Creating effective content is more than adding the right keywords to help it rank. You are looking to build content that will help people on their search journey, answering their inquiries, and adding vale that is not commonly found elsewhere.

Begin with understanding the search intents of the users. Don’t guess, leverage keyword tools to obtain the inquiries users are searching and the keywords they are typing.

Length is also a differentiating factor, not when it is poorly written because a 2000 word document will not rank better than a 600 word document that is clear and concise. However, there are times when a subject warrants a more detailed explanation in order to be properly ranked. Take a look at what is currently ranked for your keyword and assess the depth of coverage they provide.

Clear titles and first paragraphs set the stage for the rest of your piece. If a reader’s question is not immediately answered, they are going to find a different web page. This is called a bounce rate, and high bounce rates negatively impact your website’s ranking by telling Google your content is irrelevant to the user.

Subheadings are great for organising your content, but they should not be vague. “The Benefits of a Website SSL” is far less effective than, “Why Your Website Needs SSL.” This latter example gives a clear summary of what to expect in the paragraph, and as a result, is a better-organised and easier to navigate piece of writing.

It’s also important to keep your content fresh. An article or blog piece detailing strategies for social media marketing from 2018 is almost certainly going to be inaccurate or missing important recent strategies. Google prioritises updated content, and while you don’t have to rewrite your entire piece, try to keep your content accurate and reasonable with the times.

Don’t write for search engines first. If a reader’s experience with your content is poor because you burned through valuable phrases trying to hit a word count, the search engine will also see a poor quality piece and will stop ranking your content. Write a piece for whoever your target reader is, and then optimise it for a search engine.

If you are going to quote something, provide the citation. If you are citing statistics, cite where you got the numbers from. Saying something like, “Google said so,” does not help you. If you simply fabricated a statistic, that does not help your credibility. If your content is higher quality and better researched than your competition, Google appreciates it, and will rank your content higher as a result.