What’s the secret for rank-boosting, traffic-driving SEO content? What’s the magic formula for delivering valuable information to your target audience? What makes SEO content actually work?
There are numerous articles and tip sheets out there to hack your way to better content, but the sad truth is simply this: good content is simply content that is good. It doesn’t have to be ground-breaking and it doesn’t have to bring instant enlightenment. Good SEO content simply needs to deliver information in a useful, search-engine-friendly way.
That’s it. And if you can create content that fits the following criteria, you’ll be well on your way to exactly that.
Rule #1: Good Content uses Good Grammar
There’s no time to worry about grammar, right? This is internet content, after all – who cares? Sadly, there’s too much content produced with little or no regard for the rules of basic English. The internet is not an English 101 class – but well written content makes for readable content. And readable content is the first step.
Think of it this way. If Google delivers three articles on a given subject, and the first one you click is a pile of misspelled words, broken sentences, random capitalizations, and all-around gibberish – well, you’re off to click the next result. And it almost doesn’t matter how good the information is. That article may have facts not mentioned elsewhere, and it may be perfectly keyword-optimized. But if it’s unreadable, it’ll never serve its purpose as a pillar of a content marketing campaign, or even as a reliable blog article.
Rule #2: Value-Added Content is Effective
People generally love information. At the same time, people generally hate getting the SAME information over and over again. So how do you craft content on a popular topic in a way that breaks out of the mold?
Find a way to add value. That could be as simple as presenting old information in a new, condensed form – say, a list of five rules! Or it could be something more enlightening – a quote from an industry leader, fresh analysis or statistical insights, etc.
Adding value doesn’t have to be complicated. The goal is simply to have the reader feel like they actually learned something. If your content adds value to the reader’s life, even in a small way, then it has been effective.
Rule #3: Effective Content is Research-Driven
It’s hard to add value without research. You’ll need research to find the new statistical insights and to identify the right industry leaders to interview. You’ll even need basic research to learn what’s out there on your topic already.
The vast majority of what passes for “SEO content” fails on this point. It isn’t research-oriented, and if it is, it’s the research of five minutes on Google. That won’t add value. The deeper the research, the more effective the content can be.
Rule #4: Keywords Don’t Determine Effectiveness
Ok, we can modify this slightly: keywords aren’t the only thing that determines effectiveness. Yes, a good piece of content needs keywords. It probably even needs some good keyword optimization. But keywords are only a part of the overall process, and arguably not even an important part.
Content that writes from keywords only runs the risk of sounding fake, forced, and completely unnatural. People want to read content that sounds natural, content that has that “real-person” sound to it.
To make it even simpler – to create effective content, write first; optimize later.
Rule #5: Naturally Effective Content
Natural content is effective. Content that sounds natural, flows smoothly from point to point, and is written in correct, basic English will be more effective than awkwardly-worded, complicated content. Don’t get caught up in the algorithm trap and produce content that’s stuffed to the gills with random keywords. At the same time, don’t write a research paper – no one will read it!
This concept also applies to subject matter. In your quest for SEO perfection, don’t chase topics with little connection to the rest of your site. You want content that makes sense, content that will rank well but also (hopefully!) lead the reader to explore more.
So how do you achieve effective content that follows these rules? Three easy steps:
Plan in advance. Don’t leave your content marketing to be developed week-by-week. Learn how much content you need for your site. Do you need ongoing blog articles or a content campaign with an evergreen resource? Is your subject technical or general? What’s your audience? The more you plan out your content, the more you’ll be able to determine what will make your content effective. Don’t go in blind – know what your content needs to do before you write it!
Write naturally. No keyword-stuffing, no random topics shoehorned into the article to boost visibility. Make sure your content is good-quality English, that it makes sense, and that nearly anyone can read it.
Read your content. Don’t publish something you haven’t read through. If you create a piece of content that’s not worth your time to read, why should anyone else read it? Chances are, you’ve failed the value-added test. This is also the stage where you should optimize your content – work in the keywords that fit with the topic, be sure there’s not too much or too little content, and don’t over-optimize.
There are fifty other steps that could go here. Stick to these five rules and follow the steps, and you’ll be well on your way to content that Google will rank – and that people will read.