SEO Content Strategies
Great website content is an important part of successful SEO strategies. Knowing the foundational role that
actually valuable content plays in search engine rankings we have years of taking underperforming pieces of content and turning them
into valuable assets. Here are some examples of great content marketing strategies:
- Head term keyword content
- Long tail keyword content
- Top of funnel / awareness content
- Supplemental / supportive content
- Frequently asked question content
- Image content
- Video content
Head Term Keyword Strategies
Head terms are often highly-coveted phrases in Google. There's often a healthy
amount of traffic and therefore often a lot of competition.
Examples of head terms could be single or few word queries like "shoes", "software",
"doctor" or something like that. Depending on the keyword
and the relevance of that keyword to your industry, being competitively positioned
for these keywords can be a game changer.
However, the issue with many of these keywords is that it is often extremely broad.
If you are a shoe company that specialized in leather sandals
for women, being ranked #1 in Google search results for "shoes" could be great but
you'd also get thousands of visitors from users
who aren't going to be interested in what you offer. For example, you could get
visits from men, women you are looking for athletic shoes,
or other fairly irrelevant visitors. The other issue with this type of strategy is
that it is often extremely difficult to perform for keywords of that nature.
Generally, doing so would require a significant investment. It is certainly doable
but very difficult to achieve and difficult to maintain.
SEO strategies that are more likely to be successful often focus more heavily on what's called "long tail" opportunities.
Long Tail Keyword Content Strategies
Long tail keywords are searches that are done in Google or other search engines
that generally consist of multiple words. These
search phrases are often very specific into what the searcher is looking for.
Once again using an online shoe store as an example,
if you happen to sell leather sandals for women with velcro straps, you can create
a page specifically designed to target that
particular Google search. The advantage is that "women's leather sandals with
velcro straps" will be significantly easier
to perform for in Google searches than just "shoes" or other fairly broad queries.
Another huge advantage with long tail strategies is that a user who is searching
more specifically is often times more likely to convert or make a purchase.
Examples of Long Tail Keyword Strategies
- A company that sells customizable photo books creates a page to target photo
books specifically for wedding pictures. "wedding photo books" is a more specific
search phrase than just straight up "photo books." Naturally, there are less
monthly searches for the latter, but your ability to create a landing page that
caters more carefully to that user is so much greater. Both Google and the end
user appreciate content that creates better user experiences.
- A speaker manufacturer has developed a specific type of flexible speaker that
can fit inside a dirt bike helmet. They create a page on their website to target
helmet speakers and then educate about their unique, in-helmet design.
- A company that specializes in trade show booth manufacturing creates a page
of content to target searches related to a very specific trade show. For example,
"CES trade show booth displays" as opposed to more broad terms.
Service/Practice Area Content Strategies
This tactic can easily be placed underneath the long tail keyword umbrella but
it definitely deserves its own section. Basically, the premise of the strategy is
to simply have a dedicated landing page or at least a healthy section of content
on your website for every type of service that you offer. This strategy might seem
obvious but you just never know how an average consumer is going to search. Creating
dedicated pages to the service is a great way to increase the chances that you can be
found by potential clients.
Examples of Specific Service or Practice Area Content Strategies
- A criminal defense attorney creates a landing page on his or her website
to target "record expungement in Idaho Falls" because no one else in the local
market had created content to target that term. Almost every other law firm in the area
likely is more than capable of practicing record cleaning, they just hadn't
created content to explicitly target it. This makes it a super easy opportunity.
- A dentist creates a page to target specifically teeth-whitening services
they offer.
Geographically-targeted Content Strategies
This tactic focuses on searches people perform when they add a geo-modifier or
where they say where they are looking to see more locally-relevant results. This strategy
works in a variety of settings but is often most successful for local service provider
type businesses.
Geographically-targeted Content Strategies
- Pest control company that serves all of southeastern Idaho creates a page
designed to target search queries like "pest control company in Blackfoot, Idaho."
- An IT company looking to expand their mobile services into a neighboring
city adds a page to target that city. ex: Pocatello IT Company.
- A bank with multiple branches all across the state of Idaho creates pages
for the specific types of loans they offer for every location. For example,
"Rigby, Idaho Agricultural Loans" or "Idaho Falls Business Line of Credit", etc.
This strategy is a long tail strategy but also part of local SEO as well.
