What is SEO content? A basic beginners guide
Updated: Apr 6
Content is at the centre of every SEO campaign.
According to an Ahrefs report, over 90% of content gets 0 traffic from Google[i], meaning you really do have to play the game for your content to be part of the winning 10%.
If you’re unsure on what SEO content is, or you need some extra guidance, we’ve got you covered.
In this guide, we cover:
1. Content VS. SEO Content – what’s the difference?
2. So, what is SEO content?
3. How to write SEO content that ranks
Content VS. SEO Content – what’s the difference?
Before we jump into the nuances of SEO content, let’s tackle the immediate question – what counts as ‘content’?
Content is any information, fact, idea, or news that is presented in a consumable format on the web. Think articles, videos, social posts… the list goes on and on.
SEO content is any content that is produced to support an overall SEO strategy (more on this below).
You can produce content that isn’t optimised for SEO, but SEO content will always be content.
So, what is SEO content?
SEO content is content that is optimised to appeal to search engines. It works in tandem with other On Page optimisation factors to help web pages to rank.
But just because you put the effort into publishing a blog on the internet, it doesn’t mean people will automatically see it, or that search engines will like it.
Search engines don’t care about your clever wit or unique insights unless certain factors have been implemented that appeal to their algorithms. The truth hurts, we know.
SEO content isn’t confined to blogs and articles, either. It includes multiple formats, such as:
Product & Category Pages – perhaps some of the most important content in the SEO world, product and category page content target highly-specific, converting keywords. This type of content has to be brand appropriate and optimised to perfection to bring in organic sales.
Blogs Posts, Guides & Articles – articles and blog posts focus on informational, query-oriented, and long-tail keyword phrases, with a goal of improving site-wide rankings and positioning the site as a trustworthy source of information.
Infographics – visually presented content that is usually data and statistic-driven
Videos – videos introduce variety to content. Including supplementary videos within your content (especially blogs, articles, and guides) can help them to rank.
1. Do your research
You should understand your business and niche better than anyone else, and this should be obvious when people read the content on your site.
Spend time discovering the types of content your competitors are producing, what is working for them, and what isn’t. Try to understand what is making them succeed and make sure you look at industry trends and what your audience is talking about.
2. Pick the right keywords
Before you get stuck into writing SEO content, you should have a grasp on how to perform keyword research and understand which keywords you want the page in question to rank for.
Pay special attention to long-tail keyword phrases, low competition keywords, and keywords with high traffic volumes, but don't eliminate 0 volume keywords if they are niche relevant.
When selecting keywords, remember that you should be writing for your audience first, not specifically to appease search engines. Stepping away to brainstorm content topics that may not necessarily be data-led, but will be helpful to your audience, is an important exercise.
SEMRush have an easy-to-follow guide on keyword research here.
3. Make it easy to digest
The human attention span currently lasts for around 8 seconds[ii], If you don’t grip someone’s attention quicky, they may not hang around to read the rest of your content.
What constitutes 'easy' to read depends on your audience, but avoiding walls of text that can't be skimmed is a good place to start. Where appropriate, include a mix of lists, bullet points, images, and headings to break up paragraphs and establish information hierarchies.
4. Think about search intent
Although you want your content to rank, you need to stay aware of ‘search intent’. Does your content match what a user wants to find when they search for a keyword?
You can get a good insight into search intent for any phrase by popping it into Google. The sites which are ranking on the first page will be matching this search intent, so will provide a good model for the kind of information you should include in your content. This doesn't mean copying what everyone else is doing by any means, just take time to dissect the SERP for the query and understand why these pages are ranking, and what value you could add to the SERP page. For each piece of content you create, put yourself in the searchers shoes and consider what you would want to find when typing in the query at hand.
5. Experience, expertise, authority, and trust
If you follow any SEO's you’ll have heard E-E-A-T thrown around a lot over the past few of years. In essence, ‘E-E-A-T’ means showing customers and readers exactly why they should buy your product, book your service, or follow your advice by creating a brand that they can trust.
There are plenty of resources to brush up on your knowledge of this. Start by following Google's own helpful content guidelines to understand what it is that makes content useful to users, and think about how you can apply this to your audience.
6. Pay attention to structure
Structure plays a key part in content. Making your content easy to follow and having a proper information hierarchy will keep it organised, allowing users to keep
Headings - Headings shouldn’t be underestimated. Correctly placed, keyword optimised headings help Google to understand the structure of your content and the hierarchy of the information that is being presented.
Flow – Every story should have a beginning, middle and end, and so should your content. Maintain a natural flow, ensure questions are answered, and leave no stone left unturned (and if you do, link out to a helpful resource where the reader can find the answers they need).
Length – Google's John Mueller confirmed that word count isn't a ranking factor back in 2021[iii], but this doesn't mean you shouldn't give the length of your content pieces any thought. Like many aspects of SEO, I'd encourage you to use your common sense here. Abandon the idea of a set word count and write as much as a topic needs, thinking about the audience and the subject.
For example, an article on astrophysics is likely to require a lot more detail and explanation than a recipe for cookies (if only everyone publishing recipes on the internet didn't give you their entire life story ahead of the actual recipe). If you find yourself with nothing left to say, step away from the keyboard.
7. Build a strategy
Writing ‘content for the sake of content’ is an old school approach that doesn't hold any weight. Building a cohesive brand is all about strategy, and this should be considered in how you approach any content that touches your website, whether you intend for it to rank or not.
Once you have your keyword research nailed, a clear outline of your brand goals and values, and a solid idea of what is and isn't working for your competitors, start to build out a strategy.
Think about how often you’ll post, the topics you’ll write about, the keyword clusters you’ll target, and what you want to achieve with your content.
Sources
[i] https://ahrefs.com/blog/search-traffic-study/ [ii] https://www.ranieriandco.com/post/changing-attention-span-and-what-it-means-for-content-in-2021 [iii] https://www.searchenginejournal.com/word-count-not-a-quality-factor/397288/
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