Page Content is very important these days; we know this as the industry keeps telling us that ‘content is king’. There are two major parts to this that we want to cover.
One
You want to have content on your site that you think potential customers will want to search for. For example, let’s say that a builder wants his website to rank for the main term “builder” but also a few others. He won’t be sure just what yet, but using Google Search Console, and Google Keyword Planner (and a few other things) we can see what people are searching for. Again, there are two parts to that.
- What they search for and then end up landing on your website
- What people in general are searching for (eg. Cape Town, or the Western Cape, or South Africa etc) – you can see a fairly accurate trend of searches by day or month or season – welcome to the 21st century: one that is full of data
The builder then would cater his website to offer those things. So he may, for example, have a blog post on ‘Why to renovate your home this winter’ or a page that has a url reading ‘www.johnthebuilder.com/renovations/’ to make sure Google can see from his url, or content (best is both) that he offers those services. This is again an oversimplification but is the “bread and butter” of the SEO industry – getting these small checks and balances correct up front so that Google matches people searching terms to those offering those same terms.
Worthwhile sidebar: Isn’t it interesting how this incredibly wealthy company essentially just did that – linked those two groups of people to each other. I mean imagine you were told in 1992 that one of the richest company’s in the world would simply help people find what they are looking for? And you’d say “Oh yes, like Yellow Pages. But don’t we have that already, so how would the YP get so rich?! I mean it’s so simple so anyone could do it, right?
Two
You then also want to have an off-site strategy that has similar content pointing to your website. Our friend in the story (John the builder) won’t want a website about used cars, or elephants, or holidays in Bolivia linking to him because, to Google, that is quite irrelevant (or irrelephant, to make a joke, and ease your day with some humour). What you do want is websites in similar industries linking to you, with similar content, and from places close by.
On the side…
It is my contention (and I am not sure I can prove this) is that Google’s algorithm simply attempts to mimic our normal everyday life: the more people who know us, talk about us, and who they are (importance in whatever metric/s) has a large impact on how others value us. Again, it’s just a guess but my feeling is they would do the most logical, and simple thing for their algorithm.
Which brings us to my last point: we want to get your website out to as many people in your industry as possible, and for that we need years of experience, know-how, and insight. Whic brings me to a major point I bring up with every client, current or potential: you can contribute your own sources and connections, too, which will save you money and us both precious time. There is literally no-one better at creating your site’s content and brand than the business owner themselves.