Don’t Let Your SEO Campaign Move Forward without These 3 Keys to Great Content

Updated algorithms on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo have made SEO more complex and complicated than ever. Add to that key influences on SEO algorithms like site structure, site speed, whether a site is mobile optimized, and the quality of one’s content marketing, and you have a varied web of things that can play a role in where you rank.

A lot of marketers and brands get caught up on the details, leaving behind general SEO basics. Unfortunately, it’s usually the basics that will sink you or sabotage a campaign. If you’re missing even one of the basics, this can have a negative draw on your search engine optimization. Needless to say, these are 3 things you’ve absolutely got to get right. No excuses!

High quality, engaging, and unique content.

Content makes or breaks a campaign. If it’s all paint-by-numbers, low quality, and stuff others have written about, you’re not in good company. Some general tips to creating effective SEO content marketing is to write for the people and not for search engines, to write long and meaningful articles, and to forget about keyword density. Remember, you are competing for clicks. Build content that is comprehensive, that takes a different spin on a subject, that fills in content gaps others have forgotten about, or on content formats that aren’t widely explored.

Using a comprehensive sitemap.

Search engine crawl bots are searching your site to index the content. If you want to get everything indexed, build a sitemap. Sitemap websites get crawled up to 5 times faster. All a sitemap is is an outline of what pages are available on the site and essentially indicates to crawlers where to go. It’s simple but it really gets an excellent result when it comes to SEO. While creating a sitemap, ensure there isn’t any duplicate content. Search engines won’t know which one is original and it can be detrimental to your SEO rank. Keep track of your information and don’t create any unnecessary pages that don’t need to be there.

Writing jaw-droppingly excellent headlines!

Headlines count for a lot. Consumers oftentimes decide the worth of a piece based strictly on headlines. Beyond the wit, humor, and/or style expected, you also want to put in keywords. You will also not want to publish any article without a headline. Another rule – don’t write a headline that’s short or too long. The most compelling headlines are those that are creative, catchy, and which touch upon your keyword in just the right way. Here are some general headline-writing guidelines for SEO-friendly content marketing.

 A headline starting with a number is the most effective headline writing strategy for consumer preferences.
 ‘Reader addressing’ headlines, such as ‘What You Need to know About…’ are extremely persuasive.
 How-to headlines are instructional, informational, and direct. For users searching for straightforward information, these are a winner.
 Questions in your headline are an effective way to address common questions about your brand, products, services, or trends ongoing in your industry.

SEO’s always evolving. These 3 basic elements haven’t changed, despite the many algorithm updates. If you want to outrank the competition, make sure these 3 things are in place. Missing any of these will have an effect. Join us today for more details!