Whether you are new to SEO or an experienced SEO junkie, there is no denying the importance of content in ranking well on search engines like Google and Bing.
Google has often referred to the idea that “content is king” and has made the use of content a core part of its algorithms over the years. Like last month’s EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthiness) update and Google’s Helpful Content Update, which rewarded or downgraded websites based on the quality and usefulness of their content.
With this in mind, we speak with industry experts and growing companies to understand how they are using content to build authority in their industry.
Create guides with statistics
“For a new or existing brand, it’s always helpful to add blog posts and guides to their website,” says Richard Allan, co-founder of the energy startup, Reheatable.
“Having lots of content shows you have substance and a website with 50 pages and articles is likely to outperform a site with only 5 or 10.”
However, making this content based on statistics and focusing on real things that people are searching for is a very good way to gain knowledge. authority.
“So rather than adding top 10 tips for this or how to save money on that, consider phrases like these below and be sure to add key statistics at the top of the page and in the metadata to make them stand out in the SERPs.”
- What percentage of people use….
- How many people…
- How many people do/don’t do it….
- How much money can you save by…
- How many people in the US and UK are…
- How much is this industry (name) worth?
- How many people in the United States use…
“Many users and even journalists are looking for this killer statistic, so you need to be able to show it early and clearly and have it backed up by a solid source.”
“You’ll also find that it makes natural link building easier because if you rank high for a good phrase or statistical question, a journalist will naturally link to you and very often they will simply take one of the first sources they see on Google as fact. You’d be surprised how many simple, quality links you could generate.”
Content layout is essential
“How you present your content is very important,” says Justine Gray of the content platform, Impact on trends.
To be truly educational, authoritative and informative, you need to make the content highly palatable and easy to digest. This can be as simple as adding key bullet points at the beginning of content to provide an overview, using short paragraphs to clarify points, and using charts or images with data to make it stand out. It’s important to tackle the information early and avoid procrastinating just to increase the word count.
“A nice feature for organizing your text is to use accordion tabs for FAQs, drop-down menus, and clickable tabs at the top of the page that take you directly to the section you want,” says Gray.
Use people and authority figures
Google has placed more emphasis on using authors, guest editors, and real expertise behind any guide or blog post.
In reference to Google’s recent Useful Content update, webmasters will gain authority by having a real face or team member clearly marked as the author of a piece of content, including landing pages and blog posts.
Saying things like “reviewed by” and “edited by” will add a lot of credibility, especially if it contains a bio that includes relevant qualifications or suggests years of experience – and that’s perfect for the medical and financial industries.
Additionally, authors can add their Linkedin and Twitter profile to their bio for added effect.
“We have found that using guest editors who are experts in their field adds great value,” says Dr. Max Linden, founder of The Hawker Online. “Finding people who run businesses, have followers, or like to put themselves out there is a good place to start.
“Not only is the content provided by guests and experts more insightful and personalized, but you can also share it across your social network and theirs to maximize reach. »
Don’t just use text, use video
“As we all know today, content is not just textual but highly visual,” informs Dean Benzaken, co-founder of Techvolutionary.
“With the help of AI, there are many ways to quickly turn your existing content into voice notes that people can click and hear on the page.”
Plus, videos add great value to any piece of content, and today you have some great tools to help facilitate that. So if you have a long video, you can use Opus to split it into 10 smaller videos with subtitles included, or you can use Synthesia to create an AI avatar to automatically generate the text. The opportunities are vast to make your content stand out and create authority in your space.
