Nearly 90% of marketers continue to invest in content marketing plans. In addition, 57% of B2C marketers said that on-page SEO content development helped their businesses to stand out on Google. No doubt, content has the power to break sales records. But to achieve the benefits, your content must rank.
There are millions of articles, blogs, and web pages uploaded on the web every day. But not all of them have the potential to grab the top ten rank in the SERPs.
If you want really want to make a big splash with your digital marketing campaigns, it all starts with top-quality ranking content.
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Before you put fingers to keys and starting writing content, remember you must first search for the right keywords. Your core purpose for writing content is organic traffic and discovery.
Your website won't be discovered and you cannot get organic traffic without first doing keyword research.
Keywords the backbone of content marketing. Hence, while choosing a keyword, ensure that the content must have three to five targeted keywords.
Also, ensure that keyword is based on the customer search and targeting their question. If you are unsure about keyword research, take the help of the keyword explorer tools. If you're a beginner, then go with free keyword tools like;
These are among the best of the best SEO tools, and are either free or offer free trials. Any of them will make finding high volume and low competitive keywords much easier.
This way, you can hit the right keywords for your content.
The next step in writing Google-friendly content is analyzing search intent before selecting the actual keyword.
Search intent refers to the specific topic, question, or purpose that you have when you conduct a search on a search engine, like Google, Bing, Yahoo, or other online platforms. Basically, it is information that someone is looking for through their search query.
It's vital because if the content you've written doesn't match user search intent, it will not rank on SERPs (Search Engine Result Page).
In September 2023, Google released changes to the algorithm called the Helpful Content Update. It directly addresses 3 primary changes:
Therefore, the best way to write content for search engine optimization is to do quick research on Google with respective keywords to search intent.
What you'll find are common content patterns on SERPs, like,
When you find the patterns of the content ranking on page 1 of Google, you'll be able to write much better SEO content to gain coveted organic traffic.
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The first decision to make, and the most important piece of content you can write is your page title. It will set the tone for, not only what a person is searching for, but what content they can expect to read on the page when they click.
A website page title, also called a "title tag," or "meta title," is an HTML element that defines the title of a specific web page. It serves multiple important purposes in the context of web design, search engine optimization (SEO), and user experience.
Also, the page title is displayed on the search engine result page for a particular URL listing, so writing an eye-catching, keyword-based title is crucial to catch someone's attention.
Some valuable tips for writing the best SEO-optimized page title are as follows:
Remember that the ultimate goal of writing content is to rank your website on Google. Therefore, pay attention to the headings tags to emphasize important content.
Headings and subheadings provide the framework for the content. The hierarchical structure helps navigate pages easily. Here is the header tag structure for the article you are reading right now.
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Header tags, often referred to as HTML "header elements" or "header markup", are a set of HTML tags used to define the hierarchical structure of a web page's content. These tags are vital for organizing your page's content.
Header tags range from H1 to H6. You will often use H2s and H3s, but rarely will you go beyond an H4. In fact, the header tag above (in purple) is an H4.
They improve page accessibility, provide search engines with the critical information it needs to make sense of the page's content, and it clearly outlines the page for the person reading your content.
Here are some impactful tips that will help you write proper header tags.
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While writing SEO content to rank on Google, use different keyword variations of the same keyword instead of repeating the keyword.
Ideally, many ways are available to insert your keywords in different variations. The Google keyword research tool helps collect the keyword variations of the same keyword.
You can insert these keywords in your content organically. The thing about keyword variations is that you can maintain the keyword density without repetitions.
Let us take an example of the keyword to make it clear. Suppose the keyword is "On-page vs. Off-page Seo-which is the best?.
You can focus on single words like on-page vs. off-page SEO to create variations. For example:
Likewise, you can use different variations to insert keywords. The research intention is on-page vs. off-page. So you'll be able to target the user's search intentions, and your content will rank.
Writing content for the website is to deliver information to the users and provide solutions to their queries with your content.
Be sure you are writing in-depth content that helps readers build more trust in you. A website that appears trustworthy and offers in-depth content is likely to rank on Google faster than others.
Some essential tips for writing in-depth content:
Avoid writing content that is irrelevant and distracting from your main topic. Focus on the primary topic and your targeted keywords.
Basically, ensure that what you put on the page is in reference to the article as a whole. For instance, if you are writing an article about lowering your golf score, there is no need to discuss another sport you like, or even about the early days of golf.
Let's look at example in a bit more detail.
If your webpage is titled, "How To Lower Your Golf Score," you would select section headers (H2s) like Practice Makes Perfect, Invest in Better Equipment, Watch More Professional Golf, Do Golf-Centric Exercise Routines, and so on.
There would be no need to include information about golfing 100 years ago, or why you like football.
After you've chosen your page title, make note of your section headers and subheaders (H3s) and stay on topic.
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Once you have finished writing all your content, the next step is proofreading.
! Never update or publish content without proofreading.
It is essential because no matter how professional you are and how crisp content you write, some typos will still find their way into your content.
Proofreading also allows to detect lengthy or wordy sentences. You can paraphrase or reword content to enhance clarity and conciseness.
If you're dealing with a lot of content and need more time to proofread and make changes, you can leverage proofreading services from expert proofreaders like Wordvice. These services provide a fresh perspective, catch errors you might have overlooked, and suggest improvements to enhance the overall quality of your content.
There are many tools that exist that can take the guesswork out of it, and reduce the amount of time spent proofreading dramatically. I have used all of these tools at one time or another.
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Internal and external linking is a great way to improve your Google search ranking. However it is vital that you only choose to externally link to only credible websites.
Internal linking is when you link to other pages from your own website, while external linking in when you link to pages from another company's website. Here's a more detailed answer:
Internal Linking: This is all about connecting your own webpages. It's like creating a roadmap for your visitors to explore your site. For instance, in a blog about healthy eating, you might link to other related articles you've written or your product pages from your own site. Not only does it help users navigate better, but it also tells search engines how your site is structured, which can boost your SEO.
External Linking: This is when you link out to other websites that lend credibility to the overall content of your webpage. It's to give credit, cite sources, or provide more info to your readers. It can also enrich your readers' experience. While it doesn't directly impact your site's SEO, it shows that your content is well-researched and informative.
Lastly, do not forget to optimize the images and videos in your content. Here are some tips to optimize your visual content.
So, I hope you've enjoyed reading this complete content writing guide for ranking on search results pages. It is indispensable to write with an SEO-friendly state of mind, and keeping up-to-date with Google algorithm changes.
If you discovered new and valuable tips related to writing great content in this article, ensure to apply them in your digital marketing strategies, and you will surely find your website on page 1 of Google.
Anant Belekar is a virtual-friendly SEO analyst with multiple solutions for your business-related digital marketing, awesome content writing, white-collar international transactions with in-depth knowledge resulting in ranking the brands and businesses.
Your buddy is always active on various genuine social media marketing across the globe. Reach him through alkemitech9@gmail.com and LinkedIn.