Why Is Content Important For SEO?
Published by Daniel Dahlen on
Written content is a hot topic these days, especially with the release of GPT-3 artificial intelligence language processing tool, which has the ability to generate text-based, human-like content.
I’ve been writing online for over a decade ( mostly ghostwriting ) and have witnessed firsthand some of the ways quality written content can impact a website’s search performance & success online.
Before jumping into some of the ways written content can impact SEO, lets take a quick look at what content is and how it’s used in SEO.
What Is Content, Anyway?
I go into a bit more depth in this content marketing post here, but essentially content is quite simply information that is communicated.
Content takes many forms, including visual content ( images and videos ) and written content ( like this post you’re reading now ) and is communicated via differen mediums, like books, websites, social media, radio and art, among others.
How Is Content Used In SEO?
When people search for things online, they’re essentially looking for an answer to a question.
That question could be related to making a purchase ( home security system pricing ), looking for a local business ( “house painters near me” ), considering options for a service ( “hvac company reviews” or “best security companies in my area” ) or simply looking for information about a particular topic ( “interior painting ideas for bathrooms” ).
When a search engine receives questions like these, its job is to provide the user with the most relevant web pages with content that answers that question, with the top ranking result being the most relevant.
Obviously, then, in most cases in order to potentially be the “best answer” ( and, in turn, rank highly for a particular search term ) to a user’s question you’ll need to provide content that includes your unique answer to the question.
Create Content To Help Your Customers
Where should you start when creating content for your website?
Start with your customers and some of the questions they ask you about your products or services.
These are very likely to be similar to the questions they would seek when searching online, so providing them with content related to those questions would be a great starting point for leveraging content for improving your website’s SEO.
Check out this customer buying journey post for a bit more detailed look at guiding content for your customers.
After reading this post, I hope you have a better understanding on what content is, how it’s used in SEO and some potential starting points for creating better content for your website.
