How to Turbo-Charge Your Site’s Content to Maximize Search Engine Rankings
Modern search engines utilize complex algorithms to help determine where a site ranks on search engine results pages. These sophisticated algorithms consider hundreds of unique factors when determining where your pages fall in the final rack and stack. While it may not be realistic to tackle each of these factors, devoting time and attention to three key elements can help yield significant results.
Below, we’ll explore these three tactics and discuss how to incorporate them to boost search engine rankings and outperform the competition. These tactics are especially useful for startups on a shoestring budget.
1. Go Beyond High Search Volume Keywords
It is no great mystery that attracting users to your site’s pages calls for a thorough understanding and judicious use of the hottest keyword search trends. Previously, skillfully embedding these trending keywords in your content could drive your page’s ranking higher. Tools such as Google Analytics and other trend analysis and keyword researching sites like Wordtracker are great starting points, but how can you use them to fine-tune your strategy and catch up with modern practices?
In today’s overcrowded online marketplace, it is no longer enough to embed a keyword or two in your content. For example, let’s say your SMB focuses on delivering heating and air services in Houston, Texas. Drafting keyword strings for “air conditioning in Houston” will put your page in competition with hundreds of other local businesses. Go beyond this common practice by making wise use of long-tail keywords. Long-tail keyword strings are specific phrases highly tailored to your products and services.
In the example above, instead of “air conditioning service in Houston,” try “energy-efficient Houston HVAC systems,” or “affordable Houston heating and air repairs.” The point here is to dig deeper and set yourself apart from the pack by drilling down into specific phrases your target audience searches for routinely.
2. Focus on Content Relevance
Writing content just for the sake of populating your site’s pages with neatly formatted paragraphs, long-winded blogs and randomly generated articles isn’t necessarily a strategy for success. Search engines intentionally push these irrelevant pages to the dark recesses of the results pages where they are unlikely to see the light of day. Instead of focusing on generating volume, turn your focus on crafting relevant, actionable and authoritative written content.
Think of content relevance in terms of what your target audience is likely to read, share and like. Content outshines the competition and attracts users when it is:
- Smart
- Original
- Witty
- Actionable
- Entertaining
- Unique
- Reliable
3. Give Your Site’s Existing Content a Facelift
In addition to generating niche, long-tail keyword strings and focusing on relevance, landing higher on a search engine results page requires routine overhauls of your existing content. Pull up your homepage, a random article or even a blog on your website. Is the content you find there still as relevant, optimized and fresh as the day it was published? If not, it is ready for a refresh. Use the concepts outlined above concerning relevance and long-tail keywords to deliver a much-needed content facelift to climb higher in the rankings and set your startup on a path for future success.