You would have heard “Content is the king of SEO” – a phrase that has created a buzz among internet marketers.
While there have been great debates over the efficacy of content marketing for SEO, the crux is that these two disciplines should very well work together to deliver successful results.
Just think about it, in the absence of content, there would be nothing to optimize for the search engines Also write about the user. Every blog post, tweet, product description and meta tag is an example of content.
The content we are talking about here does not imply writing lengthy articles or creating catchy infographics.
Good content is anything that communicates a message to the audience and, in turn, instigates profitable customer action.
What exactly is content marketing?
Content marketing means creating as well as sharing content to attract prospects and convert them into buyers. The process is ultimately aimed at helping businesses meet their marketing objectives.
This could either be the acquisition of new customers, informing people about your products/services, or increasing loyalty among the existing customers.
Depending upon the goals of your business, different content types can be produced, such as blogs, press releases, user guides, white papers, webinars, podcasts etc.
One of the reasons why novice entrepreneurs avoid allocating time and resources to content marketing is because they are not aware of the benefits it has to offer.
Let’s start with some of the intangible benefits of content marketing
Now that you have understood the importance of content marketing for SEO, you would probably be wondering ‘How can I succeed in my content marketing efforts?’
Here’s a quick guide that can help you:
Write content for humans, not computers
The first and foremost rule for creating quality content is to write with the intent of reaching your target audience, instead of search engine bots. Though there is no downside to optimising your content for SEO, it should only be done to a certain extent and in a way that does not affect its quality.
If you write informative, unique and interesting content that engages users, it will automatically boost your search engine rankings
Make sure your content is readable, understandable and properly structured. The tone should be interactive throughout so that the readers do not feel fatigued or bored.
Do not stuff keywords in unnecessary places as it may hurt user engagement.
Use bullets and numbers wherever required. Bolden the important facts, statistics and key points. Split long paragraphs into short ones so that the readers can easily skim through the information.
Content needs readers, so choose a topic that interests people
Before you embark on the content creation process, research the type of topics that people are searching for. Identify the audience you want to target through your content marketing strategy.
Determine their age group, gender, location and cultural orientation to create content that is most likely to catch their attention.
Brainstorm different ideas and decide on a content format that best fits your brand’s personality as well as provides the information sought by your target audience.
Include images, videos or graphical presentations so that the content seems interesting to read and drives your point across in a better way.
Promote Your Content Through The Right Channels
You’ve created an engaging and brilliant piece of content after hours of deliberation.
But what next? Despite all your hard work, the content is not going to work for you if it does not reach the right people at the right time. And social media is the perfect solution for that!
Though there are a lot of social media channels to publish your content, you need to find the ones where most of your prospective customers are present, be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and the like.
Track your content’s performance throughout the day to figure out the best time to post. Find out at what times users are most likely to read or engage with your content and schedule your posts accordingly.
Regular Analysis Is Important As Well
After you have created and posted the content, it is important to assess if it is improving your business’ bottom line.
Frequently review the number of page views, time on the page, bounce rate etc. User engagement metrics such as likes, comments, retweets and shares should also be analyzed regularly.
Although your business goals and buyer’s persona may differ, these tips will help you kick-start your content marketing strategy in a positive direction.
You want your website to rank on top of Google. And there’s no doubt that SEO is the best approach to it. You can get there with SEO test strategies. If you have a higher position on the SERP, you will have to get more clicks.
You must experiment and grow website traffic. There are multiple SEO testing options available out there. You just need to find the right ones.
So let’s get started… First, let’s understand
What is an SEO Test?
SEO testing evaluates the best ways to optimize your pages for the search engine results pages (SERPs). This is highly suggested for new companies, startups, and small businesses who want to experiment and find out how to improve their SEO strategy and gain results.
A popular method here is Split or A/B testing. It is suggested to weigh the possibilities for your SEO strategy. One can do this by dividing traffic into two different versions of the same page. When visitors interact with the different pages, data is collected. Based on the stats and conversions, you can decide which page is more effective.
There are 6 parts to any reliable SEO testing:
Ask a question that you want an answer to.
Make a hypothesis to understand what’s going to happen.
Remove variables and run the experiment.
