For any online business, the key to success is to rank higher in SERPs and engage prospective customers. The more people you reach and engage, the higher the chances of them becoming customers or followers. So, what can help you rank higher and gain the attention of your target audience? Content Optimization!

Content optimization is a critical component of a successful content marketing strategy. It is essential for reaching out to the target audience irrespective of the type of content or the goals of your marketing strategy. However, you have to do it right to achieve your business goals. 

This document will cover what is content optimization, its benefits, and strategies to do it right.

What Is Content Optimization?

Content optimization is the practice of creating, improving, and presenting content in a way that ensures it reaches the maximum audience. It ensures your target audience can easily find your content and helps you achieve your target goals, such as increased sales, conversions, or traffic. 

You can reach out to your audience in many ways, but most involve enormous investments, such as paid Google or social media advertisements. SEO content optimization, on the other hand, helps you increase organic traffic by ranking higher in search results. 

With the help of content optimization, you provide valuable, relevant data to search engines to help them understand the content. As a result, search engines show your content on result pages for relevant keywords.

However, remember content optimization is done for both search engines and users.

Optimizing content for search engines ensures your audience can find your content in SERPs and become familiar with your brand or business. On the other hand, optimizing content for users ensures your content satisfies your audience and keeps them engaged. 

Benefits of Content Optimization

Content optimization aims to optimize content for various business goals like SEO, backlink building, and better conversions. 

Search engine optimization is significant for content marketing, and you cannot ignore it. Many online users use search engines like Google, Bing, Baidu, YouTube, etc., to get information. You will only get views if your content ranks higher. Even highly engaging and authoritative content cannot serve its purpose or benefit your business if users cannot find it.

Similarly, if the content is not exciting or engaging, the users will not convert into customers or followers. Optimized content will attract visitors, and they will likely share and promote your content and brand.

Therefore, content optimization can help your business in several ways, such as:

• Helps your content rank higher in SERPs.
• Increases traffic to your site.
• Boosts brand awareness.
• Attracts more backlinks
• Increases revenue.

Optimizing Content for SEO

Content optimization for SEO ensures your web pages rank on Google’s first page for the relevant keywords. The following are the most effective ways to optimize content for SEO:

Target the Right Keywords

A critical marketing objective is ensuring your content ranks in SERPs whenever your target audience searches for information online. However, it is only possible if you create the content around topics or keywords people type in search bars. Therefore, the first step towards optimizing content for SEO is researching keywords. 

Keyword research is finding, analyzing, and strategically using the right keywords in your content. It enables you to find and target the right keywords for your content to help you achieve your business goals.

Consider the following three factors when choosing the right keywords for your content:

Search Volume: It is the average number of times searchers use the keyword to find information online. High search volume keywords are highly competitive but generate more traffic. On the contrary, low search volume keywords are less competitive but generate less organic traffic. 

Search Difficulty: It indicates the difficulty of ranking the keyword in Google search results. Highly competitive keywords have high search difficulty, making them more challenging to rank in SERPs. On the other hand, less competitive keywords have low search difficulty, and it is easy for them to rank in search results. 

You can learn about keyword search volume and difficulty using keyword research tools. The following are the famous keyword research tools marketers use for keyword research. 

• SEMrush
• Serpstat
• SEOTesting
• SpyFu

For example, below is the screenshot of the keyword overview in SEMrush.

SEMrush allows bulk analysis, enabling users to enter up to 100 keywords. It enables users to compare multiple keywords for search volume and difficulty.  

Keyword Trend: It indicates the trend the keyword has followed over a period of time. A high search volume does not guarantee that the keyword will perform equally well in the future. The keyword trend shows how the keyword has performed in the past, based on which you can predict its future performance. 

To learn about a keyword’s trend, use Google Trends. If a keyword is gaining popularity over time, it is ideal for your content. Similarly, a keyword with declining popularity may not be the perfect choice.  

