Modern businesses rely on web traffic to draw in new customers, and SEO content creation is at the heart of building a strong online presence. Knowing what SEO is and how it affects a person’s journey from searching to becoming a new customer is critical to the success of your webpage.
Why is SEO so important for business?
The most effective businesses have web content that attracts an organic audience, and, in almost every case, this comes down to whether the content has effective SEO.
SEO stands for search engine optimization. In simple terms, when someone uses a search engine like Google to look for information, you want your content to be as easy for them to locate as possible.
This can be achieved through paid search, where the business pays to have their webpage featured at the top of the list of results. But this requires financial investment and has less impressive results than organic search does.
Rather than spending money, you can instead follow a few basic principles to make sure that content is optimized and brings in as much organic traffic as possible.
SEO main concepts
Keywords are the backbone of successful SEO. The first step to content creation should always be keyword research. You can conduct this research on your own or task your writers with taking care of it for you. Either way, it’s important to understand how SEO keywords work.
The best keywords have established search volume. In other words, they should be terms that people are already using when conducting searches. Using these words will automatically direct more qualified traffic toward your page.
When developing a list of keywords, ask yourself about the central goal of your business. What service or product do you offer customers? The answer to that question helps to establish the various kinds of keywords that should be included in your content.
- Primary keywords are the main topic that a potential customer would be expected to use in a search. For example, if you operate a specialty cheese shop, your primary keywords would likely be cheese and specialty cheese.
- Secondary keywords shouldn’t be overlooked. These are complementary terms that take into account the subtopics that customers may use.
- Long-tail secondary keywords include longer phrases. For example, a potential customer might use the phrase where to buy specialty cheeses. Although short secondary keywords are crucial, having a good mix of both long-tail and short terms is ideal.
So what happens when you use great keywords?
When a user searches for a term, Google generates the search engine results page (SERP). The goal is to ensure that your business appears in a high position on this page. Studies have shown that more than 25% of people click on the first organic search result, and very few look past the first page.
In short, if your content doesn’t have a high ranking, you miss out on an enormous pool of potential customers.
The ability of your content to rank depends in large part on whether it’s correctly optimized for search intent. Search intent refers to what someone is trying to accomplish when they use a search engine. Google interprets the user’s search intent so that the results shown are best aligned with that goal.
SEO best practices for content creation
Knowing how much of an effect SEO can have on your online traffic brings with it a lot of pressure. Fortunately, there are best practices that help simplify the process.
First, remember that most online readers have short attention spans. Bombarding them with pages of information in lengthy paragraphs is likely to send them running. Instead, keep paragraphs short so that you don’t lose customers from the start.
Beyond paragraph breaks, other aspects of content formatting are just as essential. Use subheadings to break up the text and allow the reader to easily scan and navigate the page. Another good strategy is to use bullet points and lists, which make pages much more readable.
Multimedia is an excellent way to keep readers engaged. Incorporating graphics, videos, tables, and photos adds visual appeal and often makes content more digestible. Backlinks to other reliable sites are another good addition because they make your content more credible.
Finally, the issue of keywords comes back to the forefront. Making a list of great terms isn’t enough to satisfy search engines and get your content at a high position on the SERP. In the past, pages would be stuffed with keywords to the point that the content was nonsensical. But Google got wise to this, and now keyword stuffing harms instead of helps your ranking.
What this boils down to is that keywords should be used naturally and placed strategically. They shouldn’t be forced into sentences just for the sake of including them, especially if the result is grammatically incorrect or confusing. Most importantly, the primary keyword(s) should appear in the title, at least one subheading, and at the beginning of the article (preferably the first sentence).
How to create a winning freelancer team for content creation
Keep in mind that content marketing, or developing content to attract qualified visitors and convert them to clients, is guaranteed to fail if it’s low quality. As such, your content should always be interesting and well-written.
Hiring a strong group of talented freelancers can make or break your web content, and building the perfect team can be accomplished with a few basic steps.
- Start with a strategy. Make a plan for the topics you want to discuss and the schedule for releasing each piece of new content.
- Next, find the best writers to create your content. Look for freelancers who excel in not only clear and interesting writing but also in using SEO.
- Manage your team by communicating specific instructions. Think about fundamental requirements like word count, keywords, target audience, tone of voice, style, and subject. If you prefer, you can develop a specific outline for the writer to follow, but try to stay flexible and allow for creativity.
- Provide basic resources, including references that you want writers to review, but don’t feel the need to do excessive research, as freelancers are typically responsible for conducting the majority of the research on their own.
- Provide a list of any competitors that should not be linked or mentioned in the content.
- Offer feedback to your team. Let the writers know when they’re doing well, and offer suggestions for improvement when needed.
Associate with White Label SEO solutions
There is also an extra possibility, and it is becoming an agency to manage all your clients with good content and SEO services.
Being this your case, how about to start or expand your services, by getting in touch with us to become a partner with White label SEO.
This way you provide SEO services to your customers, but without the need to hire specialized staff, invest in individual tools, or learn SEO from scratch.
Simplify the process
There’s a lot to consider when it comes to content creation and SEO, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by everything that’s required. The last thing you want is to waste valuable time that you would rather spend in other areas of your business.
WriterAccess offers an easy path to strong content creation. You can find the best freelancers, ensure SEO is appropriately integrated, and manage all of your content in one place.
Take advantage of this 14-day free trial to see just how much WriterAccess can do for you.