One of the most intriguing developments is the rise of user-generated content (UGC) on platforms like Reddit surpassing articles written by established experts in search rankings.

This begs the question: why is this happening, and what does it mean for searchers?

User experience reigns supreme

According to Google’s search quality guidelines, user experience is paramount. Content that is relevant, engaging, and addresses the searcher’s intent has a higher chance of ranking well, regardless of the author’s credentials.

A Google Search Quality Analyst emphasizes this point: “There’s nothing special about authorship per se. It’s about the content, and the content could be coming from a random person or a very important person.”

This quote highlights Google’s move away from authorship as a ranking factor and towards a more content-centric approach.

The Power of User-Generated Content & Real-world Experience

Reddit fosters a unique environment where users with first-hand knowledge share their experiences and insights.

This is particularly valuable for product-related searches.

Users might provide real-world usage experiences that resonate more with searchers than articles written by experts who may not have used the product themselves. As Reddit thrives on UGC, much of it comes from people with real-world experience. They’re sharing their successes and failures, and this type of content can be very valuable to searchers.

Credibility and depth: The expert’s edge

However, Reddit content isn’t without its drawbacks. While it can be a treasure trove of valuable insights, it often lacks the credibility and depth of well-researched articles written by established experts.

Can a 30-word Reddit comment be better than a 2,000-word in-depth review by a credible industry expert with videos, product images, and screenshots that demonstrate first-hand experience?

Authorship signals

John Mueller, a Google Search Liaison, reinforces this point: “Authorship markup is not a strong signal on its own.” This further emphasises Google’s move towards a more content-focused ranking strategy, suggesting that in-depth analysis and professional expertise still hold value.

He also says, “As we can see, Reddit, popular for anonymous use, ranks much higher than many other websites. This means that content from anonymous users is acceptable. Can I conclude that a blog without any ‘about’ page or ‘author profile’ can also perform as well?”

Although we have yet to see definite proof, it gives hope that relatively lesser-known businesses and writers can still find their place on the top of SERPs with high-quality and informative content that caters to search intent.

Navigating The New User-Generated Content Landscape Requires a Balanced Approach

So, how can searchers navigate this evolving content landscape? The answer depends on the specific search intent.

• Quick Tips and Real-World Insights: For quick tips and insights from real users, Reddit can be a goldmine. Users can find solutions to common problems, discover new products based on user recommendations, and get a sense of the general sentiment toward a particular product or service.
• In-Depth Analysis and Professional Expertise: However, for in-depth analysis, backed by research and professional experience, articles written by established experts remain a valuable resource. These articles offer a comprehensive understanding of a topic, explore various perspectives, and provide guidance based on proven methods and best practices.

The ideal scenario is a search landscape where both Reddit content and expert articles coexist, providing searchers with a diverse range of high-quality information to suit their specific needs.

And this is what content marketers and SEOs need to understand if they are succeed in this new era of Google search.

Takeaways for content marketers and SEOs

The rise of Reddit content presents a valuable opportunity for content marketers and SEOs to improve their search results.

Here are some key takeaways:

• Focus on User Intent: Prioritize creating content that addresses the specific needs and questions of your target audience. Conduct thorough keyword research to understand user search queries and tailor your content accordingly.
• Embrace User-Generated Content: Encourage user engagement on your platforms. Consider incorporating user reviews, testimonials, and forum discussions into your content strategy. This can provide valuable real-world insights and enhance the credibility of your content.
• Maintain Expertise: Balance user-generated content with high-quality content from established industry experts. Invest in creating in-depth guides, white papers, and research-driven pieces that showcase your brand’s expertise and authority on the topic.

By implementing these strategies, content marketers and SEOs can create a well-rounded content ecosystem that caters to both the user experience and search engine algorithms, ultimately leading to improved search visibility and audience engagement.

The post Reddit User-Generated Content vs. Expert articles: How is Search evolving? appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.

This revelation emphasizes the importance of content quality over quantity, reshaping strategies for improving website visibility in Google’s search results.

