content creation Archives - Bruce Clay, Inc. https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/tag/content-creation/ SEO and Internet Marketing Tue, 08 Apr 2025 21:28:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Key Considerations for Choosing an AI Content Creator https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/key-considerations-choosing-ai-content-creator/ https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/key-considerations-choosing-ai-content-creator/#comments Tue, 08 Apr 2025 18:26:53 +0000 https://www.bruceclay.com/?p=237467 Learn how to choose the right AI writing tool that meets your content needs based on content types, SEO optimization, ease of use and more.

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key considerations choosing ai content creator.

According to HubSpot research, 43% of marketers used artificial intelligence to produce content in 2024. You can bet that number will increase in 2025 and beyond.

But with so many choices available, choosing the right AI content creator may prove difficult. Doing your due diligence is worth it, though; the benefits AI brings — chiefly the time and money you save due to a more efficient content production process — make this investment a no-brainer.

We want to help you make an informed choice when going through the process of choosing an AI content creator. Read on as we discuss important things to consider.

What to Consider When Choosing an AI Content Creator

If you’re in the market for a new car, do you buy the first one you see? You most likely will research each model thoroughly to find the one that best suits your needs before making a final decision.

The same applies to picking an AI content creator. Research is key.

Types of Content You Need

First, determine the type of content you primarily need.

Some AI content creators excel at short-form content like social media posts or product descriptions. Others are better at generating long-form blog posts, articles or scripts.

Understand what your project needs are, then pick a tool that is tailored toward them.

Ease of Use and Learning Curve

User interface is a big consideration. Some platforms have simple, intuitive interfaces perfect for beginners. Other AI writing tools may involve a steeper learning curve.

AI tools should simplify work, so avoid counter-intuitive ones. Look for AI content generators with clear instructions, tutorials and accessible customer support. Some even offer a free trial to use the software before you commit.

Customization and Flexibility

Every business has its own identity, styling and customer base. For this reason, you want to select an AI content generator that affords customization and flexibility.

Search for a tool that can align with your company. It should be able to learn your brand’s tone of voice, language, desired keywords and style.

Because content is so seldom static, you also want to find a tool that makes it easy to update or refresh stale content.

Some AI tools specialize in specific niches, like AI SEO content tools that output optimized content to compete in search engines.

Output Quality and Accuracy

AI technology may still be in its early stages, but the results it produces aren’t always consistent. And sometimes the quality is just bad.

AI writing tools are massively helpful, but they require a human to be in complete control of the content they generate. When you work with an AI content generator, making sure that what it gives you is both factually accurate and original should be your number one priority.

To that end, it’s best to work with an AI content generator that’s hooked up to the internet rather than one that’s just pulling from historical data. Otherwise, you’re going to need to employ a lot of fact-checking and editing services, which means spending way more time on this than on creating fresh content.

Integrations and Scalability

Think about how the chosen tool integrates into your existing workflow. A not-so-simple integration can really hinder your operations. On the other hand, a smooth operation can effortlessly help you scale your content efforts.

Some platforms are equipped with project management features and can even facilitate team collaboration as you work to develop content.

Look for platforms that grow with your needs, accommodating larger projects, more team members or changing project requirements. Go with something that can scale up or down with your team across changes in operations and across the technologies you use.

Pricing and Support

Consider your budget as you look at the features that each AI content generation tool offers.

Pricing can vary so much from one tool to the next that it’s hard to put together a meaningful comparison of plan types. Tools might have free plans with limited functionality to tempt you, but if you want to get the most value from your chosen service, it usually pays to pony up for at least the basic subscription or above. Review each plan, then decide the value it can bring to your business and content strategy.

In addition to the cost, weigh in factors like platform support.

Good customer support can make all the difference, especially during initial implementation and while navigating technical glitches or difficulties.

Content Goals and Expectations

Your content strategy is the backbone of your AI-generated content strategy.

A thorough evaluation will help ensure the chosen tool fits your larger marketing strategy. Start by clarifying your expectations of an AI content creator.

Content Quantity

Evaluate how much content you need per week or month. Will you utilize AI solely for quick content like social media captions, or is the goal to generate lengthy blog posts consistently?

Clearly defined content needs will influence the type of plan or subscription required for the tool.

Many AI platforms have word limits associated with different pricing tiers. This can factor into your decision if your aim is high-volume content generation.

Writer writing content, with text overlay: "Book a call with us today."

SEO Optimization and Keyword Integration

Your quality content must be findable by both users and search engines. That means your content needs to be optimized for SEO and must be rich with target keywords.

A good AI content creator should have SEO optimization features already built in. Content output that is primed to compete in the search results from the start can be a life saver, saving your content team significant hours.

You might not need those capabilities if you prioritize unique content over content ranking highly in search.

Balancing AI and Human Effort

Remember to find a good balance between AI assistance and human creativity. Determine your comfort level relying on AI-generated content.

Do you plan to utilize AI solely for preliminary brainstorming, basic outlines or quick social media snippets?

Or is the goal to depend more heavily on it for complete blog posts, requiring minimal human editing?

Answering these questions clarifies how you’ll use AI and whether it aligns with your comfort level regarding human input and oversight.

Knowing how much to lean on each will improve your workflow and maintain content quality.

Final Thoughts

AI content creators are an increasingly prevalent market trend.

Statista projects the generative AI market is expected to see an annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2030) of 46.47%, resulting in a market volume of $356.10 billion by 2030.

Selecting an AI content creator should be made simpler when taking a methodical approach and conducting tests over several weeks or months to see which solution best serves your needs.

statista ai market predictions.

Ready to incorporate AI into your content creation process? Try PreWriter.ai, our AI-powered content writing assistant with built-in SEO advice, for free today.

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FAQ: How do I ensure the content generated by an AI creator consistently meets high-quality standards?

Search engines prioritize content that’s authentic and credible, which is why you need to make sure that AI-generated content always meets high-quality standards.

High-quality AI-generated content requires multiple steps prior to its production. A fundamental requirement lies in understanding what tools will be deployed — including their strengths and limitations — as well as what reasonable expectations can be placed upon them.

Quality control is vital before you publish your content — It should be carefully reviewed and edited to ensure it meets standard editorial requirements and aligns with your brand voice. The same must be done for AI-generated content.

To generate the best content possible, clear and organized input must be fed to the AI. This is the most basic form of user feedback.

Teaching the AI the language you use in your niche makes it much more likely to be precise and dependable.

Consistent quality often is a challenge because of the variable output of the AI. But if we have strong guidelines and assess the output regularly, we manage this quite well.

Step-by-Step Procedure

  1. Understand the capabilities and limitations of the AI.
  2. Develop comprehensive content guidelines that cover tone and style.
  3. Carry out regular appraisals and alterations of content generated by artificial intelligence.
  4. Provide the AI with properly structured input data.
  5. Generate feedback cycles to boost your content’s quality.
  6. Teach the specialized language and concepts of the industry to the AI.
  7. Collaborate with AI specialists to devise solutions tailored to your particular requirements.
  8. Stay current with the creation and evolution of AI.
  9. Attain consistency with brand tone and ensure alignment with audience expectations.
  10. Analyze performance metrics to pinpoint weak spots.
  11. Intertwine user feedback with content refinement.
  12. Develop a procedure for guaranteeing content quality.
  13. Utilize AI resources to carry out grammar and style evaluations.
  14. Keep up with industry changes so you stay relevant.
  15. Test different AI models to achieve optimal results.
  16. Foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
  17. Shape the content strategy with data analytics.
  18. Work with the community of artificial intelligence professionals to create guidelines that are recognized as ideal within the field.
  19. Set reasonable objectives for generating material.
  20. Compose a content brief that furnishes all necessary and appropriate particulars for the AI.
  21. Comparing the material generated by AI about specified targets and results.
  22. Ensure collaboration between human authors and AI.
  23. Document discoveries made for potential use in the future.
  24. Recognize and spend time valuing the string of victories and the high-class milestone achievements that content has attained.

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Why AI-Powered Content Creation Is a Game-Changer for Marketers Everywhere https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/ai-powered-content-creation-game-changer-marketers/ https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/ai-powered-content-creation-game-changer-marketers/#comments Mon, 07 Oct 2024 15:48:21 +0000 https://www.bruceclay.com/?p=232043 Discover how AI-powered content creation tools are revolutionizing content production by automating tasks, enhancing efficiency, and improving quality. Learn about the key benefits and practical applications in this insightful article.

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AI assistant uses a copywriter's ideas to publish content.

Let’s face it: content creation is nothing short of a grind. Between the constant brainstorming and search engine optimization, the process is typically drawn out and monotonous.

This is where AI can make a monumental difference. By automating time-intensive and sometimes tedious content production tasks, AI saves you a ton of time, so you can devote your attention to what really matters — all things creative.

The good news? You don’t need an astronomical budget for marketing — most AI-powered platforms are easily accessible to everyone.

In this article:

AI Is Streamlining the Content Process

AI tools do a ton of the heavy lifting for blog posts, social media updates, video scripts and presentations. With the bulk of the work done for you in these areas and more, you can devote more time towards creativity and strategic planning.

Starting Strong

Few content creation steps are more daunting than figuring out what to write about and what to say about it.

This is where AI really shines. It can suggest topics and angles that resonate with audience interests. According to Databox research, brainstorming topics was among the top three use cases for gen AI.

databox chart generative ai.
Image credit: Databox.com

Once the key ideas are in place, AI can help organize them into a logical structure, providing a clear outline to inform your writing process.

Our own AI-powered content creation suite, PreWriter.ai, is a great tool that can help with this.

content outline report prewriter.
PreWriter content outline report in Page Creator tool

And, instead of manually sifting through endless sources and trying to determine what’s most relevant, AI can quickly analyze vast amounts of information, highlighting the key insights you need.

