Google uses several criteria to determine good quality content for SEO ranking such as keyword optimizations, relevance, and link structure. Another important factor is content freshness. Search algorithms are constantly being improved to determine quality content.
Create Relevant and Compelling Content
Google likes new, original content. But try to avoid posting content for the sake of posting content. It’s about creating compelling, relevant content that users are searching for. The web is already flooded with spam. The last thing users want is even more junk. So don’t create content like it’s supposed to fill a quota.
Quality Content is Key
So what is quality content? The simple answer is that it is a properly researched and well-written one. Great articles may take several hours just for a draft. Then another several hours over the week to improve it. Google loves finely-tuned and original content. And I’m sure readers appreciate that too.
Avoid Grammar/Spelling Errors
While it has never been confirmed by Google officially, there is good reason to believe that bad grammar may have detrimental effects on your search ranking. On the other hand, Google’s search AI understands the use of slang or grammar/spelling that may seem incorrect on the surface but is ‘culturally correct’. In such cases it is fine and you should let personality shine through the writing.
Relevance of Content
You should be updating or adding stuff that matters. For example, updating superficial items like advertisements, or changing an image is considered less important. Avoid plagiarising another website’s content as this may result in a lower search ranking. Duplicated content within your own site must have ‘rel=canonical’ tags.
Content Fine Tuning
Most people write an article, post it up, and then never revisit it ever. Sure, new content is good. But existing content kept fresh is just as good. Google will increase crawler revisits to websites that fine-tune content often. There are many reasons to update an older article such as to improve grammar/spelling or add new information. Search engines certainly appreciate an effort to continually improve existing content.
Frequent Updates are Not Always Viable
Not every business will want to set up fast-moving content. Researching, preparing, and curating content is tedious work. And depending on your profession or industry, it may not even be viable. So if content freshness is not the game plan then you must focus on other areas such as backlink building.
In summary to create website content for SEO:
- Conduct keyword research to identify relevant keywords.
- Write high-quality, informative content.
- Use relevant headings and subheadings with relevant keywords.
- Optimize meta descriptions with keywords and a clear summary.
- Use internal and external links to improve navigation and demonstrate authority.
- Use alt tags for images with relevant keywords and a clear description.
