In the slightly amended words of Forrest Gump, SEO and content go together like peas and carrots. Time and again, Google heavily hints that the key to strong rankings is to provide consumers with easily digestible and relevant content relating to your business.

As the old saying goes, if you want to hide a body, go to page 2 of Google.

If you feel a lot of pressure to hit the top SERPS then at least you’re not alone. Luckily, by following a few key pointers you can ensure your content is as SEO friendly as possible.

But what exactly is SEO-led content and how do you go about creating a content strategy that will give your website a digital leg up the rankings?

‘By creating and publishing remarkable content in the form that educates, informs, inspires and entertains, marketers can begin to build relationships with prospects early on in the buying cycle’. –Jonathon Lister

Become an influencing force for your audience

Let’s have a look at the following case study:

Refinery29 play a clever game by not overly pushing products in every post and just including them when relevant. This creates brand trust between the reader and the company and as many of the more commercially focused articles tend to answer a highly searched query (e.g. The best eye creams for soothing and hydrating sensitive skin) they are providing a useful resource to their audience. They balance these posts with current news and topics that are relevant to their reader demographic, e.g. house buying tips, political movements, and health advice to ensure they are the go-to destination for their readers.

Refinery29 no doubt keep a close eye on search queries and keywords popular amongst their audience demographic (young professional women around 20-35). They then create content to address these queries, with eye-catching headlines that stand out on social media and rank highly on Google. If the reader buys into the article and becomes a regular reader then they will feel confident purchasing recommended products mentioned in the content.

Avoid ‘thin content’

Google uses engagement statistics such as time on site and bounce rate to quantify how relevant the website is for the reader so it is important for content marketers to avoid producing ‘thin content’ that is stuffed with keywords but provides no real answers or depth, but really think about how best to satisfy a query and direct a consumer/reader to another page they may be interested in.

Our top tips for creating SEO content

  1. Do your keyword research before anything else! SEMRUSH is a brilliant tool to keep track of keywords and rankings.
  2. Since the release of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm update, it’s been more important than ever to determine your audience and their intent behind the search e.g. ‘Houses to buy in Brighton’ might indicate they will want to not only find a house to buy but also learn more about local amenities and crime rates, etc. in the area. In this case, you could also create content about the query, ‘What is it like to live in Brighton?’. It’s also important to note how they are searching, eg. on a mobile, desktop, certain browser.
  3. Ensure your content is not only mobile-friendly but mobile-amazing. Over 60% of consumers purchase directly from their mobile (Search Engine Watch) so every step of your content must enable an easy journey.
  4. Once your content is created, ensure it is optimised well. Including focus keywords in the URL, meta descriptions, and image alt text should be the norm for every page created.
  5. Take time to distribute your content and build valuable relationships. A really great piece of content should be useful to plenty of people – why not invite influencers in your industry to read and share and feature on your social channels. Use inbound linking to promote other relevant pieces of content on your website, generating a cohesive and logical journey to your desired location e.g. the conversion point.

Fancy learning more about how we create content to improve SEO? Get in touch!