It sounds so obvious. Make your content relevant to what you are selling. Your search engine rank depends on it. Your pay-per-click campaign depends on it. Above all, your customers depend on it.
Yet there are still too many small businesses that disregard the importance of content quality – and a shocking amount of web developers who don’t understand what quality means.*
We are approached by small business owners on a regular basis who have a nice-looking website, but they can’t understand why they don’t appear at the top of relevant search results. The website may look great – but does it clearly tell your customers exactly what you are selling?
Remember, you’re not just talking to your customers – you’re also talking to Google.
Writing content for your website should always involve a lot of research. Keyword research lets you find popular, relevant search terms, how often they are used and where you rank for that keyword. Here is an easy to use, free tool for keyword research.
You also need to research your competitors and look at why they may appear above you in search engine results. How often do they use that keyword? How does their website look in the results listing?
Use simple, clear language that says exactly what you are selling or what the topic of that page is. Good grammar and well written copy is just as important as relevance. It builds trust from your customers and the mighty Googlebot can tell exactly what you’re all about. If your site is littered with bad spelling, your potential customers may think you are not trustworthy enough, thus bouncing back to Google to find your competitors.
Google AdWords relies on relevance too. If your ad copy isn’t relevant to the keyword you’re bidding on – similarly, if your landing page has little relevant content to your ad – then your Quality Score will be lower and you will likely pay more. Higher quality score = lower cost per click.
If you would like to know more about Search Marketing, or if you would just like us to take a look at your web content, get in touch.
*Obviously there are loads of really good web developers out there! But it’s always worth talking to an SEO specialist to make sure your content is going to work for you.
