Ok, here is how deep, dark secret of Google, Bing and Yahoo work:
They index content on the internet. They analyze that content. When someone searches for something, the search engines match the search with content. The better the match, the more likely it will be shown high on the search engine results pages. An abundance of high-quality content will result in a higher number of website visitors. No content will equate to very few visitors from search engines.
Yes, it is that simple! Content!
What is content?
Content is essentially words on your website, photos, and video. The biggest contributor to your search engine visibility is, by far, the words on your page. Sure, there are other factors, but if you can do one thing right, it should be to have ample, useful content on your website.
How to win
If you can produce good, high-quality content that is better than anyone else, you will have good search engine visibility. If your competitors do a better job, they win!
Note: there are hundreds of factors that go into search engine visibility, but if you can have a winning content strategy, you will have essentially covered the most important ones.
What is a content strategy?
A content strategy is a plan to produce and disseminate content on your website and other online locations, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others.
How can a business develop an effective content strategy?
At Kona Impact, we look at it as a repetitive four-step process.
- Analyze strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. If you are a snorkeling business in Hawaii, for example, you’ll want to look at creating content around snorkeling, Hawaii travel, and ocean ecology. You’ll then want to develop a set of key topics or ideas related to your business. Research what competitors are producing and what you find online. It often helps to work with a professional search engine marketing company like Kona Impact, as we have years of experience doing this. We also have some tools and access to databases that most novices don’t.
- Look closely at your resources. If you hate writing, find someone in your business that doesn’t. Make sure he or she can write well, is aligned with the goals of your business, and has the time and focus on creating great content. In our experience, the young, just-out-of-college employee will lack the maturity and business savvy to be a good content creator. Likewise, someone who says “Facebook” and “Instagram” often in your planning is NOT who you want. These are not content creation tools; they are content dispersion tools and should only be a very small part of your planning.
- Make a plan. We recommend weekly or twice weekly posts to your website. For most this is two to five paragraphs of blogging. If done consistently, this will add between 50 and 100 pages a year to your website! Be sure to give your content creators clear, focused goals and the time to create good content. Again, working with a company that helps businesses on their content strategy can save you a lot of stress and money. You’ll get better results, too. A few hours of working with a consultant is a very wise investment.
- Monitor. Be sure to review the quantity and quality of visitors you get to your website. Ask every new client how they found you. Keep track of employee and your time as you implement your plan. Also, be sure to take a long-term perspective; change and growing a business take time and persistence.
A content strategy is not for everyone.
I liken a content strategy to getting in shape. It is far easier to keep the status quo than to change. Change takes effort and, to be honest; the results are often slow in coming. If you hate writing, and everyone in your organization does, find a Plan B to grow your business. If you are developing a content strategy but you’re not sure what one is or why it’s important, learn, or find a Plan B. If want results with no effort, don’t start, as you’ll be doomed to failure.
Developing and implementing a strategy is a process, and it is best suited to businesses that see the value and realize what they are doing now is not optimal. They must also be willing to invest resources to achieve optimal success.