There are several ways and tools you can use to content optimization for search engines. By doing so, you make your content more visible to your target audience, and you’ll likely generate more website traffic and have more chances of achieving your content marketing goals.
Pick one primary keyword to be the focus of the entire article. Then, use the Semrush Keyword Magic Tool to find the volume and related keywords. The ideal keyword has a high search volume but low difficulty ranking—as this means lots of people search for it, and there is a good chance you can rank for the term in the search results. To measure the level of competition for paid campaigns, use the Competitive Density metric to analyze each keyword. Other keywords you choose should relate to and support your primary keyword to keep the article focused on the topic.
Determine Search Intent
It’s important to understand what a user is searching for and which content format best serves their needs. Google breaks down this search intent into the following categories:
- Informational searches: They are looking for specific information on a topic.
- Navigational: They are looking for a particular web page or site.
- Commercial: They are investigating products to purchase.
- Transactional: They intend to buy something right now.
- Manually searching for your target keywords can help you identify the types of content the search engines are delivering—and indicate the format your content should be in too. What’s ranking now? Listicles, guides, landing pages, how-tos?
- Moreover, tools like the SEO Content Template list your top 10 competing articles on Google—which you can include in your writers’ briefs.
Create a Well-Optimized Meta Title
Write a unique title for each page, include the primary keyword, and don’t exceed 60 characters or truncate in the search results. The title should explain how the content will benefit the reader and—ultimately—entice them to click.
Optimize content with URLs
Include your primary keyword in the URL and remove unimportant stop words (if, the, and, or, etc.). This will make the URL more search-engine friendly and will keep things tidy and more readable too.
Add visuals
Images break up the page, make content more visually appealing, and improve the user experience—something that Google values. Be sure to include descriptive ALT text—this is good for people who use screen readers and is an opportunity to add keywords.
Interlink
Improve the structure of your site (in terms of SEO) by linking to relevant internal content that will add value to your audience. Never use bare URLs, instead use descriptive hyperlinked text that includes relevant keywords.
Cover the topic in-depth
The more comprehensive your content, the better it is likely to do in the search results. So answer as many of your reader’s questions as possible and go into detail. This will show the search engines that your content is relevant, valuable, and worth displaying. It may also encourage natural backlinks, which can be a big boost for your SEO. To find those related questions and subtopics, use the Semrush Topic Research tool.
Use the Semrush SEO Writing Assistant
The Semrush SEO Writing Assistant analyzes the content for keyword distribution and suggests semantically related words and phrases that you should include in the content, and helps you optimize links and alt tags.
Audit your content
A content audit is a process of regularly analyzing and assessing all the content on your website. You aim to find out what’s working and what’s not in your content strategy. It allows you to have an agile content plan that meets your marketing objectives. In addition, content audits help you discover which content needs to be improved or repurposed into other formats.
