Our Guide to Search Engine Content
WELL, WHERE TO BEGIN...
Search engine content or SEO content, as it is also known, comes under a broad umbrella of terms related to search engine optimisation and something called content marketing as well.
'Cometh the age of the internet and cometh the strategists' - who are interested in taming the search engine algorithm, in their own search as part of a broad range of business goals, and often as a cog in the machine of an overarching SEO strategy.
As google, bing and the minnows or "alternative search engines" who occupy the search space, continue to evolve in their quest for more "helpful' search results , the way forward in terms of optimising for rankings has become super complicated.
There are more than 200 known factors that can play a part in search engine rankings - and by the time you work out the variables and total possible combinations involved - there's just a complete jumble of information to sift through, let alone target and implement.
Gone are the days of keyword focussed content, and in its place are a multitude of moving parts which can all count towards a comprehensive content marketing strategy.
From keyword research, to ultimately developing topical relevance in your chosen niche, the road between is paved with broken dreams to say the least.
To really understand what search engine optimization is, and how to build it up, we need to understand what happens when any web search engine is called upon - with a search query - to provide a desired result.
WHAT DO SEARCH ENGINES DO?
The modern search engine is truly a complicated beast, and this author makes no claim to any inside or overtly in-depth knowledge around google's algorithm, or any other major search engine for that matter.
What I can say, is that after embarking on my own quest for extra search traffic - and to drive potential customers to my website, I have learned a couple of interesting things.
It's all about the "search experience" as I have come to know.
That is, any popular search engine wants to now fulfil the every desire of its users, and that means answering the right questions correctly, and providing valuable information, from quality content, that has been imbued with expertise, authority and trust, or E-A-T as the abbreviation goes.
As any website owner will tell you, content is king, and any good SEO content marketing plan or general search for rankings, really should be founded upon a basis of excellent content, which offers an internet user with a range of information, suited to real people, and comes closely matched to their "search intent" as well.
This "intent", is something else which google et al try really hard to decipher and match, as someone googling 'tennis' for example, is not necessarily in the market for tennis lessons, or shoes - so the search engine results will do their best to obtain an intent from wording or other factors.
Now let's move on to the content itself...
CREATING OPTIMISED CONTENT FOR SEARCH ENGINES
Now while there are many things which can be considered a "ranking factor", great quality SEO copy and content remains right up there with the most critical elements.
Not only do you need to craft compelling content that will engage readers and nudge them along their own "buyers journey", the copy must also inform search engines as to your E-A-T in the area you are focussing on - your area of specialty.
Fortunately there a quite a few online tools today which can help take the hassle out of optimising for search results, although putting together a batch of great, readable content, should be the main goal.
Adjusting things like a meta description and title tag are also important, alongside the url and your actual domain name - however nothing will cover up the gaps in poorly put together content, and you'll be watching your rankings tank in no time at all.
The difference between straight copywriting services and SEO copy, is that the second has the ability to hide within it, like a trojan horse, all the things you need to display in order to improve your organic search ranking, while engaging readers on the face of it all, and with no one the wiser.
Except for you of course.
OUR WA SEO COPY AND CONTENT SERVICES
Located in beautiful Western Australia, West Coast Content is more than happy to offer some of these solutions to the right clients, who feel the burn, and want to work with us.
Check out our guide to SEO copy Vs Traditional writing styles for more info, or feel free to reach out anytime.
