Creating compelling content for search engines and humans

What we’ll cover

● Content in the purchase funnel ● Why valuable content is the best content● How to make your content valuable for humans● How to optimise your content for SEO● Fresh vs. evergreen content ● Measuring content success

Content in the purchase funnel

Awareness

Evaluation

Conversion

● Organic traffic ● Enhanced results ● Social media● Blog posts

● Initial research● Videos ● Web pages

● Research ● Engagement● Product /

service articles

● Long-form guides

● FAQs● Case studies

● Reviews● Product comparisons● Leads & Sales

Your content is your sales pitch

Shouldn’t I focus on SEO first?

Writing content that is valuable to your reader is your first priority. Why?

Clear, engaging, useful content ranks. It’s also what your potential readers want. It’s a win-win.

What is valuable content?

- It answers your target audience’s questions

- It’s easy to read and navigate

- It is reputable and trustworthy

- It is easy to find using a search engine

How can I achieve this?

- Targeted keyword research

- Prioritise readability

- Follow Google’s E-A-T guidelines

- Optimise for SERP features

Step 1 - Keyword research

Keyword researchStep 1● Use a tool like Google Keyword Planner to research your keywords and long

tail phrases.

● Ideal keyword has highest search volume and lowest competition.

Keyword researchStep 1● Long tail key phrases

These are phrases or questions that are more specific than a

keyword. They are valuable because they have less

competition, they’re more focused, and people who search

them are closer to point of sale.

● Keyword: Dog breeds

● Long tail key phrase - What is the best dog breed to

have as a pet?

● Find them using a tool like alsoasked.com or use

Google’s People also ask section

Keyword researchStep 1● You want to make sure your keyword matches your

user intent - Informational or Transactional

● Informational - the user is looking for more

information about a product or an idea - they’re not

ready to buy yet.

● Transactional - the user is ready to buy a certain

product.

● Milk chocolate hobnobs

● Are hobnobs good for you?

Step 2 - Readability

ReadabilityStep 2We need to make sure our content is easy to understand, so

people can read it:

● On their commute

● While putting the kettle on

● On the toilet

They’re unlikely to

● Read it from start to finish without stopping

They’re likely to

● Skim read

● Only read the bit that is relevant to them

ReadabilityStep 2We can make our content easier to read by

● Using clear, uncomplicated language

● Average sentence length of 20 words

● Short, digestible paragraphs

● Varied sentence length

We can make our content easier to navigate by

● Using subheadings every 300 words

● Breaking up text using images, infographics and lists

● Using clear topic sentences at the beginning of

paragraphs

● Listing subheadings as “contents” at beginning of text

Step 3 - Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness (E-A-T)

E-A-T for contentStep 3

● Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness ● Google mentions E-A-T as being “very

important”● Measures how much trust it thinks you should

place in a website● Google will only promote trustworthy sites

E-A-T for contentStep 3● The author of the content should be an expert in the field

Would you trust an article about tax if it was written by a travel journalist?

● The website should be an authoritative source on the topic in general

Would you trust an article on how to train your dog if you read it on a conservatory website?

● Externally link to high-authority websites to quote your sources

Anyone can write anything on the internet - make sure you can prove what you’re saying is true

Step 4 - Optimise for SERP features

Search engine results page (SERP) features

Step 4

● Featured snippets are short sections of text that Google puts at the top of the SERP

● The aim is to give the user a fast result

● You can optimise for them by answering the article’s question comprehensively in 40-50 wordS

SERP featuresStep 4

● The People also ask feature is another way for people to find quick answers to related questions

● You can optimise for this by ensuring you use relevant long tail keywords in your subtitles

● Keep the first paragraph after an H2 around 40-5o words.

Optimising your content for SEO

There are some easy, quick things you can do to help Google understand and rank your content.

How to optimise in your CMS

- Title Tags- Meta descriptions- Image alt text

Step 1 - Title tags

Title tagsStep 1

● This is the first thing people see on the SERP

Best Practices:

● Put your target keyword at the beginning● Keep to 30-60 characters● Mention your company

Title tagsStep 1

● Tell the reader exactly what they’re going to get in your content

● Draw them in with phrases like “The ultimate guide to,” “The best way to,” and “What you didn’t know about”

● Don’t overpromise

Step 2 - Meta descriptions

Meta descriptionsStep 2

● This helps the reader check that the content is valuable to them

Best Practices:

● Include your target keyword● Keep to 70-150 characters● Make sure the meta description for each page

is unique● Make it engaging and show its value

Step 3 - Image alt tags

Image Alt TextStep 3

Image alt text has three main functions

● They describe the image to visually impaired readers

● The alt text appears if the image fails to load ● It helps search engines crawl and rank your

website

Image Alt TagsStep 3Best practices

● Describe the image but don’t be too vague● Make it relevant to the content ● Keep it under 125 characters● Don’t start it with “A picture of”● Use keywords or keyword synonyms if

relevant, but don’t stuffDog in a stroller

Dog trainer pushing a corgi in a stroller to desensitise them to busy streets

Fresh

- Helps search engines crawl & index your site

- Topical, seasonal and on-trend

- Looks like you care about the latest industry trends

- Spike in traffic and sales

- Makes you relevant

Evergreen

- Worthy investment as retains its value long term

- Repurpose and refresh

- Helps build brand trust and authority

- Incremental traffic and growth

- Example - “How-to guides”

Measuring content success Ensure all content has a call-to-action

Set-up goal tracking in Google Analytics

KPIs

● Traffic● Bounce rate, time on page ● Social engagement ● Clicks on call-to-action ● Backlinks● Ranking position

What we’ve covered● Why Content is an important tool for your website● How to add value to your content with E-A-T, clear

writing and smart keyword research● How to optimise your content in your CMS to help

search engines understand and rank your content● How to measure content success

Questions?