Clarifying the crawl budget concept

The term “crawl budget” has often been misunderstood within the SEO community, suggesting a limit to the number of pages Google can crawl on a website daily. This concept led to concerns about the need to manage this budget carefully to ensure all important pages are indexed.

However, recent insights from Google have shifted the focus from quantity to quality, debunking previous assumptions about how Google prioritizes site crawling.

Google’s criteria for crawling: An insightful discussion

In a revealing podcast, Google’s Search Relations team, provided valuable insights into the factors influencing Google’s crawling decisions.

Contrary to the rigid concept of a crawl budget, Google employs a more dynamic approach, prioritizing pages based on content quality and relevance to search queries.

The role of search demand in crawling

Gary Illyes highlighted the significance of “search demand” in determining crawl frequency. This term, although not explicitly defined by Illyes, suggests that Google’s interest in crawling specific content is closely tied to its relevance and demand among search queries.

In essence, if content aligns with current search trends and user interests, it’s more likely to be crawled and indexed promptly.

“One is the scheduler, which basically says that I want to crawl this. But that’s also kind of controlled by some feedback from search. […] If search demand goes down, then that also correlates to the crawl limit going down,” says Gary Illyes.

Increasing crawl frequency through quality

“So if you want to increase how much we crawl, then you somehow have to convince search that your stuff is worth fetching, which is basically what the scheduler is listening to,” emphasizes Gary Illyes.

He further added, “Scheduling is very dynamic. As soon as we get the signals back from search indexing that the quality of the content has increased across this many URLs, we would just start turning up demand.”

The key takeaway from Google’s update is the direct correlation between content quality and crawl frequency. Websites aiming to enhance their visibility should focus on improving the quality and user relevance of their content. This strategy not only aligns with Google’s crawling priorities but also ensures that websites meet the evolving needs and preferences of their target audience.

Conclusion: A shift in focus

Google’s recent clarification marks a pivotal shift in how SEO professionals and website owners should approach content creation and optimization.

The myth of a fixed crawl budget has been dispelled, making way for a more nuanced understanding of Google’s crawling mechanisms.

By prioritizing high-quality, relevant content, websites can better align with Google’s criteria, ensuring their pages are crawled and indexed effectively, without the constraints of an arbitrary limit.

If you’re interested in hearing the full conversation, you can find it in the following episode of the Search Off the Record podcast by Google.

https://youtu.be/xVg9LcrSwyQ

So, how are you planning to improve the quality of your content? Has Google’s crawler been kind to you?

Let us know in the comment section below.

And if you need any help or have any questions, give us a call.

The post Google’s crawl strategy: Quality content takes the lead. appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.

Content marketing strategies are one shining example of such plans.

Understanding why content strategies fail is crucial for marketers, SEO professionals, and online business owners. Without understanding why these content marketing strategies fail, you cannot come up with a strategy that is more likely to work.

In this blog post, we are going to discuss just that.

To be precise, we will tackle the following topics:

• What is a content strategy?
• Common reasons why content marketing strategies fail
• And what to do instead

Let’s begin.

Understanding Content Strategy

Before we jump into other stuff, it is important to understand what a content strategy is.

A content strategy isn’t just about producing blog posts or social media updates. It’s a comprehensive plan for creating, managing, and distributing content to achieve specific business goals.

As you can imagine, a content strategy is all-encompassing and includes everything, from website content to the tone and style of your content and from analytics to SEO.

When executed well, an effective content strategy can significantly boost brand visibility, engagement, and conversions.

