Are you struggling to rank your blog posts on the page of search engines and wonder why that is? Even after you've optimized your content and followed what every SEO teaches?
Don't worry. I will show you the exact content optimization strategies that can boost you to the top of the search results.
And the best part? Most of the tips can be fixed in just a few minutes. So are you ready to upgrade your content strategy? Read on and implement these strategies to rank higher in your content marketing strategy in Google.
TL;DR:
- Create An Internal Linking Strategy
- Optimize FAQs To Win A Featured Snippet
- Use Content Optimization Tools
- Add Alt Text To Every Image
- Monitor Google Search Console & Analytics
- Create Product Boxes To Break Up Your Text
- Match Keyword Research With Search Intent In Mind
- Perform Regular Content Audits
- Optimize Your Content For Users, Google Follows
What Is Content Optimization?
Content optimization is optimizing existing content to make it more effective. Content optimization typically focuses on two main areas: search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience.
Here's what I mean and how you can complement both metrics.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is making a website's content more visible and relevant to search engines. This involves improving the site's overall structure and individual pieces of content. This can be from updating your blog post format to updating your title.
An example would be updating your content to be relevant for the following year, as I did with this post:
User Experience
User experience refers to how easy and enjoyable it is to use a website. A key component of good UX is creating clear and concise content that is easy to read and navigate. This includes using headings and subheadings to break up text and using bullet points or numbered lists when appropriate.
A good on-page experience also involves using images, videos, and other design blocks to supplement the text and help users understand what they're reading. Optimizing existing content for both on-page and off-page SEO can help ensure that your content is seen and used by as many people as possible.
The Top Content Optimization Strategies
Most of the tips shared here are all based on my content creation process and the things I learned when I started to optimize content for others and myself.
1. Create Content Briefs
If you dread content optimization, building a solid foundation for your articles from the start can make optimizing content down the line easier. The good idea is to create content briefs for each article you write.
A good content brief should include all the information about your article, including its central topic, headings, semantic keywords, and target audience. Developing a clear outline before writing can help you automate a long-term SEO strategy.
2. Perform A Content Audit
When it comes to quality content, you want to ensure that your posts are helpful, engaging, and valuable. One way to do this is by performing a content audit periodically and confirming that your page is search-engine friendly.
During a content audit, you will analyze each piece of content on your website and identify any areas for improvement. This can include removing or updating old blog posts, adding updated information to existing articles, and adding any relevant keywords.
Side note:
Performing an audit will also show you why your page dropped on the search engine results pages.
I prefer to use Surfer SEO or Dashword to create an SEO audit, which will give me suggestions to complete my content optimization strategy.
What's great is that you can view your updates in real time and make any changes to your blog post. After running a content audit, I've seen more traffic and first-page rankings.
3. Write Great Content
Creating content that engages your reader and that google loves is the perfect combo for quality content. Whenever I choose a topic or target keyword, the end goal is to keep your visitor on the page longer or end their search journey.
Some of the best practices to achieve this is by consistently learning how to write and creating blog post templates that you can follow in the future.
4. Add Alt Text To Your Images
Adding alt text can be helpful in many ways and letting Google crawl bots into the content. As you know, images and videos can enhance your content and keep visitors engaged for longer. However, if your images are not optimized for search, they may be overlooked by search engines.
To optimize your images for search engines, add clear alt text that accurately describes what the image contains or illustrates. I've even noticed that some designs rank when I do a google search for a specific keyword.
5. Create An Engaging Blog Post Intro
If you want high-quality content, you want to lead your visitor with an engaging blog post intro. Without a solid introduction, your reader may feel overwhelmed or confused and shut down your content altogether.
I use two different sales copywriting techniques:
- PAS
- AIDA
Following this copywriting framework, you need to include the primary keyword in the intro and end with a cliffhanger.
Not only does every top-ranking blog do this, but it's the foundation of creating compelling content.
6. Add Video To Keep Users Engaged
One easy way to upgrade your existing content is by adding a video. Not only can videos keep users engaged for longer, but they can also help increase your search rankings and drive more traffic to your site.
