When you hire a search engine optimization (SEO) provider, what you may not realize is that there are actually two types of optimization techniques, Technical SEO and Content SEO. I have a helpful article on Technical SEO here on the Pacific iWorks blog, but to make it simple, Technical SEO has to do with the actual programming (normally upon initial creation) of your site and Content SEO has to do with the constant upkeep and expansion of the site over time.
Most business owners are looking for an inexpensive and quick fix to their SEO issues, so they hire the first SEO company who “guarantees” that they can put it onto the first page of Google through technical tricks. In other words, most SEO providers use Technical SEO which in actuality only makes up about 10% of what increases your search rankings. 90% is related to Content SEO. I am sorry, but no one can guarantee results using quick and easy coding tricks.
Content SEO is really a matter of writing great content for your site. This is an incredible amount of work and takes dedication, patience, and discipline to see results unfold over time.
Long-term content strategy
In my article “Take The First Steps In Attaining Search Engine Optimization Results”, I outlined a strategy of laying out relevant keywords that will help you target specific customers in search. Now is the time to get that list back out and start to create great content for your site. The keywords are your topics. Start by re-writing the copy of your site pages to be more impactful in targeting keywords.
For the long term, you really need to expand the site. Search engines reward sites that are actively changing over time, adding content or modifying existing copy. The best way to do this is to add a blog and begin writing articles covering different topics, in the process unlocking content around your keywords. Articles should be well researched and be primarily designed to add value by answering customer’s questions and fulfilling their needs.
But what should I write about?
It’s all in the keywords, but there are many things you can do to get ideas. When I am looking for ideas on what to write about, I always start by reading other blogs. I read hundreds of technology and economics related blogs every week to give me a sense of what is trending right now. As this is the fourth part in my SEO series, you can tell that I also tend to break down subjects into multiple articles. A single keyword phrase, “search engine optimization” gave me four articles on content to write with more coming; so the idea was planted, and it was just a matter of doing the research and spending the time to write it out.
The best source of ideas is your customers. Answer their questions. Ask your sales staff or your front line customer support staff to give you an idea of what your customers are looking for. Google your industry and see what other companies like yours is writing about. If those companies are not direct competitors, you may even make deals with them to link between your articles, increasing inbound links.
Create a long term editorial content calendar
I try to pre-map out all of my major topics 6 months in advance. If I am writing one blog post per week, that means I have all of my topics laid out for the next 24 articles. This helps to keep you focused on where you are going, how you are targeting your keywords, and helps with the long-term research necessary to generate this much new content.
You need to post to social media
It’s easy to talk about using social media as a tool to drive business to your site, and as an SEO strategy, its invaluable, but what exactly are you posting onto social media? If you are constantly generating new content, you already have your answer. Remember, anything you can do to get inbound links to your site is going to help you achieve higher search rankings. Posting your articles to social media increases the likelihood that other site owners will see your content and link to you.
Work on link building
Inbound links, or other sites linking to your site, is arguably the most important aspect of SEO. This is why content SEO is so important, because you need to give other sites something to link to. They are not just going to link to your home page because they are nice (unless you pay them). They are going to link to your new article that you just posted because they feel the content of that article provides value to their customers.
Once you have content to share, approach relevant sites about using your content and allowing you to link back to your site. Sites should be relevant to your business. For example, a restaurant that posts recipes could approach a food blog about reposting those recipes.
You can also try submitting your content to web directories, such as Yahoo. Very importantly though, search engines are aware of games that are used to trick algorithms into higher rankings through the use of link farms, so make sure the site you are using is a legitimate site.
Pacific iWorks specializes in content creation. Think about the following types of content created for your site:
- Blog articles on your chosen topics.
- Beautifully crafted charts, graphs, and infographics.
- Videos to showcase your product or service.
- Professional photographs designed to showcase your brand.
