… and keep your eye on the latest research.
How do you make sure your site content is the best it can be? It helps to check out what your top competitors are up to. And there’s also a constant stream of fresh research to tap into.
Getting site visibility inspiration from competitor sites
Search Google for your top five key terms. Then take a look at the top five sites on page one of Google.
Because they’re at the top of page one, having beaten thousands of other sites to take pole position, you can safely assume they’re getting the content side of things (and everything else!) right. Which means you can analyse what they’re doing and tweak your site content to compete with the best-in-breed, by looking at:
- their tone of voice and the kind of language they use
- how often they post to their blog
- the depth of information on site and how it’s organised
- how often they update their home page and other site pages
- the key term density
- the overall quality of the content and what makes it so interesting, entertaining, useful and relevant – can you do the same?
Using research to create a top-performing website
There’s a wealth of cool research out there to support and inform a sensible content strategy and help choose the best tactics. A couple of examples…
Business Bolts’ Google search algorithm research
Recent research by Business Bolts makes interesting reading for content marketers. Their 2013 SEO study looked at backlinks, content metrics and social signals to spot patterns in the way Google’s extraordinary algorithm works.
Quality backlinks still help improve site visibility. Good meta data still scores high. But the most interesting insight to me, as a copywriter, is the relatively low keyword density in most of the top-positioned pages examined. It looks like quality content really is the bunny, in real life as well as in theory.
My site’s keyword density was a bit too high so I changed things a week or so ago in response to the research. I might not be able to make a sure-fire direct correlation between what I’ve done and better search positions – there are too many factors involved – but it’s good to know I’ve brought something useful to the SEO party.
Technorati offers a fresh perspective on blog power
Technorati ’s annual Digital Influence Report is always a rich source of exciting information. This year it hints at a seismic shift: according to the research, bloggers’ opinions rank higher than Facebook and Twitter – and bloggers have more influence on buying behaviour than friends and family.
It might not sound like much at first but think again and it’s actually profound. If they’re right, Technorati’s findings add a whole new dimension to a blog’s potential. Bearing the research in mind, I’ve finally got my ass in gear and diaried at least two posts a week from now on.
