We are not being overdramatic when we say that the importance of content in SEO is greater than just about any other factor that comes into play when trying to rank on search engines, especially on Google. Whilst Google never divulges the intricacies of its ranking algorithms, it has certainly made it clear, both by its public announcements and by the evidence seen by SEO experts, that it values high-quality content above all else.
That might seem like a bold statement, but given that Google’s overriding priority is to provide search results that give its users the closest answers to their searches, then sends them to websites that provide the best possible experiences, it is content that will ultimately determine if Google’s aims have been achieved.
This is why Google’s insatiable thirst for original, entertaining, and informative content that provides its users with an outstanding experience when they consume that content has no limits. So, it is clear that content has a huge role to play in search engine optimisation, and what we are going to explore as you read on are ten of the most significant reasons why that is the case and why we can safely say content is king whenever SEO and better rankings are being pursued.
SEO targets specific keywords so that your website can rank on Google whenever one of those keywords forms part of a search. However, the only way Google will know what keywords you wish to target and rank for is if you let it know, and a primary means of doing so is via your content. Including keywords in content titles, sub-headings, and body text, should help you show up in the appropriate search results.
By publishing top-quality content on your website, you encourage more people to visit that site to consume your great content. This traffic will include organic traffic from search engines, but it will come from other sources too. Once other website owners are aware of your great content, they will write about it and recommend it to their audience. Your own audience will also promote it to others, creating a snowball effect that brings even more traffic.
SEO experts will tell you that the longer you can keep visitors to your website, the more Google will send traffic to it. This provides you with the ideal opportunity to take advantage of that fact by ensuring that the content you publish is so good that it acts akin to a good book that a reader cannot put down. The difference, in this case, is you have visitors on your website who do not want to leave.
We have all browsed online and come across websites that all have the same kind of content, and none of it is particularly inspiring, captivating, or even worth reading. This is why when you create awesome content, you set yourself apart and get noticed by those who land on your website. Better still, when they are online again, it is going to be your website they return to rather than any other.
Trust online should be considered a precious commodity, and to gain that trust, one of the greatest assets you can have is excellent content. Great content can build your authority within a niche, enhance your reputation, get you spoken of in positive terms in forums and social media pages, and ultimately build the trust that others have in you and your business, which can be priceless.
This is a strategy that many website owners fail to use, but if you do, it can multiply the impact of your content many times over. From a piece of written content, for example, there are many ways you can use it beyond publishing it as a blog post. It can be used to create videos, social media posts, audio, infographics, online reports, cheat sheets and many more, all of which Google will love.
One of the differences between paid traffic, such as PPC, and organic traffic is that paid traffic is here and gone once you have paid for it and is, therefore, a short-term solution. With great content, especially evergreen content, which will remain relevant and interesting for some time, the SEO benefits from it will continue for months and even years.
When you are seeking backlinks to your website, especially high authority backlinks, to boost your SEO, the owners of any website you request backlinks from are going to want to know where it will link to. If you can show they are linking to a website with lots of highly informative, top-quality content, they are far more likely to say “Yes” to your backlink request.
Bear in mind that the term “content” covers a broad spectrum and does not just mean the content on your website. If you are using social media marketing to help generate traffic to your website, it will have a far greater chance of working if the content you have on your social media pages is top-drawer. This way it gets shared, linked to, and occasionally could go viral, all of which boosts the success of your social media campaign.
We kept this until last to highlight that this, more than any other reason, is why you should strive to make your content the best it can be. Having fantastic content is what provides your website visitors the great experience they are looking for, and we dare say, more importantly, it is what Google wants them to have too. Satisfy both, and your rankings, traffic, and revenue should all increase.