Collect data.
Analyze the data.
Report on your results.
QTechnically, if you want your SEO strategy to improve, SEO Testing is the way to go. It is not that complicated, and you can learn how to do the SEO test. Some simple tools that can help you with the same are:
BuzzStream
Google Search Console
SEO Spider
SEMrush SEO Toolkit
However, every business is different, and so how to do the SEO test also varies. So you need to pick testing that works best for your business or service.
There are two kinds of SEO tests:
On-page SEO – This inspects what your site or the page is about
Off-page SEO – This inspects how authoritative, and popular your site is
The on-page SEO checklist includes:
Write effective title tags
Put targeted keywords in the title tag
Limit tags to 55-60 characters (with spaces)
Push keyword closer to title naturally
Don’t stuff your keywords
Include the brand at the title tag end, using a pipe bar to separate
Off-page SEO checklist includes:
Creating awesome content
Backlink where possible
Maximize social media shares
Outreach emails to influencers
Allow guest blogging
Why do On-page and Off-page SEO matter?
Off-page SEO adds tremendous value to your website. It compels the search engines to believe that your website is important to others. The links you receive, in turn, are an endorsement from another source — assuring the quality of your website.
On-page SEO is the optimization of whatever content is there on your website. This includes keyword optimization and internal linking.
Remember that on-page SEO is within your control, but off-page is not. So off-page SEO must measure your page’s credibility.
Why should you conduct SEO testing?
With SEO testing, you can uncover the strengths and weaknesses of your SEO strategy. These SEO test strategies help you understand how and if you are missing out on valuable site traffic and qualified leads.
What is the best time to improve SEO testing?
Ideally, this should be done at the beginning of the campaign. Conduct an SEO test before implementing an SEO campaign. Doing so will give you a baseline for where you started.
If you think you are getting a sub-par SEO grade when you will have time to fix the same.
Why is regular SEO testing suggested?
One should run periodic SEO tests to ensure that your campaign is working properly. It also gives insight into the methods that are working and what areas still require improvement.
How to test and implement better SEO Strategies?
As discussed above, there are many SEO Testing Strategies. But what you should aim for is using them in tandem with your existing strategies.
1. Interlink the Target Page with Requisite Content Using the Keyword in the Anchor Text
If you want to improve SEO testing, you need to acquire a better keyword ranking. This helps Google understand the topic better. For example, in your existing strategy, add more LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords.
Internal anchor text is another strategy you can try. It helps Google understand critical keywords for your pages.
2. Enhance Meta Tags
Meta tags, including title tags and meta descriptions, send out a solid relevancy signal to get better rankings on the SERP. However, search behavior is constantly changing. Higher click-through SEO strategies alone won’t suffice.
That’s where you need to improve SEO testing to check the organic result in lieu of content that delivers what you require.
3. Introduce Semantic Keywords For Comprehensively Covering A Topic
Semantic keywords are related to keywords or phrases. Using them gives the visitor the ability to understand the subject in a practical way. Also, incorporating semantic keywords gives the content more authority.
For example, if you are looking for a vegetarian burger, you may get results similar to it like vegetarian sliders, vegetarian hot dogs, or even subs.
If you haven’t already, try this in your SEO test strategies to ensure that you have covered a subject in its entirety.
4. Structure Content
Content is king for any SEO test strategies. Make sure it is structured and easy to read.
Remove bold tags — they did matter for SERP but not anymore Improve mobile visibility — most people read on phones now
5. Update Content That Other Pages Lack
Check out competitors and see what content you are missing. For example, are you starting your first line of the article so that it also becomes a good META description? You can search “Google Snippet Rankings” to write short Q&A in your blogs, which helps you rank for snippets.
6. Add Schema to Your Content
Schema lets a visitor, and also the search engines get a better understanding of your website or page. Doing so helps it match the page to the appropriate queries.
As a result, you boost search visibility and CTR.
7. Add Backlinks
Backlinks boost search visibility, increase your prominence on the search engine, and indicate that other web pages find your site valuable.
#Tip: Monitor the status of your backlink to show backlink growth, top domains, and new and lost backlinks for nearly any domain globally. This is a great SEO test strategy.
