Your Ultimate Guide to Content Centric SEO Strategy

Today, most companies are aware of the basics of SEO and its significance. However, creating content that the customers are searching for is not enough to drive traffic and conversions.   

So, to ensure that your SEO strategy is effective, it must be content-centric. In this article, you’ll have a better understanding of Content-Centric SEO Strategy and how essential it is. 

What is Content Marketing? 

Content Marketing is strategically creating and distributing relevant, valuable, and consistent content with the primary goal of gathering and retaining a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, driving profitable customer action.    

Content marketing must be consistent, which means that you cannot simply create a blog post or an infographic and call it content marketing. It’s an ongoing process that requires a consistent flow of high-quality content to keep your audience engaged. 

Content marketing is not a one-time event; it’s an ongoing process that requires a consistent flow of high-quality content to keep your audience engaged. 

Why Is Content Important for SEO? 

According to the Content Marketing Institute, 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing, yet only 36% said they are effective at it. 

To get organic results, rankings, and traffic from Google, you need to be committed to producing consistent, high-quality, original, useful, and optimized content. 

Content creation involves optimizing your content to be audience-centric and adhering to the guidelines outlined in the previous sections. Here are some reasons why content is important for SEO:

1. Makes Your Website Easier to Be Found

When you create content, you’ll be able to rank higher easily in search engines because you’ll be more likely to dominate the first few pages of search engine results. This means that your website will be easier to find and more likely to be clicked on.

2. Attracts More Traffic to Your Site

You can also increase your traffic by creating unique and interesting content. People like to read about things that interest them. They want to know how to solve problems, learn new skills, and gain knowledge.

3. Increases Chances for Better Conversions

People love reading articles that are written well. If you’re using good grammar and spelling, your readers will enjoy reading your content. In addition, if you use an engaging tone, your readers will feel comfortable sharing your content with their friends.

4. Builds Trust with Your Audience

People trust companies that provide great service. When you offer valuable information, people will trust you. They’ll believe you care about them as customers and are willing to share your expertise.

5. Improves Brand Awareness

Your brand awareness increases when you produce quality content. People notice brands that are known for providing excellent products and services. 

Read more about Content Marketing with these topics:

What Is Content Marketing?: Learning the Definition, Services and Strategies to Dominate It

The Power of Blogs: Benefits of Blogging for Business

Essential Content Marketing Metrics to Mark Its True Value

Your Guide to Viral Vids: The Best Types of Videos for Your Video Marketing Strategy

How to Write a Well-Crafted Press Release that Boosts PR

What Does It Mean to Be Content-Centric?

In order to be content-centric, you must understand the importance of clearly understanding your audience. You must also be aware of the types of content that your audience likes and dislikes 

For example, if you promote hair extensions, you might want to focus on topics such as hairstyles, fashion trends, beauty tips, and other related topics. This way, you can attract your ideal customer base. 

Here are some examples of content-centric websites: 

1. EHow: A site that offers advice on various topics.

 

2. Wikipedia: An encyclopedia that provides free access to all kinds of information. 

3. Quora: A question-and-answer platform where users ask questions and receive answers from experts. 

4. YouTube: A video-sharing website that allows users to upload content in video format and view others’ videos. 

These sites have been successful because they’ve created content relevant to their target audiences. 

Developing a Content-Centric SEO Strategy 

Optimizing search engines is a critical aspect of building a successful website today. Several strategies are involved in making your website more visible on SERPs, and content-centric SEO is one of them. There are known and proven solutions, including the following:

Create Quality Content 

Writing quality content is an important part of any SEO strategy. But when is your content considered high-quality? And does high quality mean the same for your user base as it does for Google’s? 

Here’s a guideline for determining whether or not your content is high-quality: 

• Make sure that your content is useful. 

• Write in a conversational style. 

• Use active voice. 

• Include keywords throughout your text. 

• Avoid using too many adverbs. 

• Use short paragraphs. 

• Keep sentences simple. 

• Don’t repeat yourself. 

You may be primarily focused on growing your audience through social media. If your content connects with your audience and gets more shares, it’s a successful strategy. 

High-value, engaging, and useful content will help you create an online presence that keeps people coming back for more. Here are must-know content creation tips: 

Identify Your Target Audience 

SEO is about getting found by your target audience. The first step towards doing so is identifying who your target audience is. 

• Who do you want to reach? 
• What kind of content would appeal to them? 
• How do they buy? 
• Why do they buy? 

Once you know what type of content appeals to your target audience, you can write content that matches their needs.

Use A Variety Of Content Formats 

To follow the best SEO content practices for creating high-quality content, you next must create different types of content formats. There are many different types of content mediums available for your business, including: 

• Blogs 

• Videos 

• Infographics

• eBooks

• Guides

• Podcasts

• And more 

You’ll need to use a variety of different types of content to keep your SEO strategy interesting for your audience.