This makes AI an indispensable tool in streamlining the content creation process.

Enhancing Overall Efficiency

For content writers, we can safely assume that you are aware of the difficulties and time-intensive nature of creating engaging, high-caliber content.

Researching, drafting, editing and optimizing an average quality blog post can take four to six hours.

According to Databox, generative AI tools save the majority of people 25% to 49% of their time creating content.

databox chart generative ai time saved.
Image credit: Databox.com

With AI tools, much of that workload is automated. Our AI content tool, for example, gives you the ability to generate outlines, summarize articles, get writing tips and update existing content within minutes with a few simple prompts.

page report expanded outline prewriter.
Page report (expanded outline) in PreWriter

Increasing Visibility

What’s the point of creating great content if no one reads it and it does not drive traffic to your business?

SEO is not intuitive for everyone, so AI guidance in this area can help a lot. AI provides keyword research assistance, meta tag generation and linking suggestions in an efficient manner.

Through these helpful functions, you can build a strong foundation of SEO best practices, inject the principles into your content workflow and dramatically boost your content’s probability of ranking highly on search engine platforms.

keywords report prewriter.
PreWriter Keywords report

Boosting Quality

Producing high-quality content is no simple task. Writing well requires hard work and practice if it’s not one of your strengths.

Artificial intelligence takes the edge off in a big way. It makes content creation less intimidating and more user-friendly for everyone, regardless of their writing aptitude. Among the most immediate AI content creation benefits is the ability to fix grammar and punctuation problems.

In addition to minimizing errors, AI can also refine your writing style through helpful suggestions for how to strengthen your content’s quality.

writing tips report prewriter.
Writing Tips report in PreWriter

With access to AI, marketers everywhere can take on the content creation process with renewed confidence and level up on content quality.

Final Thoughts

AI-powered content creation tools have become content production game changers for marketers.

It automates the most mind-numbing tasks, dramatically improves efficiency and enhances content quality, freeing up much-needed time for creativity and strategy.

These tools help writers and content creators of all skill levels to simplify their workflow and optimize their content to follow SEO best practices. Just be sure you’re not completely relying on AI — after all, AI-generated content is a tool, not a solution.

Sign up for free access to PreWriter today and discover the power of AI in transforming your content creation process.

FAQ: How can AI-powered content creation tools streamline your content production and improve overall quality?

Thanks to AI-powered content creation tools, businesses and everyday people create and manage content way differently than they used to.

Not only do AI-enabled tools simplify the entire content production process, but they also revamp your content’s quality. Natural language processing, machine learning and other advanced technologies come together to automate a plethora of content development functions.

This saves creators valuable time and greatly decreases mistakes stemming from human error. Since AI can quickly dissect enormous volumes of data, it can provide invaluable insights into target audience preferences, topic trends, content strategy and more – a clear edge over traditional methods.

AI-powered content creation tools offer many advantages, one being their ability to automate redundant tasks. They can take over common content creation elements you’d normally handle manually, from drafting blog posts and articles to updating social media pages to writing product descriptions and more.

With these things taken care of by AI, you can allocate more time and effort to more involved functions of strategic content development, like content ideation, target audience engagement and refining your message. Mundane task automation not only speeds up the content creation process but fosters consistency and accuracy in your pieces.

​​You can also achieve huge improvements in content quality with AI’s innovative editing and proofreading abilities. The algorithms can reliably identify errors in grammar, spelling and syntax. They can also highlight stylistic errors with astounding accuracy – much better than traditional proofreading can.

Leading AI-powered tools offer tone, engagement and readability pointers to help writers effortlessly perfect their content to more closely align with audience preferences. The result is polished, professional, top-quality content.

On top of that, AI-driven content production tools also deliver performance and engagement insights that go far beneath the surface. This is made possible due to the fact that AI can analyze data from countless sources. Through the data, AI can determine which content types best connect with your desired audience, the best posting times and the best distribution channels.

With this information on hand, you can make reliable, data-backed choices to revamp your content marketing strategy. Cultivating a deep understanding of your target market’s behavior and preferences allows you to create highly tailored, focused content pieces.

Aside from the above, real-time collaboration and feedback are also made easier with artificial intelligence-enabled tools. They come with helpful features that allow several team members to manipulate a document at the same time. That means you get instant access to feedback and suggestions.

Operating in such a collaborative environment helps with creativity and keeps your team members on one accord, and your content will be better for it – more cohesive and well-rounded. And because you’re getting instant access to feedback, revisions happen quicker, enabling you to get content out faster.

Content production and quality improvements are a big deal. But that’s not all AI-powered tools can do. They can also analyze keywords, generate relevant phrases and share pertinent information about competitors’ strategies.

With access to all these helpful insights, you’ll be in the prime position to create search engine-ready content. If you closely follow changing search engine algorithms and trends, you can achieve higher content visibility and search engine rankings and bring in more organic website traffic.

After adopting AI tools and adding them to their content workflow, content creators often struggle with maintaining a distinctive, genuine voice. The best way to address this issue is to use AI tools as content creation assistants instead of replacements for humans. When you combine AI’s efficiency with human creativity, you can keep your brand personality and voice intact.

Tweaking custom settings and training your AI model on specific writing styles can also go a long way to protecting your content’s authenticity. Keeping these points in mind and using them in practice enables you to capitalize on AI’s productivity-related benefits without compromising originality.

All in all, AI-enabled content production holds loads of benefits for creators, ranging from content quality improvements to better-streamlined processes to data insights and more. All of these advantages make for sweatless collaboration and SEO optimization.

Content creators can take advantage of AI to produce top-quality, engaging, relevant material more quickly and efficiently than ever. Any business or individual striving to stay ahead in their digital efforts needs AI tools in their strategy.

Step-By-Step Procedure

  1. Select an AI-powered content creation platform that fits your needs.
  2. Integrate the platform with your existing content management system (CMS).
  3. Create a project and define your content strategy and goals within the platform.
  4. Input relevant audience data and preferences to train the AI on your target demographic.
  5. Use AI to conduct topic research and generate a list of relevant content ideas.
  6. Draft initial content using the AI’s text generation capabilities.
  7. Utilize real-time collaboration tools to allow team members to provide instant feedback.
  8. Employ AI for initial proofreading and editing to catch grammatical and stylistic errors.
  9. Refine content based on AI’s suggestions for tone, readability, and engagement.
  10. Optimize the draft for SEO by analyzing keywords and incorporating AI’s recommendations.
  11. Run the content through AI-powered plagiarism checkers to ensure originality.
  12. Use automated scheduling features to plan and publish content across various platforms.
  13. Review AI performance metrics to learn how your content is engaging its target audience and whether your audiences have found anything of use.
  14. Update your content strategy based on AI’s data-driven insights.
  15. Train the AI models on specific writing styles to maintain a consistent brand voice.
  16. Utilize AI tools for real-time adjustments during the content lifecycle.
  17. Incorporate audience feedback collected via AI analytics into future content planning.
  18. Regularly update the AI platform to leverage the latest features and improvements.
  19. Hold periodic training sessions for your team to maximize the use of AI tools.
  20. Monitor competitor content using AI and adjust your strategies accordingly.
  21. Conduct A/B testing using AI to determine the most effective content variations.
  22. Balance AI efficiency with human creativity to preserve authenticity.
  23. Use AI to plan out and execute tailored content marketing campaigns.
  24. Consistently evaluate and tweak AI workflows for the best possible performance.

Through these steps, you can quickly and efficiently create winning content, inject your unique brand personality and connect with your audience.

Incorporating advanced AI tools not only increases efficiency but also lends brands a competitive advantage in the digital space.

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Using AI to Supercharge Your SEO Content Initiatives https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/ai-supercharge-seo-content-initiatives/ https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/ai-supercharge-seo-content-initiatives/#comments Tue, 01 Oct 2024 17:53:54 +0000 https://www.bruceclay.com/?p=231774 Learn how AI in SEO content creation can supercharge your marketing efforts. Make your content more efficient and effective.

The post Using AI to Supercharge Your SEO Content Initiatives appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

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Professional typing on keyboard publishing content.

Over 90% of online experiences start in the search bar of a search engine, so the significance of SEO is impossible to overstate. Still, search engine optimization projects and initiatives routinely flop due to a lack of effort — many businesses simply don’t do the work.

One of the biggest hurdles standing in the way of SEO success is putting out enough valuable content to stand out.

Content creation is among the top challenges in SEO — a common bottleneck that stalls progress. Falling short of the demands surrounding content creation can spell trouble, even when you have a well-built SEO strategy.

Below, I’ll share how you can use AI for content to overcome obstacles keeping you from achieving your SEO goals.

The Challenges of Content Creation in SEO

Of the myriad of functions the average business handles, content creation is one of the hardest to get right. In the context of SEO, it requires you to truly connect with your target audience and appease search engines at the same time.

Let’s look into five stumbling blocks that often thwart content strategies, resulting in stalled projects and unmet SEO goals.

1. Time and Resource Constraints

Creating top-quality content demands lots of time and resources — two things most companies just don’t have.

Chances are you already know you need solid writing chops to create well-researched, interesting and optimized content. But that’s not all. On top of that, crafting such content involves research, planning, drafting, editing and SEO optimization.

Each step takes substantial time and various types of resources, all of which add up as you scale up content production. The process can be incredibly overwhelming.

When companies have few or limited resources, these issues are that much more difficult. The bulk of businesses haven’t hired or contracted personnel to head up content creation and SEO, so they juggle these roles themselves. Because of this strain, these companies have trouble on two fronts — creating top-notch content and publishing enough of said content on a consistent schedule.

The result? An SEO strategy that lacks the content fuel needed to drive it forward.

