with their own timelines, link to it, spend more time going through it or even bookmark it? All these actions tell Google that people find your content valuable.

Importance of understanding user intent for content writing

Importance of understanding user intent for content writing

In my blog post The importance of understanding user intent in content writing, I have written about how important it is to understand what your user/searcher is looking for and whether you are providing it or not. User intent means if someone finds your content on Google, goes to your link, stays there, and then doesn’t come back to Google to carry on the exact same search, it means the searcher found on your link what he or she was looking for and now there is no need to look for the exact thing.

There is also an attribute called the Search Task Accomplishment Factor about which I have written in this Huffington Post blog post, which talks about the same thing – does the search get over one’s someone visits your link or not? If the search gets over, it means you are providing exactly what the searcher is looking for, for that exact keyword. Your rankings improve.

Factors like these are going to have a big impact when you optimize your content for Google Discovery.

The above-linked Search Engine Land blog post suggests that you take care of the following when optimizing your content for Google Discovery:

Create quality content people like to engage with

Google Discover is going to function the same way your typical Facebook Timeline functions. The updates that you see are the ones that are either similar to the updates you have interacted with before, or, are similar to updates your friends are interested in. In one way or another, it is the engagement that decides what you see on your timeline.

The same is going to happen with Google Discover.

Now, why would people interact with your content, why would they engage with it, if they don’t find your content useful, interesting, high-quality or engaging?

Proactively showcase and highlight your content

Millions of web pages, images, videos and blog posts are being published every day. People can interact with your content only if they can find it. If you are well known, they themselves look for your content. If you’re not, you will need to take measures so that they take note of your content and start interacting with it. This will entail

  • Promoting your content using your social media profiles.
  • Giving incentive to people to interact with your content and engage with it.
  • Making your content discoverable.
  • Using recommended SEO guidelines so that those who search for your content can find it.
  • Using your mailing list to disseminate your content.

Use images and videos to optimize your content for Google Discover

It is already recommended that you use high quality graphics and images, on your blog posts and web pages. Google Discover will highlight important content through images and videos that are present in the same piece of content. Images and videos draw attention of people easily compared to text, this is why Google Discover is going to put more stress on your images and videos.

Publish new as well as evergreen content

Don’t rest on your laurels once you have published great content on your website or blog. You want people to keep coming back to your website for more great stuff. If you give them an indication that you have given your best and now there is nothing new to expect, they will lose interest in your website. Even Google crawlers will stop crawlingg your website or blog if your pattern becomes haphazard or rare.

Evergreen content means content people would like to bookmark, to save, to refer back to it whenever they need to recall the great information contained within that piece of content. This is also important. People would love to link to this content and when they link to this content, Google will think that this content is important and will showcase it in the Google Discover feeds.

Concluding remarks on content optimization for Google Discover

So, is active searching history? Personally, I don’t think so but I’m not a farsighted person when it comes to predicting technology and even content marketing trends. Maybe something is there that I cannot see, but, presently, I don’t think active searching is going away. This is why, every content aggregation service gives you a search bar. There is no “discovery”, “story” or “feed” service or app that does not come with a search box or a search bar. Why is it so? Because there is always a possibility of the artificial intelligence not discovering what you want.

But yes, passive browsing is here. All social networking and social media apps thrive and survive on our proclivity to browse passively. How many times do you post on Facebook or Twitter? Most of the time you are just scrolling up and down, viewing what other people have posted. These posts and updates don’t even appear chronologically. Some algorithm somewhere is deciding what you should see, and then you see it. So yes, we are already tuned to browsing passively and content being discovered for us.

Maybe, someday it will be a full circle and things will be back to the way they were on TV and radio, but more targeted and narrowed down.

20 Evergreen Characteristics of Quality Content

20 characteristics of evergreen content

20 characteristics of evergreen content.

Quality content with evergreen characteristics isn’t just a phrase to be thrown around in order to sell content writing services, it should carry some substance and a sense of reality.

What are the main characteristics of quality content?

Quality content should be able to achieve the following for you:

  • Improve your search engine rankings for the correct search intent.
  • Help your prospective customers and clients make the right decision.
  • Encourage people to visit your website more than once.
  • Give people enough reason to stay on your website.
  • Help people find the right information that can solve their problem.

In this blog post I will cover

  1. What are the chief characteristics of quality content?
  2. How do you define quality when writing content?
  3. What makes your quality content Evergreen?

I personally believe that when a client pays me to write content for him or her, he or she assumes (or at least I assume that he or she assumes) that I’m going to give my best shot.

What is this the best shot?

