Google has over 6.7 billion searches a day, so Google worked to set in place certain algorithms to provide users the most useful and relevant content in seconds. To provide these 6.7 billion searches a day the most useful data, Google’s Panda algorithm will rank websites higher based on the quality, quantity, and relevance of the content present on their website. When websites take advantage of this algorithm, they will successfully maximize their search engine optimization over time. So many people ask, how do I know if my website has good content? Continue reading to find the 6 basic steps to optimize your website and rank higher for search engines.
1. Create Original Content
Google will notice when content is duplicate or taken from another website and it will negatively impact your website’s SEO and ranking. Writing original content will boost your website’s credibility and ultimately land your website a higher ranking on a search engine results page (SERP).
2. Keyword Research
When creating content for your website it is very important to have topics that users are interested in and are often searching for. This is where keyword research comes into play. Using tools such as Google Search Console to find out the words/phrases that people are looking up will help you create content based around those most searched keywords. By using these keywords to develop your content, you will be able to ensure that you are reaching your audience.
3. Relevant Content for Your Website
When developing your content writing plan, you need to make sure that what you are writing about makes sense and is related to the rest of the pages on your website. Not only will random and irrelevant content rank you lower on a SERP, but it will also be annoying to users.
4. Length of Content
Thin content may be quick and easy to write but will not benefit your website’s SEO or your user’s experience. Larger content with more than 400 words has shown to rank higher on search engines. But keep in mind that breaking up your content into paragraphs will be easier to read and improve your user’s experience.
5. Internal Linking
Another way to improve SEO is to include links within your content to other relevant pages of your websites. This will increase traffic throughout your website and decrease bounce rates. It will also show that your content is related to other parts of your website.
6. Titles & Meta Descriptions
A page title is the clickable headline that shows up when something is searched. Titles should be short and concise descriptions of what your page is about. Within the 60 characters of the page title, you should contain one or two relevant keywords.
A meta description is found right underneath the title. Meta descriptions should offer users more detail about the page. The best practice for meta descriptions is to be 160 characters long, contain keywords and a description of what the page is about.
If you keep these few easy steps in mind while creating blogs or other content for your website, you will be rewarded with a higher ranking and ultimately more traffic!