2. Creativity Fatigue

Even the most skilled marketers can encounter creativity fatigue. Against the never-ending pressure to produce good content, these professionals can quickly run out of ideas.

I often see this in industries where content topics can get redundant; it’s hard to reimagine and approach topics from new angles to keep your audience wanting more.

As creativity wanes, the content itself can suffer — becoming generic, uninspired or nearly identical to what’s already out there. This tanks reader engagement as well as SEO effectiveness.

Overworked, creativity-starved content creators aren’t at their best. They’ll find it difficult to provide content that meets the quality and originality standards necessary to keep both audiences and search engines interested.

3. Scaling Content Production

Scaling content production is another SEO function that can be problematic, especially in the case of smaller teams or businesses aiming to expand their online presence.

As content demand continually grows, it becomes even more critical to balance quality and quantity.

Transitioning from producing a handful of content pieces per month to managing an extensive content calendar can strain any business. The increased workload requires additional hands and an efficient process — that is, if you don’t want to sacrifice quality.

Without adequate infrastructure and resources in place, any attempts at scaling can result in inconsistency, missed deadlines and reduced content quality — all of which can negatively impact SEO performance.

4. SEO Complexity

Producing content for both humans and search engines is an intricate balancing act.

SEO requires you to pay careful attention to various details — keyword integration, meta descriptions, alt tags, internal linking and readability are among them. Each piece should meet these technical requirements while still providing value to the audience.

5. Waning Budgets

Gartner reports that many businesses do not allocate a marketing budget at all. Average budgets have decreased from 9.1% of revenues in 2023 to 7.7% of company revenues by 2024 on average.

Gartner chart showing the average fall of budgets to post-pandemic low.

AI as a Collaborative Partner

Now let’s look at how AI serves as a solution to common obstacles in SEO content creation.

1. Alleviating Time and Resource Constraints

AI-driven content creation tools, including content generators and research assistants, make content creation easy by taking tedious and lengthy tasks off of businesses’ plates.

For example, AI can do a lightning-fast analysis of a topic, come up with a list of relevant keywords and draft detailed initial content outlines. With all of this work done for them, human creators are free to focus on the strategic aspects of content creation, like message refinement and alignment with the brand’s identity and target audience.

When utilized as a collaborative tool, AI helps brands publish on a consistent schedule without any negative impacts to quality, even when resources are hard to come by.

2. Combating Creativity Fatigue

AI combats creativity fatigue by providing inspiration and new perspectives. AI-driven tools deliver enlightening insights that help to spark new content ideas and angles.

On top of that, AI-powered writing assistants can suggest alternative phrasings, structures or even entire paragraphs. Features like these eliminate writer’s block and add a creative edge to blogs, website copy and other content that might have come out stale.

3. Scaling Content Production with AI

AI-powered content generation tools can produce a first draft of text in minutes. Human editors can then refine these drafts in less time than creating a first draft on their own in many cases.

Plus, since AI can automate various parts of the content creation process — like keyword research, content structuring and even proofing — businesses can use their human resources for tasks that are more strategic in nature.

This is valuable for businesses looking to expand their SEO program.

4. Simplifying SEO Complexity

AI tools can perform real-time content analysis and suggest quality improvements, keyword placement and links.

For example, our AI-powered writing assistant, PreWriter.ai, gives keyword suggestions for topics, internal and external link suggestions and more.

prewriter link suggestions report.
PreWriter Link Suggestions Report

This allows businesses to focus on crafting valuable content for their audience while AI assists in suggesting foundational optimization tactics.

5. Optimizing Budgets in a Tight Economy

Considering the ever-shrinking marketing budget, there’s ample room for cost-effective solutions that boost ROI – AI is a big one.

Gartner states, “CMOs are consistently asked to ‘do more with less.’ And AI is turbocharging transformation, turning technology from an enabler of marketing work into yet another disruption poised to challenge marketing’s value proposition.”

Companies devote anywhere between 5%-12% of their marketing activities to using AI for marketing activities. When properly implemented and utilized, AI allows once stagnant SEO projects to gain steam so businesses remain competitive in today’s economy.

Graph showing percentage of time companies spend using generative AI in marketing activities.

Best Practices for Incorporating AI into Your SEO Content Workflow

Incorporating AI into your content creation process can enhance efficiency and help SEO programs move forward faster. But it’s important to approach this integration thoughtfully.

Here are some best practices to ensure that AI becomes a valuable addition to your workflow:

Start Small

When introducing AI into your content creation workflow, starting with one or two tools is wise. This allows you to test how AI fits into your existing processes — and deep dive into the tools — without overwhelming your team.

For example, you might begin with an AI tool that generates content ideas, outlines and text to edit, and then one that helps proof your content.

As you become more comfortable with these tools and see their benefits, you can gradually scale up and integrate more AI solutions into different stages of your content creation process.

Maintain Quality Control

AI can handle many aspects of content creation, yet human oversight must always remain part of this process. Although they are powerful, AI tools lack the nuance and understanding that humans bring.

Always ensure that any content produced or modified using AI undergoes human review in order to maintain quality, tone and accuracy in your writing.

AI should enhance, not replace the human touch that makes content distinctive and captivating.

Balance AI and Creativity

Although AI can offer valuable insights and automate certain tasks, to achieve the biggest impact, you need human creativity.

AI may suggest topics, draft content and optimize for SEO, but the real magic happens with human input. Creative input from your team ensures that any message created resonates effectively with its intended target audience.

Encourage your team to look at AI as a tool that enhances their creative process instead of a solution that dictates it.

Final Thoughts

Effective SEO is at the center of search engine visibility and business expansion. AI-powered writing assistance is a game-changer that addresses the common challenges of SEO content creation.

But the key to success lies in thoughtful integration. By embracing AI as a collaborative partner, you can transform your SEO efforts, overcome obstacles and drive growth in your online presence.

Looking to supercharge your content development? PreWriter.ai can streamline your workflow and help you keep up with the demand for quality content output. Sign up for PreWriter today and try out the tools for free.

FAQ: How can I use AI in SEO Content Creation to improve my content strategy and efficiency?

Numerous fields have been transformed by AI; in the SEO content creation sphere, it gave businesses and individuals the opportunity to perfect their strategies and simplify their workflows. Injecting AI’s capabilities into your content production process heightens your content’s relevance, engagement, and fitness for search engines.

AI-powered tools are able to evaluate gigantic volumes of data, generate insights and give you pointers to better your content in meaningful ways.

AI can easily execute cyclic, time-consuming tasks – for content creators and businesses, this is a real game-changer. AI-enabled tools can automate keyword research by swiftly pinpointing relevant keyword terms and phrases based on search intent and monthly search volume. This function makes it easier to align your content with what searchers are looking for.

In addition, AI and perform topic modeling to illuminate content gaps and give you topic ideas your target audience will connect with. Cashing in on these AI capabilities allows you to shift your focus off of distracting repetitive tasks and hone in on producing distinctive, top-quality content.

Content optimization is yet another role AI can handle. Popular content tools like SurferSEO, Clearscope, or our own PreWriter.ai use AI behind the scenes to scrutinize highly ranked pages and propose optimization tactics. They may help with suggestions surrounding content length, keyword placement, readability and more to help you ensure that your content is poised to rank well in the SERPs.

In addition to that, AI’s analytical capabilities can help you better understand searcher behavior. This enables you to more precisely target your audience and make meaningful content strategy adjustments centered on the most current data.

Putting out personalized content is a must if you’re going to attract today’s audiences. And AI can help in this regard. Its advanced technology can provide individualized recommendations gleaned from user data ranging from behavior patterns, preferences and demographics.

Such personalization opens the door to a more profound connection between you and your audience, more conversions and a better overall user experience.

Voice search optimization is growing in importance; AI supports this function by generating search queries relevant to the audience you’re hoping to attract. You can incorporate these queries into your content.

Continuous improvement is essential for growth, and content performance analysis is instrumental in this area. AI tools can track content performance over time, specifically the bounce rate, time on page and social shares. Insights like these go a long way in helping you figure out which tactics are working, and which aren’t.

You can use this information to make data-backed choices sure to bolster content strategy refinement. In addition to that, auditing tools with artificial intelligence capabilities can highlight content that may be underperforming or past its prime. It enables you to more easily align your content with the most current industry best practices.

Taking full advantage of AI in SEO content creation can unlock a serious efficiency boost for content creators and businesses. With AI doing a lot of the heavy lifting, there’ll be less manual work to do. So, your content teams can put out much more content in less time. AI can assist content producers quickly while assuring its high-quality, SEO-friendly nature.

Content producers often struggle to stay ahead in an ever-evolving SEO landscape, but that doesn’t need to be the case. Artificial Intelligence gives content producers an edge by quickly publishing relevant and competitive material at scale.

And the best part? You can do it all without diverting excessive resources from core creative tasks.

Step-by-Step Procedure

  1. Choose an SEO content creation tool like PreWriter.ai that aligns with your needs and preferences as a business or content creator.
  2. Install and integrate the tool with your content management system.
  3. Define your content goals and target audience to guide AI-driven insights.
  4. Use AI tools for comprehensive keyword research aligned with user intent.
  5. Generate topic ideas through AI-powered topic modeling to fill content gaps.
  6. Create a content outline using AI-based content structuring recommendations.
  7. Write initial drafts and input them into AI tools for optimization suggestions.
  8. Utilize AI to place keywords strategically within the content.
  9. Analyze top-ranking competitor pages with AI to refine your content strategy.
  10. Incorporate AI recommendations for improving readability and length.
  11. Optimize content for voice search by adding AI-suggested queries.
  12. Review AI-generated personalization recommendations to tailor content.
  13. Automate meta descriptions and title tags using AI tools.
  14. Use AI analytics to monitor content performance metrics continuously.
  15. Identify high-performing content and replicate its techniques and strategies.
  16. Update and refresh content based on AI-audited findings.
  17. Implement AI-driven adjustments to your content strategy in real time.
  18. Leverage AI-generated insights for creating engaging visuals and multimedia.
  19. Streamline your editorial calendar with AI-predicted publishing schedules.
  20. Train your team on AI tools to maximize content creation efficiency.
  21. Assess AI tool performance regularly to ensure alignment with your goals.
  22. Continually adapt to new AI advancements to maintain a competitive edge.
  23. Utilize AI to study different content variants and conduct A/B testing.
  24. Refine your AI usage strategies through scheduled reviews and feedback loops.