When my client publishes the content written by me on his or her website, it must achieve the following:

  • Improve conversion rate.
  • Give appropriate information to the visitors.
  • Increase engagement levels.
  • People stay on the website longer.
  • Improve search engine rankings.

These are given. The client doesn’t even have to tell me that the above-mentioned need to be achieved.

I don’t need to remind myself that the above-mentioned need to be achieved.

There are no ifs and buts.

Content quality for SEO is as important as content quality for conversion rate.

For me, these traits, or these achievements, define quality content writing.

So, if you ask me, what are the characteristics of quality content or quality content writing, I’m going to point you to the above achievements.

Is there a quality content definition?

The definition may differ from person to person or content writer to content writer.

For some, the only thing that matters is the search engine rankings.

Some want to be famous on social media websites.

Some hard-core salespeople want to write a tightly-knit sales copy.

Quality content contains all of these characteristics.

A business needs all these things to use content as a highly productive business tool.

One of the main characteristics of quality content is also that it is evergreen.

Yes, technicalities may change but the fundamentals remain the same.

For example, for better search engine rankings, you must keep the needs of your visitors first.

This is the fundamental characteristic: people have a problem, and you present a solution to them.

No matter what algorithmic changes Google makes, the ultimate aim is to find the right information according to search intent.

As long as your content helps Google achieve that, you are publishing quality content that is timeless.

Evergreen characteristics of quality content never go out of fashion

Why I call these characteristics evergreen is because they never change, because inherent qualities in people, in behavior, even the nature of sub-atomic entities, remain the same throughout the ages.

There is a reason why philosophers like Aristotle, Socrates and Panini are still read and admired.

Philosophers like Panini created Evergreen quality content that is ageless

Philosophers like Panini created Evergreen quality content that is ageless.

Their teachings never go out of fashion.

The same is true for the chief characteristics of quality content.

These are the fundamentals.

These fundamentals are not just applicable to writing content, they are applicable to every aspect of your life.

These are like the gospel truths.

The 20 of these characteristics of quality content are listed below.

1. Quality content is relevant to the target audience

Content written for a particular audience always performs better than content written for pretty much everybody.

Write targeted content for a single person or persona

Write targeted content for a single person or persona.

For example, if on my website I write about all sorts of writing including poetry, fiction, sci-fi, eroticism, horror, and whatever, it will become a portal of sorts.

There will be no target audience.

For a business it doesn’t work that way.

Your content needs to be relevant to a specified audience and only then it can make an impact.

Hence, although I talk about writing on this blog, I’m primarily talking about content writing, especially writing quality content for those who have business websites.

Why quality content is important for a business website?

According to the characteristics mentioned above, quality content must improve your search engine rankings.

It must engage your audience in a manner that people want to do business with you.

2. The writing must be professional

Now what does professional mean?

  • The language should be decent
  • There should be no spelling mistakes
  • There should be no grammar mistakes
  • Industry-specific language must be used
  • A consistent style guide must be followed
  • The text must be arranged under appropriate headlines and sub-headlines
  • Shorter facts must be arranged in bullets

3. Focus on a single topic

One of the most important evergreen characteristics of quality content is its level of focus.

Are you writing about a single topic or are you trying to handle multiple topics in a single article or blog post?

Try to keep your content as focused as possible.

4. It should be written in scannable format

Scannable format means your content should be readable without having to read the entire body text.

Even if someone quickly goes through the headlines, sub-headlines and bulleted points, he or she should be able to get the gist of what you’re trying to say.

This is not to discourage detailed writing, it just makes sense to make it convenient for those who don’t have enough time to go through the entire thing.

5. Highlight the benefits of the product or service being promoted

Quality content writing highlights the benefits

Quality content writing highlights the benefits.

What are benefits people going to derive from your product or service?

If you want to hire my content writing services, how am I going to benefit you?

Very few people hire me for my writing style.

As mentioned above, the chief characteristics of quality content are:

  1. It should inform your visitors.
  2. It should reduce your bounce rate.
  3. It should improve your search engine rankings.

These are the benefits. How I achieve these, I can explain in various blog posts and webpages.

But these are the main characteristics when I say I provide quality content writing services.

Ultimately, your business must grow due to my content writing services.

A cool writing style is of no help if I’m not able to grow your business.

People are interested in knowing what they are going to get rather than how great your business offering is.

6. Encourage the desired action among your visitors

What should people do once they are on your website?

Should they fill up your query form?

Should they subscribe to your newsletter?

Should they download your e-book or catalog?

Should they buy one of the products listed in your online catalog?

Whatever you want them to do on your website, you should write your content accordingly.

