I’ll get straight to it: there’s tons of content out there. Blog posts alone, for example, account for 600 million of all websites in existence as of 2022. With all of the video, image, audio, and written content out there, how can you stand out?
Improve your search visibility. Ranking at the top of search engine results improves your chances of getting your content in front of the people who need it, when they need it.
Here are 4 tips to help you boost your search rankings:
1. Conduct audience research
While this is an indirect way to improve search positions, knowing your audience is key. You wouldn’t want to find yourself trying to sell winter coats to someone in a hot climate. You might reach one person who wears them for the aesthetic, but that probably won’t be enough to keep the lights on.
Audience research gives you the chance to gain a deep understanding of who your customer is. You can learn more about what they like, don’t like, and what drives them to buy.
Once you’ve gotten an idea of who your target is, you can easily give them what they need, when & where they need it.
2. Add relevant keywords
This is often easier said than done. With the winter coat example, your first thought might be that adding “winter coats” to every page will be enough to get you in front of those (increasingly scarce) eyeballs. While you should include them for the site crawlers, that’s probably where the attention ends.
Incorporating long-tail keywords instead of the shorter ones helps you get your content in front of people. Let’s look at the difference between the two with a real life analogy:
While on vacation a few years ago, I went to a newly opened seafood buffet. They had just about everything available from shrimp and lobster to king crab legs. Interestingly, nearly everyone in the restaurant lined up for the crab legs. This led to long waits where people were forced to stand around while empty trays were replenished.
Think of the crab legs as our short keywords. They’re a hot option that can leave you waiting in line forever. What’s worse, you may not even get to the front in time to grab a piece. The long tail keywords are all the other options at the buffet. They may not be the main draw, but are still great with much less competition. Of course, if you’re not into seafood you can always replace with your personal favorites.
Working long tail keywords into your content is one of several components that help build your authority score, which can help you eventually rank higher for those short keywords.
Side note: This process may look a little different if you’re trying to rank on e-commerce sites like Amazon.
3. Use natural language
Adding the right keywords are important, but it’s even more important to make sure you’re writing for people first. The days where ranking #1 boiled down to how many times you could repeat the same word on your webpage are long past.
That’s because Google and other search engines are like any other business vying for our attention. They want us to go to them as much as possible. Thus, they tend to penalize content that reads more like it was created for bots.
Using natural language becomes much easier once you’ve identified the needs of your target.
4. Be genuine
My last (and possibly most important) recommendation? Just be yourself. While there is a place for aspirational content and glossy highlight reels, you’ll easily lose your audience if you pretend to be more than you are.
This may seem obvious, but it can be easy to succumb to the pressure of trying to match the content style of others in your niche. It’s okay to make mistakes along the way, because that’s what will help you create even better content over time. Eventually you’ll be rewarded with a higher content rank as your engagement increases.
Conclusion
Getting your content to rank highly in search results may seem a bit intimidating, especially with all of the information available online. With time, patience, and these 4 foundational strategies in your pocket, you’ll be well on your way to creating great content that boosts your search positions!
