Content writing has always been an important aspect of website development and online marketing, but now more than ever. Even the least interested observer knows that Google has overhauled its search algorithm in the form of the recently released Penguin 2.0. While the reasons behind these changes are highly commendable, the immediate impact was a drop in the rankings of millions of English-language websites, with many jumping to the bottom of the rankings, a position no less than internet purgatory.
Why all those changes?
The focus behind Google’s radically new paradigm is to eliminate the flood of spam sites and plagiarism that clog the Internet. Gone are the days of cramming websites with shallow, cheap content and bad backlinks, the rules of content writing have changed forever.
What do penguins do?
Google’s Penguin Protocol means that sites that exhibit questionable behavior such as link farms, spam, backlinks to irrelevant or poor quality sites, and pointless keyword stuffing are relegated to the lowest rankings. Other violations include negative SEO techniques such as filling meta tags, embedding hidden text and links on websites, and using gateway pages with many low-quality keywords. In some cases, sites can even be banned from Google’s search engine completely, and recovery from such a severe penalty is nearly impossible.
Penguin 2.0 prioritizes well-researched, reliable content, rather than focusing on flashy display sites at the expense of actionable, informative content. The effect on content authors is that it forces them to produce uniquely original material instead of simply rotating articles. This applies to any type of website, so businesses focused on selling products and services should pay as much attention to the quality of their content as bloggers and information providers.
Counting content
The overall effect of Google’s aggressive new algorithm will be to reduce the number of useless, useless sites plaguing the internet and give online businesses and marketers a more level playing field. Online journalists, bloggers and merchants no longer have to compete with sites powered by link farmers, article spinners and spammers. Instead, they can focus on delivering quality content.
In the early days of the Internet, any website, regardless of content, had some authority simply because it was part of the most magnificent technological revolution of the last century. However, Internet consumers have become more critical of websites and their relative niche value. As a result, sites that emphasize writing strong content and industry-relevant information are more attractive to visitors. People are more likely to trust you if you can show that you know your business and industry well. A website with dynamic content will also attract repeat customers who will trust the site not only for the products and services it offers, but also for the level and quality of information it offers.
Make penguins work for you
While the new SEO protocol may be difficult for some sites, it opens doors for content authors to flex their creative and intellectual muscles. There is no stronger selling point than the authority and trustworthiness of flagging a knowledgeable website. Good content writing is key to this, and the new Penguin algorithm is poised to reward sites that follow its guidelines with high rankings. Given all the benefits, there really is no reason to be afraid of new changes. Embrace them and watch your search engine rankings rise, along with your traffic and sales.
Why writing SEO content is more important than ever
Writing high quality SEO content is now a game changer. All thanks to the recent update to the Google Panda algorithm. These updates mainly affect the SEO factors on the page, highlighting the need for quality content. Google wants to get rid of spam sites that have no value for visitors to improve the overall user experience on its search engine. With these recent updates, sites that used to rank highly in search engines for their target keywords have now been devalued. They dropped dramatically in the rankings or were removed from the rankings completely.
So how can you prevent this from happening on your website?
Stay away from writing SEO content
This is 2011. You may have been able to get away with rotating articles and maybe even duplicate content on your money site in the past. At this time, however, that doesn’t work. Expect your site to struggle to climb the rankings or lose its current position. What you want is solid, original content that people will actually read.
provide value
Google’s focus is on the user experience of these Panda updates. Would you recommend your site as it is to friends and family? If you can’t easily agree with this, you still have some work to do. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. By searching for your target keywords, your audience is looking for solutions. Get that solution on your website with some good SEO content writing.
If you’re using a platform like Google AdSense to monetize your website, don’t write just to rank and get people to click on your ads. Instead, write for the people. Give them what they want.
Is your content long enough?
While there is no exact number for content, the length of the content is another factor to consider when writing SEO content. Does this mean that writing a lot of crap will make your site look better for Google? No of course not. When you write more, you still need to consider the factors of original content and value.
As long as the content is good and worth reading, visitors will stay longer on your site. This is an important signal to Google that your site offers a good user experience and therefore has enough content to attract visitors. If you need some guidance, analyze the length of your competitive content in the top ten results to see how many words you should aim for. Don’t forget to match and outdo.
With the current SEO changes, SEO content writing has become even more important. Keep these factors in mind when building and developing your website.