How Your Website Content Affects Your SEO Rankings
Before the year 2000, if you wanted to learn something, you had to go to a library, a bookstore, or ask someone you thought knew the answer. Knowledge was valued back in the pre-internet world because it took a lot more effort to attain it.
Today, in 2020, knowledge is a commodity. Thanks to Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and billions of websites, we now have access to everything we want to know about any topic.
However, today’s abundance of information gives rise to another problem: how do you know which sources can be trusted?
For any business that wants to grow their organic ranking, you must build trust with your audience if you want them to stay on your website and buy from you.
When it comes to building trust online, the quality of your content is a crucial factor.
What’s All The Fuss About Content?
If you run a business today, you’ve probably heard that you need ‘content’ for your website if you want it to rank.
In the everyday world, ‘content’ means the stuff you find inside something. You don’t want the box; you want what’s inside the box.
A person who visits your website has the same desire. They don’t aimlessly arrive there; they discover your site with the idea that there’s ‘stuff’ inside they want or need.
That ‘stuff’ is usually insider information and insights. That’s probably the simplest method to define content: the things you know and can share with your customer to make things better for them.
Your Customers are Hungry For Knowledge
The entire world is obsessed with being online and searching for useful content. Here are some statistics to consider:
- There are over 2 trillion Google searches per day in 2020
- 92% of all web searches online are conducted on Google
- The average person conducts 3–4 online searches every single day
An excellent example of a content-rich website is Wikipedia. Since it was launched in 2001, it has become a new knowledge source that has over 18 Billion visits a month. To put that in perspective, that number is double the world’s current population.
People continue to visit Wikipedia because, for 19 years, the website has built trust with their audience. The content they offer their viewers has helped increase their knowledge and solve problems.
SEO is a Filter for Quality Content
Search engine optimization is an ongoing process that compares all the websites online in a specific category and gives them a ranking.
When it comes to growing organic traffic for your business website, it comes down to how well you rank in search engines.
Typically, sites that rank within the first five search results on Google for any given keyword will get most of the attention. According to Backlinko, the number one result on Google will gain 31% of all the clicks.
Being Useful is an Effective Strategy
So, the million-dollar questions is: how do you get ranked higher on Google?
While you can spend years learning the intricacies of SEO marketing, here is one quick shortcut: be useful with what you share.
If something is insightful, entertaining, or solves a problem, people will keep clicking it and sharing it. The more people click it and stay on the page, the higher the search engines will rank it.
It’s What’s Inside That Counts
When people want to improve their website, they usually first consider the platform. They sweat over the look and feel. They want everything to be perfect. However, they often ignore the fact that the contents of their website matter most.
People visit your website because of the information it contains, not because of how amazing it looks. A great visual aesthetic is nice to have; however, quality content is a must-have.
Website content – the information you provide to your prospects and clients – has a massive effect on how much they want to work with you, buy from you, and refer you.
And because your SEO results affect how well you rank online, the content you create has an even more significant effect on whether or not they can find you.
In closing, remember that each person who is looking for information is single-minded. They need help and are actively searching for the best answers or solutions. Any website that answers questions and provides valuable solutions will quickly rise to the top of the search results.
To your prospect, your website is like a box with potential goodies inside. The contents of the box (your website content) help them trust you and, over time, want to buy from you.
