The SEO industry has always been fast paced and fluid. Whether it is the changes to the algorithms affecting where a site ranks or new players in the search engine market changing the face of the industry, ever since there have been search engines, the industry has been in flux. Search engines in 2018 are very different beasts from those even of a couple of years ago, which makes it challenging for anyone working in the sector.
But one aspect of SEO that has remained constant is the importance of content. In the past, keywords and well-placed phrases were important features for your website. But in 2018, things have evolved somewhat. Here we take a look at the value of amazing web content and what it can do for your SEO.
Content is still king
The phrase ‘content is king’ is very familiar to anyone who has been even occasionally following the progress of SEO over the past few years. And the news in 2018 is that this cliché very much still holds true. In fact, Google itself still names content amongst the top two ranking factors for websites which shows just how much relevance it still has.
If you want your site to rank well on Google, you need to be investing time and energy into creating the best possible content. Having great content on your site creates a powerful loop. Users enjoy the content and spend more time on your website, which lowers bounce rate and improves other metrics, which Google take into account when ranking your site.
Build trust in your site
Having great content on your site is a great way to build trust in your company. You might be surprised at just how much your content affects the way that you are perceived. For example, it has been revealed that more than half of British people would not use a company that has poor grammar and spelling mistakes on its website.
Remember that your website is your shop window – it’s where you display your company to the world. If something as simple as spelling mistakes can put off customers, imagine what would happen if they are faced with badly written content that barely makes sense.
Earning links
Another important ranking factor in your website’s SEO is links. The term ‘link building’ has got a bad reputation, because many people assume that it implies black hat SEO techniques. Yes, it is still possible to buy in large quantities of low quality links. But this practice is frowned upon by Google and can lead to your site being penalised.
And yet, high quality links are still vital to your success. This is where link earing comes in. You can earn genuine and good quality links through creating fantastic content that sites actually want to link to (not just because they are paid to).
Audit for improved conversion rates
Google likes to see pages that are read for a significant amount of time, interacted with and converted on. This means that your conversion rate is an influencing factor in your SEO, as well as being vital to the success of your business. It makes sense, then, to ensure that your website is converting at the best possible rate.
To make this happen, the first important step is to perform a content audit. A content audit is full review of all the content on your site – this helps to understand which content is converting and which is not. You then have the opportunity to learn from your success stories, and create content that converts at a high rate.
The role of artificial intelligence
It is also worth remembering that artificial intelligence is an increasingly important factor in SEO. One of the ways that Google uses artificial intelligence is to analyse content and understand what makes something a genuine piece of great quality work. This shows that Google is increasing its ability to judge your website all the time.
Take this to indicate that you need to continue making the best quality content possible, and doing so will see the rewards as you will earn higher positions across the search engines.
