When meeting with clients, one word will make them shudder… content!
No one wants to deal with content. Yet, it’s one of the most important elements of any successful digital marketing strategy.
The biggest enemy of content is time. No one has the time to create great content. Or so they think.
But, I would argue that no company can afford to ignore content. Bottom line is that if you ignore content, you’ll have lots of time… because your leads will dry up.
Don’t take my word for it.
What Google Says
Google has been updating its algorithms (what determines ranking) since day one.
For example, we are now dealing with Panda 4.0, which was just announced this week. Panda 4.0 specifically deals with thin content.
Thin content is low quality content spread across a bunch of pages and/or posts offering little or no value to the user.
Google, on their blog, specifically says this about what it takes to have a “Google-friendly website“…
- Provide high-quality content on your pages, especially your homepage. This is the single most important thing to do.
- If your pages contain useful information, their content will attract many visitors and entice webmasters to link to your site.
- In creating a helpful, information-rich site, write pages that clearly and accurately describe your topic.
- Think about the words users would type to find your pages and include those words on your site.
Unfortunately, too many businesses focus solely on number 4. This is generally because they’ve read that their content has to be loaded with keywords or an SEO firm told them to do so.
It doesn’t need to be “loaded” with keywords.
In fact, each page should only contain a 2% keyword density. You don’t have to stuff your content with keywords. Google has specifically told you not to do this.
Panda 4.0 focuses on the quality not quantity of your content.
What is Quality Content?
Quality content is content that solves a problem or answers a question:
- Know your audience
- Know their questions
- Write content that provides them answers
Hummingbird, one of the most recent updates to Google’s algo engine, was focused mainly on user intent.
The SERPs (search engine results pages) are the heart of the Google search process. It’s where the user finds the answers to their questions… hopefully.
What Hummingbird did was better match the user intent with what appeared in the SERPs. This provided a better user experience which is a top priority for Google.
To match user intent, you need to know your user very well. Your users are your clients. Who knows your clients?
- Your sales team
- Customer services
- You!
Take some time to list out their needs in their language. Not sure what they are? Ask the people in the list above.
Better yet, ask your clients!
Quality content is two things:
- It’s accessible, meaning people can find it!
- It provides value, meaning people would thank you for it!
To be accessible means your clients are able to find your content via search. See how important it is to pay attention to what Google tells you?
To be of value means you know what your clients want and you give it to them.
What’s The Point of Providing Good Content?
Providing good content isn’t just about doing a good deed, although that can be part of it.
The point is your site gets found. When found, it provides value. Value builds trust.
People who trust you will do business with you!
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