Have you ever been guilty of allowing keywords to lead your content?
We promise not to judge you too much if you have, as it was once the case that articles stuffed with keywords would result in significant visibility. Those days have passed, however, with more refined, user-led practices now doing the business.
In fact, those old-style practices can even see you penalised by the all-powerful Google, which has continually tweaked its algorithms so that users are more likely to be exposed to genuinely useful content.
Of course, content can still be beneficial to the reader even when packed full of unnecessary keywords, but Google might never give it a chance to prove its worth and relegate it to the dark depths of the double-digit results pages.
Keyword confetti
If Jason Walberg, writing in Business Quarter, is to be believed, thousands of websites are still guilty of throwing keywords like confetti over their website. As he notes, not only does it make it look off-putting in the eye of the reader, it can see you slide down the search engine rankings.
Walberg´s advice is to look at content through the eyes of your customers and strip out any clunky keywords. We´d suggest you go one step further and re-write all your ill-worded content. Sure, it´s a little time consuming, but it will set you in the right stead for the future, allowing you to get into the swing of writing reader-friendly articles.
Duplicate content
Walberg goes on to look at other ways in which some marketers are coming up short with their SEO. All of them emanate from a poor user experience. It´s one of the reasons why so many brands are choosing to outsource their content marketing, having come to the realisation that they simply don´t have the time and the resources to make their content all they – and their customers – want it to be.
When time is of the essence, it´s tempting to do a bit of the ol´ copy and pasting, but you´ll have to be smarter than that to pull the wool over Google´s eyes, as the search engine is now capable of weeding out any sites that are posting duplicate content. Here at M2 Bespoke, we offer a custom news feed service, whereby we identify information that is both relevant to your industry and in keeping with your brand ethos.
Natural links
You can go a step further, of course, all the way up to thought leadership articles, which will cement your position as a voice worth listening to within your industry. This is what brands should be aiming for, Walberg suggests, with a web blog acting as an ideal place to start.
You can go any which way you like with a blog post. In fact, the more adventurous the better, as you will have a greater chance of other sites providing natural links to your website – social media users are more inclined to pass around your links, too.
From a tech perspective, websites that are missing a blog are losing out on valuable SERP, handing over the advantage to your rivals before you´ve even got going. Perhaps you´ve got a blog but you´ve allowed it to start collecting dust? Wipe away the signs of neglect – and quick – otherwise customers might land on your website and assume your lack of activity is representative of your customer service.
If the thought of writing again leaves you feeling a little queasy, however, please get in touch. At M2 Bespoke, we love everything to do with the written word. The worlds of social media and SEO are places we revel in, too.
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