Content is audio, text, images, or video that users consume in some way. It should be entertaining, educational, enlightening, or provide some sort of value for users that find it and engage with it. Its overall purpose is twofold: you want it to help users gain information on a subject you are knowledgeable about, and you want Google to recognize this usefulness and subsequently rank you higher in searches. This practice of ranking higher on search engines is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and is the primary driving factor behind the purpose of creating original content.
Let’s say you own a roofing company in Dallas; when someone searches for “best roofers Dallas,” you want your small business to be at the top of their search results. The process of consistently making it to the first page of Google is SEO, and one of the best ways of accomplishing this is regularly publishing high-quality, original content.
While the quality of content — whether a blog post or a new web page — is seemingly subjective for the reader, there are best practices that can improve it for human eyes, which subsequently makes search engines value it more. Content should be useful, credible, engaging, audience-focused, and ideally more valuable than other websites within your field. Even though you are creating it to rank higher on Google, the search engine’s standards are based on what people value, so you need to be writing with actual searchers in mind. Therefore, you need to create original content that inherently answers your users’ common questions and searches. While you can’t completely preempt this, you can keep a few things in mind.
Most searches involve how, what, why, when, and where questions, so your blogs should reflect this. For example, if someone searches “Do I need a new roof?” you would ideally want to have a blog or page answering this. If you do, there’s a higher chance they will be directed to your website which can then turn into them reaching out to you. It needs to be well-written and engaging, as well. If your piece contains lots of spelling errors and grammatical mistakes, readers will notice and will probably view you as less trusted and informed.
Your content must also be original. Google knows duplicating your pages, and it will cause you to rank lower. Because your content needs to have value for users, if they can find the exact information you are providing somewhere else, you aren’t adding anything new to the overall information conversation that Google so highly values.
At MDPM Small Business Marketing in Dallas, TX, we understand that you might not have the time or bandwidth to regularly create and publish original content. Because of this, we are here to help. We have a knowledgeable, experienced team of writers that can research, write, and publish high-quality, original content for your small business. Contact our office at (972) 781-8861 to talk to us about everything that we can do for you and your small business. We encourage you to call us for a free analysis of your website as well as your social media and overall online footprint.
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