Successfully leveraging AI in SEO content creation is about much more than acquiring new tools. It’s about overhauling your approach to content strategy and efficiency. These sophisticated AI-powered techniques allow your team to create first-rate content on a continual basis while staying abreast of all things SEO. Few assets are more valuable.

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How Does PreWriter’s AI-Powered Content Enhance Digital Marketing Strategies? https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/prewriter-ai-powered-content-enhance-digital-marketing-strategies/ https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/prewriter-ai-powered-content-enhance-digital-marketing-strategies/#comments Mon, 12 Aug 2024 19:18:32 +0000 https://www.bruceclay.com/?p=228357 Discover how AI-powered content creation from PreWriter can elevate your digital marketing strategies, boost engagement and drive conversions. Try PreWriter.ai now!

The post How Does PreWriter’s AI-Powered Content Enhance Digital Marketing Strategies? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

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Professionals planning digital marketing strategies, surrounded by data and analytics.

Artificial intelligence-driven content can be an incredible asset when properly integrated into marketing campaigns.

Digital marketing can be dauntingly complex, so we developed PreWriter.ai to help streamline the process and elevate your digital marketing efforts through AI-powered content development.

In this article, we’ll discuss how PreWriter’s AI-powered content enhances your digital marketing strategies:

What is PreWriter?

In short, PreWriter is an AI-driven application that empowers writers and support businesses in reaching their content marketing goals. In just six minutes, the app goes through all the preliminary writing steps (research, competitor analysis, etc.) and generates writer-ready content that’s thoroughly-researched, thoughtful, engaging and targeted to your audience.

Your writer or content team can use PreWriter’s outputs to quickly create articles, website pages, landing pages, emails — virtually anything you can think of. And the best part: You can double or even triple your output and save money, all while reaping the benefits of top-notch content.

The Impact of PreWriter’s AI-Powered Content on Digital Marketing Strategies

Leaning on PreWriter during the content creation process can elevate your digital marketing strategy in ways you couldn’t imagine. As you take on functions like search engine optimization and content marketing, you’ll find that PreWriter takes a load off in the following ways:

Drives Traffic Through Increased Content Quality

High-quality content is central to any worthwhile digital marketing strategy; it’s one of the main drivers of organic traffic to your site. Without it, even meticulously planned marketing campaigns are destined to fall flat.

PreWriter produces superior content based on advanced algorithms, research capabilities and your own unique inputs. The app gives style, grammar and persona suggestions to your team so they can effectively tailor that AI-generated content for your purposes.

The result is content that’s of superior quality – higher quality than many can achieve on their own.

Whether you’re a writer or business, you can expect to gain the following marketing benefits through the use of PreWriter:

  • Better SEO Performance: PreWriter boosts your content’s search engine-readiness through the generation of content that already uses industry-relevant keywords, applies a logical structure and ensures readability. And let’s not forget the SEO suggestions the application gives to writers for further optimization. This SEO-optimized content is poised to perform better and rank well in search engines. You’ll get more organic website traffic as a result.
  • More Engagement: Another great thing about PreWriter is that it can gather and break down minute aspects of your audience’s preferences and behaviors. Armed with the application’s style, tone and grammar suggestions, your writers will be able to polish PreWriter’s outputs in a way that deeply resonates with your intended market. Users engage better with personalized content — they will usually spend more time on your website and are more likely to share your business on their socials. All of this broadens your brand’s reach.
  • More Conversions: Content created with the help of PreWriter is much more targeted, honing in on potential customers’ problems and needs and positioning your products or services as the solution. Such personalization puts you in line for higher conversion rates, where more of your site users turn into customers, subscribers or leads.

Creating Quality Content is Easy with PreWriter

To create an outline or even a full article with PreWriter, simply enter a keyword or topic you want to write about. Then wait for the application to do its work – it takes just a couple of minutes. After that’s done, you’ll have content that’s writer-ready and already of surprisingly high quality. Once your writer is all done working their magic, you’ve got a piece of content that is ready to work for you.

With PreWriter, creating superior quality content is practically effortless!

Have you been looking for ways to supercharge your digital marketing efforts? Sign up for PreWriter now – we’ll gift you 20 free tokens to try it out.

Grants You More Time For Strategic Planning

What could you and your team do with more time? A lot. As you may already be aware, content creation tends to be one of the most time-intensive parts of digital marketing. It takes quite a bit of time to complete the preliminary writing steps like topic selection, competitor research, keyword selection and topic outlining. PreWriter takes care of all of that (and more), and does it in a fraction of the time required to do it manually. This saves you multiple hours on every page you create.

You can devote that saved time to fine-tuning your digital marketing strategy. You also get to enjoy these marketing benefits:

  • Deeper Connections: When time is tight, spending time fostering connections might be more than a notion. With PreWriter doing a lot of the heavy-lifting on the content creation front, you get to dedicate more time to building those all-important connections in your industry. This promotes greater trust in your enterprise, heightened customer loyalty and higher conversion rates.
  • Broader Experimentation: With the time that PreWriter saves you on content, your team can test different content formats, channels and marketing techniques. It’s through this market exploration that you uncover new and exciting approaches that can set your brand apart from competitors and help you attract new audiences.
  • Tighter Content Optimization: More free time gives you the opportunity to tightly optimize each piece of content. From SEO research to search term integration to performance analysis and more, you could have all the bases covered. Optimized content does much better on search platforms, plus it increases traffic and engagement rates.

Case Study: Saving Time With PreWriter

In addition to using saved time for strategizing, you can use PreWriter to scale up your content creation efforts to further bolster your digital marketing goals.

Using this same application, we created localized content for 900 website pages. We generated the content on PreWriter and had our team finish them up. The average page takes around 4 to 5 hours to write without PreWriter. But with PreWriter, it took just 70 minutes for us to complete each page.

Increases Your Productivity

Whether you outsource your content creation functions or pay in-house writers, adding PreWriter to the mix greatly increases productivity. It enables your writers to create much more content in less time and with fewer resources while improving content quality.

It’s all in how the application automates the time-intensive parts of the writing process. Your writers no longer have to spend time staring at a blank screen, fishing for topic ideas or fleshing out outlines from scratch. PreWriter takes care of all of that.

Equipping your marketing team with PreWriter:

  • Shortens Campaign Launch Timelines: PreWriter’s AI capabilities get your content from conception to completion at a lightning fast pace. As a result, you can initiate and expand your marketing campaigns more quickly. In many cases, this is what you need to stay several paces ahead of your business rivals and respond swiftly to changes in the industry.
  • Ensures Content Consistency: An increase in productivity paves the way for a consistent content flow. You can quickly go from publishing a blog per week to publishing daily thanks to PreWriter. Over time, your team can build a backlog of publish-ready content to fuel your marketing efforts. Putting out content on a regular basis keeps your business top-of-mind, making it easier to engage your target group and keep their interest.
  • Boosts Your ROI: By producing more content efficiently and affordably, PreWriter enables you reach a higher digital marketing return on investment.

See how PreWriter can improve your productivity! 

Preserves Your Brand’s Essence

Developing and preserving your brand’s essence is of extreme importance to any digital marketing strategy. PreWriter ensures that your content is original and that it stands out against competitors. Your writer can then review and add finishing touches to tweak the brand voice and style and ensure compliance.

Businesses and teams that take advantage of PreWriter can:

  • Develop a Cohesive Brand Voice Across the Web: Through the provision of original content and insightful suggestions, PreWriter makes maintaining a consistent brand voice a cinch. This makes your brand identity stronger and boosts your recognizability and trustworthiness, even in a crowded market. It also encourages a more profound connection between your business and individuals in your niche.
  • Preserve Your Brand’s Identity As You Scale: It’s easy to lose sight of your brand’s identity when you’re publishing staggering volumes of content. But that just doesn’t have to be the case with PreWriter. Even as you scale up content production, PreWriter helps to ensure that the content remains true to your brand’s voice. This allows you to expand your reach and increase output without diluting your brand’s essence, effectively growing your online presence.

Makes Content Optimization Easier

PreWriter generates content that already incorporates the most important keyword phrases for your target audience. It’s done for you. The application also offers invaluable insights by analyzing search trends and user intent. With so much of the groundwork done for you, content optimization becomes less cumbersome.

Here are a few additional digital marketing benefits to consider in this regard:

  • Industry Competitor Targeting: Your business and its competitors are always vying for the number one spot. PreWriter makes it easy to surpass them via reverse-engineering technology. With a competitor’s URL and a couple of minutes, PreWriter executes the pre-work required to help you generate optimized content that far outperforms your competitor’s.
  • Effortless Localization: PreWriter conducts deep research on different geographical areas and can actually understand local subtleties and variations. It then infuses that information into its outputs. As referenced earlier in the case study, you can painlessly create hundreds of optimized local pages.

Take Your AI-Powered Content Creation to the Next Level

PreWriter is designed to revolutionize your digital marketing strategy and bring incredible results to your business. By employing this AI technology, you can streamline your content creation process and engage target audiences effectively.

Take advantage of PreWriter to upgrade your digital marketing program now.