Keep It Compelling  

When writing content, make sure that it’s compelling enough to get your readers interested in reading it. The audience usually gets bored with the content that doesn’t hold their attention.  

Remember, when creating long-form content, it has a tendency to be boring if there isn’t enough variety in the writing style.   

Keep your ratio of words to the image in check by using five to six paragraphs of content per page, interspersing them with a high-quality image. 

Give More  

If your content is interesting, people will be eager for more, and if you provide something of value to your audience, it will encourage them to share your content with others. This will increase your chances of being seen by more people.

Present Value, Not Pitch  

The best content focuses on education, entertainment, and providing value to their readership rather than pitching products or services. Don’t waste your audience’s time with useless content geared towards SEO juices and link building. 

Instead, focus on what’s in your content for your target market and how you can capture their attention by providing valuable insights into a specific topic in your niche. 

Keep It Updated  

Optimization strategies change over time. Make sure you’re keeping up with current trends and changes in search engine algorithms. Remember that Google updates its algorithm every few months.   

It’s important to stay updated on these changes to continue optimising your site for the latest search engines. In that way, you can ensure that your website continues to rank well in search results.  

Focus on the reader’s experience

The reader’s experience is everything. If you have great content but no one reads it, you’ve wasted your efforts. Make sure that your content is easy to read and understand.  

Headings and subheadings make it easier for readers to scan through the content quickly to locate the information they’re looking for. Here are some tips to help you improve your content: 

Aim For Readability 

• Content must be easy to read. To make your content easily readable:  

• Using active voice is ideal for clarity  

• Writing short sentences and paragraphs is preferred for readability 

• Breaking text into bullet points where possible is recommended 

• Using simple language that resonates with your audience is a must 

Create A Content Structure 

You must create a content structure that easily allows the following: 

• Readers to understand what your post is all about 

• Search engines to crawl

To achieve this, utilize direct subheadings (H2s and H3s) that inform and educate your readers, giving them a preview of what’s covered but not fully revealing it all to entice them to read. This method results in providing value to people briefly scanning your post for answers.  

On the other hand, to make it easier for search engines, you must add keywords (including your target and long-tail keywords) to your subheadings.

Back-Up With Keywords  

Include your main, secondary, and long-tail keywords and synonyms. You might be asking: where should I add keywords to improve my position in organic search?

The answer is adding keywords to the following: 

• Post headlines and title tags- these show your content contains search query answers. 

• Meta description- it entices your readers to click and read your content.  

• In H2 and H3 subheading tags- these send relevancy signals to Google.  

• In the content introduction (first 100 words)- this is to send a signal to Google that you’re covering the targeted keywords in your content. 

Throughout the content to continue signaling Google you’ve covered the keyword-based topic thoroughly.

Add Useful & Relevant Visuals 

Images, screenshots, infographics, and videos break the text and make your content readable. The key here is to make sure your visuals support the content by helping explain the topic or visualizing facts. 

Visual assets also improve your content’s shareability by encouraging people to share your post on social media. Lastly, useful and relevant visuals pick up backlinks as other content pieces link to them. 

For the visuals you add, make sure you: 

• Add short but descriptive alt texts (technically, alt tags). This improves content accessibility as the alt text displays when images don’t load. 

• Include keyword-based file names. This provides Google contextual information on how the visual relates to the content on your page. 

• Credit the site you source any external visuals from. 

Use Click-worthy headlines 

Another area that needs your attention: is the headline, as it is what encourages searchers to read your content. 

• Apart from adding keywords to your headlines, make sure they are: 

• Clear, short, and written in simple language. 

• Include powerful words that psychologically push people to read. 

Provide Useful Information  

To determine whether a piece of content is useful, start by asking yourself why someone would want to read it. If you don’t know what a particular type of content is supposed to accomplish, how can you tell whether it’s been successful? Every piece of content must have a clear purpose. 

If you’re writing about a product, ask yourself if the person reading it will be able to use it. If so, consider whether there’s enough detail in the copy to help him do so. Always think about who your audience is before you begin writing. 

What’s the Purpose?  

There are several reasons why people might visit your website. They may be looking for general information, an answer to a specific question, or entertainment. Knowing the reason behind their visit helps you decide which kind of content to create. 

Here are different types of content: 

• Awareness: Homepages, About Us, Services 

• Research: Services, Category Pages, Resource Content, Blogs 

• Consideration: Pricing, Product Pages, Contact Us 

• Purchase: Cart, Checkout, Payment Options 

• Post-Purchase: Order Details, Confirmation Email, Tracking Details 

These examples show the variety of ways people come to your site. Each one has its own set of goals and purposes. Different audiences need and want different types of content at different stages of the buying cycle.  

Align your content’s purposes with how they tie into their decision-mak­ing processes to get a clearer idea of how to evaluate its success. Make sure you understand these before you write. A piece of content purpose should be tied to marketing efforts such as driving targeted visitors, leads, or sales.  