Side note:
You can make more affiliate revenue by repurposing your articles into youtube videos.
I've seen that I can rank my video and article in Google's search results as long as I optimize them with the right keywords, meta descriptions, and content.
7. Add Product Display Boxes
Not only does adding product boxes throughout your content help break up the wall of text in your article, but this can also help you monetize. Adding these content blocks to already optimized content works excellent for on-page conversions and increasing your sales.
You can purchase a WordPress plugin to add product display boxes to your content or design them yourself. You'll want to create product blocks that showcase the best-selling products related to your article topic and then include links within the content.
Here's an example of one of my top-performing content blocks built with Thrive Suite:
Best On-Page SEO Analysis Tool
Optimize Your Content And Create SEO Guidelines
With Surfer, you can have your articles ranked on the first page of google by using machine learning and other ranking factors.
This is a great way to monetize existing content and increase conversions without updating or changing any keyword.
8. Establish Internal Links Within Your Site
A good internal linking structure is a must when you do content optimization. Not only does internal linking help users navigate your site, but it can also improve your search rankings.
You'll want to create a keyword list to create links within your content effectively, or you can use my favorite internal linking plugin, LinkWhisper.
Link Whisper will provide you with relevant internal links and give you a report of any broken anchor texts. This can be a great way to find areas for improvement and discover new link opportunities within your site.
Remember that you aren't always in control of external links. Still, you control internal links, so use them strategically to win more organic search traffic to your blog.
9.Use An AI Writing Assistant
An excellent online writing assistant can help you develop keyword variations, optimize grammar and spelling, and make your writing more effective.
I normally use Grammarly for grammar mistakes and Jasper AI for writer's block.
This can be a massive help if you're trying to optimize your content for search engines. Additionally, an online writing assistant can help you save a lot of time and energy that you would otherwise spend on editing and proofreading your content.
10. Design Your Own Images
If you want to create compelling content, I recommend making your own images using a dedicated graphic design tool. You also have the option to outsource this, but either way, having custom graphics and graphs on your content can make a difference.
I find that adding infographics on post help keep visitors on the page longer, which can lead to higher search results.
Make sure you add this to your content marketing plans and use tools like Canva or Photoshop to design your graphics.
11. Avoid Keyword Stuffing
One of content optimization's most essential aspects is avoiding keyword stuffing.
This is when a web page is loaded with so many keywords that it becomes difficult to read or evident that you are writing for the algorithm.
Not only does this make the content less valuable for readers, but it can also lead to search engine penalties. Instead, focus on using related keywords throughout your content.
This will not only make it more readable but will also help search engines to understand the context of your page better. You can also use a content optimization tool to help you find semantic keywords and optimize your content accordingly.
12. SEO-Friendly URLs & Titles
Exact keywords are essential, but so is including them in a way that makes sense for both users and search engines. This means using them in your page title and meta descriptions and throughout the body of your content in a way that flows naturally. But what about your URLs? Optimizing them for SEO can be tricky, but taking the time to do it right is worth it. Here are some tips:
- Type in the keyword in google and see what your competitors are doing. This helps match the intent of what Google thinks should be at the top of the SERPs.
- Keep the permalink short with no fluff, and use the keyword as close to the front of your permalink as possible.
13. Optimize For Featured Snippets
Don't neglect featured snippets. They can overcome top-ranking pages with just a few sentences and by answering your audience's questions.
Optimizing content can lead to potential gains with a featured snippet, so make sure you have that in your content optimization strategy.
Featured snippets are often displayed at the top of Google search results, which can help you win more organic traffic and visibility for your web pages.
There are several different content optimization strategies that you can use to appear on a featured snippet. Some of the most important include using clear and concise language, targeting common questions or topics, and optimizing your content for search engine algorithms.
14. Add A Summary or TL;DR
One of the quickest content marketing tips is adding a summary or TL;DR section to your content. This provides a brief overview of your post's main ideas and points, which can help keep readers engaged and interested in what you have to say.