FAQ: How do AI-powered content creation tools drive digital marketing results?

AI content creation tools can reshape your digital marketing strategy in ways that may not be immediately obvious.

For starters, they can synthesize sizable data sets and uncover valuable insights, helping your team of marketers develop tailored strategies. The result is more productive and effective digital marketing initiatives and strategies, more and better engagement and skyrocketed conversions for your business.

AI-powered content is a huge boon in digital marketing, primarily for its personalization capabilities. This content comes from sophisticated systems that can analyze data to tailor outputs to individual audiences and behaviors.

The best AI content tools equip marketing personnel with suggestions they can use to create highly customized content that reaches users and potential customers on a different level.

Adding AI-powered content to your digital marketing strategy also helps you reclaim some of your content creation time. It does so through automating tasks like research and keyword selection and generating content to build from.

With these (and more) AI processes in place, your team can spend more time focusing on higher-level projects and initiatives for enhanced precision and consistency in your campaigns. All of this drives better digital marketing results.

What’s more, AI-powered content tools like PreWriter strengthen your business’s search engine optimization (SEO) standing. Such tools can highlight optimization opportunities and provide helpful suggestions to increase your rankings on the SERPs. When businesses take advantage of such suggestions and optimization opportunities, they may see steep increases in organic website traffic, leading to higher chances of conversions and revenue growth.

Then there’s content quality, a non-negotiable part of digital marketing. You can depend on these tools to produce first-rate content that can be adapted to your audience. They also examine data and identify trending subjects and themes, among other things. If you regularly put out high quality content poised to connect with your target market, you’re in a better position to make those all-important connections.

All in all, infusing AI content into your digital marketing program affords you ample opportunities to achieve more substantial results. We trust you want to be competitive in your market; leaning into AI content creation is a great way to do so.

Step-by-Step Procedure

  1. Look into your current marketing strategy and note any gaps where you could possibly make some improvements.
  2. Find AI content creation tools that address the issues identified in your market strategy analysis.
  3. Employ AI-powered data analytics software to evaluate data from both users and customers.
  4. Use machine learning algorithms to get a good understanding of users behavior and preferences.
  5. Leverage artificial intelligence for audience segmentation, then tailor your content for each individual segment.
  6. Craft relevant, engaging content using AI-driven content development resources.
  7. Use AI as part of your social media strategy to automate content publishing and social exchanges.
  8. Employ AI-based email marketing solutions to customize and refine your campaigns.
  9. Use predictive analytics to get ahead of market developments and user preferences.
  10. Enhance your site’s search readiness using AI-driven SEO software.
  11. Monitor your campaign’s performance over time. Draw upon your AI software’s real time analytics capabilities.
  12. Review and utilize the insights discovered by your AI tools to make data-driven decisions.
  13. Continually modify and perfect your digital marketing approach after reviewing AI’s insights.
  14. Deliver quick and thorough helpdesk support via AI chatbots and virtual assistants (VAs).
  15. Regularly evaluate the success of your AI-driven marketing campaigns.
  16. Keep up with the newest AI technologies, best practices and trends in digital marketing.
  17. Educate your marketing team on how to effectively make use of AI applications.
  18. Assess the ROI of your AI-based digital marketing tactics.
  19. Find out which approaches work best through A/B testing.
  20. Prioritize information privacy and compliance while using AI-focused tools.
  21. Use AI to stay competitive by analyzing competitor strategies.
  22. Request user opinions and feedback to help you make meaningful changes to your strategy.
  23. Document any lessons learned and best practices for future AI-driven marketing efforts.

AI-powered content has great potential to overhaul your digital marketing initiatives through automating key processes, providing helpful insights, increasing content quality and much more. Taking full advantage of AI helps you drive even more engagement, boost your conversions and ultimately achieve your marketing goals.

How big of a role does AI-powered content play in your digital marketing strategy? Have you tried PreWriter yet? Share your thoughts below! 

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How Can Businesses Develop an Effective SEO Strategy Based on Their Target Audience? https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/businesses-effective-seo-strategy-target-audience/ https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/businesses-effective-seo-strategy-target-audience/#comments Mon, 27 Nov 2023 19:36:07 +0000 https://www.bruceclay.com/?p=204522 A successful SEO strategy starts by understanding your audience’s preferences, behaviors and intent. Following the tips we just outlined will drive organic traffic and convert your visitors into loyal customers.

The post How Can Businesses Develop an Effective SEO Strategy Based on Their Target Audience? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

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Artistic illustration of professionals strategizing in a meeting.

Understanding the challenges, preferences, motivations and behaviors of a target audience is the key to a successful SEO campaign.

In this article, we’ll discuss how businesses can tailor an SEO strategy to their audience and optimize their return on investment.

Audience Research is Key

The first step in understanding your audience is to create detailed customer personas that encompass demographics, preferences, pain points and online behavior.

Gather valuable information through keyword research, social media insights and by using tools like Google Analytics. Armed with this knowledge, you can begin to tailor your messaging, keywords and content directly towards them.

A recent study looking at consumer purchasing habits by CX Network found that 63% of consumers think they are being sold things they don’t need. So why does this matter to you?

Businesses have an opportunity to increase their conversion rate when they do audience research, but most businesses skip this vital step or perform it once every five years.

If you keep up-to-date information on your audience and create clear customer avatars, you can make sure that your marketing content addresses your customer’s pain points clearly. Consumer confidence in your brand will go up — and so will your sales.

Keyword Optimization with Audience Intent

Once you have a grasp of your audience’s preferences, it’s time to focus on keyword optimization.

Instead of solely relying on high-volume keywords, prioritize those that align with your audience’s search intent. Understand the ‘why’ behind their searches. Are they seeking information, looking to make a purchase, or trying to solve a problem?

Develop content around these keywords that addresses the underlying intent to provide real value to your audience.

During this process, it’s also wise to look at your competitors. When do they show up in search queries? What types of searches do customers use when they end up on your competitor’s site?

Understanding when they appear in search results and the specific search queries that lead customers to their websites can provide valuable insights for enhancing your own SEO strategy.

Leverage this competitor data to make informed decisions that will optimize your online visibility and capture a larger share of your target audience.

Content Creation Aligned with Audience Needs

Producing content that aligns with your audience’s needs fosters trust and strengthens your brand connection between them. When your audience finds you helpful, they are more likely to engage with your brand in the form of likes, shares and comments.

Generate articles, blog posts, videos, or infographics that answer their questions and concerns. Regularly monitor, update and refresh your content to keep it current and engaging. This will position your business as an authority in your niche, earning trust and loyalty from your audience.

Search engines will reward you with better rankings, too.

User Experience and Technical SEO

A technically sound website that provides a seamless experience improves SEO rankings and ensures your audience will come back.

Optimize your website so that it is mobile-responsive, loads quickly and is easy for users to find what they are looking for.

Invest in technical SEO to optimize site structure, meta tags and image tags. A fast, user-friendly website will make your audience — and search engines — happy.

A successful SEO strategy starts by understanding your audience’s preferences, behaviors and intent. Following the tips we just outlined will drive organic traffic and convert your visitors into loyal customers.

We can help you figure out how to structure a successful SEO strategy. Reach out to us for a free consultation.

FAQ: How does keyword optimization contribute to audience-focused SEO?

The significance of keyword optimization cannot be overstated. The core essence lies in understanding the nuances of audience behavior and preferences in the online landscape.

Keyword optimization acts as the gateway to seamlessly connect user intent with content relevance, ensuring a harmonious synergy between what the audience seeks and what businesses offer.

Audience research helps businesses gain profound insights into the language and queries used by their target demographic. These insights form the backbone of keyword selection, allowing for the incorporation of highly relevant and resonant terms into content.

This deliberate choice of keywords positions content to organically attract the intended audience, steering traffic towards websites and platforms catering directly to their needs.

Keyword optimization evolves beyond mere word matching — it involves comprehending the context and intent behind the audience’s search queries.

This strategic approach crafts content that not only aligns with specific keywords but also addresses the underlying motives behind the audience’s searches.

It’s about providing solutions, answers and valuable information that precisely cater to their queries, thereby fostering a stronger connection and trust between the audience and the brand.

An insightful tip for effective keyword optimization in audience-focused SEO is the continual refinement of keyword strategies.

Regularly monitoring keyword performance, trends and shifts in audience behavior helps in staying adaptive and responsive.

Adapting keywords to reflect changes in audience preferences ensures that content remains relevant and impactful amidst the dynamic digital landscape.

An effective audience-focused SEO strategy unfolds by transitioning seamlessly between audience research, keyword selection and content creation. Each component works together to form an engaging framework that not only resonates with but also retains your target audience, propelling your businesses toward long-term digital growth and success.

Step-by-Step Procedure

  1. Understand Audience Behavior: Conduct thorough audience research to comprehend their preferences, pain points and online behavior.
  2. Identify Relevant Keywords: Use insights from research to identify keywords aligned with audience queries and interests.
  3. Keyword Analysis: Analyze keyword performance, trends and competition to select optimal keywords.
  4. Create Targeted Content: Develop content that seamlessly incorporates chosen keywords while addressing audience needs.
  5. Monitor and Refine: Continuously monitor keyword performance and audience behavior, adapting strategies accordingly to maintain relevance and resonance.

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7 SEO Best Practices You Can’t Ignore if You Want to Rank in the Organic Search Results https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/seo-best-practices-you-cant-ignore/ https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/seo-best-practices-you-cant-ignore/#comments Wed, 13 Sep 2023 15:58:18 +0000 https://www.bruceclay.com/?p=199025 SEO is a fast-moving industry that is always evolving. One Google announcement, a current event or a change in the competitive landscape can alter how you go about your SEO strategy in an instant. But, we do have best practices that stand the test of time. The way we go about doing those best practices […]

The post 7 SEO Best Practices You Can’t Ignore if You Want to Rank in the Organic Search Results appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

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Data and analytics displayed on laptop, tablet and phone.

