Content – the foundation of search

Just like a bricks and mortar shop you need to build a website on good foundations. There are numerous frameworks that allow website owners to maintain and add content. These are called Content Management Systems (CMS) such as WordPress. The beauty of a CMS website is that it allows the user to easily update content especially blogs.

Hubspot says that: “Text will always be the foundation of search so making sure the text around your website’s assets is descriptive will help them rank well in search.”

In a nutshell, this means that the content you add to your website is a key element in generating leads via search engines. This is because if you have relevant content in relation to what someone types into search to find you’re making the search engines job in finding your business and returning you in the results page a lot easier. With this in mind, here’s some tips to consider to help improve the content on your website for search engine optimisation (SEO).

Great content

To get your message across to your target audience, and Google, keep content relevant and to the point. This is essential to help you be found in search engine results pages and it helps to position you as a thought leader in your field of expertise.

Potential clients and search engines need to see you as an expert. This is where a blog helps as you can add fresh content regularly. Your blog should have tips and advice that answer your target audience’s pain points and issues.

If you are writing the blog posts yourself and struggle to think of new content every week it’s worth noting that 51% of companies say that updating their old content has proven a great tactic for creating blogs (Source: SEMrush, 2019 via Hubspot).

There are more tips about writing engaging content in our recent blog which covers creating offers, developing case studies and topics of interest.

Keywords

When you embark on writing a blog or creating a new website it’s worth thinking about what you want to be found for in search. This will help define what is on your list of keywords or phrases to include in your content moving forward.

Working with a digital marketing agency or using a tool such as Semrush can help you identify the volume of searches associated with a particular keyword as well as its difficulty to get ranked for. This can help you hone the list of keywords further so that you have a good balance of words and phrases.

Understanding that 49% of users say they use Google to discover or find a new item or product, being found in search engine results pages should be a key part of your SEO strategy. (Source: Think with Google, 2019 via Hubspot )

A picture tells a great story

Don’t just think of content as the written word. Sometimes less on a webpage is more and breaking a page up with relevant images will help make the page easier to read, builds your brand and helps visitors get a feel for who you are.

Make sure your images are optimised for use on websites. You may need to resize them before you upload as large images can impact site speed. The first five seconds of page-load time is crucial as it can impact on conversion rates. Website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each additional second of load time (Source: Portent, 2019). Also remember to complete your image alt tag on the backend. This is good for SEO.

Can website visitors easily move from webpage to webpage?

Make sure your website menu is easy to read and navigate. Ideally a webpage should be no more than 2 clicks – preferably 1 click – from the homepage.

Create bold and clear call to actions with directional text so visitors know what to do. Make it easy for them. Add a call to action near the top of a blog as well as the end to help with engagement. Phrases to encourage action include:

  • Download our ebook
  • Book a meeting
  • Contact us for more information, email us on…
  • Get involved by registering at….
  • If you want to attend the networking session, contact…
  • Free website review

Internal links throughout content especially in blogs also helps guide visitors back to services and products where you mention them on the site.

Digital marketing Croydon

We are a Croydon based digital marketing agency offering SEO services including blog writing, keyword research, local SEO, Google Ad campaigns to help improve your online presence and visibility online as your SEO experts.