Adding a summary or TL;DR section to your content effectively improves readability, engagement, and content quality.
15. Write Missing Topic Clusters
Have you done everything you can to optimize existing content on your site, yet haven't seen any changes in your content marketing efforts?
Then you might be missing topical clusters. Topic clusters are an essential part of SEO and can help you rank for more keywords, increase traffic to your site, and improve engagement with your audience.
To create topic clusters, start by identifying the main topics relevant to your content. Next, identify gaps in existing content or topics covered less frequently on your site. You can use free tools or conduct competitor research to map your TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU content.
Once you publish the missing clusters, you can improve the internal linking structure through the web pages you're trying to rank for.
16. Optimize Page Speed
The most overlooked content optimization strategy is optimizing page loading speed. So making sure you pass core web vitals, including page speed, mobile friendliness, and SEO factors, is essential.
The best part? You can quickly fix this problem using a caching plugin like WP Rocket or WP total cache. These WordPress plugins will make technical SEO a breeze and help speed up your page load times.
17. Build High Authority Links
Now that you have completed all content optimization tasks, it's time to build up your page authority and compete with other top-ranking pages.
Many beginner bloggers don't want to do outreach or build links, but that's the difference between those who want more search traffic and those who go for more accessible keywords.
Side note:
Your domain rating will also increase as you build page authority through backlinks. Case studies like mine have seen amazing results doing content and links.
If media sites like Forbes and Wirecutter go after the same target keywords as you, you need to build high-authority links to beat them out.
One of the best ways to do this is through guest posting and building relationships with influencers in your industry. By consistently publishing content on other niche-relevant sites, you can increase your domain authority and rank higher in search results for competitive keywords.
Ultimately, a combination of optimized content and links can take you a long way in your blogging journey.
My Free Checklist For Optimizing Your Content
Here is my complete SEO content optimization checklist and how I write blog content faster:
- Do your keyword research using an SEO tool
- Check the search volume and keyword difficulty
- Type the keyword into Google and see what the search intent is based on your competition
- Use a content brief generator and input your target keyword
- Create the content brief and check all of the suggestions it provides
- Start to write the article using your knowledge and research
- Create optimized images and alt text for each
- Add at least one external link and two relevant internal links
- Before publishing the post, check that you added a meta description and title tag
- After publishing the post, use one of your content optimization tools to audit the page and make any necessary changes
- Continue to monitor performance, measure traffic, and optimize as needed.
That's how I create content that ranks higher in search results and helps my business grow. I hope it can help you achieve the same success, or you're more than welcome to change it up.
FAQ
Many different optimization strategies can be used to ensure that your content is high quality and visible to your target audience.
Here are my top tips for content optimization:
- Regular update your old content
- Publish fresh new content
- Adding internal links where relevant
- Running your content through a grammar checker
- Optimize around E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness)
- Add content optimization tools to your content creation process
- Lower your keyword density
The easiest way to ensure you aren't over-optimizing is by using an SEO audit tool or content optimization checklist. This will help you check for common SEO mistakes and ensure that your content follows best practices.
Additionally, staying up-to-date on current SEO trends can help avoid over-optimization pitfalls. For example, focusing too much on keyword rankings or building too many low-quality links can negatively impact your content's performance.
Finally, prioritize user experience and readability when creating blog posts, as this can also help avoid over-optimization issues.
You'll want to monitor your updates through Google search console, Google Analytics, or your choice of SEO software to see what impact your changes have had on traffic, engagement, and rankings.
Other metrics, such as click-through rate, can also help determine the success of your content audits and help you assess where there is room for improvement in the future.
Final Thoughts
Like every other blogger, I'm sure your goal is to gain more traffic, and I have a solid content optimization plan to help you achieve that goal. Whether you follow the tips above or create your own optimization strategy, remember that consistency and persistence are crucial to SEO success.
Try not to listen to fancy SEO tactics, and as long as you create high-quality content that is optimized and ends the user's search journey, you will be good.