Quality content is an important part of any great SEO campaign. In this post we discuss why search engines want you to write quality content, what are the consequences of adding low-quality content to your website, and some steps to follow when writing content for users on your website.
Why do search engines love quality content?
Google’s mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Their main goal since the company’s inception is to serve quality content to their users.
The Google algorithm updates on average 1-2 times per day in an effort to accomplish this mission. It’s quickly learning about new sketchy or “black hat” SEO techniques that companies use to trick users to click on their links without delivering the promised content on that page.
Because of these constant updates, the top rule in SEO is to serve relevant, quality content.
Search engines are constantly learning the meaning of your content through a process called indexing. Websites that have more thorough content are rewarded with higher search engine results pages (SERPs).
Quality website content helps you rank better in search engines as well as motivate visitors to return. By optimizing your content for more targeted keywords, you will see a boost in site traffic and that means more potential customers for your business.
Effective content is the foundation of any web marketing strategy which leads to:
- improved rankings on SERPs
- increased visibility
- higher conversion rates
Consequences of low-quality content
Quality content helps you rank, while low-quality content gets you ignored or even banned. Low search ranking means less organic traffic comes to your website, and this reinforces to the search engine that you are not an authority and do not have helpful information for your prospective clients. If you post a lot of “junk” or low-quality writing online, then search engines can block you from being indexed at all!
So what is quality content?
Quality website content is focused on the target audience, it follows the voice of your brand and it communicates effectively by being both engaging and well written.
Want to make your content stand out from the rest? Look no further, here are some tips for high-quality website content.
- Content should be original and unique. It’s not uncommon for people to use popular phrases and keywords in order to rank well in search engines, but if you’re going to put that much effort into a post then it should be something that is truly novel or informative. Sometimes duplicate content can result in penalties such as strikes against search results ranking.
- Avoid grammatical errors when typing up text on your site or linking together blog posts with tags and empty words like “click here” because this makes your information look unprofessional and could lead readers away from what you’re trying to communicate.
- Web design is important too; sleek designs may entice readers more than sluggish ones which bog them down with visuals.
- Don’t forget to format! Formatting not only helps the search engine correctly index your site, but it also helps the reader to quickly understand the gist of the page before deciding to read in-depth. Use h1, h2, h3, h4 header tags as well as bullet points, numbered lists and bold text.
The Bottom Line
Don’t cut corners on your website content. Write quality, helpful, authoritative posts that engage your readers and entice them to stay on your site and maybe even buy your product or service! If you find that you don’t have time to deliver quality blog posts, then reach out to the Spark Sites Team. We’re here are ready to help!