SEO is a fast-moving industry that is always evolving. One Google announcement, a current event or a change in the competitive landscape can alter how you go about your SEO strategy in an instant.

But, we do have best practices that stand the test of time. The way we go about doing those best practices might evolve, but they are still rooted in the fundamentals of good SEO. And, when following these best practices, you can better weather any storms that may come your way.

Here are seven SEO best practices you can’t ignore if you want to compete in the organic search results.

  1. Create the Right Type of Content
  2. Meet or Beat the Top-Ranked Content
  3. Create a Good User Experience
  4. Optimize Your Images
  5. Silo Your Website
  6. Focus on Link Earning Not Link Building
  7. Manage Duplicate Content

FAQ: How does duplicate content impact search rankings and what types of duplicate content should be managed? 

1. Create the Right Type of Content

Every search query/keyword has a different intent behind it — what the search engine user is trying to do. Google knows this and serves up different types of content to meet those needs.

There will always be the blue links, which lead to webpages. But often, there are other types of content as well, like video, images and much more. This is what we call engagement objects – SERP features that engage and ultimately make money for Google.

An engagement object is a SERP feature shown on a search engine results page (SERP) that falls outside of the traditional organic search results (i.e., the blue links).

Google Search results showing different types of SERP features for the query “how to get Kool-Aid out of carpet.”
Google Search results showing the different types of SERP features for the query “how to get Kool-Aid out of carpet.”

Searchmetrics keeps track of the most common SERP features that show up throughout the year with its SERP Features Monitor.

Screenshot of SERP Features Monitor from Searchmetrics.
Image source: SERP Features Monitor, Searchmetrics.com

So, how do you create and optimize the right type of content to match the search query? Through what we call a whole-SERP SEO strategy.

A whole-SERP SEO strategy analyzes the features that show up most in the search results for target keywords and then optimizes for them.

The first step is to take the keywords you want to rank for, then analyze the content in the search results that is showing up for them. Is it mostly blue links? Are there videos? Images? What else?

Google search results for the query “cute hamsters.”
Google search results for the query “cute hamsters”

This will help you set the content strategy for the type of content you are going to create. A whole-SERP SEO strategy gives you a roadmap for the type of content you need in your SEO program.

This strategy can also help combat the phenomenon of “zero clicks.” A zero-click search result happens when Google is able to answer a search query or facilitate an action right within the search results page.

2. Meet or Beat the Top-Ranked Content

Knowing what type of content to create is the first step. How you create and optimize the content for search engines and users is the next step.

SEO is a game of being the least imperfect. I say least imperfect because no one is going to optimize a piece of content precisely to Google’s algorithms. So, all content in the search results is imperfect when it comes to optimizing.

That said, the goal is to be least imperfect compared to your competition. All SEO programs should work to beat the competition, not the algorithm.

Here, you want to understand what makes the top-ranked content for your keyword tick. Start analyzing the top results for each keyword. Of course, you could do this manually, but SEO tools are going to save you a lot of time and effort here.

Google search results for the query “surf lessons ventura county.”
Google search results for the query “surf lessons ventura county”

For example, you could use an SEO tool like our Multi-Page Information tool (free version) and see the on-page SEO factors of multiple competitors.

Screenshot of data from the Bruce Clay SEOToolSet’s free Multi-Page Information tool.
Example of the data you can get from the Bruce Clay SEOToolSet’s free Multi-Page Information tool

Or, if you are using a WordPress site, you can use our WordPress SEO plugin to get real-time data on the top-ranked pages for your keywords.

That means customized SEO data for your content versus following best practices that are typically generic.

It also means knowing how many words to include in your meta tags and your body content, plus the readability score — all based on the top-ranked content.

Screenshot of Bruce Clay SEO Plugin for WordPress dashboard showing content ranking.
Bruce Clay SEO Plugin for WordPress dashboard showing content ranking
Screenshot of Bruce Clay SEO Plugin dashboard showing keyword ranking and traffic data.
Bruce Clay SEO Plugin dashboard showing keyword ranking and traffic data

These types of tools will help you understand how to optimize the content you are creating. But you should also look closer at the nature of the top-ranked content as well before you start writing.

Google values experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) as outlined in its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. A component of E-E-A-T is to have shared attributes in the information you are sharing with the top-ranked or highest-quality webpages on the topic.

In other words, Google says in its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines:

Very high quality MC should be highly satisfying for people visiting the page. Very high quality MC shows evidence of a high level of effort, originality, talent, or skill. For informational pages, very high quality MC must be accurate, clearly communicated, and consistent with well-established expert consensus when it exists. Very high quality MC represents some of the most outstanding content on a topic or type that’s available online. The standards for Highest quality MC may be very different depending on the purpose, topic, and type of website.

I discussed what this means practically in The Complete Guide to the Basics of Google’s E-E-A-T.

For instance, say you have content that states that blueberries can cure cancer. Even if you feel you have the authority to make this claim, when competing against YMYL content, you will not be considered an expert for a query about cancer because the claim is not supported elsewhere.

And don’t forget: Once you have created a great piece of content, don’t skimp on the headline. A good headline can get you more clicks and drive more traffic than a lackluster one.

Much of the advice and tools I’ve discussed so far apply to getting data for and optimizing standard web pages (the blue links). If you are up against videos, for example, you will also need to examine them closely and think about your YouTube SEO efforts.

3. Create a Good User Experience

Once a person reaches your website from the organic search results, will they have a good experience?

You should care about user experience because you want to make sure you get the most out of the traffic that you send to your website. If all those efforts lead to a bad webpage and the user quickly leaves, then you have wasted your time and money.

Google wants to make sure websites are providing a good user experience, too. So Google has developed ranking signals to ensure only the websites that provide the best experience will compete on Page 1 of the search results.

One thing that Google may look at is when a large percentage of users from the search results go to your webpage and then immediately click back to the search results. This could be an indication of a poor user experience and may impact your future rankings.

Then you have the page experience algorithm update, which hit in 2021 and combines pre-existing ranking signals such as:

  • Mobile-friendliness
  • HTTPS (secure websites)
  • Non-intrusive interstitials

… with new rankings signals that include what Google calls “core web vitals.” Core web vitals look at things like:

  • Page load performance
  • Responsiveness
  • Visual stability
Screenshot of Google's search signals for page experience, including core web vitals.
Image source: “Evaluating page experience for a better web,” Google Webmaster Central Blog

There is much to do in this area to optimize a website for user experience. You can download our e-book: Google’s Page Experience Update: A Complete Guide, to learn more about how to get your website up to speed.

Cover of the e-book "Google's Page Experience Update: A Complete Guide" by Bruce Clay.

4. Optimize Your Images

You need to optimize all your content assets so that they have the opportunity to rank. That includes images.

Visual search and Google Images have been a focal point for Google for some time. More and more images are showing up in response to search queries. seoClarity reports that in 2021, more than 55% of keywords result in image results.

Google wants to rank great images, but it also wants to ensure those images are within the context of great content, too. I wrote about this in an earlier article on how to improve image search ranking:

We’ve all had the experience of finding an image and clicking through to a not-so-great webpage. To prevent this, the Google Images algorithm now considers not only the image but also the website where it’s embedded.

Images attached to great content can now do better in Google Images. Specifically, the image-ranking algorithm weighs these factors (besides the image itself):

Authority: The authority of the webpage itself is now a signal for ranking an image.

Context: The ranking algorithm takes into account the context of the search. Google uses the example of an image search for “DIY shelving.” Results should return images within sites related to DIY projects … so the searcher can find other helpful information beyond just a picture.

Freshness: Google prioritizes fresher content. So ranking images will likely come from a site (a site in general, but we believe the actual webpage in question) that’s been updated recently. This is probably a minor signal.

Position on page: Top-ranked images will likely be central to the webpage they’re part of. For example, a product page for a particular shoe should rank above a category page for shoes.

Of course, there are all sorts of optimization techniques you can do to improve image ranking. Read more here for 17 important ways you can optimize your images for search, which includes:

  1. Tracking image traffic
  2. Creating high-quality, original content
  3. Using relevant images
  4. Having a proper file format
  5. Optimizing your images
  6. Always creating Alt text
  7. Making use of the image title
  8. Creating an image caption
  9. Using a descriptive file name
  10. Implementing structured data
  11. Considering image placement on the page
  12. Analyzing the content around the image
  13. Being careful with embedded text
  14. Creating page metadata
  15. Ensuring fast load time
  16. Making sure images are accessible
  17. Creating an image sitemap

5. Silo Your Website

Creating and optimizing quality content is really important. But just as important is how you organize all the content on your website.

Google has indicated more than once that it not only looks at the quality of a webpage but also the site as a whole when ranking content.

In its Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, Google says:

Although Google’s search results are provided at a page level, Google also likes to have a sense of what role a page plays in the bigger picture of the site.

In its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, Google says it looks at the website as a whole to determine if the website is an authority on topics.

So what does this mean? When someone searches for something on Google, one of the ways that the search engine can determine the most relevant webpage for a search is to analyze not only the webpage but also the overall website.

Google may be looking to see if a website has enough supporting content for the keywords/search terms on the website overall. Enough, clearly organized, information-rich content helps create relevance for a search.

We call this SEO siloing. SEO siloing is a way to organize your website content based on the way people search for your site’s topics. Its goal is to make a site relevant for a search query so that it has a better chance of ranking.

Illustration of a siloed website structuring power tools.
Example of a siloed website

The goal of SEO siloing is to build a library of content around primary and long-tail keywords on your website and then connect them via your internal linking structure.

