The content on your website is one of the most important aspects to be considered when trying to improve your search engine rankings through SEO. Here are some actionable tips to enhance your content – something that could go a long way to enhancing your search visibility.
1. Copy & pasting is time wasting
This is what I would call the Golden Rule regarding online content creation: DO NOT COPY AND PASTE!
The first image is taken from a cycle helmet manufacturer’s own website and the second image from a sportswear retailer. As you can see the retailer has simply copied and pasted the product description from the manufacturer, and this retailer wasn’t the only one to do this for this particular product. The retail industry is often the most guilty party for this lazy web page content creation, and who can blame them right? Retail websites usually stock and sell thousands of items and can save so much time by copy and pasting manufacturer’s product descriptions to their own pages. But little do they know this is SEO suicide and something I would say you should avoid at all costs.
2. Constant review
Ever heard the phrase “If you stand still you fall behind”? Well this phrase has never been truer than in online content creation. The internet is constantly changing faster than anything that we have ever known, and if you are not changing with it then you can quickly find yourself behind by a considerable distance.
When your website has gone live, it is not the cue to simply sit back, relax and strike the website off your list of things to do. In order to remain at the top of your game you need to be constantly reassessing and evaluating the content that is on your pages. You also need to be adding new content as often as possible to increase your search engine rankings. The best way to always add new content to your website is to have a company blog or news page. You can upload all sorts of information to these pages from new recruits to company sponsored charity events. The topic is not always the most important aspect to a new post, it is simply getting some fresh content online that is well written and unique to your site.
3. Make it specific to your website
Whether your website is for a company or a single person, it is important to plug yourself in your online content. Not only are you reminding your readers who you are, but you are also making the content unique and preventing it from being copied by anyone else.
We touched on product descriptions earlier and these are a great place to start. If you put your company name in the product description, then immediately other companies cannot simply copy and paste. Use phrases such as ‘This is one of YOUR COMPANY’s most popular products’ or something along the lines of ‘YOUR COMPANY is proud to offer…’. Simple phrases such as these can go a long way to making you stand out from the crowd and that is what counts in SEO. Another area in which I see a lot of room for improvement with content is the careers area of websites. Countless job posts read like this; ‘We are looking for a new…’ or ‘Our Company is a fast paced environment to work in’. Both of these can come from any other job posting on the internet and even though you may not feel like a job post is important content for your site, it is! So always lead with ‘YOUR COMPANY is looking for a new…’ and this will immediately differentiate it from any other content on the web.
Mark Cavanagh is a Social Media and Digital Marketing enthusiast and a serial guest blogger on several blogs. He is also a lifelong Manchester United fan!
Mark Cavanagh is a Social Media and Digital Marketing enthusiast and a serial guest blogger on several blogs. He is also a lifelong Manchester United fan!
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