Creating and publishing great content is one of the best ways to score points in the search engine optimization game. But what if you’re still hitting foul balls despite using the most obvious SEO techniques in your marketing campaigns? You might need to do more than just the basics to get the results you want.
Beyond using relevant keywords and releasing engaging content, there are additional strategies to try. This article will share four content tips that can help you step up your SEO game.
1. Cover Relevant Topics From Every Angle
To earn consumer trust and loyalty, it’s important to become an authority on industry topics. One way to achieve this goal is by creating topic clusters, which are groups of related topics on your site. A topic cluster usually consists of a pillar or cluster page and a collection of supporting pages. The pillar page and supporting pages should contain internal links that guide users to additional information on a given topic.
When used correctly, clusters can be effective because they guide users to multiple pages of your site. This can improve your search engine rank because it keeps visitors on your site longer. A topic cluster can also guide visitors on a content-driven journey that ends with a purchase, download, or other action.
To create a topic cluster, begin by selecting the topic for which you want to improve your rank. Next, select supporting topics to become your content clusters. Once you write the content for your clusters, link to them from your main topic page and vice versa. Conduct keyword research for help finding your main topic and related terms for your clusters.
2. Focus on Exceptional Visuals
Visuals are not only attention-grabbing, but they are often more effective at delivering information than verbal or written words alone. Three days after a conversation, most people only retain 10% of the information they heard. But three days after viewing a relevant image, people tend to retain up to 65% of the information they saw. Once you begin incorporating high-quality visuals in your SEO marketing strategy, the results should speak for themselves.
For the best results, it’s wise to use a variety of visuals in your SEO campaigns. Infographics, videos, images, and gifs are all good examples of effective visuals. New and emerging technology makes it easier for businesses to create high-quality videos and other visuals that boost engagement.
It’s wise to include visuals in your marketing campaigns. But they have one major drawback: Google doesn’t always understand them. That’s why you should always add optimized text adjacent to videos, podcasts, and infographics. This will also help viewers understand what they’re looking at while simultaneously boosting your page in search engine results.
3. Keep Visitors on Your Website Longer
In the content world, “pogo sticking” doesn’t refer to a fun childhood game. It’s something you want to avoid at all costs for the sake of your page rank. Pogo sticking happens when a search engine user clicks on your site, then quickly returns to their original search. Generally, people do this because your page failed to provide a satisfactory answer to their original search query.
Anytime someone pogosticks to and from your website, they’re telling the search engine, “I don’t like that result.” As a consequence, the search engine will likely downrank your page because it’s not making users happy.
To minimize pogo sticking, you need to keep users on your site longer. Keeping your page well-organized with subheadings and bullet points can help you achieve this goal. You should also be hyper-vigilant to make sure you’re using relevant keywords on your page. Using irrelevant keywords to attract more traffic will likely result in more pogo sticking and a lower site rank.
4. Update Old Content
If you have an old page that is no longer performing well, it’s a good idea to update it. This may seem like a simple step, but it can yield big results in your optimization efforts. It’s tragic to let old content suffer a slow death when you can easily breathe new life into it. All it takes is a few simple updates.
Updating old content includes refreshing and reorganizing it to make it more relevant and easier to follow. To begin, update your content to make sure it’s still relevant and targets the appropriate audience. Then reassess your keywords and make changes as needed to help you rank for the right terms. You should also make sure your content includes plenty of internal links and external links to authoritative sites.
When you update your content, don’t make the common mistake of changing the URL. Make sure you publish your updated content with the same URL as the old content. That way you won’t end up getting penalized by search engines for duplicate content issues.
Every business wants to knock its content strategy out of the park, but it takes skill and strategy to do so. If you’re already utilizing keyword strategy and other optimization basics, try expanding your horizons using the SEO strategies above. These lesser-known SEO content tips can help you gain a competitive advantage in the cutthroat world of online marketing.
