How to Write Content Optimised for SEO (Unexpected Answer)

In truth, you shouldn’t write content specifically ‘optimised’ for SEO. You should write content for your user. You should be aiming to provide the best possible answer to a search query, or group of queries. Your role is to serve the intent of the person who is searching for that answer or solution by providing high quality and as unique as possible information. Aim to solve the pain points of what your users are experiencing. 

This has been reinforced by Google many times over the years, whether via public algorithm updates, search conferences, or even Tweets. Never before has it been reinforced more than in August of 2022 when Google released the ‘Helpful Content Update‘, which aims to focus on “people-first content – to better reward content where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn’t meet a visitor’s expectations won’t perform as well.” Google has never been clearer to avoid creating content for search engines first. To read more about their long standing, and new guidelines and direction, feel free to read more here.

**UPDATE

Google has now also released an update to their Helpful Content Update, which is now rolling out with global impact as of the 5th of December. Google made small changes to its helpful content updates page, which included:

• Replaced text where it referenced “update” to “system”
• Added the line “It works globally across all languages” – this was expected as when initially rolled out it was mentioned that it would only affect English language initially
• Removed the paragraph where it says it is only for English languages – as per the point above
• Added “Periodically, we refine how the classifier detects unhelpful content. When we do this in a notable way, we share this as a “helpful content update” on our Google Search ranking updates page. After such an update finishes rolling out, and if the refined classifier sees that content has improved, then the unhelpful classification from our previous classifier may no longer apply”.

Read on below to find out how you can produce content for your website that not only falls in-line with Google’s Helpful Content ‘system’, but also works to improve your SEO performance.

 

How producing high quality content fits into an SEO strategy

There are 4 main pillars of SEO. These are: 

1. Strategy and research – where you take a look at deep data insights to get a better understanding of how best to reach your audience.
2. Technical SEO – how your website functions under the hood, and how it appears to users on search engine results pages.
3. Link building – offsite SEO strategies to establish you as an authority in the eyes of search engines.
4. Content – creating rich, informative content to capture greater audience share, and drive customers to your products and services.

In this article, we will focus on content optimisation – the process of ensuring that your content is created in such a way that it is more likely to be found by search engines. We’ll tell you how to get started on your own content strategy, give you some tips on creating content that performs, and give you the tools you need to understand whether or not your content is performing how it should.

Step 0 – Figuring out your goals

Before you get started on creating content, you need to understand your business goals.  What do you want to achieve with your content? Are you hoping to raise awareness of a product, or drive more sales? Do you want to generate more leads, or encourage people to subscribe to your newsletter?

Once you have a clear idea of what your goals are, it will be easier for you to create content that is tailored towards achieving those goals. If you’re unsure of how best to figure out what you want to achieve, get in touch.

 

Step 1 – Creating a content strategy

A content strategy is a plan that outlines how you will create and distribute content to reach the goals you have set for your website. The strategy should include what topics and clusters of keywords you want to focus on, which channels (such as social media, blogs, press releases etc) you’ll use to reach your audience, and any other details such as budgeting or deadlines.

If you aren’t sure who your target audience, or target customers are, i would encourage you to watch this quick video from Exposure Ninja, on How To Find Your Target Audience in 6 Questions.

The first step to creating an SEO-optimised content strategy is to do some keyword research. This will help you identify which topics and subjects your potential customers are searching for, and are the most relevant to your business or website. You can use several tools, such as Google Keyword Planner and SEMRush, to get started. Remember, you aren’t writing to rank for keywords. Keywords are there to provide a framework for the content you’ll produce. Try to think about the semantics behind the content you are writing. For example if you are writing a page of content about ‘Symptoms for dog anxiety’, you might want to think about how to provide depth to that topic, by also covering subtopics that users who are interested in the topic might also want to know, for example ‘Causes of dog anxiety’. 

Once you’ve identified the best topics for your content strategy (based on your research), start planning your content on a monthly basis. Adding content to your site every week, fortnight or month (with consistent velocity) is a good way to advise Google that you are relevant and engaged as a business. It helps contribute to your business acting like an authority in your field.

When planning out a content calendar, ask yourself these questions:

• What are my most important keyword groups and pages?
• What topics am I an expert in?
• What type of content can help me reach my target audience?
• Are there any seasonal topics I can focus on?

A solid content strategy put together by a content marketing consultant can last you an entire year. It pays to spend a bit of time and effort figuring out what your audience wants to read.