7 common pitfalls in content strategy

1. Vague Goals: A strategy without clear goals is directionless. It’s vital to set specific objectives, like increasing web traffic by 20% within six months, to give your strategy purpose and focus. Specific (but realistic) goals also enable you to see if you’re on the right track or not.
2. Poor Audience Insight: Many strategies fail due to a lack of understanding of the target audience. Deeply researching audience preferences and behaviours is key to creating content that resonates.
3. Compromised Content Quality: High-quality content is crucial. It’s not just about avoiding errors; it’s about providing value. A blog post rich in insights and practical tips will engage readers more than a hastily written, superficial piece. This has arguably become the most important part of a content strategy nowadays.
4. Inconsistent Delivery: Regular, consistent content boosts engagement and SEO. A content calendar helps maintain a steady flow, keeping your audience engaged and your brand top-of-mind.
5. Ignoring SEO: SEO is crucial in making content discoverable. Most content strategies depend heavily on organic visibility and traffic. Integrating SEO practices, like keyword optimization and mobile-friendliness, enhances content visibility without sacrificing quality. If you don’t get traffic and views, no content strategy can succeed.
6. Not Adapting to Trends: The digital world evolves rapidly. Staying updated with trends and adjusting your strategy is essential for relevance and engagement. This includes everything — from the type of content that is popular nowadays to the latest search engine algorithm updates.
7. Neglecting Analytics: Regular analysis of content performance is crucial for improvement. Tools like Google Analytics can provide insights into what works and what doesn’t, helping refine your strategy.

7 strategies for success

Creating a successful content strategy involves more than avoiding pitfalls. It requires proactive steps to ensure effectiveness and engagement.

1. Set Clear, Measurable Objectives: Define what success looks like. If the goal is to enhance engagement, set a target for the number of shares or comments per post.
2. Deep Dive into Audience Research: Use tools like surveys and social listening to understand your audience. This insight is invaluable in tailoring content that strikes a chord.
3. Quality Over Quantity: Invest time in producing well-researched, engaging content. For instance, a detailed guide or case study offers more value than generic posts.
4. Consistency is Key: Keep a regular posting schedule. Consistent quality and timing keep your audience engaged and help in building a loyal following.
5. Embrace SEO: Seamlessly integrate SEO into your content. Use relevant keywords naturally and ensure your website is mobile-friendly to enhance reach and readability.
6. Stay Agile and Informed: Be ready to pivot your strategy based on industry trends and feedback. For example, if video content gains popularity, consider incorporating it into your strategy.
7. Utilize Analytics for Improvement: Regularly check performance metrics and adapt your strategy accordingly. If certain types of content perform better, focus more on those.

Conclusion

A well-planned content strategy is vital for any digital marketing effort. By setting clear goals, understanding your audience, focusing on quality, maintaining consistency, integrating SEO, staying current with trends, and using analytics for continuous improvement, you can avoid common pitfalls and create a strategy that drives sustainable success.

If you have any questions or need help creating the perfect content strategy for your business, give us a call.

The post 7 common reasons why most content strategies fail appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.

2024 is here, and it brings new SEO and content marketing challenges for local business owners who are trying to compete, survive, and thrive in the ever-competitive digital landscape.

This guide offers 10 refined and actionable strategies to amplify your SEO and content marketing in 2024, ensuring you’re not just competing but leading in the digital age.

1. UX: The bedrock of digital real estate

Consider the principle that less is more.

Streamline your user journey with intuitive navigation and a decluttered interface, much like how Spotify personalizes user experience with minimalistic design and tailored playlists. Engage users with interactive elements and ensure lightning-fast load times.

Remember, your website’s ease of use is paramount, as it is one of the most important search engine ranking factors.

2. Embrace and amplify E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T now dominates SEO; it’s about being the best answer out there.

Regularly update content to reflect the latest knowledge and showcase authority through detailed articles, insightful studies, and user engagement.

Platforms like WebMD excel by continuously offering updated, expert-verified content. Take inspiration and examples from such websites and how they display their expertise, experience, authority, and trust.

3. Semantic search: Speak the user’s language

Semantic search is about understanding the intent behind words. Use natural language and structure content to answer questions directly.

For inspiration, look at cooking blogs like “Smitten Kitchen,” which optimize their content by addressing common cooking queries and dilemmas directly.

In today’s SEO, it is more important to understand the searcher’s intent behind the query than using exact match keyword phrases.

4. Video: The vanguard of content

Video isn’t just content; it’s an experience.

Create videos that tell stories, educate, or entertain.

Like TED Talks, focus on delivering value in an engaging format. Ensure accessibility through captions and clear, concise descriptions.

