In the fickle world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) the only thing you can expect is that change is inevitable.
Google changes its search ranking algorithm on a fairly regular basis. And if you’re not paying attention, these changes can have a whole host of repercussions. When it comes to ranking and SEO, you’ve probably heard the phrase “Content is king” over and over again. Many of us thought content would always hold the seat on the throne of SEO.
But gone are the days when your internet marketing specialist should be advising you that content is the most important piece of your digital marketing strategy.
Don’t get us wrong here. It’s still essential to be creating valuable content that addresses pain points your target market is experiencing. Google places an extremely high value on fresh content when evaluating your website and page ranking.
However, on its own, fresh content in the form of a blog post is not as powerful as it used to be in the world of SEO.
Neil Patel is one of the best in the biz when it comes to internet marketing and website ranking on search engines. On his blog, he discusses the problem with focusing too much effort on content, without a strategy to get that content to the masses and direct them to key pages on your site.
So why doesn’t content marketing work as well as it used to? Here’s what Neil has to say:
“Because there are so many blogs, you have tons of competition. Whatever you are thinking of blogging about, the chances are there is already someone (or tons of people!) already blogging about it. Seriously!”
If writing amazing content alone won’t drive the kind of traffic you’d like to see to your site, then what will?
At New Wine Digital we suggest a 3-pronged content marketing strategy:
1. Know Your Market and Create Amazing Content
Take the time to create fascinating and fresh content that thoroughly answers your target market’s questions, or solves a problem in a unique way.
The key is to produce something original and captivating, instead of repeating the same boring thing everyone else is already writing on a particular subject. Tell a story; Include an interview with an expert; or weave in current statistics and news articles on the subject.
2. Use Crafted Long-Tail Keywords
As you create this content, tastefully incorporate well-researched long-tail keywords and phrases to make it search-engine friendly.
In the past, a blog could rank on page one by simply stuffing the post and metadata with certain keywords. But readers have grown more sophisticated these days and can tell when they are being used for SEO purposes. And Google has a keen eye for this as well; they will penalize you if they sense you’re trying to take advantage of the system.
3. Develop a Killer Link-Building Strategy
While you’re creating this fresh and unique content, think of websites that might be interested in linking to the posts you’re writing. The more specific the subject matter and keywords, the more specific you’ll find your linking websites will be. But that’s ok, because they will likely be motivated to link to your blog post since it answers questions their clients and customers have as well.
Why is this final step of a content marketing strategy so important?
Because search engines use links to discover new pages and to determine how well a page should rank in a search.
When search engines are deciding whether a page’s content is relevant, they look at the number of external links that point back to it (backlinks) and the quality of those websites. It’s why Wikipedia will regularly show up on page one of any search result. They have tons of links pointing back to them, as well as a high domain authority.
All of those links to your page are votes of confidence. The more votes you have and the stronger those votes are, the higher your page ranking.
Creating high-quality content and marketing it well undoubtedly takes more time. But if it’s done with a clear strategy from the get-go, in the end, it will pay off.
It’s never too late to up your content marketing game. Give us a call at New Wine Digital and let us help you craft a successful strategy that will change the way your business is seen.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (2/13/2019) Photo by Scarlet Ellis on Unsplash