Top of Funnel Content Strategies (Awareness Stage Content)
Creating content for consumers at the top of the consumer funnel or just entering
your typical consumer flow can be extremely effective. The main of this type of content
is often to educate potential consumers, build your brand awareness and position yourself
as an expert on whatever topic you are creating content around. An example of this would be
creating content that targets search queries with the word "idea(s)" in it. The strategy behind
this type of content creation would be to get in front of users who have problems that your
company or your products solve. The user at this phase of the process may be looking
for some DIY solutions to their problems or they are just very early in their process
and aren't sure what is even available.
Top of Funnel Content Strategy Examples
Some examples of a top of funnel content strategy could be something like the following:
- A company that creates garage storage systems or products could create a
piece of content targeting "small garage storage ideas" and show a variety of
different storage concepts for garages with limited room for storage.
- A company that creates custom built exhibits for trade shows creates a page
to target "trade show booth designs" and showcases their impressive portfolio of
previously created projects. This page obviously provides these users potential
inspiration for their project but also shows their company is a great solution
to their problem.
- A company that sells high end, designer swimsuits for women creates a
comprehensive packing list for a tropical cruise or other vacation. Naturally,
this list will include images of their own product and give the viewer a chance
to purchase their product.
Supplemental Siloed Content
Content silos are created by keeping content on a fairly narrow scope of topic
compiled in the same area of a website. This is often a created by having a large
quantity of pages interlinking one with another. The website structure will often
have main page designed to target competitive terms and then supplmental content nested
underneath that page. The support of the content that is so strongly contextually-related
often builds a network of authority on the topic the main page targets. Because of
the sheer quantity of content on the topic, Google and other search engines identify
your website as a credible source.
Often times content silos are built using website hierarchy. For example, the
website will be website.com/subject/ and the supporting content will be nested
underneath that content like website.com/subject/supporting-content/. There have
been several occasions where pages being supported by authoritative pages or underneath
authoritative pages have performed extremely well in Google searches. The success
can be attributed to the content itself in combination with the site structure.
Frequently Asked Question Content
When people are searching in Google they are asking questions. Google's goal is
to help people find answers to their questions. This strategy can operate in a similar
capacity as the top of funnel strategy. People have questions or problems and your
business can offer solutions to those problems. It can also serve a similar purpose
to the content silos in that you are creating a network of context to boost up the
more competitive terms.
Examples of Frequently Asked Question Content
- A dentist can write a page about what might be happening if people are
experiencing sensitivity to cold foods.
- A family lawyer can write about the legal marrying age in the state they reside.
- A pest control company can write about how long mice can survive without food.
Image Content
In some situations, users are more likely to search through images than normal
Google search results. This can provide you a unique opportunity to get in front of
potential consumers especially when they are searching for something visual. Having
good, unique imagery on your website with appropriate alt tags and descriptions can
be an effective strategy.
Link Building Strategies
Links are an important part of performing in Google searches. Every worthwhile
SEO study has identified links from other websites as being an important Google
and other search engine rankings.
Top 50 Local Organic Factors
- #1: Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain
- #3: Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
- #7: Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
- #9: Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain
- #10: Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Industry-Relevant Domains
- #12: Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain
- #14: Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally Relevant Domains
- #16: Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to GMB Landing Page URL
- #17: Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL from Industry-Relevant Domains
There are more link-related ranking factors in this study but felt like
this painted the picture well enough!
Moz Local Ranking Factors
10 Google Ranking Factors You Shouldn’t Ignore
"Backlinks are arguably the most important ranking factor."
Ahrefs 10 Google Ranking Factors You Shouldn’t Ignore
The Ultimate Guide to Google Ranking Factors in 2019
"Importance: Crucial... They can make a major difference in where you rank -- even which number page you rank on.
Inbound links from other websites tell Google that people trust what you have to say --
enough to link to it from their own websites. Trust is huge in the eyes of Google,
and the more trustworthy the source linking to you is, the greater the impact their
inbound link has on your ranking."
Hubspot The Ultimate Guide to Google Ranking Factors in 2019
We Analyzed 1 Million Google Search Results. Here’s What We Learned About SEO
"Backlinks remain an extremely important Google ranking factor. We found the
number of domains linking to a page correlated with rankings more than any other factor."
Backlinko's Search Ranking Factors
Influential member of Google's leadership have also confirmed the value links
provide:
"Ranking without links is really, really hard"
-Gary Illyes - Chief of Sunshine and Happiness at Google (literally his title)
October 13, 2016