Furthermore, use those videos on your website and in your text-based blog posts to add variety and increase user engagement metrics.

5. Mobile SEO: The frontier of user access

Mobile browsing isn’t just prevalent; it’s expected.

Optimize for the small screen by ensuring responsive design and quick navigation. Take cues from apps like Instagram, known for its seamless mobile experience, and apply similar principles to your site’s mobile version.

No matter how big or small your local business website is at the moment, it needs to have a fantastic and fully functioning mobile version.

6. Local SEO & Google Business Profile: Community first

Local SEO connects you to your immediate market. Encourage reviews and actively update your local profiles. Look at how small businesses, like your favorite local coffee shop, maintain a robust online presence with updated hours, reviews, and posts.

Google Business Profile is the lifeblood for small local business websites. Pay as much attention as you can to this area if you are serious about building search authority in your industry.

7. Voice search: Conversations with technology

Voice search continues to grow. And with the rise of AI and various voice assistants, it is only going to get bigger. Make sure that you’re prepared for this change in 2024 as soon as possible.

Optimize for how people speak in real life. Incorporate a conversational tone and focus on long-tail keywords, much like how virtual assistants are programmed to understand and respond to a variety of voice queries.

8. Diversify with multimedia

Just as a museum isn’t limited to one type of exhibit, your content shouldn’t be confined to text.

Engage through infographics, podcasts, and interactive quizzes. Consider the draw of BuzzFeed quizzes and how they engage users through interactive content.

The idea is to make your content appealing and engaging. The more time visitors spend on your page and the more they interact and engage, the more kindly Google is to see your website.

These engagement metrics are important search engine ranking factors and will reward you in the long term with improved search engine visibility and rankings.

9. AI: Your creative co-pilot

Utilize AI for more than just data; let it inspire content creation. AI can suggest blog topics, draft content, and even analyze user engagement. However, keep the human touch; ensure every piece reflects your brand’s essence, much like how digital artists use software to create but retain their unique style.

The idea is to use AI to create efficiencies and bypass the constraints of a small business.

10. Data: The compass for content

Data isn’t just numbers; it’s insights into what works.

Use analytics to guide your strategy, adapt to trends, and understand user behavior. Regularly review and adjust based on these insights, much like how e-commerce giants like Amazon continually refine their user recommendations.

Conclusion: The journey ahead

As digital landscapes evolve, so must your strategies. By adopting these ten approaches, you’re not just keeping up; you’re setting the pace.

Remember, in 2024’s digital realm, flexibility, creativity, and user focus are your keys to dominance in SEO and content marketing.

The post Your 10-point 2024 blueprint for dominating SEO and Content marketing appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.

Understanding the Helpful Content System

The Google Helpful Content Update, introduced in August 2022, marked a significant shift in prioritizing user-focused content over search-engine-oriented material. This update deployed a machine-learning model to identify and rank pages with original, valuable content higher, while demoting sites with low-quality, unhelpful content. 

Google’s Helpful Content System is a machine-learning model that utilizes classifiers to generate signals. These signals are incorporated into Google’s ranking system to filter out low-quality content. The system assigns a label to website content, effectively giving a ‘thumbs down’ to unhelpful content. This signal varies in weight, depending on the amount of unhelpful content a site has. 

The Helpful Content System is one of many signals used by Google to rank sites, including factors like links and relevancy.

Recently, Google has continued refining this system, enhancing its algorithm to better discern content quality and relevance, further emphasizing the creation of content that genuinely serves user needs and interests. These updates underscore Google’s ongoing commitment to improving user experience and the quality of information available through its search engine.

The latest update related to Helpful Content was rolled out by Google in September 2023.

Clarifying Google’s Guidance

Google recently updated its guidance to add clarity to the Helpful Content System. However, one part of the guidance was unintentionally opaque and led to confusion. The passage in question was:

“Are you changing the date of pages to make them seem fresh when the content has not substantially changed?”

