Many content creators out there bemoan the fact that Google doesn’t rank their content higher, as if it is yet another sign that life is unfair and they aren’t getting the right breaks. In reality, Google has algorithms and criteria that should be met and standards that they hold you to. Once you start reaching them, your content will invariably soar.
What is content marketing?
Creating content in the form of videos, blog posts, podcasts, images and other media and sharing it on various channels to attract more and more visitors is called content marketing strategy. Having the right planning can bring more visitors and hence help you achieve your goals of x number of sales or subscribers.
But most businesses do not succeed with their content marketing as they commit lots of mistakes that search engines don’t like. Read on to discover some of the key reasons why Google might not like your content now, and how you can win them over…
Don’t confuse quantity and quality
Google ranks quality highly when it comes to reviewing your content, and it is so important that you get this right. Low quality content has no purpose ranking on the first page of search engine results, and you will be penalised accordingly.
But what actually defines quality? There are several key components, but the key is to have well-written content that is clearly laid out and ready to read.
Flooding the market with just any content is not going to do your ranking any favours. Google will find you far more trustworthy and appealing as an author if you stick to quality content that users actually want to read.
Get your keywords right
In the past, many content creators have been encouraged to ‘keyword stuff’ their articles, trying to prove relevancy by sheer volume of keywords. As if simply shouting the words best Los Angeles SEO company would lead anyone to believe this was true. Instead you should include a couple of keywords as part of engaging and useful content that people actually want to read. And you should consider long tail keywords which are easy to rank and has reasonable traffic.
Write for your audience, not the algorithm
Of course Google’s algorithms are important, but by trying to write for the search engines alone, you are actually less likely to perform as well as you could.
Content should be created for people first, and Google takes this into account when deciding your fate. Your content should provide value for people, explain how your brand or services can help them, offer information or entertainment.
The readability of your content is a key factor and so is your purpose. You should know exactly who you are writing for and to what purpose if you truly want to succeed in search engine results.
Remember to optimize where you can
While it is essential that you focus on your audience first, one reason Google may not like your content is because you have failed to optimize areas like your page speed, images and so on. There are a number of factors that Google considers when deciding how much they like you, and though quality is key, it is not the only criteria to focus on.
If you are unsure how to best utilize other aspects of SEO including link quality, a poor website design or the wrong speed, it may be time to contact a professional SEO agency for help.
White Hat Link Building
In the past, when search engines were not that smart, people use to manipulate search rankings by bombarding with lots of links through forums, comments, PBNs etc. but now everything has changed. Links pointing to your website should come from a good website and should be natural in order to be beneficial. Google considers quality links over quantity. If you are building backlinks with directory submission, bookmaking, comments, PBNs then the chances of getting good ranking are very thin.
You should concentrate on building backlinks through crafting quality content that people should link to.
Update content regularly
Having outdated information or posts on your website. Having a blog is great for your website as this gives you an opportunity to regularly post useful content for your users/subscribers/customers and even for search engines. Google loves seeing fresh content posted on your website/blog. So you should keep your content updated and enjoy the SEO benefits as well.
Video content marketing
Boring all text written posts that no one wants to read. Today most customers consider watching videos about products/services before buying or using it. So having a right video marketing strategy can bring more conversions and higher engagement as well. So always look for ways to show your products or services using videos or be visually appealing in order to attract more visitors.
Social Media Marketing
Having social media channels with no posts and no engagements. Yes social media channels do have a huge potential in bringing huge traffic to your website and eventually have more conversions. But most businesses fail with their social media marketing planning. Either they are not active or they are not posting quality content to attract right audience. Search engines do give importance to traffic coming from social media. So always create quality content and post on social media to gain more followers and engagements.
Be cautious about AI Generated Content
With the introduction of OpenAI and ChatGPT, most marketers are opting for AI generated content but one should not get trapped in it. Content with human feel and experience do bring more engagement and AI content does miss this part about writing. Apart from that, AI generated content do have quality and plagiarism related issues that search engines hate.
Final thoughts
There could be many reasons why you aren’t rising up in the search engine results as quickly as you would like. It could be a question of quality, or that you are focusing too much on what you think Google wants to hear instead of what they actually want to hear. It can seem confusing trying to navigate the world of SEO, which is just one reason why so many people turn to a professional SEO company to help them find their way today.