There are thousands of blog posts published every single day. Heck, there is probably one on this same topic at this exact moment.
The question we’re pondering today is – how do you stand out in this hyper-active community? What do you need to do to make your content good, and what does it take for you to outrank your competitors?
Well, we did some digging, just like any other responsible blog writers would do, and boy, do we have some great answers for you. Let’s check them out!
Make Your Content Original
The first and most important thing for you to remember is that you have to make original content. If there is one thing Google despises – it’s the duplicate content.
Now, you might wonder – isn’t there a finite number of answers to a specific question you can provide? And, while the answer is yes, there most definitely is, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you still can’t create original content to cover a topic that has been covered numerous times.
What you’ll want to avoid is blatantly copying existing content. Even though your readers or viewers might not notice this, Google’s AI most certainly will. And once that happens, your site will either be kicked to the 30th page of Google’s search results or even completely removed from the Google index, meaning it won’t ever again appear in the search results no matter what you do later on.
Suppose you’d like to get more information on this particular issue and understand why the punishment for duplicate content is so severe. In that case, you can go and read Google’s Guidelines or consult with Spiky SEO, our expert advisors, on this article.
Work On Your Headlines
Another very efficient way to make your content stand out from the crowd is by working on your headlines.
A headline should be bold and relevant. It should communicate your message in a strong and interest-piquing manner. Now, that doesn’t mean that you should rely on click-bait titles and headlines. Even though you might generate some clicks that way, people will generally lose interest as soon as they discover that you’ve made a false promise to them.
Instead, make your headlines and titles true to the nature of your content. Don’t make them too dramatic or over-the-top. Just make them interesting enough so people will want to click on them.
Deliver Quality Organic Content
Generating clicks through a catchy headline is not enough. You need to provide value to your audience. After all, your goal is not to satisfy Google’s AI needs – it is to satisfy your audience.
So, how do you deliver valuable, quality content?
Well, you’ll want to deliver on your promise, meaning you’ll live up to your catchy headline. For instance, if your headline was “10 ways to cook a steak to perfection”, you better not waste your audience’s time explaining the differences between a filet mignon and a ribeye. They’re there to learn how to cook a steak – they already know their cuts.
Also, make sure you keep your content organic. As you’ll see in a bit, there are some bits and pieces you’ll need to “add” to your content to make it rank higher, but remember, you can’t just shove “stuff” in your content – you have to make it organic.
Do A Thorough Keyword Research & Use Them Well
The sad truth is, even if you manage to create an engaging, original piece of content that your audience loves, that still doesn’t mean you will outrank your competitors.
To outrank your competition, you’ll need to impress Google’s AI, as well as your target audience. And, one of the best ways to do both is by using the right keywords.
If you enrich your content with the right keywords, not only will Google have a pretty good idea of what your content’s about, and will therefore rank you better, but you’ll also have a much better chance of showing up when actual people are searching for the solution you’re offering them.
Granted, keyword research isn’t easy. It requires tools, but it also requires knowledge and expertise. And, another sad truth is, sometimes you won’t even manage to rank for some of the keywords, but fortunately, there is always an alternative.
And oh, this is one of the things you have to keep organic. Pumping out keywords at every step will do a lot more harm than good.
(Don’t) Keep It Short & Easily Readable
There are times where you need to keep it nice and short, and there are times where you need your content to be thorough. It all depends on the topic.
According to various reliable sources, articles between 2,200 and 2,500 words perform the best in terms of organic traffic. Also, articles found on the first page of Google are usually about 1,900 words long. So, we guess it’s pretty safe to say that content that’s 2,000 words long will perform the best.
However, that’s not necessarily the case. Let’s go back to our “10 ways to cook a steak to perfection” example from earlier. A piece of content like that could easily be well over 2,000 words, with all the in-depth cooking instructions, recipes, and so on. And, if it’s well-written and captivating, an article like that will surely deliver some great results.
But, if you were to change that headline to “4 ways to cook a steak to perfection”, hitting that 2,000-word mark would be a massive reach and would likely bore your audience and have them bounce to another steak-cooking article.
Also, this kind of goes without saying, but your content must be easily readable. We’re saying this because probably 80% of all written content on Google isn’t easily readable, which is not great, but hey – it works for you.
A compelling, easily readable content will feel like a conversation. Anyone should be able to understand and enjoy it. Now, there are many ways in which you can achieve that – dividing your content into compact paragraphs, maintaining rhythm and tone, using simple language, and so on.
Conclusion
Naturally, you could do a lot more to create better content and have it rank higher, but unless you master these basics, more advanced stuff won’t be of much use.
In the end, we sincerely hope we’ve managed to provide you with some valuable information and useful tips, but more importantly, we hope you enjoyed this one.
Good luck with your rankings!