7. Include valid data and statistics

Use data and statistics to make your content writing authoritative

Use data and statistics to make your content writing authoritative.

People always find numbers reassuring.

How many people in the previous month have used your product or service?

What are the worldwide trends?

How are your competitors doing?

Among all your customers last month, how many of them saw a marked improvement in the concerned aspect of their lives (in whichever manner your product or service is meant to affect them)?

When you mention exact facts, people feel more reassured.

8. Whenever possible, write in the first person

You strike a personal chord when you write in the first person.

This is an evergreen characteristic of quality writing writers have been following through ages.

Personal accounts are always fascinating.

“I had this problem and this is how I solved it” always sounds better than “Peter had this problem and this is how he solved it”.

Also use “This is the problem that you have and this is how you’re going to solve it” rather than “This is the problem Peter has and this is how he is going to solve it.”

9. Quality content is available in preferred format

Although I’m a content writer and my sole focus is on writing, not everybody is crazy about the written word.

These days I post lots of small videos on Twitter and LinkedIn explaining various aspects of content writing and SEO copywriting.

My engagement levels have increased ever since I have started posting small videos accompanying my blog updates.

Maybe your target audience prefers videos?

Pinterest has proved that there is a great demand for images.

Some prefer slideshows and some prefer animations.

You should know which format of content your audience prefers and then create your content accordingly.

10. Quality content changes perceptions

When you convince people into believing in what you believe in, you are changing perceptions.

People come to your website with a certain set of ideas.

But when they access your content, when they read it, you change their way of thinking or at least you influence their way of thinking.

This is what quality content must achieve.

If it is not changing perceptions, people are not going to come to your website and buy your stuff.

11. Encourages people to engage with you and vice-versa

Engaging people in a constructive dialogue is the best way to make an imprint in their minds.

People will remember you more if you engage them, if you ask them questions, if you provide them answers and even when you seek answers from them.

The ability to engage people gives your content an evergreen characteristic of quality.

How is your content considered engaging?

  • It encourages people to stay on your website or blog longer.
  • People feel like reaching out to you.
  • They are prompted to explore other parts of your website or blog.
  • They share your content through their social media profiles and mobile apps.
  • They leave comments.
  • They “like” your social media updates.

12. It’s okay to have a mix of original, curated and aggregated content

Good characteristics of quality content don’t just involve original content.

Don’t have enough time to write?

You can always curate content.

You can routinely aggregate high-quality content from other websites or blogs.

But don’t simply copy/paste that content.

Even if it is just one paragraph, add your own take on it.

In fact there is no use regurgitating quality content that already exists on other websites and blogs.

13. Quality content involves a consistent publishing schedule

Although, frankly, this has less to do with writing and more to do with content marketing, still, the evergreen aspect of your content is more sustainable if you follow a consistent publishing schedule.

If for the next five months you are going to publish a blog post every day, then do so.

If you feel that on certain days you’re going to be busier compared to the other days, you can schedule publishing in advance, but make sure you publish every day.

Similarly, if you want to publish every Wednesday, then make sure that your blog post or article appears on Wednesday.

This is because after a while people begin to expect hearing from you, even unconsciously.

14. Write content around a persona

It is very important to know for whom you are writing.

It gives you a clear idea of what problems to solve in the present piece of content.

Once you know the persona of your reader, you will be able to decide whether

  • You want to use formal or informal language
  • You want to follow a personal or a professional approach
  • You should use industry-specific terms or not
  • You should focus on facts or rhetoric

For example, if you are writing content for a product that caters to teachers and academicians your writing must be flawless, appropriate and must adhere to the proper usage of words and expressions.

On the other hand, if you are writing for a product that caters to youngsters you can use the hip-hop expressions used by them, worrying less about the accuracy of language.

15. Storytelling is one of the most prevalent evergreen characteristics of quality writing

Improve the quality of your writing through storytelling

Improve the quality of your writing through storytelling.

Storytelling creates a context.

It dramatizes that context so that you can visually imagine it and if possible, apply it to your own circumstances.

A story lays bare the problems, tribulations and challenges faced by a person and then how either he or she solves those problems or the problems are solved by your product or service.

Through storytelling, instead of directly telling people to buy your product or service, you present them with a reason.

16. Keep your content constantly refreshed

Keep your content fresh through regular writing

Keep your content fresh through regular writing.

Outdated, stale content fails to attract people.

Just as it is important to constantly create new content, you also need to keep your existing content fresh.

Quality writing also involves rewriting your existing content to bring it at par with contemporary trends and developments.