This guideline targets those attempting to manipulate Google’s freshness algorithm by trivially altering content and updating the publication date. However, the ambiguity arose because many publishers regularly make minor but legitimate changes to their content, like fixing typos or making grammatical corrections, raising concerns about the impact of such updates on their rankings.

Addressing Concerns and Clarifications

Luke Jordan (@lr_jordan) raised a valid concern on this issue, highlighting the nuance Google’s system might overlook. He shared:

“Google doesn’t understand nuance well enough to make blanket rules…A genuinely valuable update might require changing the number 6 to 5, and a patch number from 9.0.1 to 9.0.2.”

Responding to these concerns, Google SearchLiaison clarified:

“No, we don’t do this if updates are made to be helpful to people…It’s not just one thing. It’s not direct. And it’s not an issue if you’re not doing things primarily for Google.”

Not relying on a single metric

The essence of SearchLiaison’s explanation is that changing the date is one of many tactics analyzed by the machine learning model. The model uses multiple signals to calculate the likelihood of a webpage employing SEO tactics rather than creating helpful content. This approach avoids relying on a single metric, which could lead to inaccurate conclusions.

SearchLiaison emphasized:

“If you’re just changing the date because you think ‘that’ll make Google think this is fresh,’ you’re likely aligning with other behaviors that overall align with signals we use to identify the helpfulness of content.”

Conclusion

SearchLiaison’s clarification is crucial in understanding how the Helpful Content System works. 

It reassures publishers that minor, legitimate updates won’t negatively impact their ranking, as long as the primary intent isn’t to deceive Google’s algorithms. 

This clarification helps dispel fears of false positives, ensuring that genuinely helpful content is appropriately recognized and ranked by Google.

The post Google’s insight on the Helpful Content system and changing publishing dates appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.

• Drive a consistent stream of relevant organic traffic,
• Create brand awareness,
• Establish brand authority,
• Generate highly-qualified leads, and
• Increase conversions/sales and revenue.

However, not every local business seems conducive to the concept of content marketing and organic traffic and lead generation. Local law firms seem to be one of those businesses that don’t normally do very well when it comes to content marketing.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. Your content does not have to be boring.

And because most local law firms aren’t leveraging this medium very successfully, that leaves more opportunities open for your business.

To help you, here are a few content marketing tips for your local law firm’s website.

1. Create content for each step of your customer’s legal journey

Unlike many other niches, the law industry has a lot of potential for creating relevant content for each step of the user’s journey.

For instance, if you deal with divorces, you can create content for the awareness stage that’s titled “X signs that your partner is considering a divorce.”

Then for the next step of the user’s journey, you can create a blog post on ‘X things to take care of when filing for a divorce.”

After that, for the last stage of the user’s journey (at the bottom of the funnel), you can create a content page that’s optimized for the keyword best divorce lawyers [in your city].

By doing so, you keep your website visitors engaged and provide value to them at each step of their journey. In addition, if someone goes through the entire process with you, they are more likely to convert and become a customer.

2. Create timely content to keep it fresh and engaging

Sometimes, some high-profile legal cases get a lot of attention on the internet. In that case, it is wise to create timely content to keep things fresh on your blog as well as keep your readers engaged.

The recent Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial is a good example of leveraging high-profile trending cases.

3. Leverage case studies

Not many local law firms leverage case studies as well as they should, and that means missing out on important opportunities.

A law firm is usually as good as its results, and good results speak for themselves.

If you have won a few cases, create written case studies on them and publish them on your website. If you have lots of case studies, divide them into thematically-related categories, e.g., divorce case studies, adoption case studies, financial fraud case studies, etc.

Case studies can not only be optimized for certain keywords (to drive organic traffic) but they can also be used for lead generation and lead nurturing.

You can gate a few case studies for lead generation. Similarly, you can also use case studies to warm and nurture leads when they are close to making a decision. That helps you convert more organic visitors into paying customers and contribute to the success of your organic content marketing strategies.

4. Create FAQ content

Law isn’t always easy to understand by the general public. Many people have questions about specific terminologies, legal jargon, or processes.

