Creating Content to Improve Google Search Ranking

Semrush recently held a webinar that discussed the new Google Core Update, which focused on Google Search ranking. The higher your Google ranking is the more website traffic you will receive. Below you will learn a few keys that will help your search rankings on Google.

1. Search Intent

Search intent is giving the people what they are look for. There are 4 types of search intent: informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional. The most important aspect of search intent is details:

Format
What are you including in your article
How in-depth is it
Are you writing for a beginner or advanced?

To figure out where to begin, do a SERP analysis. SERP analysis is the process of studying a search engine results page to learn why the top-ranking pages are ranking well for the search query.

2. Speed to Value

Speed to value is to get to the point. The best way to do this is to do a short introduction that states what your reader is reading about and what the key takeaways will be in the blog post.

3. Scannable

Readers scan content in an “F shape”, which means eyes start at the upper left of the page and move to the right. Then they jump down a bit and do it once more. As they scroll down, they look at the only the left side of content, until they see key phrases.

To write for a F-shaped reader, the information-carrying words need to be at the beginning of paragraphs (ex: Best Marketing Tips: _____).

Some ideas include:

Subheadings
Bullet points
Short paragraphs
If you are writing longer paragraphs, key phrases should be bold

4. Comprehensive

You do not want readers to go back to Google. Some ideas to get the job done are:

How-to content (Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, etc.)
Linking to further readings/resources
If you are writing for a beginner, define (or avoid) jargon

5. Stay Up to Date

You should be refreshing your content on a regular basis to make sure that it is still accurate.

6. Make Your Audience Talk

Making your audience talk is especially important when you are competing against sites with higher authority scores. When creating content, you want your audience to use your content in their social shares, emails, and backlinks. Here are some ways to get your audience to talk

Look at what content and topics your target audience is already talking about and somewhat copy it
Look at new angles of a topic
Look at what journalists are covering and use your content

7. Sticky Content

Sticky content keeps readers from hitting the back button; you want your audience to stay on your page or website. Here are a few ways to keep users on your site:

Optimize speed to value (key 2)
Scannable sections (key 3)
Dense content (no fluff, straight to the point)
Easy to understand
Visuals or graphics

Now that you have some tips on how to optimize your website to rank better on Google, it is time to take some action. Remember, quality is greater than quantity.