SEO might be the buzzword and many online sites may be cashing on the same. But to assume that search engines are doing no homework or let’s say not evolving would be utterly stupid! Marketers need to revisit o their content marketing strategy.
Search engines continually work on ranking websites and keep churning out an algorithm update – Google’s latest being Google’s Panda and Penguin updates. Now that translates into some serious work for the marketers. Understanding the algorithms and ensuring that the websites are not overly optimised but just optimised. The line is very fine!
Speculations rife say that the latest changes by Google might as well spell the end for SEO! Not really, if you ask me.
What is to change then?
In my opinion, what has to change is how marketers look at / approach the process of search engine optimisation!
The future then, belongs to content marketing – delivering high quality, relevant information to drive profitable consumer action. While existing search engine optimisation techniques may not hold ground now and in the near future, optimisation per se is here to stay.
The idea behind the change is clear. Just ensure that websites that deliver value to its customers deserve the prize on search engines result pages (SERPs). Quite obviously, sites that focus on posting valuable information are the winners.
Now what does it mean to you? Get back to basics, nothing serious, no rocket science!
1. Understand the personality
From being overly focused on the amount of content on your site, you need to shift towards understanding your customer better. Some real hard work required here for getting your content marketing right. You need to identify and understand the personality of people who come to your website.
I know it’s not possible to zero into a certain number of traits but you may find yourselves looking at a wide but specific range in terms of visitor demographics.
2. Superior content will work in the long run
Yes, in the long run content that is a true representation of reality or is most closely related to the reality will win. This shift not happen overnight; it will take some time and may not give you returns now. But you will have to identify and dedicate the right resources at the right place – time, money, and people.
Decreased attention span is a regular feature of people who come to your website. Just ensure that your writers know it and know it well. If need be remind them of the ABC rule of web writing– accuracy, brevity and clarity.
3. Know when and what to post
Successful content marketing is knowing what and when to post. Remember, there can be no shortcuts here! A deep understanding of your industry and industry trends will work wonders; imprecision is bound to perish. Your readers will only read what is relevant to them, a question, a challenge, a solution etc that they can relate with.
4. Ensure they know you are there
Waiting for your customers to visit your website may actually throttle your chances of success. Work on your presence on the social networking and community based sites and ensure you engage those who follow your posts.
I mentioned somewhere in this write up that this is a long term approach. It demands patience and diligence. No quick results now, need to stay with it and have faith in what you are doing.
Keep posting new content at regular intervals and remember not everything you post will become a hit. But once you succeed in earning your visitors trust, your business should take care of itself.