How To Write Content That Google Loves (Easier Than You Think!)

How To Write Content That Google Loves

In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and share.

The quote above, taken from Google's Webmaster Guidelines, makes it clear how important content now is for SEO.

At the heart of a site that works for both search engines and visitors is great content.

Related: Seo Competitor Analysis

Without that, no amount of SEO or social media marketing will help.

What Is Great Content?

Successful sites consistently produce content that is:

1. Readable

2. Usable

3. Shareable

Let's look at these in more detail.

Readable

Not only does your content have to be something people will want to read, it has to be easy to read.

Good ways to boost readability include breaking up sub-topics within your content, using images and videos to help explain difficult concepts, and visually highlighting one or two quotable "sound bites" that illustrate key points.

Related: Website Optimization Techniques

Avoid long, dense sentences and paragraphs. Short and punchy works best.

Usable

Most visitors need information.

Check forums, online communities and Q&A sites to find the questions people in your niche are asking.

Providing clear answers with actionable points is a sure-fire way of creating content your target audience will love.

Related: How To Rank Website In Google

It's also a highly effective SEO strategy. When you think about it, search engine queries are really questions and if people are asking something on a forum, they're also asking it on Google.

Provide comprehensive, accurate answers and you'll rank highly.

Shareable

Getting content shared through social networks is vital for SEO.

Related: Strategic Keyword Research

As well as being original and well-written, the posts that get shared the most also have a killer headline (one that's challenging, thought-provoking, shocking, funny, or intriguing), and a striking, relevant image.

Page Titles & Keywords

The title of your post or page is the single most important element of on-page SEO.

Not only do pages with keywords in the title rank better, taking the time to write a great title will make the difference between a moderate click-through rate and a great one.

Related: Keyword Research Tools

The reason is simple. The title is the first thing users see in search results.

In fact, aside from the text snippet underneath, it's pretty much the only thing users can see. That means page titles have a huge influence on whether a link is clicked.

Make sure everything you publish has a title that:

1. Has relevant keywords so it shows up in the right search results

2. Tempts users to click the link to go to your site

Take the title 5 Writing Tips to Jumpstart Your Business Blog as an example. It has the keywords blog writing tips buy also sounds inviting by promising five nuggets of info that could have a big impact on a blog. It's hard not to click it.

Examples Of Great Headlines

One of the best places to see compelling headlines in action is the content marketing.

Take a look at the example headlines below posts, and notice how each has both a clear subject and practically begs you to click it.