Having high-quality content on your website matters — it attracts readers who turn into customers, and it appeals to search engines, which increases your rankings. But what kinds of content help your website?
Overall, your content will be helpful if it serves the needs of two different audiences: potential customers and search engines. Keep reading to learn what types of content these two groups are looking for.
Does Your Content Help Readers Find What They Need?
Overall, high-quality content will be detailed and information-rich instead of fluffy or sparse. The following are specific types of information that readers will need if you want to make them customers.
About Your Products and Services
If readers found your website through a Google search, then they likely want your products or services — they just need to know if you can solve their problems.
Be specific about what your products or services do and how they will benefit the people who use them. The more details you can give readers about your products and services, the more they will trust that you are who they’re looking for.
About Your Company
After readers learn about your products or services, they need to know if they can trust your company. Give readers information about your company, like your history and what makes you stand out in your field.
If you can make a personal connection with your readers, they are more likely to trust you and what you offer. While long anecdotes will not help your website, a brief origin story on your About Us page will: include why your company started, what challenges you’ve overcome, and what makes you tick.
Readers will also need some practical information, such as where you’re located, your contact information, and what areas you serve. Make these details easy to find.
About What to Do Next
Once readers know that they want your products or services and that you’re the right company, they need to know how to get started. Include calls to action that help readers know what to do next. If you want potential customers to call you to set an appointment, tell them to do how and how. If you want them to make a purchase online, tell them and include the link.
If you have any special offers, like a free quote or a deal for first-time customers, this is the time to tell readers as well to give them an extra nudge.
Does Your Content Appeal to Search Engines?
Search engines want to find content that will ultimately satisfy readers, so they will prioritize sites with the kind of information-rich content discussed above. On top of that, they will also look for the following attributes.
Original Content
If your website has content that’s duplicated elsewhere, it could impact your rankings. Search engines see duplicate content as an indicator that a website is spammy, so they will prioritize other pages that have original content over the page with duplicate content.
Most duplicate content is unintended, such as using boilerplate text on multiple pages of your website. Google is smart enough to know that this type of content isn’t malicious, so it shouldn’t impact your rankings, but you’re still better off making each page as unique as possible.
More rarely, sometimes unethical businesses will steal content from high-quality sites. If your rankings have taken a dip, try running a search on your content to make sure no one has copied it, and if they have, replace those sections.
Keyword Presence
Keyword strategy is complex enough that it deserves careful attention on its own. For now, we’ll stick to the basics: search engines look for keywords to know which websites are relevant to a reader’s search. Once you’ve chosen your keywords, you need to include them in your content enough times for Google to know your page is relevant without looking spammy.
For most pages, this translates to using a keyword two or three times in your content, though this isn’t a strict rule. Make sure to also include your keyword in your page’s title and in its meta description.
New Content
If your website never changes, search engines won’t trust it as much. However, if you periodically update or add to your site, Google will know that you’re involved, which makes your website more trusted and relevant.
This doesn’t mean you constantly have to redo your website. If you maintain a corporate blog that you periodically post on, you’ll show Google you’re still engaged. Plus, you’ll give readers helpful, interesting information that builds your authority at the same time.
When creating content for your website, focus on giving readers and search engines relevant, detailed information. Your business will be better off for it.
For help finding the right online marketing agency that meets your needs, contact Grow Team. We’re ready to help you.