Whether you refer to it as on-site, on-page, or something else, the content on your website impacts how relevant a search engine like Google will consider your business to be for specific search terms and topics. It’s important for content to be high quality, relevant, and useful to your key target audiences. This is no mean feat though.
Long gone are the days that you can focus on one individual keyword and write 1,000 words about it to rank on page one, or spin up lots of different pages for the purpose of ranking for as many keywords as possible.Times have changed, and so has Google.
Today, you have to really focus on your audience and potential customers, understand their intent and where they are in their process towards a potential buying decision, and show both the search engines and their users that your business is the best option available to provide that information.
That last point carries a huge amount of significance at a time when Google continues to clamp down on the misuse of AI and provide users with genuine expertise and first-hand experience, to surface the most reliable, trustworthy, and valuable content for any given query.
There is a lot of crossover with technical SEO to consider and ensure every page is optimised and on-page SEO elements, like page titles and meta descriptions, are addressed too.
Keyword & Topic Research
To have a good understanding of your target audiences means you need to know what they are actually searching for, including specific keywords and broader topics. This should be the start of any content strategy.
Audit & Content Strategy
Once you have an understanding of your target keywords and topics, you need to know whether it’s even possible to rank prominently. This comes from auditing your website, reviewing competitors, and determining the best possible strategy.
SEO Copywriting
Depending on the scale of the content strategy, I find that the most effective way to produce content is a combination of my direction and input, the client’s expertise, and dedicated copywriters. This will deliver the most value for SEO.
Frequently asked on-page content questions
How do you optimise existing content for SEO, and what factors do you consider?
A lot of clients that I work with haven’t made the most of their existing content from an SEO perspective, whether it’s related to technical SEO aspects or simple changes. Targeting, structure, internal linking, cannibalisation, relevancy, and depth are some of the first areas that I look at addressing.
What is your approach to keyword research and placement in on-page content?
Keyword research is a complex process and your business needs to focus on being an authority for relevant topics, which are made up of potentially hundreds or thousands of keywords. Despite how advanced search engines are, there are still ways to help the likes of Google to understand what a page or group of pages on your website are about, whether it’s page titles, headings, or internal links.
How do you balance SEO with creating high-quality, engaging content for users?
If your business sees SEO as something different to the content on your website, then you’re on the wrong track. There should be no difference between the two, despite different approaches and tactics to consider. Google wants to reward websites that helps their users, which should be the ultimate aim to “improve SEO”.
What is your process for ensuring content is updated and remains relevant over time?
Google rewards websites with up-to-date information as this is what their users require. Depending on your industry, this could be more important to consider, as information can become outdated or change quickly, so you have to keep up and make sure that key pages are addressed.
How do you optimise on-page content for featured snippets and other rich search results?
There are certain ways to get your business in front of potential customers without them having to even click your website. Understanding what the search engine results pages (SERPs) look like in your industry will help to direct or even determine your content strategy and approach as it varies.
