The Essentials of SEO and Building an Effective Content Strategy
All internet users know how search engines work. You type your question or topic into the search bar and hit enter. Then, you are suddenly greeted by thousands of results that are relevant to your search. But what goes behind that “hitting enter” may be a bit more complicated to grasp. And it is necessary to master for creating an SEO content strategy that ensures your website does not go unnoticed.
Let us take it one step at a time. Search engines choose to show specific results according to search engine optimisation (SEO), meaning how effective they consider those websites for that specific search. What is SEO, then? It is a method of improving your content according to what search engines consider important. This can ensure they rank higher (appear first) than other websites that target the same search terms.
While understanding what is SEO seems clear enough, developing an optimised content strategy is key for that understanding to work in your favour. An SEO Content Strategy will help you stay on track when developing new content to attract organic traffic. By focusing on keyword research, search trends and analytics, you will make sure you are creating the right content. The type that people are searching for instead of just following a “gut feeling.”
What Are the 3 Types of SEO?
When it comes to optimising your website for search engines, developing an SEO content strategy is simply one of the things you can do to improve how you rank.
While this blog will focus mostly on what is known as “on-page SEO,” there are different types of search engine optimisation you can leverage to make sure your website appears on top of your competitors:
On-Page SEO
This is what people usually think about when talking about SEO. This type of SEO strategy focuses on improving the actual content (text) of the website to better rank for specific keywords. Tricks include performing and applying keyword research, improving meta descriptions, using H1, H2, H3 tags, etc.
Off-Page SEO
It focuses on the amount and the quality of the links that direct your website from other sites on the internet. You can boost your off-page SEO results through link building, as the number of backlinks a site has from reputable sources will help you build trust with search algorithms.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO steers away from what users see of your site and focuses on your website’s backend architecture, meaning how your website is coded and built. Your technical setup affects how search engines “read” your site, in turn affecting your SEO results.
There are multiple plugins, applications, etc. to help you with the different aspects of optimisation. Learn more about the best tools to audit and monitor your website.
#OptimationalTip: In short, On-page SEO focuses on keywords and content quality. Off-page SEO focuses on link-building and technical SEO, on your website’s backend architecture. Working on all aspects is what will make you rank higher than your competition.
SEO Content Strategy: Writing SEO Optimised Content
In terms of on-page SEO, creating an SEO content strategy is comprised of three main steps:
- Researching keywords. To understand how your users refer to your topic and what they are searching for.
- Choosing the top-ranking keywords. Look for a mix of short and long-tailed keywords that are relevant to your topic.
- Writing content using those keywords across every essential element. From the URL, meta description, titles, to the text body. However, always look for that right balance between using them and creating a useful, readable text.
SEO copywriting, then, is a special form of writing that helps target your customers and solve their problems with well-crafted content, while also helping search engines understand the content to rank it higher in search results for relevant searches.
#OptimationalTip: If you want to go global, your content translation is a fundamental step in your strategy. To do it correctly, learn more about multilingual SEO.
Highlights for Writing Quality Content Effectively
To properly develop an SEO content strategy, organisation is key.
Keep in mind that the actual writing will not be your focus at the beginning. Instead, prepare to do some heavy research into topics, search intents, and keywords long before actually starting to create your content.
Making a list of topics will be your first stop, to get a clear view of the materials you have to work with. Also, include a list of long-tail keywords based on these topics. Such keyword research will help you understand the users’ mindsets when it comes to looking for your topics.
It may be that you want to write a super niche blog on a specific topic. But that most people look for more general content in regards to it. If that is the case, consider writing a second piece of content that addresses that search intent. Not only will you be catering to a wider audience, but it will give you an idea for a second text. And, at the same time, allow you to link between both articles.
#OptimationalTip: A strong SEO content strategy will focus on creating compelling and valuable content. The kind that people will find useful enough to stay on your page and share on social media. And at the same time, that targets specific keywords.
Do you want to know which are the current trends? Read about the latest SEO worldwide tendencies.
Multilingual SEO Content Strategy
If you are looking to translate your SEO content to another language, do not forget to consider SEO research and implementation as part of the process. Keeping in mind your SEO content strategy when adapting your material to a new language will ensure your website has a good chance of reaching the new market you are attempting to tap into.
To do this, reaching out to the right language specialist can make all the difference. If you are interested in developing your content in a new language, reach out to us so that we can help.
