SEO Practices #3 - Why Robust Content is the Backbone of Your Site

Have you been following our blog for the past couple of months? If you have, we have an apology for you!

We’ve talked extensively about good SEO practices, how you should be infusing relevant keywords, how to rank on search engines, and attract search bots.

While we have briefly touched upon the significance of content, we should have probably started off with explaining in detail how it works - because that’s the backbone of your website.

We reiterate. Robust content is the cornerstone of a website, and it’s the foundation you must create before working on additional factors.

To Dispel a Common Misconception, Search Engines (Including Google) Are Not Advertising Platforms (?)

Most business owners trying to develop a digital presence and adopt good SEO practices focus on using Google, Bing, and other search engines as advertising platforms. That’s not entirely correct. You should view them as a database or a library with the most detailed information on the internet. When users type a keyword in their search bars, they’re looking for information. And, search engines, particularly Google bots are designed to pick up the most relevant websites on the internet and display them. That’s the key why Google is so popular. It has the latest and best information out there. In fact, the word, “search” and “Google” are used as synonyms. If you’ve ever noticed, most people don’t say, “search for it.” Instead, they say, “Google it.”

Your prime objective should be - providing valuable information that Google can display.

Coming Back to Content

Let’s take a close look at WordPress, the largest Content Management System in the internet. WordPress has 61.8% of the market share as compared to all other systems. More than 500 websites are created every day and 20 billion posts are viewed by people each month. The WP platform publishes content in more than 120 languages with users creating 70 million new posts per month. Pay careful attention to this number. It’s the most important statistic because it indicates how powerful your content needs to be if you want to compete.

When users ask a question - your page needs to provide the best and most informative response among millions of competing pages.

Quality and Not Quantity is Critical

From Google’s perspective? Success and growth depend on users’ trust. Your content needs to contribute to that trust by providing value. You could have hundreds of pages targeting different keywords. But, if the information is repetitive without providing any real value, that’s a downside for Google. You need to have a lot more than just an interesting title and a few lines of content talking about the topic in question.

Content can range from a couple of paragraphs with a maximum of 250 to 400 words. Or, you could go for long-form posts that have 2,500 or 3,000 words. The crucial element is just how much value it provides to the reader. Focus on having a lower number of pages packed with interesting facts that readers will want to save and share. As part of your SEO practices, use analytical tools to assess how much traffic each page is getting and how long viewers remain on the page before moving on.

Engaging Content - The Second Most Significant Factor

Google is increasingly giving higher weightage to websites providing a high-grade user experience. You’ll want your pages to engage the audience by providing direct answers to their questions. More than obvious answers, you’ll offer in-depth and comprehensive information that resolves queries without the need to move onto other websites.

As part of good SEO practices, develop pages that load quickly and have a clean design. Take care not to clutter the pages with too many aggressive advertising elements like multiple internal and external links. Have lots of white space with a user-friendly interface and easy navigability. As explained in earlier posts, internal links should enhance the user experience by directing readers to more information that they’re looking for. Images are good and infographics are awesome.

Shareable Content that Google Favors

When a page is shared by readers on their social media pages or simply forwarded to friends and family, that’s real success. More shares are an indication that readers like the pages and would like to tell other users about what they’ve read. But, more than the number of shares, you’ll also want the right kind of audience to develop an interest in your pages.

For instance, consumers who are most likely to find your products and services interesting. And, people who may want to share their experiences with a particular product they’ve used and liked. Then, you have influencers with followers who are keenly interested in their comments. You’ll also want to attract authoritative figures in your industry who might have something to say about the information that you’ve posted.

So, you see, the entire process of adopting effective SEO practices starts with great content. All other elements follow later, including keywords, formatting, meta descriptions, and attracting search bots. At Hyperlocal, we’re aware of the significance of exceptional content. And, that’s where we’ll start you off.

Isn’t that why you’re reading this page right now?