Google advocates for what SEO siloing does. In its Search Engine Starter Guide, Google says:

Make it as easy as possible for users to go from general content to the more specific content they want on your site. Add navigation pages when it makes sense and effectively work these into your internal link structure. Make sure all of the pages on your site are reachable through links, and that they don’t require an internal “search” functionality to be found. Link to related pages, where appropriate, to allow users to discover similar content.

There is a lot that goes into SEO siloing, and I recommend reading these articles:

6. Focus on Link Earning Not Link Building

Link building is not a numbers game anymore. Search engines want to see that a website has quality, relevant links.

Google’s John Mueller confirmed this in a video, stating that:

“We try to understand what is relevant for a website, how much should we weigh these individual links, and the total number of links doesn’t matter at all. Because you could go off and create millions of links across millions of websites if you wanted to, and we could just ignore them all.”

You can view that video clip here:

We have seen client websites with fewer but more quality inbound links outperform their competition. So, what does “link earning” look like?

  • Avoiding all those known spammy link-building tactics, mass email requests for links, purchasing links, participating in link farms, etc.
  • Understanding the “gray areas” of what could be considered link spam, such as paid guest posting.
  • Creating quality content that earns relevant links.
  • Getting creative with how you earn links and being diligent about how you maintain them.

You can learn more about how to create a good link-earning SEO program in our e-book, “The New Link Building Manifesto: How To Earn Links That Count.” In it, you’ll find a roadmap for earning quality, relevant links, including 50 ways to earn links safely and effectively.

Cover for the Bruce Clay e-book "The New Link Building Manifesto: How To Earn Links That Count."

7. Manage Duplicate Content

Duplicate content can impact your rankings. And, depending on what type of duplicate content you have on your website, it can even trigger a manual action by Google if it’s considered spam.

There are two types of duplicate content:

  1. Duplicate content involving webpages on your site only
  2. Duplicate content involving webpages on your site and other sites

When you have duplicate content involving your website and other sites, Google may flag this as spam (for example, if your site is scraping or copying content from another).

The good news is that most websites are only dealing with non-spammy duplicate content on their own websites. This is when you have content (two or more webpages) that is the same or similar.

This can impact your rankings. When Google is presented with two of your webpages that appear to be too similar, the search engine will choose the page it believes is the most relevant and filter the other page or pages out of the results.

Google’s Mueller explains in a video:

“With that kind of duplicate content it’s not so much that there’s a negative score associated with it. It’s more that, if we find exactly the same information on multiple pages on the web, and someone searches specifically for that piece of information, then we’ll try to find the best matching page.

So if you have the same content on multiple pages then we won’t show all of these pages. We’ll try to pick one of them and show that. So it’s not that there’s any negative signal associated with that. In a lot of cases that’s kind of normal that you have some amount of shared content across some of the pages.”

You can watch that video clip here:

So, what to do? We’ve found that the most common types of duplicate content are the following:

  • Two site versions
  • Separate mobile site
  • Trailing slashes on URLs
  • CMS problems
  • Meta information duplication
  • Similar content
  • Boilerplate content
  • Parameterized pages
  • Product descriptions
  • Content syndication

And of those common types, we tend to see duplicate meta information as a top culprit. So, it’s important to always create unique meta tags.

If you’re on a WordPress site, you can use our WordPress SEO plugin to help monitor and detect duplicate content issues in your meta tags.

For more on how to address the common types of duplicate content on your website, see Understanding Duplicate Content and How to Avoid It.

Closing Thoughts

These SEO best practices are not the end of your SEO work, but they are the beginning of creating a winning SEO strategy that will respond to any curve ball that comes your way.

Schedule a free 1:1 consultation to learn more about how you can boost your SEO profile and maximize your visibility online. 

FAQ: How does duplicate content impact search rankings, and what types of duplicate content should be managed?

Duplicate content has long been a cause for website owners and digital marketing professionals who worry that duplicated material could negatively affect search rankings. Search engines struggle to provide users with relevant and original information that meets user search queries if duplicates appear within results pages.

When search engines encounter duplicate content, they face a dilemma. Search engines must determine which version is more relevant and worthy of being given priority in ranking. They may punish pages that contain duplicate content by downranking them or penalizing their rankings accordingly. This can adversely affect website visibility and organic traffic, making it crucial for webmasters to address duplicate content issues.

Website owners should be aware of and manage several types of duplicate content. The first type is identical content found on multiple pages within the same website. This can occur when a website generates multiple URLs for the same content, leading to duplicate versions. Search engines might struggle to decide which URL to prioritize, potentially diluting the page’s ranking potential.

Another type of duplicate content is syndicated or copied content from other websites. While syndication can be a legitimate practice, ensuring that the content is properly attributed and adds value to the website is essential. Otherwise, search engines may consider it duplicate and penalize the website for duplicate content.

Product descriptions and e-commerce websites often face challenges with duplicate content. Similar products may have identical or nearly identical descriptions, leading to duplicate content issues. It is advisable to provide unique, compelling descriptions for each product to avoid these problems and improve search rankings.

Finally, duplicate content can also arise from printer-friendly versions, mobile versions, or session IDs appended to URLs. These variations in URLs can confuse search engines and result in duplicated content. Implementing canonical tags and managing URL parameters can help resolve these issues and ensure search engines understand the preferred version of the content.

To manage duplicate content effectively, website owners should take proactive steps. Conducting regular content audits to identify and address duplicate content is essential. Utilizing tools such as site crawlers and duplicate content checkers can aid in this process by scanning the website for duplicate instances and providing recommendations for improvement.

Once identified, duplicate content issues can be resolved through various means. One approach is consolidating duplicate pages by redirecting or consolidating the content under a single URL. Implementing 301 redirects or rel=canonical tags can help guide search engines to the preferred version of the content and consolidate ranking signals.

For e-commerce websites, ensuring unique product descriptions and optimizing metadata can go a long way in avoiding duplicate content penalties. Additionally, monitoring syndicated content and implementing proper attribution can help maintain a healthy balance between original and duplicate content.

Regularly monitoring website performance, traffic patterns and search engine rankings is crucial for detecting any potential duplicate content issues. Prompt action and continuous improvement will help maintain strong search rankings and enhance the overall user experience.

Duplicate content can significantly impact search rankings by confusing search engines and diluting ranking potential. Various types of duplicate content, such as identical pages within a website, syndicated content and product descriptions, should be managed effectively.

Step-by-Step Procedure:

  1. Conduct a comprehensive content audit to identify instances of duplicate content on your website.
  2. Use site crawlers or duplicate content checkers to scan the website and identify duplicate content.
  3. Prioritize resolving duplicate content issues on the website’s pages before addressing external sources.
  4. For identical content found on multiple pages within the same website, determine the primary URL and implement 301 redirects from the secondary URLs.
  5. Ensure that all syndicated or copied content from other websites is properly attributed and adds value to your website.
  6. Review product descriptions on e-commerce websites and make them unique and compelling for each product.
  7. Regularly monitor the website for printer-friendly versions, mobile versions, or session IDs appended to URLs, and implement canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of the content.
  8. Manage URL parameters to eliminate duplicate content issues caused by session IDs or tracking parameters.
  9. Utilize tools such as site crawlers and duplicate content checkers to scan the website for new instances of duplicate content periodically.
  10. Review the recommendations provided by the tools and implement necessary changes to address duplicate content.
  11. Consolidate duplicate pages by redirecting or consolidating the content under a single URL.
  12. Implement 301 redirects from duplicate pages to the preferred version to guide search engines and consolidate ranking signals.
  13. Ensure that each product on e-commerce websites has a unique description and optimized metadata.
  14. Monitor syndicated content and verify that proper attribution is in place to differentiate it from duplicate content.
  15. Continuously monitor website performance, traffic patterns and search engine rankings to identify any new duplicate content issues.
  16. Take prompt action to resolve duplicate content problems as they arise.
  17. Regularly review and update your content strategy to avoid unintentional creation of duplicate content.
  18. Provide a seamless user experience by eliminating duplicate content, which can confuse and frustrate visitors.
  19. Stay updated with search engine guidelines and best practices to address duplicate content effectively.
  20. Continuously improve your website’s content and ensure it remains unique, relevant and valuable to users.

The post 7 SEO Best Practices You Can’t Ignore if You Want to Rank in the Organic Search Results appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

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The SEO Bucket List: 3 Things To Do Before Your Site Dies https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/the-seo-bucket-list-3-things-to-do-before-your-site-dies/ https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/the-seo-bucket-list-3-things-to-do-before-your-site-dies/#comments Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:38:50 +0000 https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/?p=17948 The bucket list: an itemized statement of all the things you want to do before you kick the can.

Not too long ago, Bruce wandered into the writers’ department and said, “What about an SEO bucket list of things you have to do before your site dies?”

So here we are.

Now, this is not an exhaustive list by any means. If I had all the space in the world to write and you had the attention span to read it, I could think of a handful of other things to add (hint, hint: stay tuned for additions to this list in future blog posts).

For now, let’s focus on three core areas that any website should have on its SEO bucket list:

  • A strong foundation to operate on
  • SEO-friendly design and architecture
  • Quality content and structure

Read more of The SEO Bucket List: 3 Things to Do Before Your Site Dies.

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The bucket list is all the things you want to do before you die. I argue that every website needs a bucket list, too. This list prioritizes all the things that need to happen before the site becomes so irrelevant it “dies” in the search results.

There is a lot I could say here. To keep it short and sweet, though, I have categorized the SEO “bucket list” into three main buckets:

  1. Get a strong foundation 
  2. Create an SEO-friendly architecture
  3. Write quality content 
  4. FAQ: How can SEO Siloing improve my website’s subject and website authority?

1. Get a Strong Foundation

Search engines want to rank websites that provide a good user experience. That means: Get the technical stuff right.