These questions can be strategically used to drive traffic with the help of FAQ content.

With FAQ content, you can target the entire keyword in a question. The answer is more likely to be ranked in SERP featured boxes, which can propel your local law firm’s website to the top of the rankings. Additionally, your FAQ answer can also become the de facto answer for voice searches.

5. Create glossaries

Not everybody is familiar with all the acronyms and words that are used in the legal industry. That presents an opportunity to create a glossary page where you define every acronym and word that people may have questions about.

These glossary pages are a great source of traffic and backlinks — which can pass link equity throughout your website and push other pages on your site higher on the search results pages.

What’s next?

We hope you found these 5 content marketing tips for local law firms helpful. For more such local SEO content, stay tuned to our blog.

If you need help with local SEO, feel free to contact us.

The post 5 Tips: Content Marketing for Law Firms appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.

We’ve got you covered.

Here is a 10-point local SEO content checklist that will help you increase traffic and sales by keeping you on the right track.

1. Primary keyword research

High-quality and helpful content begins with thorough keyword research. Before you start writing online content, you need to understand the following:

• What are people in your niche searching for online?
• Which keywords are they using in search engines?
• What is their search intent for each search query?

We can divide local keyword research into two parts: primary keywords and secondary keywords.

By primary keyword research, we mean the main keyword phrase that each web page on your local business site will target. It’s important that each page on your website targets a unique keyword phrase with different search intent. Otherwise, you may end up with keyword cannibalization.

The easiest way to do primary keyword research is by analyzing content gaps between your and your competitor’s websites.

2. Secondary keyword research

Once you have identified the main keyword that you want to target with your web page, the next step is to shortlist a list of secondary keywords. These secondary keywords are semantically related keywords (or LSI keywords) that add context to your web page for readers and search engine crawlers.

Additionally, you can also rank for these secondary keywords and increase the total traffic potential of each page you publish.

For local SEO content, it is also important to find and include geo-specific keywords. For example, your main keyword might be “plumbing services”. But a geo-specific secondary keyword could be “plumbing services in London”.

3. Meta title

Each web page should have a unique meta title. It is an important search engine ranking factor. The meta title should be keyword-rich and accurately explain the contents of the page. 

Make sure that the meta title you write isn’t too long or too short. ~50-55 characters is considered the ideal length.

4. Meta description

Although meta description is not a direct search engine ranking factor anymore, it is still an important part of the puzzle.

Well-written meta descriptions encourage more search engine users to click on your web page. A higher click-through rate (CTR) not only brings additional organic traffic but can also play a crucial role in improving your search engine rankings.

Use a tool like our SERP snippet tool to preview how your meta title and meta description look before you publish your web page.

5. Images

A good content piece has useful images that add value to readers. For local businesses, it may include customer testimonials, photos of the business location, or product shots.

Here are a few tips when it comes to adding images to web content:

• Make sure to add a few images. They make your content less monotonous and more engaging.
• The images should be SEO-friendly. Add relevant keywords in the file name and alt text descriptions.
• Make sure the images are all web-friendly, compressed, and small in size. Images that are too big in size can slow down your web page and negatively affect search engine rankings.

6. Internal links

Internal links play an extremely important role in search engine optimization.

Before you publish your new web page, make sure it has contextual, helpful links to other pages on your website.

After publishing, find other thematically related pages (ideally, the pages with high page authority) and build relevant links to the new page you just published.

This will help Google bots and your website visitors find the new page easily. In addition, these internal links will also pass valuable link equity that will help the newly published page in search engine rankings.

7. Outbound links

Outbound links are links to external websites. Do-follow outbound links can pass link equity outside of your website, but that shouldn’t be the main concern.

The main goal is to make your web page the best possible resource for readers — even if that means including relevant and helpful outbound links.

Google judges a page’s worth by the value it adds, and outbound links can add value to readers.

8. Readability

The content must be easily readable. 

Use bullet points, images, shorter sentences and paragraphs, and a well-structured outline to create a pleasant reading experience. You can use free tools like Hemingway to see how easy-to-read your content is. Aim for a score of less than 8.