Content marketing has three main purposes: To inform, entertain, and inspire. All content should be designed to serve one or more of these purposes.

Use Relevant Links on Your Website 

Links are important because they provide context for search engines. When a link appears next to a word or phrase, it tells the search engine that this word or phrase is related to another topic.  

The more relevant links you have, the better chance your pages will rank higher in search results. Adding the right internal links makes sure Google knows: 

• The relevancy of pages; 

• The relationship between pages; 

• And the value of pages. 

Here are ways to use relevant links on your website:  

Choose the ideal structure for your site 

On the top of the page, you’ll see your homepage; below are some categories; further down are individual posts and web page links.  

It must be easy for users to navigate through your site. You can organize your navigation using menus, tabs, drop-down boxes, buttons, and other navigational elements. 

Determine which content is most important for your business. 

It’s the best and most comprehensive piece of writing about your topic. It’s about the heart of your business. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect someone to find when looking for related topics. 

You want to tell Google that this is your most valuable content, so you need to link to it from many different pages. 

You can link to your cornerstone articles from any number of different locations. 

Pay attention to Contextual Links 

You should link related content together, so they flow smoothly from one piece to another. This will help Google understand that these articles are topical related. You can either link directly from one sentence in your copy or add a link at the end of your posts. 

Furthermore, you want to tell Google which articles are your cornerstones: your best articles on this topic. You need to include a link to the cornerstone at the end of every article on this subject. 

Link hierarchal pages 

If you have hierarchical web pages on your site, use links between parent and child pages and vice versa to improve navigation. Don’t forget to link related content together. 

These pages should be connected to a well-organized website, and linking them together like this will make perfect logical sense.

Add a Related Posts section 

There are many plugins that add a complete related post section to your post. If you use one, you might want to test whether the related posts actually are related posts. If you’re not sure whether you should link to posts manually or automatically, then manual is probably better. 

Add navigation links 

Besides linking from topical-related posts and pages and pages, it‘s possible to add more authority to your core content by linking to it from the home page or the top navigation. 

Do this for the most important content on your site. These links will help improve the ranking of these pages or articles in Google’s search results. 

Consider adding links to your taxonomies 

Taxonomies, such as category and tag pages, help you categorize your content and help users and Google better comprehend what your content is about. Adding internal linking to the taxonomy categories of posts would be helpful for readers who want to read related content.  

Adding categories and tag pages helps Google understand your site’s structure and helps visitors to navigate to related content more easily. 

Add links to popular or recent posts. 

The last option is creating internal links to your website’s most visited or newest content. You can create these sections in your website’s sidebar or footer, so they appear on every page and post.  

When links pass to these most popular posts from various pages, they usually get a boost. It’ll also make the posts easier for viewers to access, which will improve their experience. More traffic means better results for Google. 

Benefits of Content-Centric SEO Strategy 

A customer-centric SEO strategy will give you an edge over other businesses. It’s easy to see why. When customers visit your website, their expectation is to find what they’re looking for quickly and efficiently.  

They don’t want to spend time searching through irrelevant information. They want to know exactly where to go next. And when they do find what they’re looking to buy, they want to be able to purchase it with ease. 

Better SERP Rankings  

Today, the once keyword-focused SEO or search engine optimization is becoming more content-focused. As a result of continuous changes in search algorithms, value creation and quality are being emphasized to improve search results for users.  

However, these new challenges make ranking even harder. It takes piles of effort to get onto the first pages of Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.  

If you want to maintain your position at the top of the SERPs for long periods, you must invest in content marketing. 

Source

Positive Impression of Your Brand  

You can use SEO and branding to increase traffic to your site. Organic search results are mainly used to generate organic (free) visitors, but this technique also helps strengthen your brand and increase brand awareness. What is the purpose of an SEO strategy?  

Many professionals believe that generating organic traffic is the best way to drive leads for their business. After all, ranking high in Google Search ensures that most users who almost always click on the first few search results will see your page.  

But did you know that SEO and brand awareness might be a good fit? Google’s top results boost brand awareness, credibility, and engagement, increasing its market recognition.  

Depending on whether the company has an objective for its content, this could be worth much more than clicks. 

Content-Centric SEO as an effective Marketing Strategy 

SEO is not dead. In fact, it’s still one of the most powerful methods to reach potential clients and grow your business. But to rank higher in search engines, you must focus on building great content.  

In addition to having a well-written blog, you should add videos, infographics, podcasts, eBooks, and webinars to your content marketing plan. These content pieces are highly shareable and help build trust among your audience. 

In conclusion, a content-centric SEO strategy is a smart move for any business. If you want to stay competitive, you need to create valuable content. Lastly, you might consider seeking help with SEO Marketing from an experienced Content Marketing services provider that will guide your efforts and help you achieve your goals.