It is the first of the month again.  Time to withdraw salary.  Nisha couldn’t hold back her joy.  She has been saving every penny to buy a car.  Now that she could collect enough money, she surfs the internet to choose a car that is best for her.  She is aware that there are some state laws she needs to comply with and looks for information that guides her about the required paperwork while purchasing.  She goes through several websites that accept car bookings, but all she could find is a few pictures of cars, with an icon accepting bookings and nothing else.  The cars look promising, though.  Yet, disappointing! How could she trust these websites that gave her no good content?!

Finally, Nisha comes across a website with the information she needs.  It has no grand display of photos of cars, yet it is trustworthy because of the genuine information it provides.  It has a dropdown box asking her to choose the state, and accordingly, provides a checklist with all paperwork that she needs.  There is additional information on troubleshooting and other simple topics related to car maintenance.  This business seems relatively new, due to which the search engine might not have detected it in the first go.  But yeah! This is the website that wins Nisha’s trust.  There she clicks, and wow! Her car is booked! That is the power of genuine content.

The qualities of good content

Why is it that Nisha moved away from the other websites but hooked on to the last one?  That is because the content she was satisfied with, has the following unique qualities.

1. Captivating:

More than 50 percent of the readers scan through your content for less than 15 seconds before they decide to continue reading it.  That is why, though the search engine presents multiple results for your search query, you choose to open only one link initially, and that may not necessarily be the first link that comes up on the search engine results.  It is the content with a captivating heading and interesting opening, which compels a reader to click and read.

And, that’s not all.  Present content in a way that not only captures but also retains the customer’s interest.  Write content through which the customer could connect to what you say.  When you ask questions directly to the reader while giving real examples, the reader gets emotionally connected and could relate to what you say, and reads on till the end.

2. Informative:

Good content presents exactly what the customer looks for, that is, a solution to his problem.  Good content answers all the questions that the reader has in mind.  Content marketing strategies like keyword research and others followed by SEO agencies indeed help in improving search engine optimization of the website.  But without qualitative content, these techniques do not help.  The main purpose of content is to help the customer.  Hence it would be useful if it is well-researched.  The more helpful the customer finds the content to be, the more traffic the website gets, making it more visible on the search engine.

If you write content intending to sell, make sure you list out all the benefits that the end-user gets through what you offer.  The customer always looks for what is in it for him, and if your content helps him understand clearly how he is getting benefited, you reached your goal!

3. Original:

Would you like to watch a movie that is a remake of another one that you have already watched?  Or, would you like to listen to a song which has its tune copied from another, with only the lyrics changed?  Originality is what people look for when they read the content you provide.  Your website content can be improvised by tools like Grammarly and Plagiarism checkers, but if you simply paraphrase the entire content copying from elsewhere, the customer doesn’t find it helpful.

4. Understandable:

Usage of high flown language and technical terms (including jargon) may make your article appealing at an academic level.  But your consumer could also be an ordinary person with minimal education.  Use simple language which people of all age groups and all walks of life find easy to understand.  This way, your website could attract high traffic.

5. Call for action:

Another unfailing dimension your website content should have is to make the customer make a decision.  The write-up you provide should call for action on part of the customer.  Use words like, “Enrol today to get the benefits” and so on, to urge the customer to proceed towards availing your services.

So, what next?

Few months after Nisha made the purchase, it was her friend’s turn to buy a car.  She seeks Nisha’s recommendation for a genuine dealer to buy from.  Nisha recommends the same website she purchased from.  Predictably, the same website is now at a higher rank on the search engine, with more customer reviews.  Quality work always pays.

Content is meant for the customer and not for the search engine.  If you please the customer, you automatically please the search engine.  If you want to reward your website with search engine optimization through content marketing, it’s time you hire the right agency.  Join us at KloudPortal to boost your website with the power of good content.

50 percent , Buffer

How should content be presented?

Imagine that you switch on your smart TV to watch your favorite live show.  All of a sudden, trouble shoots up. You couldn’t wait for the technician to turn up.  You browse to solve the issue promptly by yourself. Would you like to read a page that has a long theoretical explanation at that moment?  Or would a quick fix video catch your attention? 

Yes.  All you need is a simple quick solution.  That is also how you should present your content:

• Concise
• Organized
• Plain language
• Direct to the point

This helps your webpage get the top pick on search engines.  Professional content writing services can help your webpage achieve that top spot.

How important is content writing for SEO?

Content writing is one of the main strategies in digital marketing.  Here is why.

It helps customers know about your products and services.

Content writing brings traffic to your site when the words from people’s search queries match with the words present on your web page.  Once they view your page, let your content introduce to your audience what you have got to offer, and how it meets their requirements.

It reduces the bounce rate of your website.

By presenting good content, your site can withhold your readers’ attention.  Qualitative content urges them to move on to other pages within your site. If the bounce rate is high, it means the content is not engaging enough.  Lower bounce rate ensures higher readability and vice versa.

It brings in customer reviews that enhance the visibility of your site.

What makes your business more trustworthy than positive customer feedback?  Today, more than 60 percent of consumers read reviews before deciding upon a purchase.  If you optimize the content in a way that invites responses from customers, then you are likely not to miss out on publicizing the positive experiences of your customers.

How content writing can be made effective for SEO?

Usage of right keywords

Identify the basic words that people use when typing a query.  Observe which words they use when searching for services similar to what you offer.  Use the same keywords in your blogs or website content. This helps in search engine optimization of your website.

You can get the right keywords by tools like Google keyword planner, Keyword.io, Ubersuggest, etc.

How to choose a title for my blog?

With so many articles and blogs around, it is quite difficult to find a blog title that is engaging enough to draw the audience to your webpage. But once you identify the right title, ensure that the heading you put is in line with the search query.  For instance, if you have to write a blog on the cost of SEO, then the title “How much does SEO cost?” will have better reach than the title “What are the factors that determine the cost of SEO?”

With apps like Siri, Google Voice Assistant, Alexa and many Voice Assistant apps coming in, Voice SEO is dominant these days.  Voice SEO is dominant these days.  Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that one in five queries on Google is a voice search.  A conversational style of writing is very important to be detected by voice search. “Why should I hire an SEO Agency” is a better title than “Why should you hire an SEO agency”.

Images

We all tend to read blog contents or posts that contain pictures, in preference to posts that contain plain text.  The benefits of images are:

Images make the content brighter, visually appealing and brings a professional look.
Enhances the structuring of the content and makes it more readable. For example, Infographics in your post will not only make your post more readable but also reduces the reading time.
Increases the SEO rankings.  This is because images are the easiest thing to list (by adding titles, tags, and descriptions) therefore they are a must to have in your blog posts at the right places.

Ideal meta description

This snippet of text appears in the searchh3 engine results under your title.  This enables readers to decide if they want to continue reading. The search engines follow the meta description to detect a site.  This makes the meta description as important as the website content itself. Here are a few tips for making a good meta description.

• It is recommended to be 160 characters or less in length.
• Use active voice, and it is must to have a call-to-action
• It is a must to include researched, targeted keywords.

Make sure it matches the content of the page and is unique.

1. 60 percent , Forbes