As the competition to rank higher on search engines increases there are many strategies that can help you achieve your goals. One such strategy is content optimization which in many cases leads to conversions.
This is the next big step after keyword research, competitor analysis, and content marketing. Content optimization is a blend of two important tools of digital marketing: content marketing and search engine optimization or SEO.
How Do The Two Differ?
The main difference between content and optimization is the route they follow. Optimization or SEO is highly technical in nature as it deals with metrics such as load time, website speed, keyword density, the opportunity to rank, and SERP rankings.
On the other hand, content deals with offering value to the reader through knowledge-based materials such as articles, blogs, webinars, whitepapers, and podcasts, among other content forms.
Content optimization is taking your keyword optimization to the next level. As search engines become smarter and more oriented towards offering value to their consumers, the web crawlers become smarter too. Rather than looking at specific keywords they now pay heed to look at keywords with context. They rank pages that have in-depth knowledge surrounding a keyword rather than just a high keyword density.
Steps to Implement a Content Optimization Strategy
-
Keyword research
Keyword research provides a basis for your content. It allows the marketer to understand what topics interest their audience and suit their business. Thus, it can help provide direction for high-quality content. One should also research related keywords that can broaden your scope of content and traffic.
-
Create high-quality content
While creating your content make sure that it is not only knowledge-based but is also engaging for the reader. This can be done with proper formatting, the right use of H1s and H2a, and the use of images.
Marketers should also make sure that the content is not repetitive and widely known facts. It should offer new insights to create more user interest in your materials and brand offerings.
-
Keep updating your content
It is very important to keep your properties fresh with frequently updated content. This allows the search engines to index your webpages and rank them higher. it also gives your audience a reason to come back and build higher loyalty.
-
Optimizing your multimedia
Media like images and videos can help you rank significantly higher or lower on SERPs. Optimizing the file size can help your web page load faster, a very important factor for ranking on search engines like Google and Bing.
Another important facet of optimizing your multimedia is the use of alt text. It can help crawlers understand the content of your multimedia and evaluate its relevance to the users.
-
Updating your Meta title and description
This is a very basic rule for optimizing your content which is often forgotten by digital marketers. It is key to focus on metadata which gives your users a preview of what your webpage is about when they search about keywords that you might have woven into your content. This can help increase your click-through rates traffic and social shares.
Also Download – Whitepaper (How to Improve Your Content Reach)
Final Thoughts
Content creators and digital marketers now need to realize that just looking at keywords, volume and density will not always yield optimal results as they might have just a few years ago when there was far less content and URLs for Google and other search engines to scan. New algorithms and updates have now assured the trend of content optimization and associated conversions, a joint effort between content and SEO.