Include LSI Keywords

LSI (latent semantic indexing) keywords are terms or words conceptually associated with the target keyword. They help search engines determine your content’s relevance to the search query. Therefore, including LSI keywords is essential for optimizing content SEO. 

Search engines scan the contents of a web page to determine if the content is relevant to the search query. Using LSI keywords, you establish the content’s relevance and ensure your content ranks for the right keywords. 

Remember, LSI keywords are not synonyms. Synonyms are alternate terms you can use in place of keywords. They do not clarify the context of the keyword. Semantically related keywords, on the other hand, define the context. 

LSIGraph is a popular tool for generating LSI keywords. All you need to do is enter the keyword, and LSIGraph will give you a list of semantically related keywords. 

Use Headings/Subheadings

Headings/subheadings are critical for SEO and user experience. They improve the structure of your content, making it friendly for the users and search engines. 

Headers enable search engines to understand your content better. HTML header tags that range from H1 to H6 signify the importance of each part of the content. For example, H1 holds the most importance and is used for the web page’s title. Similarly, H2 tags indicate the main sections of your content. 

Whenever a text appears within a header tag, search engines know it is important and use it to understand the content. As a result, search engines better rank your content for the relevant search queries. However, remember to include the target keyword in the headings.

Headings are also crucial for user experience. They enhance readability by breaking down content into logical blocks. Additionally, it becomes easier for the users to find the desired information quickly without scanning the entire page. 

Remember, user experience signals also affect your SEO rankings. Therefore, providing a better user experience also helps you rank higher in SERPs. 

Include and Optimize Visuals

Another proven way to optimize content for SEO is to include visuals. Visuals keep readers engaged and ensure they stay longer on your page. As I stated earlier, Google considers user signals when deciding the rank of a web page. A higher time spent on the page can help increase your rank in SERPs. 

The following are a few suggestions for including visuals in your content:

• Include infographics to add value to your content. Infographics tend to become viral and are shared often. To create professional infographics, I recommend using tools like Canva and Visme.
• Use screenshots to help users understand the steps of a process or method. 
• Include videos for audiences who prefer videos over text.

You can also include stock images. For high-quality stock images, you can use shutterstock or envatoelements.

However, whenever you include visuals, ensure they are optimized. Ensure image attributes, i.e., alt and name tags, are descriptive to optimize images. Additionally, store the images in a suitable format and compress them. For example, Smush is a WordPress plugin that provides lossless compression for best results. 

Improve Internal Lining Structure

Internal links are critical components of content optimization. They are beneficial for SEO for the following reasons:

Like backlinks, internal links pass authority from one page to another. Therefore, linking from a high authority page to a low authority page helps the latter perform better in SERPs.

Internal links help search engines quickly discover and rank new pages, making the crawling process efficient. 

Internal links help decrease bounce rates. They enable visitors to explore other pages of your website. Please note that if users exit your site from a different page than the one they entered from, it is an exit, not a bounce.  

Adding internal links can become a challenging task for bigger websites. Therefore, I recommend using tools like LinkWhisper, RankMath, and Internal Link Juicer for efficient internal linking. 

Optimizing Content for Backlinks

Content optimization for backlinks ensures you create linkable content that attracts the most backlinks. The following are the four most effective ways of optimizing content for backlinks.

Conduct Original Research

Original research is among the types of content that get the most backlinks. It is mainly based on surveys or data analysis. It contains unique information not presented before, making it ideal for gaining backlinks.

However, it may take a lot of time to conduct original research. Therefore, ensure you do it the right way to avoid wasting your time and energy. The following are a few things to consider when conducting research:

• Target the trending issues or topics for the research. 
• Ensure the data set is extensive to make your research valuable and convincing.
• Present the results of your research in the form of tables and graphs.

Focus on Trending Topics

As discussed before, conducting original research takes a lot of time. However, there are other ways you can optimize content for backlinks. One such way is targeting trending topics. 

Pay attention to what is happening in your niche and create comprehensive content on trending topics. However, make your content unique and add valuable suggestions, information, or opinions to make it linkable. 

