How does your website stay alive? You need to feed it regularly.
The two holy grails of SEO and the Google search index are relevance and authority. Google will show websites with the most relevant content first when someone searches for information. This helps visitors find what they are looking for quickly and easily. That’s relevant.
The search engine will also determine if other websites and social media properties consider a website to be trustworthy. That’s authority. The importance of your website depends on how well your content answers basic questions like “what, why, how, who, when.” Other websites and blogs linking to your site also influence your credibility.
The first step towards being relevant is to determine what visitors are already searching for
The pillars of SEO
If it’s not relevant it’s not fresh. You need to write your content in such a way that your visitors will leave your page with a feeling of being informed and influenced towards a decision. This means that you need to move beyond just writing based on your good guesses.
Data is available to guide your content creation process.
The first step towards being relevant is to determine what visitors are already searching for. It does not have to be a hot trending news topic. Write for the search phrases that are currently generating traffic.
If you head over to Google right now and search for anything you will see the results page is now loaded with different types of results. You will see paid adverts, shopping results, news listings and much more depending on what you are searching for. The section you are looking for is the one labelled ‘Searches related to Keyword’. This is Google telling you what people are already looking for. That makes content topic selection easy.
Write content based on Google data. Your visitors are searching for those keywords and that’s how you can begin creating relevant content. There are a few more ways to research content topics and I will share them in future.
Building Authority
Word of mouth is still the most powerful way of adding credibility in any context. If someone you trust says it’s good, chances are that it is good. That’s how we’re wired. Building your website authority is based on this principle.
If more people are writing about you and your business, Google will begin to learn that you can be trusted. The big question? How do you get people to write about you? Before you head off and make requests for reviews, it is important to note that write-ups must contain a keyword that gets linked back to your website. That link is what builds your authority and the more you link back the more your authority will climb.
A great way for you to start your link-building venture is to have content written already and offer it to bloggers in your industry. Bloggers understand the value of content variety and usually jump at the opportunity to have well-written content published. Your social media accounts are invaluable in this regard. Look for and connect with startups and entrepreneurs. Offer reviews and testimonials in exchange for the same. Don’t forget to link back.
