Everyone knows the term "SEO". But what is SEO exactly?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Search engines such as Google use various indicators to see how relevant your website is to a search query from a potential visitor. Things like brand awareness, reviews and location are examples of the many variables Google uses for this.

But Google also looks at the layout and content of your website or blog. Content is therefore a very important part of SEO. By attuning your content to search queries and frequently asked questions, you will be more relevant to Google and therefore quicker to find by a potential customer.

In this article we give you some tips for writing good SEO-content, but of course we are also happy to help you personally.

SEO for beginners

Suppose you sell washing machines. Then your first instinct is probably to write a page with the search term “buy washing machine” in the text. However, you are not the only one with this brilliant idea, and your competitors have certainly written similar SEO pages to catch these customers.

A shame, because now you force Google to fall back on other variables such as size of the shop or reviews, where your competitors might come out better. In addition, Google can determine whether the text on a page is “natural” to read or whether a lot of keywords have been deliberately included in the text (also known as stuffing). It is therefore more interesting and more effective to distinguish your content from that of your competitors, without compromising on relevance.

After all, why does the customer actually search for buy a washing machine? Is it perhaps a student who is leaving home for the first time? Then the search “what should I look for in my first washing machine” probably preceded it.

Or maybe the washing machine is just broken and the customer first searched for a simple solution to fix the problem. If you catch this search with a blog or product page, with the answer to these questions and then also offer the possibility to buy a new washing machine at your site, you already have the customer one step ahead of the actual purchase intention.

Of course, it is not possible to capture every potential customer search query, but the above example does a good job of showing how you can be creative with both content and keywords. Keywords should be a good match for the different types of search intentions your content is aimed at. Examples of search intentions of a visitor can be: orientation and need for general information, looking for a product or service, need for contact or want to make a purchase.

It is important to use the visitor’s search intention in the design of your page, do you want to convert or inform? For example, do you have a webshop and blog about smartwatches? Save the keywords that match a buying intention, such as “buy smartwatch” for your product pages and focus your blog on the keywords that match a request for information, such as “features of a smartwatch”.

Because well-chosen keywords are the basis for good SEO content, it is important to think about this from the beginning. Then you write the text around these keywords, without losing sight of the intention of the page. For best results, use keywords with a high search volume, but not too much competition.

A mistake that is often made is the use of technical jargon or search terms that are not (yet) known or logically used by customers. It is crucial to put yourself in the position of the visitor who has not yet become acquainted with your company, product or expertise.

Would you like help finding the right keywords for your website or article?

Page layout is important for SEO

Search engines are getting better at detecting good content. A long piece of text without layout may contain all the relevant information and keywords, but an unreadable and cluttered article will scare your reader away. Chances are, when reading this article, you also used the headings to quickly scan through the parts of the article that interested you. Titles and headings are always important for content, but especially so when it comes to SEO. Keywords in headings are rated higher because search engines assume that this is your main message.

These headings are also called H1 and H2. H1 means headline 1, and refers to the largest title on the page. It is often placed at the top of the page and should contain your most important keywords. If your article is an answer to a question users type into search engines, the question may be a suitable H1 headline. Keep in mind that the H1 still plays an important role in the readability of your text, and visitors will read this sentence first. So keep the sentence readable and try not to use too many keywords in the same sentence, there are sub-headings for this. The H1 should attract the reader to read the whole article.

If you use multiple paragraphs in an article or page it is wise to also use H2. These are sub-headings that are used to break up your article into the different sections that follow on from your H1.

Suppose your page is about the latest season of a TV series. Then your H1 could be “what’s known about series X season Y“, with the H2 covering different parts such as “what is the release date of series X season Y” and “which actors return in season Y of series X“. In this way, your sub-questions can also rank in search engines and you give the article more relevant content.

Site technique

Another important element for the attractiveness of your page for search engines is the site technique. Also know as “Technical SEO”. For example, certain elements may be set incorrectly in a way that it prevents Google from reading them, and the configuration of your website for mobile devices is also crucial.

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The importance of a content strategy

Search engines are getting smarter. Whereas years ago, it was still possible to mislead search engines by putting keywords at the bottom of the page in white letters on a white background, we have now reached the point where search engines actively charge or reward you for relevance. Therefore, it is no longer profitable to try to cheat Google’s constantly changing algorithm. Instead, focus on relevant content for your visitor that is well aligned with your content strategy. Think about the search intent of your visitor, place the right H1 and H2 headings and write your content structured around your keywords. With a good content strategy you will automatically score better on SEO.

In this article we have covered the basics of organic SEO, but of course there are many tips and tricks to increase your position in search engines, without spending money on advertising (SEA).

Don’t have the time for this yourself, or could you use some help? Then get in touch with us, because at Get Interactive we can help you with SEO and Copywriting.

We like to think along with you!