Cover the Topic In-Depth

Both users and search engines dislike content that does not cover the topic in-depth and lacks essential information. Therefore, ensure the content is comprehensive to outperform competitors and attract backlinks.

To ensure your content is comprehensive, analyze what your competitors are creating and determine what information your audience seeks. Afterward, create content that answers your audience’s queries and is better than your competitors.

To analyze what your competitors are creating, use Google search. Type the keyword in Google search and explore the top 10 results. Then, list points your competitors have covered in their content and brainstorm which to include and which to exclude. I recommend using a tool like Frase to generate full-length SEO-optimized briefs based on the internet’s best content to save time and energy.

Remember to add some unique points to make your content compelling and attractive for the users.

Include Examples, Data, and Statistics

Content creators often link to posts containing statistical data and examples. Therefore, including illustrations, data, and statistics is another proven way of optimizing content for backlinks.

For example, you can collect statistics from multiple sources and compile them in a single post. However, make sure you present the statistics in a manner that is easy to understand.

Optimizing Content for Readability

Content optimization for readability ensures the content is created and presented in a way that makes it easy to scan, read, and comprehend. The following are the four proven ways to optimize content for better readability.

Improve Content’s Structure

The structure of the content significantly impacts readability. Consider the following to improve the structure of your content for enhanced readability:

• Include a table of contents at the top of every post.
• Use subheadings to make it easy to scan the page. 
• Write short paragraphs and sentences.
• Use bullet points, tables, and lists to highlight important points.
• Write in active voice. Active voice makes content more straightforward to comprehend.
• Avoid using complex words to cater to audiences of all knowledge levels. 
• Use a font style and size that is readable on all devices.
• Use enough white space to make content appealing.
• Use simple words and replace complex words with simple synonyms.

I recommend using a tool or plugin like AIOSEO for a detailed overview of your content’s readability.

Proofread Content

An essential component of content optimization is proofreading. Grammatical mistakes can put off your readers, making them quit your site. They also leave a poor impression, as a result of which you may lose your readers forever. Therefore, before publishing your content, ensure it has no spelling or grammatical mistakes. 

Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and WhiteSmoke are popular grammar checking tools to check your content for mistakes. Many content creators rely on these tools for proofreading.

Optimizing Content for Conversions

Content optimization for conversions ensures your content is engaging enough to increase conversion rate. The following are the three ways to optimize your content for a better conversion rate. 

Optimize Title and Meta Description

Title tags and meta descriptions appear in your search listings in SERPs. A title tag informs the search engine what the web page is about. On the other hand, meta description provides a brief description of your page’s content. 

It is an SEO best practice to include the target keyword in the title and the meta description. Therefore, to optimize the title tag and meta description, ensure they contain the target keyword. Also, try to include the target keyword in the title and meta description as early as possible. 

Most importantly, ensure the title is accurate, and the meta description accurately describes the page’s content. 

Improve Your CTA

A compelling call to action can significantly increase the conversion rate. To optimize your content for conversions, ensure the CTAs are well-designed and well-positioned. 

Consider the following to optimize your CTAs:

• Keep the text brief and to the point. 
• Place them above the fold to ensure they are visible to all visitors, including those who do not scroll down the page. 
• Use power words like free, start, upgrade, etc. 
• Write in first person. For example, instead of “upgrade your plan”, write “upgrade my plan”.
• Use bright contrasting colors to make CTAs stand out and draw attention.  

Another effective way of optimizing CTAs is to A/B test them. Present your audience with variations of a CTA to determine what works best regarding conversions.  

Establish Credibility

Most people look for reviews and testimonials before purchasing products or services online. Therefore, it is essential to establish your credibility by displaying social proof on your website. You can display reviews, testimonials, awards, and a list of renowned customers to establish your brand’s authenticity and credibility. 

Conclusion

Content optimization is essential to ensure your content helps achieve marketing goals by ranking higher in SERPs and meeting users’ needs. However, you should aim to optimize content for users, and it will automatically become appealing to search engines.