Using the power of content to boost your traffic
You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘content is king’ proclaimed repeatedly from a variety of sources. Yes, it’s true that content makes the Internet go around, but it’s also true that even the best content will fail to perform if it isn’t set up to succeed.
If you’re pushing out blog post after blog post simply because you feel like you should, it’s time to pause and really think about what you want to achieve. Poorly researched and presented content will never reach its full potential, but with a few small adjustments to your approach, you could see your traffic skyrocket without the need to put in much extra effort.
How? Let’s get started
Your first task is to effectively identify topics that you can easily transform into engaging and informational content for your blog.
Answer the Questions your target audience is asking
An excellent way to drive organic traffic is to maintain maximum visibility in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for the questions your target audience is already asking.
Analyse your competitor’s content and strive to better it
Outperforming your competition in a variety of different ways can be the key to online success. As well as visiting your competitor’s blogs frequently and taking note of the types of articles they are publishing, make sure to also keep track of how their content is performing. If certain articles aren’t receiving the engagement or securing the numbers of social shares you would expect to see, question why that is. From here, you can begin to put together a strategy to ensure your content always outperforms theirs.
Identify prominent blogs within your niche
Focusing on your direct competitors simply isn’t enough. The digital landscape is tough and if you want to succeed, you’re going to need to put in the legwork to ensure you are capitalising on every opportunity available to you.
Spend some time familiarising yourself with the most prominent blogs publishing content within your niche. Their content will probably contain a larger quantity of informational content, which might prove to be an almost endless source of inspiration for you. Remember, avoid replicating their approach and instead, focus on how you can improve the information they are providing and tailor it so that it will appeal directly to your target audience.
Structuring your content
From ensuring that it is easy to read and providing enough detail for your audience, to considering how your structure might affect your ranking position in key SERPs, truly effective content is reliant on a number of individual components. You should always aim to begin with a clear introduction which provides your audience with a brief insight into what they can expect to learn. It is also important to carefully consider your use of headings, internal and external linking strategies, and supporting media that will boost engagement and further help to convey meaning.
A consideration to length and depth
This will ultimately depend on the expectations of your audience, but if you are aiming to publish extremely comprehensive content, aiming for at least 2,000 words is recommended. Begin by looking at the webpages currently occupying the top ranking positions for each of your chosen keywords, to build a picture of exactly what audiences are hoping to find. This strategy can really help to boost the overall SEO performance of your site by closing gaps in your keyword map using the content you have created.