Marketing experts often explain from time to time the importance of an online content strategy revolving around top-notch content for business and revenues to grow sustainably. Here, Top-notch content means quality content which is relevant, readable, properly optimised for SEO, SEM and PPC, and can help content marketing success.
To achieve long-term marketing success, one must make, publish and distribute content that can convert people into customers.
Given the key role content marketing plays in a business’s growth, many brands often set out a content marketing strategy based on numerous factors measuring content quality. These factors include word count, readability, relevance, and overall value. In addition, they are guided by the E-A-T Principle (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness).
But when discussing the subject of quality content for Search Engine Optimisation, John Mueller of Google decided to explain a more comprehensive definition of quality content.
According to him: “When it comes to the quality of the content, we don’t mean like just the test of your articles. It’s really the quality of your overall website – and that includes everything from the layout to the design.”
Then again, content marketers wonder what quality content is about. Whilst looking at Google’s definition of it, it is clear that what professionals knew about quality website content was just a small fraction of how Google views it.
This post explains and explores the essence of quality content, what it is and how to write website content that stands out from the crowd as part of the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Online Content plus Digital marketing strategy.
For a long time, business owners, corporate executives and content marketing professionals focused on the idea that content quality was often based on specific text attributes. These attributes usually describe how quality content for SEO should be for it to perform well on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Here are those factors:
Guided by these attributes, content marketers and entire marketing divisions at numerous businesses, brands, companies and agencies alike turned towards a principle known as the E-A-T Principle, as the real-time guide for creating content that converts.
The E-A-T principle stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Three key aspects that rate the reliability and overall value the content on a website or any online medium can offer. Here is a further explanation of those aspects:
In a Google SEO Office-hours hangout, John Mueller of Google explained a wider definition of quality content. As mentioned above, Google is not just looking at the text to find the quality of content in a certain domain.
Instead, it examines the content in the user experience (UX) context and rates the quality based on the website’s overall quality.
It is not the case that anyone would look at purely the article’s text and overlook everything around it, thinking that this is high-quality content. Google prefers looking at the whole website and each piece of content present on it, as John Mueller explained.
As Google says, quality content encompasses and transcends text attributes as well as the E-A-T principle. It is quite expansive than what was earlier thought about quality content, and rates content quality in relation to the website, the images on it, loading speed, layout, authenticity and structure.
Fundamentally, all the technical aspects of a website are created in direct relation to the content on it.
John Mueller’s explanation of the qualities content should possess is known to be the essence of quality and top-notch content. Here are some characteristics of top-notch content which have been identified, in relation to Google’s definition, to show professionals how to create worthwhile website content that performs quite well on SERPs:
Quality blogs identify the intent behind the search, and this can fulfil users’ needs. However, it means placing wider emphasis on keyword research for SEO to create content which can match their intent completely.
By conducting thorough SEO keyword research on time, content marketers can identify the intent behind search terms that are frequently used. Then they can make appropriate content that matches what users are looking for.
Suppose a user searches for general information for a certain topic, say the weather in Lima, Peru. They are more than likely to go off the page if they find a webpage that is forcibly trying to sell a low-quality product to them. Hence, it is wise to give them what they need at the moment.
Regardless of the length of content produced, the content still needs to be readable to be engaging. It depends on numerous factors, especially the complexity of the words utilised, verbosity in the sentences, spelling, grammar, and industry-specific jargon.
Here are some key best practices to make the content more readable:
Proper formatting makes it easy for readers to find the needed information they are looking for on the page. More than often, readers rarely read through the whole blog to get what they need. Instead, they scan through the text and use various clues to find what they are looking for in the least amount of time.
This is why readability is key, and content should be formatted in a proper fashion. Here are some qualities of properly formatted content:
The E-A-T principle matters in writing top-notch content. It is reflected in the amount of research marketers carry out to determine the depth of knowledge content marketers are sharing with users, readers and customers.
This helps demonstrate the expertise and authority of the business, brand, company or agency in the subject matter while communicating that they are a trustworthy source of information.
Content marketers must always cite credible sources whenever they publish content. They must find relevant data that can back up their claims. Then again, using up-to-date research ensures the provision of accurate information. It matters a lot when personal experiences or perspectives are being shared.
Quality content is more than text. How it looks, how it feels, how it matters, and how relevant it all relates directly to how it reads. UX writing experts say that content delivery matters as much as the content itself.
Here are some ways to ensure content is optimised for UX:
As many of you may have understood here, quality content is more than the text itself and its various attributes. Instead, Google looks at the site ultimately to see whether or not the content shared on it is top-notch.
Since it is a critical component of a well-rounded digital marketing strategy, paying attention to the website; ‘s design and UX improves the business, brand and company’s ability to perform on the SERPs nicely.
You may also like: Content Marketing Techniques That Can Help Create A Blog That Is SEO Friendly
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