The content on your website isn’t just there to give visitors something to read. Its first duty is to support your brand’s SEO profile.
Just like any other part of your site, your content can help, but also harm your site’s search engine rankings.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the things that can go wrong, as outlined by our SEO marketing experts here at PENNInk Productions.
Poor optimisation
While casual observers of SEO are aware of the importance of inserting the right keywords into their content, if you aren’t careful, it can be so easy to either undercook or overdo this process.
Are you remembering to include suitable keywords not just in the main body of your content, but also in your pages’ meta titles and meta descriptions, headings and subheadings?
At the same time, are you making sure your content flows and doesn’t look like someone’s just tried to squeeze in as many different variations of ‘[your business type] in London’ as possible?
It just isn’t helpful to the reader
Remember that every time someone searches Google for something, it’s because they want to find a certain resource or information. So when they connect to your website and read your content, are you giving them what they’re looking for? Or are you just getting in the way?
You need to ask yourself why someone would look for your site, content or expertise in the first place, and how you can give them something of substantive value.
There are various ways to adjust your content to serve this aim. Maybe instead of blocks of content, FAQs or a Q&A format would be more obviously useful to the reader? Does your content address all of the obvious concerns a casual reader will have, and have you linked to relevant sources – both internal and external – to aid further research?
There isn’t any attempt to convert
Interesting and useful content is one thing. Does that content also inspire the reader to carry out some action of ultimate benefit to your bottom line?
You shouldn’t be too forceful with this. Nonetheless, it’s a good rule of thumb to always at least include a call to action (CTA) in each piece of content, whether that is an instruction to request a free demo, ask for a no-obligation quote or get in touch with your company’s staff for more information.
You haven’t localised it
If your business is the kind that generally serves local people rather than those at the opposite end of the country – and certainly if you have a physical ‘bricks and mortar’ presence – it’s really important to localise your content appropriately.
That’s why your business name, address and phone number with local area code should be easy to find across the site. By also requesting reviews of your company on Google and Facebook, you can further help to build your online visibility among local people.
Do you want to get more out of your company’s online presence in 2018? Contact the SEO marketing experts at PENNInk Productions today and we’ll devise the approach that best suits your brand’s needs.
Edward Solomon has over 30 years’ experience in project management, technical education, computer networking, web design and development and is a Digital Business Consultant for PENNInk Productions Ltd.
