WHEN IT COMES TO CONTENT YOUR MAIN GOAL IS BRINGING PEOPLE TO YOUR SITE, AMIRITE? ONCE YOU HAVE THEM IN YOUR (INTER)NET, YOU CAN GO IN FOR THE KILL. HOWEVER, IF YOUR CONTENT IS GOING TO CRUSH, IT NEEDS TO ADHERE TO A HANDFUL OF TECHNIQUES THAT WILL ULTIMATELY FORM PART OF YOUR SEO STRATEGY.

Search Engine Optimization is about pleasing the search engines. The search engines are constantly advancing though, so keeping up with their demands is a job all on its own. SEO-killing content is a huge part of that, and getting your content right relies on a few key elements. A little creativity, a little know-how, and a little bit of cunning.

Once upon a time, in a land not too distant from here, keywords were all the rage. To get the attention of Google, all you needed to do was cram your work with keywords. What Google realised, was this meant content was written and published simply to appease them.

With this realisation, Google adapted its algorithm to favour well-written, useful, and creative content. The basic principles remained the same, but the content needed to be better. The benefit should always be the user, and in recognising this, adjustments were made.

GIVING THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT

When people come to the internet and perform a search, they’re looking for answers. Your job is to provide them with those answers. Strong SEO pieces will serve up a hearty dish, full of what your target audience wants.

As well as providing answers, it needs to be well written. Rhythm and cadence were a writer’s friend long before the internet was a thing. The internet changed that, albeit momentarily. You don’t need to write poetry, but your work should have a good flow that entices the user to read on.

In creating content that is equally informative, intriguing, and interesting, you will please both users and algorithms. Goal numero uno, success.

CAN I CLICK IT? YES YOU CAN

Your headline is your bait. The juiciest worms land the biggest fish. Your headline needs impact. A common reason for a lack of clicks is a lazy headline. You have a limited number of characters to use, maximise your message.

The best way to do this is to think outside the box. Take this piece, for example, the goal is to convey how to write great SEO content that works. That could be a title, “How to Write Great SEO Content That Works”. It is very drab though, isn’t it? It needs excitement. A good technique is to use a thesaurus. Feed the words you find back into the thesaurus until you find some real nice buzzwords.

‘Write’ becomes ‘Create’ – ‘Great’ becomes ‘Killer’ -‘Works’ becomes ‘Crushes’

HOW TO CREATE KILLER SEO CONTENT THAT CRUSHES

What we also have in the reworked title is alliteration, “How to Create Killer SEO Content That Crushes”. This adds a little of that cadence we talked about earlier.

A LIGHT SPRINKLING OF KEYWORDS

As we mentioned, keyword salads used to be on everyone’s lunch menu. Google made them obsolete, and rightly so.

When you are creating content, you are already thinking about what your customers want. Planning content carefully means you can hit keywords naturally. Your keywords should really guide you towards what you’re writing.

Have a look at the top keywords and phrases, build a content strategy around them and you shouldn’t really need an abundance of keywords in your work. Well-planned content should see keywords appear organically throughout. When they do, you’re hitting the sweet spot because you are writing for the user but also giving Google a little tickle as you pass by.

MASTER THE META

Your meta titles and meta description are there to help people know what they’re getting into, before getting into it. The best titles and descriptions are restricted by characters, so careful planning is needed.

You’ve got a limit of around 155 characters in the description and the sweet spot is between 145-155. You need to get as much information about what lies beyond the click to entice them in. Take key points from the piece and build on them.

Your title also has a sweet spot, between 50 and 60 characters is where the money lies. Following the same format as your headline – punchy, grabby, clickable titles produce the best results.

The actual title here falls just short of the 50 characters, so the meta title might be: –

“Killer SEO content requires hitting keywords, enticing titles, and intriguing content, all whilst remaining readable. TIDAL’s top 7 SEO content tips follow.” – 155 characters on the nose. It’s in the green zone, doesn’t give too much away, and again, invites the click.

VISUAL STIMULANTS

The last of our top tips for SEO domination is including multimedia. Pictures, videos, and infographics should all play a part in your content. In this digital age, attention spans are shorter than ever before. Breaking up blocks of text with a visual stimulant helps keep a hold of that concentration.

They also boost shares, people love to share multimedia. Making engaging videos will certainly help.

Pro tip – Adding some social share buttons at the end of the content is always a good strategy.

LINK ME UP

Links to product pages, links to sources of information, links to your social media. These all please the algorithm, they also please the people. People like to pass time on the internet, give them hoops to jump through and they will. Cleverly constructed content will keep them confined in a carrousel of your creative commissions. (Ooh, there’s that rhythm and cadence he was harping on about).

OVERCOME AND ADAPT

Finally, keep tabs on your work. Check on the progress of your prose to see what performs. As the algorithm is constantly changing and learning, you should too. What works in one place, may not in another.

The only way to really overcome these hurdles is trial and error. All the information is at your fingertips, make sure you are using it to your advantage. Your metrics are your friend.

In summary, keep it simple, keep it relevant, keep it kind on the eyes and the mind and give a nod to Google as you go.

Speaking of Google, if you’d like to know more about writing Google Ads copy, be sure to check out our blog on just that, by clicking here.

WANT BETTER RESULTS?

LET’S TALK.

We put 'perform' in performance marketing agency.

Contact Us

INSIGHTS.

Give us your email and we'll do the same thing every other performance marketing agency does... never email you.