Creating content is a great way to help your SEO. Creating quality content intending to share it online to gain traction is a process. You will not get very far if you do not put in the effort.
Google has recognized when content is useful and when it is not. This is a big part of their ever-changing algorithm. It will rank higher content that is useful to other Google users.
Google’s algorithm updates prove these factors time and time again. For instance, Google algorithm updates do not impact negatively high-quality content, whereas they usually hinder low-quality content.
Creating content for SEO is one of the most important online marketing trends. By creating content that is helpful to your audience, you are doing yourself and your SEO a favor.
But, how can you create SEO content that helps your blog rank on Google? The following are best practices for SEO content writing and creation.
Optimize your content for SEO
Now let’s talk about how to create content that helps your SEO. The first thing you should do is make sure you are using keywords in your content.
Not too many, though! Overusing keywords will make your content look unnatural and will probably get you penalized by Google.
So, how many keywords should you use? Well, that depends on the topic of your content.
If you are writing a post about how to cook salmon, then include keywords with “cook” and “salmon” in your content. That is pretty simple and won’t take too long to do.
If you are writing a post about how to cook salmon fillets in the oven, then include the words “cook,” “salmon,” and “oven” in blog articles.
Use keywords consistently
Keywords are a big part of content creation. SEO keywords help your content get noticed by search engines and searchers.
It is also what search engines use to rank your content higher on SERPs. The higher rank your content has, the more people will see it.
Searchers use special algorithms to rank content. Some of these algorithms use the number of links to your content as well as how many people that click on it as a ranking factor.
So, having quality content that helps people is important for getting more traffic to your site. Also, having quality links to your content from other sites is important for getting higher rankings.
Using keywords in your content effectively is a balance of using enough to help search engines recognize what your page is about and not overdoing it so that it sounds unnatural.
There is no set amount of words for each keyword, but there is an average amount of words per sentence.
Create structured content
A content strategy that helps your SEO is to create structured content that focuses on user experience. By including your keywords in a natural way, you will improve your search engine ranking.
Google rewards sites with high-quality content by giving them a higher search rank. High-quality content is content that is well-researched, well-written, and engaging.
By focusing on the user experience, you are making your content appealing to search engines and humans. Structured content includes lists, definitions, examples, and bullet points. These make it easy for a reader to navigate and understand what they are reading.
Using structured content also makes it easy to link back to other pages or external sources. This helps with linking strategy maintenance and increases the variety of links pointing back to your site.
Optimize your images for SEO
Images can play a big role in your content, so making sure they are SEO-friendly is a must. Once you have created your image, you can run some tests to see if it is optimized for search.
The first test is to see if you can find your image in a search. To do this, upload your image to an image search engine like TinEye and then search for your picture with the keywords you used to title and caption it. If it comes up, then you passed!
The second test is to see if your image has appropriate metadata associated with it. This includes things like what file format the image is in, what software was used to create it, and when it was created. We can add all of this information through either a special app or software or by editing the file itself.
The last test is to make sure that your image is not too large of a size. An optimal size depends on the image that you have, but being aware of how much space that takes up is important.
Include long-tail keywords
Including keywords in your content doesn’t mean stuffing your sentences with endless synonyms and derivatives. Instead, try adding a few long-tail keywords to your sentences.
If your article is about how to make salad recipes, for example, include some ingredients that go into the recipes and the order in which we put them together. You can also answer common questions that relate to making salad recipes. These questions are part of the long tail keyword strategies.
This way, anyone who searches for salad recipes will find your content, as they will get all the information that they need.
Your content should also be rich in descriptive words and phrases that describe what action is being taken or what is being described. This adds more value to your content and makes it more appealing to search engines.
Link to relevant content
Linking to other content is a great way to create engaging content. By linking to other websites, blogs, YouTube channels, etc., you are giving credit to the source of your content and expanding your audience.
By linking to other sources, search engines can pick up on those links and rank your website higher in search results for related searches.
By linking to other sources, readers can find new websites or blogs they may enjoy and subscribe to or visit your site via the links you provide.
By linking to other sources, you are helping make the world of content a little bigger– you are promoting collaboration and sharing, which benefits everyone.
Use Schema markup
Another way to help with SEO is to use schema markup. This is specifically for Google searches, so using it will also help with Google searches.
Schema markup uses unique tags to describe the content on your page. These tags describe the page type, name, author, and more.
They also describe the content itself, like whether it’s a restaurant or hotel, its location, price range, and other details.
Using these tags can help your page appear in search results and make it more organized and informative.
If you want to learn more about how to use schema markup, then just visit schema.org and start reading about all the different types! Some are easy to implement so you can start right away.
Get the right HTML structure
Now that you have written your content, it is time to organize it. You want to make sure your content is easy to read and follow.
To do this, you will need to use HTML tags to give your content structure. The most common tags used are b, i, ul, ol, li, and br. These are very simple tags that can make a big difference in the readability of your content!
The b tag is for bold text, the i tag is for italicized text, the ul and ol tags are for lists, the li tag is for paragraph breaks, and the br tag is for line breaks.
Putting these tags in the right places will organize your content and make it easier to read.
Why is having duplicate content an issue for SEO?
Duplicate content can be a major issue for SEO as it can lead to a decrease in organic search engine rankings. Search engines view duplicate content as a sign of low-quality and unoriginal content, which can have a negative impact on website traffic.
Search engines may penalize websites that contain duplicate content by decreasing their rankings or even removing them from the index entirely. By ensuring that all the website’s content is original and unique, businesses can ensure that they are maximizing their SEO potential.
