Creating compelling and useful content will likely influence your website more than any of the other
factors discussed here. Users know good content when they see it and will likely want to direct other
users to it. This could be through blog posts, social media services, email, forums, or other means.
Organic or word-of-mouth buzz is what helps build your site's reputation with both users and Google,
and it rarely comes without quality content.
factors discussed here. Users know good content when they see it and will likely want to direct other
users to it. This could be through blog posts, social media services, email, forums, or other means.
Organic or word-of-mouth buzz is what helps build your site's reputation with both users and Google,
and it rarely comes without quality content.
While the content you create could be on any topic imaginable, here are some recommended best
practices:
practices:
Good practices for content
• Write easy-to-read text - Users enjoy content that is well written and
easy to follow.
Avoid:
• writing sloppy text
with many spelling and grammatical mistakes
• embedding text in
images for textual content (users may want to copy and paste the text and
search engines can't read it)
• Stay organized around the topic - It's always beneficial to organize your
content so that visitors have a good
sense of where one content topic begins and another ends. Breaking your content up into
logical chunks or divisions helps users find the content they want faster.
Avoid:
• dumping large amounts
of text on varying topics onto a page without paragraph, subheading,
or layout separation
• Use relevant language - Think about the words that a user might search
for to find a piece of your content. Users
who know a lot about the topic might use different keywords in their search queries than
someone who is new to the topic. For example, a long-time baseball fan might search for [nlcs],
an acronym for the National League Championship Series, while a new fan might use a more
general query like [baseball playoffs]. Anticipating these differences in search
behavior and accounting for them while writing your content (using a
good mix of keyword
phrases) could produce positive results. Google AdWords provides a handy Keyword Tool that helps you discover
new keyword variations and see the approximate search
volume for each keyword. Also, Google Webmaster Tools provides you with the top search queries your site appears for
and the ones that led the most users to your site.
• Create fresh, unique content - New content will not only keep your
existing visitor base coming back, but also
bring in new visitors.
Avoid:
• rehashing (or even
copying) existing content that will bring little extra value to users
• having duplicate or
near-duplicate versions of your content across your site (more on duplicate content)
• Offer exclusive content or services - Consider creating a
new, useful service that no other site offers. You could
also write an original piece of research, break an exciting news story, or leverage your unique
user base. Other sites may lack the resources or expertise to do these things.
• Create content primarily for your users, not search engines - Designing your site
around your visitors' needs
while making sure your site is easily accessible to search engines usually produces
positive results.
Avoid:
• inserting numerous
unnecessary keywords aimed at search engines but are annoying or nonsensical
to users
• having blocks of text
like "frequent misspellings used to reach this page" that add little value for
users
• deceptively hiding text from users, but displaying it to
search engines