Online trends evolve at a rapid pace, and if you’re not actively optimizing content within your small business’s digital marketing strategy, it’s easy for it to get lost in the shuffle. Search engine and social media algorithms change to better serve their users, and if you’re not keeping up, your content won’t reach your target audiences.
Content optimization is the process of polishing your content so it is highly visible and engaging. It’s more than just adding keywords to your blog posts—it’s about creating a standout user experience. Here’s how to optimize your content for search and your readers.
What does content optimization mean?
Content optimization is the process of making your content attractive and valuable, both to your readers and to the search engines they use. Throughout this process, you’ll refine each piece of content so it matches the user intent. The most effective content clearly answers the questions users are searching for.
Content optimization also requires a deep understanding of search engine algorithms and how they react to user behavior. You’ll need to conduct detailed keyword research to determine which topics are trending and use that information to build your content marketing strategy. You’ll also need to structure your content to signal to Google that your content is authoritative and trustworthy.
Understanding modern SEO
Search engine optimization has evolved quickly over the last few years. In the past, SEO strategies focused mainly on putting target keywords in the correct places on your website. However, there has been a significant shift toward user search intent and high-quality content. Google and other search platforms have adjusted their algorithms to create a better experience for their users and promote the highest-quality content for any given topic.
Here are some key SEO concepts to know when building your content strategy.
- Semantic search: Search engines are now able to identify words and phrases that are related to each other. This means that you no longer need to focus on exact keyword matches and can instead prioritize readability in your content. Many content optimization tools now have semantic search features, which will help you build lists of related terms to include naturally in your content.
- Topic clusters: These are groups of content topics used to build out your content strategy. They start with a content pillar page, which covers your target topic at a high level.
Support the pillar page with a group of pages that break the target topic down into more specific concepts. This strategy ensures that you cover each of your topics fully to build authority. It’s also an opportunity to build out your internal links, as each of the pages should connect to each other. - EEAT: Google uses the EEAT framework to identify web pages with high-quality content. EEAT stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. You’ll need to demonstrate these qualities in your SEO content to achieve a high page rank in the search results.
This is particularly important for pages that fall in the Your Money, Your Life (YMYL) category. These are pages that cover topics that could affect the reader’s happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.
Essential content optimization strategies to explore
These content optimization strategies can help you improve your site’s search engine rankings and visibility. Content optimization should be done on both new content and existing content to help each piece reach its full potential.
Applying keyword research (beyond the basics)
You probably already know that you need to include search keywords in your content. However, in order to rank well on search engine results pages (SERPs), you’ll have to go beyond the basics.
Advanced keyword research tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz can help you find a variety of long-tail keywords to include in your content. You can also build out a map of related terms to include and semantic keywords to address.
Using advanced keyword research techniques will help you create more informative, comprehensive content. This approach will also help you avoid keyword stuffing, as you’ll be including a wider variety of relevant keywords rather than repeating the same ones over and over.
Structuring content for readability and engagement
To keep your users engaged, you’ll need to structure each piece of content in a way that’s easy to read. To prevent readers from scrolling away, grab their attention with the inverted pyramid approach. This is a style of writing that answers the searcher’s question at the beginning of the content rather than burying the lede.
Each piece of content should also be easy to read on both computers and mobile devices. This ensures that users have a positive experience, regardless of which device they are using. Break your content up using clear headings, short paragraphs, and bullet points for easy scanning.
Optimizing on-page elements
In addition to optimizing the content itself, you’ll also need to optimize on-page elements like title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs. Ideally, each of these features should contain relevant keywords while also addressing user intent.
For example, your meta description is the two-line summary that appears when your content shows up on the SERP. A compelling meta description helps your content stand out on the SERP and drives more organic traffic to your site.
Leveraging multimedia content
Images, infographics, videos, and other multimedia are great ways to support your written content. Many people prefer to consume visual content—for example, people are 52% more likely to share video content than other types of content. Including multimedia content on your site can help you broaden your reach. Multimedia also allows you to illustrate your points in ways that written content cannot.
You should optimize all multimedia pieces on your website for search with a descriptive alt tag. Make sure you use files that are compressed properly so they don’t slow down your site’s load times.
Improving site speed and mobile usability
Google values websites with fast load times and mobile responsiveness because they create a better experience for your users. Work with your web host and web designer to ensure that your site is optimized for a variety of mobile devices. Test each piece of content on both smartphones and tablets to ensure that it’s responsive.
You’ll also need to make sure your site loads quickly and without any hiccups. There are many ways to improve your site’s load times. This includes working with a reputable web host and compressing your images, videos, and graphics.
Link building and content promotion
Generating backlinks is a crucial part of your content optimization strategy. These are links from other sites to your website, and they’re an indication to search engines that your site is authoritative. To generate backlinks organically, include original research or first-hand experiences that others can cite in their work. Guest blogging, social media marketing, and email newsletters are also effective ways to generate backlinks when done strategically.
Additionally, you’ll need to build out your site’s link strategy. Including both internal and external links in your content where it makes sense will support your overall SEO strategy.
Improving social signals in SEO
Your social media content can indirectly help your SEO. If your social media posts frequently receive a lot of likes and comments, this will indicate to Google that your content is authoritative. Cross-post your blog content to social media and take steps to encourage engagement. These could include sharing buttons, calls to action, or questions to get readers talking in the comments.
Utilizing analytics for content refinement
Be sure to track your content performance with Google Analytics and Bitly Analytics. These analytics tools provide a wealth of data about your content to help you identify what is and isn’t working. For example, Bitly’s analytics tools will show you how many people are clicking the shortened links in your content. You can use this information to determine which types of content are most effective at generating web traffic and base your future brand strategy on that knowledge.
Common content optimization mistakes to avoid
We’ve already talked about ways to improve your content optimization, but what should you avoid? Here are some of the most common content optimization mistakes.
- Keyword stuffing: This is when you include the same keyword over and over in your content, often in ways that don’t make sense. This approach was common in the early days of search engine optimization, but now it’s highly penalized by Google. Instead of keyword repetition, try using related semantic terms instead.
- Neglecting mobile optimization: Mobile devices are responsible for more than half of global web traffic. Because so many people read content on mobile devices, mobile optimization is imperative for long-term success.
- Overlooking analytics: If you’re not using analytics, you could be creating the same type of content over and over again without realizing that it’s ineffective. Analytics provide you with valuable information about your target audience and their online behavior, which will help you refine your content strategy for better results.
- Failing to update old content: Since search engine algorithms change frequently, you’ll need to update your content to match them. Schedule time periodically to update old pieces of content and align them with current search best practices.
- Ignoring your competitors: Content marketing shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. Look at what your competitors are doing, and identify ways to make your content even better.
Find out how Bitly can enhance your content strategy success
Successful content optimization requires a holistic approach. Keep both user experiences and search engine algorithms in mind to help your content strategy reach its full potential. Using tools like Bitly will help you stay on top of the latest SEO trends and develop a data-driven content strategy.
Get started with Bitly to see how robust link management can support your content marketing strategy through shortened links, QR Codes, Link-in-bio pages, and analytics!
