While there are no two views about the importance of content marketing for brand exposure, it is also pretty much evident that even the best and most relevant content is of absolutely no use unless users are able to discover it. Search engine optimization strategies and techniques are aimed at tweaking various elements of the website so that search engines are able to discover the content more easily. Optimizing the contents is one of the most effective SEO techniques. Some valuable tips:
Make Effective Use of Keywords
An overwhelming number of users never go beyond the first page of the search results. Getting a first-page rank is only possible when your content is relevant, useful, original, and contains the most appropriate keywords that are used by people when conducting online searches. Even though the keywords may have been naturally included, you need to keep a lookout for alternative words that may be used by web users.
Apart from your internal discussions, brainstorming with industry peers and customers is a very good way of uncovering useful keywords. There are also numerous keyword research tools that you can use to find out what the competitors are using and benefiting by. Make sure that the keywords are inserted naturally and with restraint because keyword stuffing attracts penalties. You can also engage a professional SEO agency like Sand Crest SEO.com to help you.
Make Strategic Use of Keyword Placement
SEO can be given a boost by placing keywords in many other strategic locations besides the headline. A short and simple URL containing the keyword greatly helps search engines to figure out the page contents and reward you with a better page rank. Even though long posts are not much liked by users, you should have enough depth and detail in them so that they lend value. Google also prefers posts that are long; an ideal length is around 700 words- long enough to be detailed and short enough to retain user concentration. Images not only possess great aesthetic value but can assist your SEO if you have the file name incorporating a keyword and the alt tag containing a crisp description of the image with the relevant keywords. Remember Google can’t read images, all it can do it to discover and act upon the text in the file name and alt tag.
Use Internal and External Links
There are essentially two different types of links. The internal links link the different pages of the website together and help search engines to index your site far more comprehensively and discover the keyword-infused content more easily to improve the page rankings. Internal links allow you to present the website as a single entity to search engines while letting you arrange the contents across different pages. Backlinks from other websites, especially those with domain authority, is a great way of more users discovering your site as well as providing further exposure to search engines to index your site.
Conclusion
The huge number of websites competing for superior page ranks makes search engine optimization extremely important. With a robust SEO strategy, users will discover your website quickly and you will be able to achieve the click-through rate and conversions required for the targeted ROI.
Emilly Parkerson is a freelance content writer.