How To Craft SEO-Friendly Content That Converts
Throughout the Internet, experts will tell you that content is king when it comes to marketing. They also will say that you need to write search-engine-optimization-friendly content that converts a viewer to a customer. However, many fail to tell you how you do that. Here are some steps you must take to ensure your content converts and is SEO friendly.
- Topics – Pick topics that relate to your business and people search. SEO experts can give you a list of keywords that are commonly searched in your industry. For example, if you have a construction company, people might be searching for “roofers near me.” Therefore, you want to pick a topic that will allow you to use that keyword in the copy. A topic might be helping people know when to replace a roof. Note that a topic is not a headline. Topics are ideas. Headlines are at the top of the article. In this article, the topic is discussing content that converts. The Headline is “How to Craft SEO-Friendly Content That Converts.”
- Keywords – As mentioned in step one, you want to choose good keywords for your content. These would be searched by thousands of people, relevant to your industry and found on your website. You also want to put them in the article naturally. You don’t want them to sound forced or that they don’t belong in an article. This sends alerts to Google that the content is not correct. The company will rank you lower for that. In addition to Google, unnatural keywords in an article will send your potential customer heading for another site, most likely your competitor. The person who comes to your site wants to have his or her question answered in content that is easy to read and sounds natural.
- Headlines – You want your content to be catchy and entice people to read more. Therefore, you need a headline that captures their attention and keeps them on your site. The right headline will also use keywords correctly and bring people to your site. Headlines should be optimized for searchability. The right ones balance the desire of the reader and the algorithms of Google.
- Leads – The first paragraph of your article, also known as the lead, should bring people into the topic. It should make people want to read more and know more about your business. When they read longer, they stay on your site longer. If they are interested in what you have to say, they will see if your products or services can help solve their problem.
- Length – SEO experts will tell you longer is better for Google to rank your content, but content providers will tell you the opposite. Readers want things short and to the point. They don’t have great attention spans, so having something that is easy to read and about 500 words would suit them just fine. They are more likely to convert to customers if the content is not overwhelming. If your goal is to just get people to your virtual doorstep without converting, then go ahead and write those 1,000- to 2,000-word articles that no one will read. Otherwise, provide well-written shorter articles that will whet people’s appetite to learn more and call you.
- Pictures, Videos – Not all content has to be written. Some can be spoken, such as videos on your website. Some can be pictures with captions or blurbs. People like watching videos, and Google likes to rank them higher. Having pictures on your page are aesthetically pleasing and will entice potential customers to call you. Adding pictures to your topics will help a lot. If you don’t have the pictures with your articles, you will want to have short blurbs or captions with the pictures. This will give people an idea of what those pictures represent. Having captions is important if you use stock photos. So many of those stock photos can be used for a number of different sites. People will need direction in these cases. The videos should be less than one minute of run time and whet your customers’ appetite.
- Other Ideas – While you want to pick topics that are linked to your business and relevant keywords, you don’t have to do this. You also can pick topics relating to different times of the year. For example, if you are a construction company offering specials for March or spring, you might have a topic like “How to Spruce up Your Home for Spring.” This article might not talk much about construction, but it would be things people want to know. Therefore, you will bring them to your site. You can tell them about the specials once they get there.
- Contact Information – You want your content to have your contact information easily visible. You want to give your customers many ways of potentially contacting you. They should be able to reach you by phone, text, e-mail, social media, chatbox, e-mail contact form or other options. People do not all use the same method of contact, so don’t assume. Many companies make a mistake by offering only one method of contact, such as e-mail form or a chatbox. Let the customers decide how to get you.
- Call to Action – All your content should include a call to action if you are interested in conversions. Things like “contact us for more information,” will direct people that you are open for a discussion. You also can offer a free consultation or a quiz someone can do as a stepping stone for a future conversation. The video also should have a call to action in it. Ideally, the call to action should be on your page in several locations. The more reminders to call for information, the more likely you will get people to contact you.
SEO friendly does not always convert. You need to ensure your SEO-friendly content is written in a way that answers questions, entices customers to stay on your page and encourages them to call you for more information. High rankings are good. High rankings that get people to call you are even better.
