Too many search marketers fail to make best use of the greatest SEO tactic in the book – fresh, original content. The SEO Edition of MarketingSherpa’s 2012 Search Marketing Benchmark Report ranks content creation as the most effective SEO tool – bar none. It’s also one of the most difficult to implement correctly, as many webmasters are discovering to their cost in the aftermath of Google’s recent Panda and Penguin updates.
If you don’t generally give more than a passing thought to updating the content on your website, you probably don’t find yourself on the first page of SERPs that often either. You’re also in the minority – Search Engine Journal, commenting on a recent SEO infographic from Brafton, highlights just one statistic: “76 per cent of marketers who have strategic SEO campaigns in place invest in content creation.” You need to be there.
It’s worth spending a few minutes reminding yourself why content matters so much – then take a look at some great ways to become part of the 76 per cent.
Google, Bing and just about any other search engine company on the web will tell you over and over that they are trying to deliver the best possible user experience when presenting search results. Pundits around the globe have picked Google’s Panda updates to death, and Google’s own blog post on the topic poses more than 20 questions that define “high-quality” content.
Words like “authoritative,” original,” “insightful,” “comprehensive” and “valuable” appear frequently throughout Google’s post. SEO practitioners who haven’t got the message yet are just not looking or listening. So where do you start?
Start by developing a content marketing strategy. Simply throwing together a few articles or blog posts at random intervals – useful though they may be – is not enough. Sustainable, first-page rankings will only appear as the result of a coordinated SEO campaign, and regular content updates are essential elements of that.
Over the past decade, content has become far more than text-only web pages, and you need to decide what combination of media suits your business best. Blogs, white papers, case studies and news are all worthy of inclusion, and your plans may also include images, video, and product reviews if your site is product-focused. Whatever your priorities, construct a clear, documented structure for developing your content.
Once you know what you need to produce, focus on how you intend to develop it, and how often. Setting out your requirements in the form of an editorial calendar serves a number of purposes: firstly, it sets deadlines that drive you to take action; secondly, it allows you to develop a joined-up presentation sequence. Remember the user experience – finding content that meets visitor needs on a week-by-week basis is more likely to generate loyalty.
Don’t be unrealistic – a regular weekly blog post will serve you better in the long run that a daily piece that only appears twice a week – in a good week. Set out a schedule that you can and will achieve.
Now you have a series of deadlines and a list of articles, blog posts, videos and other material that form part of your overall SEO strategy. Give yourself a pat on the back. Next comes the difficult part – getting it written, recorded, created, designed or whatever. If you’re serious about this, take a deep breath and make a few critical decisions.
Most organizations don’t have the capability to create every piece of content in-house. That’s why so many well-intentioned plans come to nothing. You need to outsource this aspect of your work, and there are various ways to accomplish this. Most SEO practitioners agree that finding a professional, proven SEO partner is the best, although not the cheapest, way to go. This is one area where the time-worn adage “You get what you pay for” definitely holds true. Speaking from experience, not only with The SEO Agency but in past endeavors also, it is no question that if you want quality content, you have to spend money to make money.
Decisions taken, schedules agreed and partner selected – don’t make the mistake of using more than one SEO firm at once – you can relax and enjoy the benefits of a post-Panda, Penguin-proof push up the SERPs rankings. Just don’t get too comfortable – Google’s next update is sure to be just around the corner.
