The field of digital marketing is more competitive than ever. To ensure success in this landscape, digital publishers and marketers aim to create as much website content as possible to guarantee better traffic and engagement.

There are two issues with this view. First, the volume of content your produce is only one part of what makes it valuable to searchers. Relevance is another crucial factor, for example. Second, a majority of the competition practices, more or less, the same strategy.

As a result, content of varying degrees of quality floods the market, frustrating audiences who are looking for information they can use. A good website content strategy doesn’t just focus on quantity. It also understands the target audience, curates topics, and crafts high-quality content.

Know the Audience: Who are You Writing For?

Knowing your target market allows you to create tailored content for each stage of their customer journey. This means serving audiences with the right kind of content — one that answers their questions and meets their needs.  

Conducting a target audience analysis ensures you do just that. It gets to know your market better by analyzing two factors:

• Demographics: tackles vital data, such as sex, age, location, income, occupation, religion, race, marital status, and sexual orientation.
• Psychographics: classifies audiences by studying their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological standards. This non-technical form of data also helps you understand the motives behind the audience’s purchasing decisions.

Google Analytics is a handy tool when you want to understand your audiences better. This online tool paints a better picture of your audience, which helps you create content that is appropriate for them.

Topic Selection: Competitor Analysis & Keyword Research

The topic defines the direction of your content. Good topic selection results in web content that hits home with readers, which results in better brand engagement.

Identifying the right topic is the key to reaching the right audience. This begins with knowing your target market and the competition. Use competition analysis and keyword research tools when brainstorming for new content topics.

Keyword Research

​Understanding your audience’s queries starts with keyword research. Structured keyword strategies align your content with relevant terms and pave the way for new content opportunities.

Before you write your content, consider key terms relevant to the topic you want to write about. Think about your users: what are they searching for? Once you determine your audience’s potential queries, enter those keywords into keyword research tools. These tools will offer a list of keywords, which you can add on your list.

Popular keyword research tools include SEMrush, Google Trends, Google AdWords Keyword Planner, and Moz Keyword Explorer.

Competitor Analysis

​Content that works for the competition will also work for you. In fact, if you improve on it, it can work even better.

Learning more about the competition identifies content gaps for your site. Start by going through your list of exact phrases and identify the type of content that helps your competitors rank. Using BuzzSumo, enter the competition’s domain name and wait for the tool to analyze their web content. The tool will display a table containing the number of social shares for each of their posts. Draw inspiration from the posts with the highest number of shares.

Quality First: Writing Relevant & SEO-Friendly Content

The first rule of web content writing is simple: write for users, not for search engines.

Content is one of Google’s top ranking factors, but this shouldn’t drive you to focus on just the rankings. Instead, create content that answers the audience’s questions. Today’s search engines favor content that promotes great user experience. If your content does exactly that, higher rankings will follow.

A myriad of factors affects your web content’s quality. This includes the following:

Usefulness

​Most people search the Internet for answers or advice. If your web content fails to offer solutions, you will lose user engagement.

Maintain your audience’s attention with positive content that offers the guidance and support they need. Also, make sure your content conveys a clear understanding of the problem and answers common questions.

Relevance

​Readers are not big fans of outdated content. Attract more users by removing irrelevant pieces and featuring up-to-date content. Publish articles that cover common concerns and recent trends. Also, produce new content on a daily or weekly basis to ensure readers will come back to your site.

Length of Your Content

​Besides writing style, the length of your content is also a predictor of its SEO performance. Content length, however, varies by competition, topic, and search trends.

There’s no single answer for the minimum amount of content. Some experts recommend at least 600 to 700 words while others recommend hitting the 1,000-word mark when creating copy. The differences in recommendations can be confusing but before you follow one, consider your content first.

Determine the optimal content length by researching results ranking for your target keyword. Evaluate the type of content and the copy’s depth of information. These will provide a gauge for the length of each article. Adjust the length according to your topic or the competition.

Keyword Usage

​Keyword stuffing is a thing of the past, but it’s still important to mind your keywords. Integrate relevant keywords naturally throughout the copy. This keeps your article on the topic at all times.

Also, don’t hesitate to use supporting phrases (related or secondary keyword targets) as your subheadings throughout the article. This structures the content for both search engines and users.

Finally, be careful of the keyword lists you use. If you have a long list that requires using many keywords in your text, search engines will rank your web page lower. Refrain from putting too much thought into it. Instead, write naturally and continue testing keywords.

Quality content sets you apart from the competition. Apart from delivering the right message to your customers, it also makes your brand memorable. The success of your website relies heavily on your content’s ability to engage with your target audiences.

Secure your online victory now by maximizing your web content with the help of a trusted digital expert.

Aspire Digital Marketing is eager to assist whenever, wherever. We drive leads by building a solid web presence for your brand. Our team crafts quality content that engages users and establishes your authority online.