How to create hot content
As the weather heats up, it’s time to get your content sizzling. As we all know, content is key when it comes to SEO, link-building and internet marketing. Produce content that people want and they will happily link to you in return. However, some content seems to work better than others, and you need to know what it is you should be doing to get it warming up your site.
The title is the first thing many people will see when they come across your content, so it needs to be good. SEO-friendly titles include the keywords of the article or the content you are posting. So, for instance, a blog about oak trees would need to mention oak trees somewhere in the title. However, there are also certain types of title which are more appealing. These include lists (‘The 10 Best Oak Tree Hotspots’), how-to guides (‘How to keep your oak tree healthy’) and tips (‘Top tips for cutting down oak trees’). These appeal to people looking for information, and reflect potential Google searches people may perform.
A visual element is also important, especially if you want your content to be noticed when it is shared socially. Adding an image to content usually means it appears as a thumbnail alongside your content on social media sites, and immediately draws the eye to your post and makes it more appealing. Make sure it reflects the content of the piece or at least relates to the title to demonstrate consistency. Lots of stock image sites provide free images to include in your content. The rise of infographics and Vine video clips proves that imagery is very share—friendly!
The meta-description is another thing to consider. This is what will appear on Google under your title. It is best to make this a summary of the content page including all the necessary keywords in a natural sentence or two rather than simply letting it appear as the first section of the on-page content. This avoids repetition and gives the reader a complete overview of what they can expect from the piece, which may help you keep your bounce rate down as you will attract people who are genuinely interested in the content to the page itself.
Also, obviously sales-y content won’t cut the mustard. Would you want to read an entire page about how brilliant your company are and what you do? Unlikely. Neither will other people. Keep them interested by giving them something. Some people feel a little uneasy about giving out free advice, but it’s exactly this that will get people coming to your site over and over again and getting acquainted with your company. Good content isn’t about advertising your services. It’s about getting your name heard and ultimately, getting your links out there onto the best blogs and making sure people want to engage with them on social media sites.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some more content to get on the barbecue…