17. Quality content is search engine optimized

Quality content writing improves your search engine rankings

Quality content writing improves your search engine rankings.

Although quality content is by default search engine optimized, in case the thought hasn’t crossed your mind, don’t ignore this aspect.

When you are publish quality content, why do you publish it?

It is because you want people to benefit from it.

How do people benefit from it?

They benefit from it by accessing it.

A search engine like Google is a great way to find good content.

Even if people don’t actively look for great content, chief characteristics of quality content ensure that Google Discover can find your content.

You may like to read How to optimize your content for Google Discover.

Make sure your content is searchable and written according to Google’s guidelines.

It will make it easier for people to make use of your content and you will also get new customers and clients.

18. Quality content is social media optimized

Millions of content updates are shared on social media and social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Do social media users find your content attractive enough to share?

Is it possible to share your content on social media and social and networking websites easily?

Content that is optimized for social media websites should ideally be topical because people normally share content around a current topic.

Take care of the following in order to make your content social media optimized

  • Keep shorter page or blog post titles so that they can be easily shared on Twitter that allows just 280 characters.
  • When you are writing blog posts, articles and webpages use quality images. Images often accompany your update, attracting more eyeballs.
  • Focus on different formats for different social media channels, for example, you can create attractive and interesting graphics for Pinterest, informative slides for Slideshare and captivating videos for YouTube.

19. Entertainment is an evergreen characteristic of quality content that never loses its value

Does your content entertain

Does your content entertain?

People love to be entertained.

But what is entertainment?

An avid reader may find reading Nabokov or Camus entertaining.

Some find popular soap operas on television entertaining.

Kids love to hear stories from their elders.

Not only funny articles and essays are entertaining.

Try to find out what would be entertaining to your audience and create your content accordingly.

You don’t always have to entertain, but whenever you can, do that.

20. Show your love and consideration for causes

Your business doesn’t exist in isolation.

It will always function within the circumstantial parameters of the world around you or even across the globe since we are all connected these days.

When you associate your content with a cause whether it is about saving the environment or the polar bears or fighting for the education and health of the underprivileged, people will appreciate it.

Get involved with the causes and then write about them. Or simply create content to raise awareness about your favorite causes.

Please keep in mind that what I have listed above are the “evergreen characteristics” of quality content, I haven’t written about creating evergreen quality content, that would be a totally different topic.

If someone wants to know what the characteristics of quality content are or what are the chief characteristics of quality content, this blog post will help.

Using Google analytics to know how effective is your content

Often when you want to know how effective your content is you gauge its popularity by the number of people retweeting the link or the number of people coming to your blog and leaving comments.

Although it feels good to know how popular your particular page or blog post is growing, the real effectiveness of your content can only be gauged by what people do after coming to that page. If people are visiting your link in hordes and then leaving for other external links immediately after reading that page you aren’t achieving much (actually you are in terms of brand building and recognition but that’s different subject).

Google analytics can give you an in-depth analysis of user behaviour when they access your content. It is a free tool and you can easily put the tracking code in one of your common files so that all your pages and blog posts are tracked.

So assuming that you are tracking your websites with Google analytics, after logging in select the website or the blog profile you would like to see an on the left-hand sidebar you get the “Content” tab. When you click it there is a further drop down menu and you will see links like “Pages”, “Landing Pages” and so on. In these two sections you will see:

  • The number of unique visitors to individual pages
  • The time they spend on these pages and blog posts
  • The bounce rate
  • The exit rate

Content effectiveness with Google analytics

If the number of unique visitors is increasing to a particular page it means the page is getting more exposure on search engine and other websites.

It matters how much time people spend on that page. The more compelling and relevant content you have on that page or blog post, the more time people are going to spend on it.

The bounce rate is when people come to your landing page and then immediately leave your website without exploring other parts of your website. If they don’t find your content valuable then obviously they are going to assume that it represents the overall quality of content on your website and then they leave your website straightaway.

So even if traffic to a particular page is increasing but then it also has a higher bounce rate it is not doing you much good. You have to analyse its content quality and see why people are leaving your website without exploring other pages or blog posts.

This is where you can gauge the effectiveness of your content. If more people are coming to that particular page or blog post and the bounce rate is lower it means the content on that page is effective.

Then there is the exit rate. How many people who come to your website leave your website completely from a particular web page or blog post. Although this is a subjective matter you should carefully examine the content of a particular page or the blog post if more people are exiting your website from that link.

You cannot gauge the overall effectiveness of your content by its search engine and social media popularity. Effective content engages your visitors and gives them a reason to stay on your website for a longer time. The longer they stay the better are your chances of converting them into your paying customers and clients.