In addition, the design of your web page also plays a big role.

9. Website speed and user experience

The longer your web page takes to load, the tougher it’ll be for your page to rank on Google’s first page.

Check out our free guide on how to increase the website loading speed.

10. Call-to-action

Last but not least, the goal of a local business web page is not just to drive traffic. It is to drive sales and revenue.

And that happens when you include a powerful call-to-action that is in line with the search intent of the user.

Related articles

• Local SEO Guide
• Local SEO Landing Page

Need help with your Local Business SEO?

SEO Company for Small Businesses

Local SEO by Location

London SEO Agency

UK SEO Agency

Essex SEO Agency | Kent SEO Agency | Sussex SEO Agency | Surrey SEO Agency

The post A 10-Point local SEO content checklist to increase traffic and sales appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.

Is it better to have lots of (relatively) lower-quality pages, or is it better to have fewer but higher-quality pages?

These are some of the questions that have been a matter of debate for a long time. Google’s John Mueller recently shared insights into what makes a website authoritative and how the number of web pages affects it.

The conversation began on Reddit, where the OP asked why Google isn’t indexing new content as quickly as it did previously. According to OP, they have 30 articles published on their website and resumed publishing new content after a three-month hiatus.

OP also thinks their website is authoritative because of the links it has received.

Google’s John Mueller responded that “it’s really hard to call a site authoritative after 30 articles.”

He further added why Google would take more time to index content because of the three-month hiatus period. 

“Especially if you have stopped publishing for a while, I can see how Google might be [a] bit more conservative with regards to indexing more,” John said.

In his response, John Mueller also confirmed that there is nothing wrong or broken with Google’s indexation system.

“I don’t see anything broken in the way Google indexes stuff at the moment. I do see us being critical about what we pick up for indexing though, as any search engine should.”

To overcome this problem and a period of lull, John suggested OP continue to publish more high-quality content pages on their website. There is no shortcut here.

“Over time, as we see that your site is more than just “30 ok posts”, and instead something we’re keen on sending as many users to as possible, then indexing will pick up.

This isn’t something you can push through technical means though, it’s not the button-push before indexing that makes your site by far the best of its kind.”

The takeaways

There is plenty of good information here. More importantly, this response by John gives a glimpse of the mindset that Google uses to rank and prioritize websites on the SERPs.

First, Google doesn’t just send search engine users to a page; they send them to a website. And a website is more than the sum of its pages. If you want your website to be considered authoritative, it needs to cover various subtopics in a niche comprehensively.

Second, you cannot go on a big hiatus in which you do not publish anything new. This directly affects the credibility and authority of your website. As a result, it takes longer for search engines to start indexing and ranking your content again.

Use these two lessons to improve your website’s ranking and authority on the SERPs.

The post 30 pages do not make a website authoritative, Google hints appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.

The best part is that content is useful — in some way, shape, or form — in almost every aspect of your business.

In this blog post, we take a look at how online content can benefit your business and what you can do to ensure it happens.

1. Brand awareness and authority

High-quality content helps increase brand awareness and authority. 

By regularly publishing informative content that online users search for, find, and benefit from is the cornerstone of modern-day content marketing. It not only establishes you as the authority in your niche, but it also helps with more conversions and conversion rates down the road.

In addition, if you manage to get ranked in the first position on the SERPs for important keyword phrases, the credibility of your business can grow tenfold.

For example, if you have a website that offers account software solutions and appears on the number one search position for the keyword “best accounting software”, it will be incredibly beneficial for your brand authority, awareness, and credibility.

What to do: Invest in an SEO-driven content strategy that focuses on high-quality, informative content. Shortlist the most important keyword phrases and aim to rank your web pages in the number one position for those keywords.

2. Leveraging social media platforms

Without high-quality content, you wouldn’t be able to tap into social media. 

First, there are so many social media websites now (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.), and social media requires a steady stream of content to keep engagement high.

If done properly, social media can be a huge source of additional traffic and leads — but it all starts with content that is optimized for social media engagement.

