“Content is king” is the mantra repeated by content marketing experts for over a decade now. And still, there are problems with people understanding it. Let’s talk about the relationship between good content and SEO.
Update: Learn more about how SEO has moved to “GEO” Generative Engine Optimization. How OpenAI, Google, and others have changed the game with generative search results.
Google as a primary search engine has been trying to standardize the web for two decades now and is doing a pretty good job at it. Being a leading search engine, whose name is a synonym for search (Google it) they’ve been consistently updating their search algorithm to bring more value to its users and more relevant and engaging search results.
Google’s user interface is simple.
It is a search bar that returns ten relevant results which have the same, standardized style – title, link and description with the fixed length. To keep consistency in the result pages, they’ve made a list of influential factors which decide the ordering of these results. And around 80% of them revolve around website content – one that is published on your site, and one is content you’re promoting offsite, to engage users in visiting you.
And their recommendation is – the key to your website ranking is in providing your users with good quality content.
So, what’s the problem?
Why do people have trouble understanding this? They are getting too technical about it, thinking of content quality as the result of technical specifications for an excellent piece of content (such as length of a blog post or keyword placement.)
Writing a massive chunk of material such as a case study, well-researched news, technical guide or e-book doesn’t guarantee the content itself will be successful in resonating with your audience. It’s true that this type of material will help you rank better as there’s an increase in chance some author or publisher will use it as a reference thus giving you a natural backlink, but then again, does your topic have that much data to be put in this volume?
To help you understand, try imagining a blog for your website where you sell car tires. How much philosophy is there about changing a tire? Even if you present a sizeable step-by-step guide with images, videos, etc., how long can you be consistent? Eventually, you’ll’ run out of data and would have to recycle.
Some people argue that rich content can deter users from staying on your website, miss your message and increase bounce due to ever-decreasing attention span. With this in mind, they focus on generating a ton of content which is low in value and quality just for the sake of consistency in publishing. And this is another influential factor for SEO.
What does “Content is king” mean and what should you focus on?
You should always ask yourself this:
What value am I bringing to my users here? What question does this answer and what problem does it solve?
The key is in presenting content that brings value to your users and not to focus much on the technical aspects such as length or formatting. The content itself can be in any form – video, image, text or a combination. It needs to be interactive and to hold attention – it’s your door to connecting with your users on both personal and professional levels.
Want to learn more? Talk to a professional Content Monsta!
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