Step 2 – Content production

Once you have a plan for your content, it’s time to start writing. When crafting your copy, pay attention to the following:

1. Content depth: Make sure you’re covering the subtopics that fall under the main topic, to provide the user with depth of information on the topic. Remember, keyword research and help identify the semantic subtopics for your content.
2. Readability: Remember who your target audience is. Depending on this, think about what kind of language needs to be used. Use simple language that’s easy to read and understand, or if the target user is someone who is supposed to have pre-existing depth of knowledge on the topic, then feel free to use the type of jargon you might expect someone with experience on the topic to know. Break up sections using headings and subheadings to make it easier for readers to find the information they’re looking for.
3. Links: Linking out to other relevant content is a great way to keep people on your page longer and provide more value. Additionally, it helps search engines understand how your content connects with the rest of the web.
4. Quality: Make sure you’re providing quality content that’s both informative and engaging. Content should be well-written, accurate, and relevant to your target audience. Top quality content usually takes time to put together!
5. Use visual aid: Images, videos, infographics, tables etc. are all great ways to break up blocks of text and draw attention to important points. Don’t forget to use Alt tags for images, and experiment with video markup schema for any videos.
6. Write for your audience: Content should always be written with the reader in mind first and foremost.
7. Review. It’s always best to have someone else cast their eye over your work. They can check it for grammar, spelling, style, and tone of voice.

Always remember to write for the user. Your goal is to prove to Google that you are an authority on your topic, in your niche, Stuffing keywords into boring content will not achieve that, and will harm your SEO efforts.

Once you’ve written and reviewed your content, you can get to publishing. But don’t forget, for real success with SEO you’ll need to keep publishing fresh new content regularly, with consistent velocity.

Many business owners adopt a set-and-forget approach to their websites. Publishing content yourself can give you invaluable insight into how your website operates under the hood. Your Content Management System (CMS) is another tool for your business, just like a pair of scissors or a forklift. It makes sense for you to know how it works.

 

Step 3 – Spreading the word

Publishing is not the final endpoint for content production. Next, you need to make sure it is indexed by Google. You can encourage this by submitting your new article for indexing by Google Search Console, though this does not guarantee indexing. Ensuring your content is high quality, written by a human, and is not duplicated from other sites, there is a good chance it will be indexed eventually naturally. Internally linking to your new content from other places on your site can also be an encouraging factor.

Even if you do everything right, it can still take time for articles to gain traction and rank on Google. To help speed this process up, it’s important to promote your content. You need to get the word out and actively share your content with other websites and platforms (digital PR). Once your content has been indexed by Google, it should start to register more and more impressions over time, and eventually clicks should your article be enticing enough in the SERP.

Here are some ideas on how to spread your content around:

• Develop a digital PR link building strategy that gains quality backlinks to your articles and pages.
• Reach out to other influencers or websites in your niche and see if they are willing to partner with you, and link back to your content.
• Share your articles organically on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Google My Business is another way to promote your content if you are a local business.

Spreading your content doesn’t have to be expensive. However, you can also adopt a paid strategy to promote particular pieces. This involves boosting posts and ads on social media or setting up campaigns on Google Ads. This should be completely dependent on your goals from each particular piece of content.

 

Step 4 – Tracking results

A content strategy is not complete without evaluating the results of your efforts. Utilise tools such as Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Analytics (GA) to measure how well you are performing in terms of impressions, clicks, click through rate, bounce rates, time on page, time on site, conversions and more.

Google’s tools GSC and GA are important tools for analysing your website’s performance, and it can provide a wealth of data that you can use to optimise your content. In addition to tracking organic search traffic, Google Analytics allows you to measure the impact of social media engagement on your website’s rankings as well. It can also allow you to see which posts are driving the most traffic and making the biggest improvements to your leads. You can also see if any pages need a bit of love and attention. GSC is particularly useful for identifying gaps in your existing content that become obvious over time, which provides a platform for future growth.

By continually producing new, fresh, and relevant content,  you can keep your website up to date and maintain its position as an authority in your field. You should also remember to update existing content, as Google prefers regularly updated sites over those that do not get updated with fresh and new information.

Step 5 – Getting assistance

All of the above can seem like a lot to manage. For many, writing content with the goal of improving your SEO performance is a balancing act between quality and quantity (restrictions such as time, budget, research etc.), but it doesn’t have to be a daunting task. If you have to decide between one or the other, always choose quality.  If you’re struggling to maintain a regular velocity while retaining a high quality, look at getting help from an SEO consultant or content marketing agency, or a even a freelance content marketing specialist/copywriter with decent experience. 

They can use their expertise to make sure your website is hitting the right notes in-line with your audience and overall strategy. With the right guidance and some hard work, you can ensure your content pieces are optimised for success!

Choosing a content marketing specialist is all about finding the right fit for you and your business. Make sure to research the type of services they offer, as well as their experience in the industry. Check if they have experience in your specific niche, and take the time to read through any of their previous work. Taking these extra steps will help make sure that your business doesn’t churn and burn through a lot of copywriters, and ensures your content is reaching its maximum potential.

Now that you know how to write content optimised for SEO (just kidding… remember, you’re not writing with SEO in mind… if you didn’t think twice when starting this sentence, go back to the start of the article!). When it comes to content marketing, remember that the goal is to create high quality, relevant and interesting content, with your audience in mind. Make sure to tailor your content directly towards serving them first and foremost. Write for people, not for robots. Google doesn’t give you any money, but your customers will.