8. Do Include Multimedia & Images
Images, infographics, and multimedia like videos, animated visuals, etc. retain visitors longer.
To boost ranking, include an ALT text on the captions of the images. Infographics are another great tool.
If you have infographics, you will notice that visitors prefer SEO Testing.
According to Forbes, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual according to the report, and visuals are known to improve learning and retention by 400%. You can see evident changes in your SERP when doing SEO Testing.
It’s simple. Just add more visuals, videos, and infographics to your existing content!
9. Remove Dates From URL
Don’t give dates in permalinks because it would result in 404 errors when you change it later. In particular, dates also make the visitor question your authenticity.
Would you read a 2019-2020 blog or a 2008 one on SEO testing? The new one, right? Especially since the algorithms have changed so much.
10. Prune Your Site
Do more pages mean more traffic? Nope
Consider the case of pruning that Everett Sizemore makes. Proactively remove stuff that doesn’t enhance quality. The less junk on the site, the higher the overall quality signal of your site.
Do SEO testing for:
No organic search traffic
Ranking > 50
No backlinks
No social shares
11. Optimize Answer Box
To rank on top of the SERP, optimize for the Answer Box/Featured Snippet. By securing the Answer Box for a query, you can be assured that your URL is seen. Quick adjustments in your content can help you win the Answer Box.
Do answer the who, what, why, when, and how of a question relevant to the topic.
How frequently should you conduct SEO Tests?
SEO testing frequency should depend on the kind of business you are. To improve SEO testing, an SEO audit should be done 2-3 times a year. For smaller businesses, once in 6 months also works.
Step-by-Step Guide For SEO Testing on Your Site
If you want to improve SERP — then this Step by Step Guide For SEO Testing is the roadmap for you:
1. Do an SEO audit
SEO testing or audit improves your SEO. This SEO test will give you an update on what’s working well and where you can improve. This audit is an evaluation of your website to check your ability to appear on search engine results pages (SERPs)
2. Analyze test results
Once the audit is done, take a close look at your test results. Now is the time to personalize your SEO test strategies. Check what recommendations can make a significant impact.
Evaluate the SEO patterns and pinpoint the pain areas that need more wide-scale changes.
3. Redefine SEO strategy
Now that you have an update, your SEO strategy based on your test results redefines the same.
For this, you need to:
Identify your target audience
Conduct keyword research
Analyze your competitors:
Create your plan
Set up monitoring
4. Implement a new strategy
It is time to implement your new strategy. This should include your plans for improving, monitoring and measuring your SEO. Keep track of the same so that you can track and measure SEO testing results accurately.
5. Make changes when required
This is now a recurring process. You have to keep analyzing your SEO test strategies time and again so that you can constantly be at the top of your game. So, continue monitoring and do more SEO tests or audits.
Various Components of SEO Testing
Now that you are aware of the step-by-step guide for SEO testing, you must know the critical components of SEO Testing. These should not be missed out.
1. Test the impact of no-follow links
No-follow links may help increase website ranking along with traffic. One can try and use the Chrome extension, NoFollow, for the same.
2. Test social signals impact
Social media is powerful dynamite to boost traffic and reach new audiences. Can it also help your SEO?
Social signals impact SEO rankings. With consistent social signals, you can get higher rankings.
3. Test keyword intent
Some keywords perform better than others. While others get no traffic, pay attention to the intent behind the keywords. Focus on high-value and low-value together.
4. Test an AMP for your website
Google came out with AMP or accelerated mobile page websites. You can use the same to optimize your website, and mobile users. If possible, have both normal and mobile versions of the website — with testing, you can know which version works!
5. Test load speed impact
When did you last check the website loading? It will directly impact how Google will rank your website.
Good speed means a lower bounce rate, which is a great SEO strategy.
6. Test compelling title tags and meta descriptions
As mentioned earlier, this is a critical component of your SEO testing strategy. A compelling one with the right title tags and meta descriptions can help you get quicker and faster results.
At the end of the day, higher rankings for SEO mean more clicks. With SEO testing, you can get the right results. Sure there will be a few trials, but it will help you achieve goals and grow your business exponentially.
But this can happen only when you get your SEO right and run tests… So don’t miss that!
