Search engine optimisation or SEO is the process of optimising a website so that people can easily find it via a search engine like Google. SEO strategies look at how content, which is any accessible information available on the website, can be made use of in order to make a website more accessible to users. This is why SEO content, which is created with the goal of attracting search engine traffic, is of importance.
Optimisation
One of the key ways of optimising a website is through keyword research. When creating SEO content, one of the first things to do is keyword research. This will give you an idea about the type of content people are looking for based on the search volume for certain keywords. You can then write on topics that people are already searching for.
Once you know what keywords you must use, you have to decide on how and where to use these keywords in your content. This is done with the objective of maximum searchability and is known as keyword optimisation.
Search engine optimisation also requires that the content on the website is organised in a logical way and this can also help visitors easily find related content on your website. Content promotion is where visibility of new content is increased by sharing the content on social networks. Link-building, both internally and from external sites, is also part of content promotion.
Thin Content
Looking at the importance of keywords in SEO, it may seem like content need not be of any value as long as it contains the relevant keywords. This type of content is called thin content, which can be described as content developed only for getting search engine traffic, ranks, and clicks.
The outcomes of thin content are quick rankings, clicks, high traffic, getting penalised by the search engine, high bounce rates, and low conversion rates.
This is why it is important that SEO content is developed with the above ways of optimisation in mind but also in a way that gives value and offers information to the reader. In fact, thin content can do more harm than good to your page rankings.
Types of SEO Content
When using content for search engine optimisation, there are different types of SEO content that can be developed.
Product pages are vital to e-commerce website and a well-developed product page acts as both SEO content and a pay-per-click (PPC) landing page.
If you want to create a regular flow of effective SEO content, blog posts are the ideal type of SEO content. Blog posts are engaging and, since blogs are flexible, you can host most types of SEO content on blogs.
Compared to product pages, blog posts are more likely to attract links and are thus a great way to increase the authority of your website.
Articles are the news reports, interviews, or features you find in newspaper or magazine-style websites and are another type of SEO content. Lists are also a kind of article but is made easier to scan because they are framed as a list. Usually, the titles are more clickable when they appear on social media feeds or search engine results.
Guides are longer pieces of content and explain, in detail, how to do something. Guides are sometimes broken into multiple web pages, but it is better to have the content on a single page. Some websites, in order to generate leads, only publish a summary or excerpt of the guide on their website. If a user wishes to access the full content, they will be required to register on the site. This, however, may reduce the SEO traffic gained through the content.
Videos are another type of SEO content. It may be easier to rank higher for a competitive keyword by creating a video as there are fewer videos on the web than there is textual content. Video tutorials, for instance, can be used to show users how to use your products and you can include a transcript of the video for added optimisation.
Infographics are large-format images that contain data in the form of graphs or charts and can garner a lot of page views and links. However, with this type of SEO content, it is important to optimise the rest of the page as the infographic itself will be embedded as an image and not text.
Slideshows are another type of SEO content that many make use of and they display a series of related images.