“What helps people helps business.”
Leo Burnett
As a business owner wanting to spruce up your website, have you ever found yourself in front of that blank screen, staring at a blinking cursor, wondering what to write?
Even the biggest writers experience exactly this in life, at least once. It’s normal, but still, nobody likes that feeling. Feeling helpless. Not knowing how to start.
They do say the beginning is the hardest, right?
Right.
So, let's start from the beginning. The question is: why are you writing?
Are you telling a story?
Are you trying to sell your products?
Or are you maybe building your brand?
Whatever your intention is, the content you’re delivering has to be interesting and informative. It has to be of high quality if you want to be above your competition.
They don’t say that content is the king for nothing. When it comes to good marketing, what you deliver and how you do it can make a big difference.
That difference can get you a higher ranking on the SERP (search engine results page). And that’s where all the blog and e-shop pages want to go.
But how?
First things first, let’s explain some terms, and then we’ll hit you with great tips on how to elevate your content and overall ranking position.
What it means to have good SEO
Having an online business can be super fun, but it can also feel like a struggle. What can make the difference between the two is applying good SEO.
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of getting your content ranked the highest possible on the search engine results page (SERP) in an organic way. But what does it mean?
It means you can get great results without paying for ads. With a few SEO magic tricks, your content will be seen and valued by search engine algorithms and shown to your audience when they need it to be shown.
You can achieve that with good keyword research, applying some backlinks to your content (on-page and off-page), and overall optimization of the website structure.
Algorithms are the ones you have to impress.
And they love good, quality, human-made content.
Quality content and how to get it
Everybody is talking about content these days. Every marketing guru you turn to has “proven advice” on what works with algorithms now and what doesn’t.
And if it’s not working for you, shame on you. Learn how to use ChatGPT the right way.
But in reality, it’s not the right way to achieve anything. Except maybe spend too much time online, listening to gurus.
First of all, not every piece of content is good content. You don’t want your potential consumers to relate your business to anything less than good.
So you’ll have to figure out what high-quality content is and how to make it.
One thing is sure: AI-generated content (which can be considered useful sometimes) can’t be ranked as high-quality. So, forget about it. At least for now.
Maybe in the future, those machines are really going to take our jobs. But for now, a human touch is still a unique creation.
And algorithms can recognize it, for sure.
Search engine algorithms won’t rank your content as relevant if they detect plagiarism and too much AI intervention.
So, it would be wasted content, and the results would be poor.
It’s much more useful to put in the effort and create good-quality content that can give you better rankings and overall trust from your audience.
Here are some of the major tips and tricks on how to improve your content:
- Know your audience
- Keyword research
- Using SEO writing services
- Multimedia content
- Storytelling
- Correct formatting and great headlines
- Using the voice of the company
Let’s hear a bit more about each of them.
Know your audience
One of the most important factors in delivering good content is knowing your audience.
After all, it’s for them that you’re doing all this, right? Then do it the right way, so they can get relevant information.
As a big marketing expert, Leo Burnett said at the beginning of this article: If it helps the people, it helps the business.
So, when you’re considering what and how to share, think of your consumers. Think of what’s troubling them and give them a solution. Help them.
Keyword research
Now that you know what’s bothering your audience, let’s find out what words and phrases they are using when searching the internet.
Those words are called keywords, and they’re essential for getting your first-class content seen by your audience.
You can have good content, but if you miss the right keywords, it may end up backstage, somewhere past the second page of the search engine.
And you don’t want to go back there.
For easier and quicker keyword research, you have various tools to help you, so don’t hesitate to use them.
Using SEO writing services
We’ve already mentioned SEO, and it's an inevitable part of running an online business, whether a blog or an e-shop.
It can also take a huge amount of time if you want to do it right.
That’s why most business owners choose to use SEO content writing services providers.
They’ll deliver high-quality SEO content, meaning it'll already be optimized for search engines through thorough keyword research, backlinking, and other important stuff that algorithms love.
It’s proven the best option if you don’t have the time and extra energy to do all this yourself. These service providers are professionals who are deep in the matter, and you’ll see results sooner.
If you have the funds, don’t hesitate to use them.
Multimedia content
This term refers to the combination of multiple forms of media. It’s been around since the first cinema showed a sound movie, combining audio and visual elements of communication.
It is proven that people react better to such content. We like to have all our senses included.
Knowing this, you can elevate your existing content, like transcribing video to text for YouTube videos. That way, you can add subtitles to your video content, and your audience will have a better understanding of the content, with video, audio, and text to support it.
With this, you’ll have more visitors, and algorithms will recognize your content as relevant, so they’ll start showing it more.
Storytelling
It’s not enough to just write or make a video about some topic that interests your audience.
I mean, you can, but it won’t have that much effect if it’s just dry facts.
No story, no examples, no emotions.
No visits.
Like when you’re choosing which movie you’re about to watch if it’s not taking you in with its storytelling, you will change the channel.
It means you have to pull your audience into your world with your intro. And keep them there till the end of the story.
It looks like too much effort, but in reality, I find it much easier to write like this, like I’m telling a story to someone I care about and want to help them.
Try it, and you’ll see that once you try it, you’ll never go back to where you were before.
Correct formatting and great headlines
When aiming for above-average content, it’s important to consider all the factors that can help you. Correct formatting is one of them. Believe it or not, proper formatting is a very important part of SEO, and most people don’t even think about it.
The right usage of header tags (H1, H2, H3, H4) or bold and italicized text is not only useful for your readers but for the search engines too.
And isn’t it great that, by applying this simple advice, you can kill two flies with one slap?
Well-structured content helps search engines better understand and identify key topics and relevant keywords. Also, people are usually fast-reading or skimming through the articles, so this makes it easier for them too.
Make sure you use subheadings, bullet points, or number lists to make your content easier to follow. That improves the overall UX (user experience) for your audience, which leads to lower bounce rates and more time spent with your content. And that is a major signal for search engines to rank your content higher.
Simple as that. A classic win-win situation.
Also, don’t forget to write good, attractive, and eye-catching headlines. They’re the first part of the content, and they have to draw attention. And have a few keywords in them so that search engines can show them to the right audience.
And a few extra tips: use alt text with images to help the algorithm understand the image, and incorporate some links in the content, either internal from your website or external from some high-quality sites, to boost your SEO.
Using the voice of the company
Once you start generating content for your company, you’ll have to determine your company’s voice. Meaning, how will you address your audience? Will you use a formal tone or maybe something more casual?
Your company’s tone of voice (ToV) is your unique communication style, your brand, and your company’s personality.
Through this, you can communicate with your audience on an emotional level, getting your message right where it belongs.
In the hearts and minds of your potential consumers.
It’s easy with us humans; we all react to emotions, and you can use it to your advantage
Can you do it now?
Now that you know how to improve your company’s content and rankings, there are no excuses left.
Try implementing this bit by bit, and once you see results, your motivation will take you further.
And who knows how high you can go?