What to do: Leverage your existing content for social media posts. This may include quotes, statistics, content sharing, images, etc. In addition, create new content that is specifically optimized for social media. Monitor analytics to see what type of content performs the best and double down on that.

3. Prospects nurturing via email marketing campaigns

Many businesses make the mistake of thinking that their job is done when a website converts or becomes a lead.

That is not the end. In some ways, that is only the beginning of the journey.

You may still need to nurture those leads and guide them through the sales funnel with a robust email marketing campaign. In addition, existing customers also need marketing emails for retention and cross-sell or up-sell purposes.

What to do: Dedicated a portion of your content calendar to email marketing campaigns. You can also leverage your existing content to nurture leads and customers at specific stages of the funnel, e.g., customer case studies when a prospect is at the bottom of the funnel and ready to make a purchase decision.

4. Tapping into multiple mediums

As we discussed earlier, existing content can be used to power social media content marketing efforts. 

But that is not the only use case. There are many more mediums and platforms that you can use your content to generate new sources of traffic and leads.

What to do: Take inventory of your content and explore how it can be repurposed — for videos, infographics, guest posts, e-books, guides, landing pages, ads, A/B tests, etc.

5. Minimizing operational expenses and replacing paid ads

At the end of the day, it is all about ROI or return on investment. If you are strategic about it, content can benefit your business by saving a lot of money in the long run.

SEO-driven content helps you build a steady stream of free traffic coming from search engines. That does not require active participation from you — except for only a little bit of upkeep to ensure your pages are fresh, up-to-date, and properly linked.

Compare that with, say, paid search ads (SEM) — you stop receiving traffic as soon as you stop paying for ads.

SEO-driven content can help you minimize that operational expenditure of constantly bidding for keywords.

What to do: Identify a list of high-CPC keywords that are profitable for your business and that you bid on. Create a content strategy for ranking on the number one SERP spot for those keywords organically. When you do reach the #1 position on the SERPs, you will be in a position to stop buying ads for that keyword.

The post How content benefits your business (and what to do) appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.

Content marketing is no different.

You can only produce so much content with the resources (time and money) you have, which leads to an important debate, i.e.,

Should you create fewer but stronger pages (that target a bunch of related keywords), or should you create lots of pages (different pages for different keyword variations) and cover as much ground as possible?

Someone recently asked the same question to Google’s John Mueller:

“I have a question about the ecommerce website. We create content based on the keyword suggestions, autocomplete by Google to include more content around the one main topic.

For example, the main topic or transactional intent is smartphones, and we’re going to create tech-related content around the smartphone, like blog posts.

Should we really need to create separate content or separate keywords around one topic, or is just combining all different keywords in one intent and optimizing all our content around this intent?”

The act of balancing

John Mueller simplified this and boiled it down to “balancing” between the two strategies.

“You can do it either way. It’s more of a strategic decision, I think.

In general, what you are balancing is making pages that are specific for individual topics and making pages that are more general but where you have fewer pages. So you’re kind of balancing many pages versus fewer pages”, said John.

Analyzing competitors

John also mentioned that the strategy should take into account what your competitors are doing.

“If you have fewer pages, generally those few pages tend to be a little bit stronger. Whereas, if you have a lot of pages, then it’s like the value is spread out a little bit more.

So if there are specific topics where the competition is stronger, then you want to have very strong pages, so maybe fewer pages.

If you are targeting areas where the competition is not so strong, then maybe having more pages is fine. So that’s kind of the balance that you would try to take there.”

Pick one?

In the end, John mentioned that if you have a new website, perhaps it’s a better idea to start with fewer but stronger pages.

“If you’re starting out, probably having fewer pages is a good idea so that you can be as strong as possible in that area.

And then over time, as you see like we’re very good here, you can split off individual pages for more niche topics.”

How do you execute your content strategy? Do you rely on fewer but stronger pages, or do you like covering as much ground as possible by creating lots of content?

Let us know.

The post Content quality vs. quantity? Google’s John Mueller shares advice appeared first on Improve My Search Ranking.