For anyone creating pages with SEO in mind, there’s one ultimate goal in mind: to rank on the top page of Google. To reach this lofty – yet deliciously rewarding – target, content optimization is an integral component.

If your webpage fails to feature the right content, or it’s filled with grammatical mistakes, or it’s out-of-date, or… you get the picture; there are a number of different aspects that can negatively affect how your webpage is perceived by search engines. If these aren’t corrected, your chance of reaching the first page of Google search results is slim to none.

As for website content optimization, there are several different factors that come into play. The good news is you don’t have to go searching for these factors. All of the main ones are listed within this guide. So if you’re ready to learn everything you need to know about SEO optimised content, all you need to do is read on!

Content SEO: best practices

If you’re wondering how to optimise content for SEO, it’s essential you take into account the following points:

Solve the issue at hand
Contains the right keywords
Structured with readability in mind
Long and in-depth content
Remains up-to-date

While this list is a helpful starting point on its own for high-quality content for SEO, you need to understand more than these general points. With that said, let’s take a close look at each of these elements.

content seo diagram

Solve the issue at hand

When you create a webpage, the intention is to solve an issue. This could be everything from answering a question to offering a certain product for sale. Ultimately, the page should exist because people are searching for a solution of some sort.

As a result, the page needs to solve the issue. The best way of doing this is to provide a thorough analysis that corrects the problem. If you’re not quite sure where to start, don’t be scared to take a look at the competition ranking high on Google. See what they’re doing right, and use this as inspiration when modelling your content.

One helpful way of knowing what information to provide is by inspecting the search intent around your target keyword. See what people are searching in relation to this keyword, and you will have a greater idea about how to expand on your current page’s offerings.

Contains the right keywords

Your content needs to feature keywords. It’s a method that has been around for decades at this point, and it still has a major part to play when crafting SEO optimal pages. Yet while the technique has been around for a long time, the keyword rules have changed significantly over the years.

Once upon a time, you could get away with keyword stuffing and racing up the search rankings. Google has a much more sophisticated system now, however, and the same practice these days would only cause your website to be severely penalised.

So what does work? Well, for a start, try and avoid adding your primary keyword too many times on the page. At the same time, don’t focus on keyword density. It’s more important the content flows naturally rather than, say, including the term “hairdressers in Manchester” five times in a 1,000-word article.

Along with the primary keyword, you should also incorporate secondary terms. By utilising other keywords throughout the content, the webpage has a better chance of turning up in a wider variety of search queries.

Structured with readability in mind

One of the best practices for SEO content writing is to implement a structure that appeals to readers. The last thing you want to do is attract a visitor onto your website, but for them to immediately turn back because they are tasked with trying to decipher an unformatted wall of text.

There are various steps you can take to boost the readability of your webpage. Consider this list of examples:

Subheadings: Subheadings are a simple yet effective way of breaking up content – as this guide demonstrates. These should ideally be wrapped in H2 tags so search engines can better identify the page.
Lists: People love lists. Whether it’s formatted in a countdown or a quick bullet point section like the one you’re currently reading, they help to instantly draw attention from browsers searching for bite-sized content.
Videos/images: Visual content simply works. It has a much larger impact than simply text-based content. Due to this, you should use relevant videos and images throughout your page.
Highlighted text: You have the option to place a particular emphasis on a portion of text. This could be a quote, for example, or a small snippet of information that supports your point and is good enough as a standalone piece of content.

Long and in-depth content

When marketers attempt to answer the ‘How to optimize content for SEO?’ question, there’s one facet which often has a starring role: content length.

Google loves content that features a high word count. This long-form content, where you’re aiming for around 1,800 words at least, is the type that is likely to feature an extensive amount of useful information. The more info-packed the page is, the more Google is going to reward you with a high search ranking.

With that said, longer content isn’t necessarily the definitive answer. There are plenty of examples where a topic doesn’t require bundles of written content. So while you want your pages to be complete, you don’t want to add fluff for the sake of meeting a set word count. Visitors won’t appreciate irrelevant content, and they won’t stick around for long – something that Google certainly doesn’t appreciate.

When adding depth to your content, ensure you use backlinks to relevant sources, pull out various statistics (if applicable), and research the topic as thoroughly as possible

Remains up-to-date

If you have a webpage which is a few years old, it might be due a refresh. See if any new information is available to support the page, or if any revelations have made certain original points redundant. If you discover that the page is outdated, simply go back and edit in the new details.

Producing quality SEO-based content is far from easy. This is why many will turn to marketers that offer professional content writing services. Yet if you’re happy to go it alone, make sure to follow all of the tips listed in this guide!