Blogging is tough! The hours are long, the information is difficult to come by, and your work isn’t panning out like you’ve hoped.
Still, blogging is important.
You probably already know that Google and other search engines rank longer, in-depth content higher than others. This study done by Neil Patel shows that the content length for a web page, plus coverage and in-depth content on your focused topic (keyword) plays a big part in how high the site ranks. And the higher up you go on the search listings page, the more content each web page contains.
What this study and others show is that there’s a strong correlation between longer content and good quality information. And this is what both Google and your prospective clients are looking for – good quality information.
Does this mean that every blog you write should have at least 2000 words? No, but it does mean that people (and Google) recognize the value of longer posts and that you should strive to get the best content out to your clients.
In the old days, if you were looking at getting some content built for your site, here’s a little breakdown of what you might expect:
Traditional Blogging
Sites like textbroker.com offer copy services at a range of skill levels. They’re relatively cheap, but as in most things, you get what you pay for. Here’s what a typical article from one of these services looks like:
Here you’ll see copy that was contracted for target keywords that would be pertinent for a Santa Barbara-based business. The first issue you see is the immediate need for formatting help. There’s no plug-and-play here.
Now let’s take a look at the actual content of the article.
If you bother to read this article, you’ll notice the generic copy that’s provided. In addition to the vague generalities and questionable advice, there is no real value in this article. If you read it, all you would get is a common-sense approach to being careful about hiring somebody. This isn’t what your clients are looking for.
Why This Is Bad
Google is actively updating its search algorithms in order to demote sites with this sort of superfluous and redundant content. It’s all about providing the end-user (your client) with better content. Search Engine Optimizing is rarely a cut-and-dry case, but bloating your website with undesirable, irrelevant, redundant content, especially keyword-stuffed bad content is a sure-fire way to frustrate your users and disappear in search results.
Look again at the article. The next thing you’ll notice is that it’s far too general – it’s not specific to any one industry, even if it does allow multiple uses of various client-oriented keywords. This article is unlikely to be shared among social networks and therefore does nothing to promote your business or the article’s author as a source of information that’s relevant to your customers. In short, it’s filler content, and keyword-rich – running the risk of being demoted by the search engines.
The last thing I’d like to point out is the inclusion of potentially undesirable information. Generating content from people unfamiliar with your industry, your customers, or your business ethos can lead to problems. Trust us, we’ve seen people go this route and the results are the expenditure of a lot of money with a lot of headache and little customer return.
Blogging Services The Alchemy On Demand Way
Here’s the better way to do it. Custom-tailor your content to your client’s needs. Read up on your industry’s trends, see what’s getting the most social shares, and write content that answers your reader’s questions. Use tools like Technorati to see who else is blogging in your market, and then see what their readers are responding to.
Use Google Trends to cross-reference this information with what’s trending in your industry to see what your potential customers are interested in and reading about. Then custom-tailor blogs with all the SEO-relevant info.
Then utilize a content plan to target your chosen keywords. Get at least one copyright-free image to use on your blog. There’s plenty of info that suggests visually-heavy info is much more effective than text alone.
If you’d like help with your blogging efforts, feel free to reach out. It’s a service we here at Alchemy On Demand happily provide. Please drop us a line!
Thanks for looking and happy blogging!
–Hudson Hornick
Alchemy On Demand