One of Google’s most famous website penalizations, the Panda Update, has to do with Google finding content on your website that isn’t useful to your visitors or relevant to their search query. With so many websites creating so much content each and every day—about 2.73 million blog posts are added to the Internet every day according to Marla Saunders of Visual Creatives—it can be hard to come up with new and captivating content that will keep you far clear of getting an algorithmic penalty from Google. However, there are some simple ideas that you can instill into your content writing to help you create higher quality content that won’t get you penalized.
Don’t Keyword Stuff
People who do search engine optimization have been saying this for years, but it deserves repeating: don’t throw keyword after keyword into your content and expect to not get a Google penalty. KISSmetrics reminds us that while there are no hard and fast rules about how many keywords you should have in a certain amount of content, having a high density of keywords is a red flag for Google. A good plan of attack is instead of having one page focus so heavily on one specific keyword, use natural, semantic keywords or key phrases that are relevantly related to the idea or topic you’re trying to rank for. This context will add a lot to your content in both readability and ranking factors.
Set Yourself Up As An Authority
A major factor in having a large following for your blog or other content you’re producing is to have the trust and loyalty of your readers. In order to get these two things, you have to be viewed as an authority or thought leader regarding your industry. When it comes to content creation, you can do this by producing piece that are driven by data. According to Neil Patel, this data can include case studies, experiments, actual data, storytelling and more. But while having resources to back up your claims is necessary, you can’t let them stand on their own. For this reason, it’s also important that the voice you use while writing gives off an air of authority as well. Basic creative writing practices and techniques can help you develop your own voice for writing consumable content for your business.
Encourage Engagement
What good is your blog if no one will read and comment on the content you’re creating? As a rule of thumb, it’s a great idea to end your blogs with some type of open question that will encourage readers to respond in the comments section in some way. Ask for their opinions or experience with what you’re writing about. Ask for stories or suggestions. Let them know that you want their input and would love to hear from them. And when you do, respond! QuickSprout states that if you don’t respond to the comments you get, you will never be able to build the sense of community necessary to have content marketing success. A relationship will never be built. So check out your notifications every once and a while and let your readers know you’re listening to them too.
Creating quality content is just going to get more difficult as time goes by. But if you can use the tips shared above, you may just make this battle a little easier on yourself. Best of luck!