Do you have landing pages that don’t seem to get any traction or seem to be invisible on search engines? Anyone who’s been in the SEO field for some time will have pages in need of improvement or just don’t seem to engage the reader or attract the attention of Google crawlers. There are many possibilities why a page doesn’t achieve the expected results or struggles to retain its position. One of the primary reasons lies in the content and we will share with you the no-fail secrets to creating Epic and SEO-friendly content.
Back in the dark ages of the Internet, all a site would need to do is stuff a page full of keywords, throw up a link farm, and a lot of annoying pop-ups, and voila, you’re getting noticed. But Google has changed the game – always updating its algorithms to ensure Netizens get quality and relevant search results have put the old ways into the dustbin of history. Writing a good copy isn’t easy, but with a little dedication and elbow grease, you’ll be on your way to climbing the ladder on the SERP.
The first step – use an analytical approach
Great content requires significant preparation, even if you’re a subject matter expert on the topic, preparation is imperative to winning the favor of readers and the Google bots. Do your due diligence to understand your target audience as well as your competitors. Invest significant time mining out data. The more you know about the target audience and the competition, the easier and more effective your content will be. An analytical approach to writing epic content includes:
- Build a buyer’s persona – Speaking to your reader is a strategy much content lacks. When you speak to the reader, you are establishing a direct relationship between your solutions and their needs. Therefore, identify who you are writing for and any demographic information that matches the reader to products. Establish any pain points customers may have and how you can solve them. This strategy will help you establish a voice.
- Have a good set of tools – The most effective way to gather data is having a platform of professional tools at your disposal that can guide your strategy. While many tools exist on the market, be sure your choice at least includes: keyword search and ranking, full site audits, competitive advantage analysis, and backlink monitoring.
- Snoop on your competitors – Start by reviewing their site and how they target their content. Are there any reviews or other forms of feedback you can dig into? Using your SEO tools you can get a good grasp of where they are focusing on and areas they neglect via analyzing keywords. Having established an understanding of their strategies
Plan around technical aspects
An outline is critical for organizing your data and delivering compelling ideas. Review your notes from your competitor analysis as well as any other technical data you’ve gathered from your SEO tools such as SE Ranking. With this data, you’ll be able to draft your outline which will help focus your text and guide the reader to the information they need.
This is best accomplished by dividing content into functional paragraphs to include these elements as value-added content. Build a structure around key phrases to structure your H2s which is where you’ll organically place keywords and links that fit naturally without disrupting the flow of the text or appear awkward. Now it’s time to get down to writing.
Speak to your audience
Often, content comes across as too flat or complicated. A true wordsmith knows how to say more with less. The goal here is to not get bogged down with technical requirements, and remember the text should speak to the reader and provide the information they are looking for. Remember to speak to your audience. Sprinkle in a few questions related to their concerns and then answer them. Great content serves the audience, and also be sure it’s scannable.
These tips will increase your content quality:
- Follow a logical structure – Think of your text as a funnel, bring the reader through a journey starting with high-level ideas and flow into smaller details.
- Break up large sections of text – Use your H2s to add scannability to your text. Also, add images and mix up the font. No matter how interesting your topic is, nobody wants to read a novel.
- Simplify with Visuals – When delivering a diatribe of data, it’s better to let graphs, charts, and tables do the talking.
Now that we have a foundation for delivering a scannable text that flows with the audience, it’s time to take a look at some writing mechanics.
Use Different Platforms
Who says content must be blogs or landing pages? Socialize! The world has moved from TV to YouTube, from classrooms to Zoom, from real meetings to social media and virtual reality. And it’s not just about the pandemic or the restrictions that we have now. All the top brands you’ve heard about have long-established social media pages and keep in touch with their subscribers and interact with the audience, so what are you waiting for?
A lot of famous companies already use their own strategies to present themselves. Burger King impresses subscribers with humor and opens “trolling” towards competitors, NASA captures with its “cosmic” photo content, and GoPro publishes beautiful photos of followers on their Instagram account. Here you can read more detailed tips from experts on how to promote your blog, what tools to use, and where to get ideas.
Quality control your work
A quality product always presents itself in a polished state. Before pulling the trigger to publish a page, be sure to review your work! No matter how skilled a writer is, everyone makes typos or perhaps forgot about a sentence that needed a bit of reworking. Here are some tips to QC your work.
- Ask a colleague to review the work – Provided any non-disclosure agreements are violated, always ask a colleague to review a text. The second set of eyes will offer an outside perspective to give candid advice on how a text feels and areas that could be improved.
- Use grammar tools – While they may not be perfect, tools such as Grammarly catch a lot of simple fixes that are easy to miss in the writing process.
- Put it down then pick it up – When reviewing your own work, it’s always best to put it down for a few hours to get your mind off of it before picking it up to review it again. This allows you to review your own work with a fresh mind.
- Crush the fluff – Eliminate unnecessary words and replace weak words. For unnecessary words, the Purdue Writing Lab offers great insight. For weak words (really, very, something, thing, etc) your best friend is to actively use a thesaurus as you write.
Conclusion
Striking a balance between a well-crafted informative text that engages without overclocking your audience requires practice. Remember that writing Epic SEO-friendly content is an art that can always be improved and no matter where your skills are, focus on the tips presented above. Take an analytical approach with content. This helps structure your text and offer the most value for your audience as well as your SEO strategy. And always consider the reader when presenting ideas, after all, it is they who will drive your content to the top of the SERP.
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