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SEO and Content

The history of SEO has been fraught with algorithm changes, keyword stuffing, and link baiting that have caused many businesses problems in the past.

Knowing where SEO has come from and how it has evolved will help you understand why the term SEO has continued to make brands, marketers, and content creators nervous over the years.

SEO - A PastShady

Some dates to Remember

SEO has changed a lot over the years, with the majority of big algorithm updates made by Google. Here are some of the major milestones over the past few decades.

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1990’s Webmasters begin providing links to bring people to their websites.

1997Search Engine Optimization becomes a term to describe tactics used to get websites to rank higher with search engines.

2003Google introduces Florida and Cassandra updates focused on eliminating hidden text and hidden links.

2004 Google introduces Austin update to penalize invisible text and meta-tag stuffing.

2005 Google and other search engines customize search results by user.

2011Google introduces Panda - websites using keyword stuffing and duplicate content get penalized.

2012 Google introduces Penguin - focused on web spam and link farming techniques.

2013 Google introduces Hummingbird - aimed at improving semantic search.

2015 Google introduces Mobile Friendly - designed to improve mobile search experiences.

Some dates to Remember

Black Hats and White Hats

Before there were rules to prevent it, the job of an SEO expert was to use tactics to improve the ranking of a website.

Black Hat Techniques ‣ Hidden content ‣ Meta keyword stuffing ‣ Doorway or gateway pages ‣ Link manipulation and link farming

All of these techniques were designed to “game the system.” This eventually lead to the audience not trusting what they clicked because it was often an irrelevant, spammy page focused on traffic volume instead of real engagement.

Black Hats Get Punished

In an effort to make the internet a more useful tool for everyone, Google started to punish websites that were improving their rank without merit.

Enter white hat SEO.

White Hat Techniques:

‣ Quality content ‣ Semantic search terms ‣ Proper titles and meta data ‣ Relevant keyword use ‣ Quality inbound links

Quality Content

Quality content answers questions and provides solutions for problems audiences have identified in their search queries, on social media or other channels. The hallmark of quality content continues to be original, actionable, and relevant information.

Base your decisions about what content to create on search results and keyword data. Knowing what your audience is talking about and what keywords they’re already using when they find you organically is the first step to creating optimized content.

When you have a winning piece of content, make it evergreen by creating other assets from the same topic.

Sematic Search Terms

Unlike single keyword tracking and use, semantic search terms take into account the natural language and the entire sentence of the query to understand the intent of the search and put it into context. Focusing on user intent helps brands target their messages and provide more relevance for their audiences.

As search engines get smarter about how they perceive the intent of the search queries, brands will want to create content for long-tail keywords that take into account their audiences’ intentions and the way questions are being asked in their industry. The focus will shift from creating content around specific keywords to looking at broader topics and including schema meta data.

Proper Titles and Meta Data

While the purpose of black hat techniques was to drive as much traffic to your website as possible, white hat practices are more interested in driving the right traffic. The proper use of titles and meta data delivers on your content promise to bring relevant content to your audiences.

Titles and meta data should be:

● Compelling ● Informative ● Concise

Keyword stuffing is a black hat technique that results in spammy, uninformative, and useless content. On the other hand, relevant keyword use informs useful content creation. Identify what your audiences are talking about and how well your content performs as compared to your competitors.

Keyword Stuffing is Dead, Relevant Keywords Are Not

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Keyword Best Practices

● Use high volume, high engagement keywords. ● Track popular keywords your competitors are ranking for. ● Focus on keywords relevant to your business. ● Track most improved keywords for you and your competitor’s content. ● Use keywords from niche markets. ● Use keywords that convert by:

○ Search volume ○ Click through rates

● Create content and keyword groups, by: ○ Geography ○ User personas ○ Product features ○ Product lines ○ Campaign message

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Quality Inbound Links

Improving findability includes attracting quality inbound links. If you’ve established your brand as a source for relevant, useful content, chances are you will attract the right audience and they will share your content. Increase your chances by creating a variety of types of content and promoting it through social channels as well as on your own website.

When Google started updating its algorithm to punish poor SEO practices, the battle cry went up, “SEO IS DEAD!” The truth is that Black Hat SEO is (and should be) dead.

But SEO that is done correctly, and with content and user experience at its core, is alive and more valuable than ever. Now, successful brands are focusing on creating websites and content that offer a rich customer experience, with the goal of SEO being to ensure audiences can find it.

SEO - Not Dead Yet

In 1996, Bill Gates declared, “Content is King”. He saw opportunities for all size companies to participate in a content revolution that included providing both information and entertainment. We have seen that revolution take place and the internet become crowded with content in its many different forms:

● Blogs ● Landing pages ● Video ● Infographics ● Ebooks ● Slide Shares ● Podcasts

Content is Born

According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing began in 4200 BC, when man first wrote on cave walls to tell a story of the hunt. Since then, brands have been telling stories of one kind or another in order to sell products and retain customers. From brand-published magazines to sponsored radio shows and web conferencing, the corporate story has been formulating since the beginning of time.

A Long History of Content

But now it’s not enough to just put your infographic on a cave wall for the next cave dweller to see. Now, everything we create must have a purpose, an audience, and the ability to drive traffic to our websites. Now, more than ever, brands need SEO to help their content work for them. SEO can help marketers to:

● Know the topics and keywords your audience is using.

● Use keywords with sufficient volume. ● Match title and subtitles to target keywords. ● Use keywords naturally in your content. ● Write content that informs and entertains. ● Optimize for mobile.

Content Needs SEO

The caveman wrote on the wall to tell a story and perhaps inform the next guy about what animals were in the area and what tools to use to best kill that game. His content was both informative and entertaining. But more importantly, it was written with his audience in mind.

While there is nothing wrong with optimizing your content for SEO value, the best content is written with the audience in mind. Writing quality content for your audience still provides you with the best SEO value.

● Create audience personas, profiles of the actual people you’re trying to reach. Start with just one or two and then expand as you experience success with your content.

● Tell a story, answer questions and create solutions that have nothing to do with your product or service.

● Listen as much as you talk (or more) to find out what your audience is talking about. ● Create a relationship with your potential customers and provide a customer journey.

Principles of SEO Applied to Content

Some things to consider before you publish your content:

Use SEO White Hat Practices to Amplify Your Message

Title/Headline - make sure you take the time to create a title that is both informative and attention grabbing.

Meta Description - include target words in a relevant description of your content.

Title Tags - think of these in much the same way you would a title - catch the attention of the crawlers.

SEO Category - use keywords to differentiate your topics and subjects.

Know what to measure and how to measure it. Measure all your content based on these three categories:

Use Measurement to Inform Your Future Efforts

Type of Content

Discover which type of content works best for

your message. Is it a blog post, a webinar, a slide deck, an infographic or

some other type of content?

Channels

Know where your traffic is coming from. Are you

getting found from organic search, social channels,

email campaigns, or others?

Message

Know which messages are reaching your target

audience and what topics they are searching

for on the web.

Whether you’ve never focused on SEO value, or you just want to keep up to date with recent Google algorithm changes, an SEO and content audit will help you get recommendations about:

● Where to refresh old content. ● Update and add meta tags. ● Change out headers. ● Include important keywords. ● Identify relevant keywords and topics.

Why create more content when you can improve your search rankings by taking a little time to improve the content you already have?

SEO and Content Audit

Need help getting the most out of your content? Send out a smoke signal or an email and we’ll get back to you.

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