This includes:

This list may seem small, but getting everything right in each of those bullet points is a huge undertaking. When you do get it right, though, your site can better compete in the search results.

2. Create an SEO-Friendly Architecture

How you organize the content on a website matters to both search engines and website visitors. This includes the navigation and internal linking of webpages.

SEO-friendly site architecture is created through SEO siloing. Siloing creates content categories/directories on a site based on the keywords you’ve selected through keyword research.

This SEO strategy helps to build subject and website authority and clearly tells the search engines what the content is about. In other words: It can make your website more relevant for a search.

For more on this, read:

3. Write Quality Content

If you haven’t seen Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, then it’s time to do some reading on how important it is that you get the “quality content” piece right.

Of course, those guidelines are not the end all be all, but they are useful to understand how Google thinks about quality. Ultimately, you have to decide what is quality content for your website, and Google agrees.

Giving your website visitors useful information written by experts on the matter is the goal. How you go about doing that is up to you.

In general, though, you will need things like:

  • A webpage with a clear purpose that delivers on that purpose.
  • Content that is created with a good amount of expertise on the subject matter.
  • Information that is well-written and useful.
  • An optimized webpage in keeping with SEO best practices.

Content is one of the most important ranking factors, and quality content can often trump other ranking signals all else equal.

For more on this, read:

This SEO bucket list helps ensure that your website is relevant for search queries and useful to your target audience. Don’t wait until your website dies before you prioritize doing all the important things that will keep your business alive online.

FAQ: How can SEO siloing improve my website’s subject and website authority?

SEO siloing is a powerful website structuring technique that significantly influences how search engines perceive and rank your website. By organizing your content into distinct categories or “silos” based on relevant keywords, you can create a logical and hierarchical structure that enhances your website’s subject relevance and authority.

When implementing SEO siloing, start by conducting comprehensive keyword research to identify primary topics related to your website’s niche. Group these keywords into relevant clusters, each representing a specific content category. For example, if you own a gardening website, you might have silos for “Vegetable Gardening,” “Flower Gardening,” and “Gardening Tools.”

Within each silo, create in-depth and valuable content that covers various aspects of the topic. Ensure that the content is interlinked through contextual internal links, guiding visitors and search engine crawlers to related articles within the same silo. This internal linking strategy reinforces the subject relevance and authority of each silo.

It is vital to keep each silo focused on its primary topic without mixing unrelated content. By doing so, you enhance the clarity and expertise of your website, establishing yourself as a trustworthy resource within your niche. Search engines recognize the organization and topical focus which can lead to improved rankings for your targeted keywords.

Another benefit of siloing is that it allows you to demonstrate expertise on specific subjects. When your content consistently delves deep into a particular topic, it signals to search engines that your website is a valuable and authoritative source on that subject. This can lead to higher rankings for related search queries and increased organic traffic.

Siloing enhances user experience by making it easier for visitors to navigate your website. The logical organization and clear interlinking guide users to relevant information, reducing bounce rates and increasing engagement. This positive user experience signals search engines that your website provides valuable content, contributing to improved rankings.

To make the most of siloing, regularly update and expand the content within each silo. As your website’s authority on specific subjects grows, you can explore broader or more specialized topics, further solidifying your website’s position as a go-to resource in your industry.

SEO Bucket List: How To Effectively SEO Silo Your Site

  1. Perform comprehensive keyword research to identify primary topics and keywords related to your website’s niche.
  2. Group similar keywords into content categories or silos, each representing a specific subject area.
  3. Create high-quality and valuable content within each silo, covering various aspects of the topic.
  4. Ensure contextual internal linking between articles within the same silo to reinforce subject relevance and authority.
  5. Keep each silo focused on its primary topic and avoid mixing unrelated content to maintain clarity and expertise.
  6. Regularly update and expand the content within each silo to demonstrate ongoing expertise and relevance.
  7. Implement SEO best practices, including proper URL structures, meta tags and optimized headings within each silo.
  8. Monitor and analyze the performance of each silo using web analytics tools to identify areas for improvement.
  9. Engage in off-page SEO activities such as building quality backlinks and guest posting to further boost website authority.
  10. Conduct competitor analysis to identify gaps and opportunities within your niche and adjust your siloing strategy accordingly.
  11. Optimize website speed and performance to enhance user experience and reduce bounce rates.
  12. Use responsive web design to ensure an optimal user experience across devices.
  13. Audit your website regularly for broken links, duplicate content and any technical issues that could impede its SEO performance.
  14. Monitor search engine algorithm updates and adjust your siloing strategy accordingly to stay competitive.
  15. Pay attention to topics relevant to your audience and modify your content strategy using data-driven insights.
  16. Utilize user-generated content like testimonials and reviews to establish trust among your target market.
  17. Foster a community around your website by engaging with your audience through comments and discussions.
  18. Stay up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and industry developments to maintain a competitive edge in your niche.

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3 Steps to Define Your Target Audience for Your SEO Program https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/steps-to-define-target-audience-for-seo-program/ https://www.bruceclay.com/blog/steps-to-define-target-audience-for-seo-program/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2022 18:21:11 +0000 https://www.bruceclay.com/?p=118226 How well do you really know your target audience? Many businesses have a vague idea who their audience is but haven't taken the time to research. Learn why defining your target audience is important and how to figure out who they are.

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3 elderly women represent a target audience.
Do you know your audience? Like, really know your audience? Many businesses have a vague idea of their target audience and what they want but haven’t taken the time to do the research.

In this article, I’ll explain why defining your target audience is important and how to figure out who they are and what they want.

Why Understanding Your Target Audience Is Important to SEO

Of late, there has been talk that persona identification is a waste of time. I think that persona identification has been in marketing for decades, long before digital. It is an integral part of marketing, even if it is not properly labeled.

Let’s use an example: fishing. If you want to catch fish, you need two things: you need the bait your fish are eating, and you need to fish where the fish are. A proper persona identification gives you both. You may think it is unimportant, but then you are not having fish for dinner.

When your target audience searches for what you offer using a search engine, you want your website to show up in the search results. You need the right bait and to put it where your fish can see it. To me, this is obvious.

You have less chance of doing so without knowing what your target audience is searching for. And, when they get to your website, if you don’t have the right content that resonates with them, it can negatively impact your conversions.

Who Is My Audience and What Do They Want?

Here are three steps you can take to get to the heart of the question: Who is my audience, and what do they want?

1. Demographics

Build a profile of your target audience (and you may have more than one) by exploring the following data points and more.

If you’re targeting a consumer:

  • Gender can impact buying patterns.
  • Age can impact buying decisions.
  • Location of where they are informs your marketing strategy.
  • Marital status can impact your audience’s priorities.
  • Education level can help you communicate better with them.
  • Occupation information helps you with more targeted marketing.
  • Income helps you understand what level of investment they may be willing to make.
  • Beliefs help you better understand what matters to them.
  • Lifestyle is another way to understand and target your audience with relevant messaging.

If you’re targeting a business:

  • Industry
  • Products or services
  • Annual revenue
  • Company age
  • Location
  • Number of employees
  • Key decision-makers within the company (roles)

Even when a business is your target audience, there are certain roles within that company you will be targeting (like a consumer). So getting to the heart of what those decision-makers want will be important. (More on that later.)

There are several ways you can gather market research like this. There are companies out there that exist that only do this type of thing.

There is also your Google Analytics account, which can give you key data about the audience that is already coming to your website.

If you’re using the Universal Analytics version of Google Analytics, the audience reports can show you everything from demographics and interests to location, devices used, and more.

Chart displaying demographic data in Google Universal Analytics.
Demographic data in Google Universal Analytics

2. Keywords

Search engines are usually the starting point for people to discover products, brands, or services and for the consideration phase as well. According to Forrester Consulting research:

  • Seventy-one percent use search engines as the starting point for discovery.
  • Seventy-four percent use search engines for consideration/purchase.
Commissioned study “Why Search + Social = Success For Brands,” Forrester Consulting Research.
Source: “Why Search + Social = Success For Brands,” Forrester Consulting Research

Keywords are the search queries that your target audience uses in search engines to find what they are looking for.

You need to know what those search queries are so that you can create content for your website around them. This helps the search engines determine that your website is a relevant match for what your target audience is looking for.

Without this critical step in knowing what your audience wants, your website may never have a chance to be found.

For more information, check out:

3. Interviews

One of the best ways to get to know your target audience is to take a sample of it and interview them. This could be by web survey or phone.

Make sure to get a sample that represents all your target customers, so it may vary by product or service. Then, craft the questions that can help you get into their minds.

The Buyer Persona Institute recommends asking questions like:

  • Why do they decide to buy or sign up for your product, service, or other solution?
  • How do they evaluate their options before buying or signing up?
  • What prevents them from buying or signing up?
  • What results do they expect from buying or signing up for your product, service, or other solution?

You can also glean insights by better understanding their behavior online, such as:

  • Which publications do they read?
  • What websites do they frequent?
  • Who do they follow on social media?
  • What are their active social media profiles like?

Another qualitative research you might want to consider: use a sample of your target audience to give feedback on your website experience. There are companies out there that can help you conduct this type of research.

For example, you could find out if:

  • Your website is easily navigable (Can people easily find what they need?)
  • The information is helpful on your website
  • The site is easy to use from any device
  • They are pleased with the customer service options

Next, Create Your Personas

Once you have gathered the necessary data on your target audience using some or all the research steps outlined in this article, it’s time to create the persona profiles. You will have one of these for each of the types of people you are targeting.

A persona is an archetype of your target audience. You will reference it again and again as you create content and other SEO campaigns to ensure that what you are doing is relevant to that archetype.

There are a variety of different ways to create the actual persona profile, but it is usually a document that can be one page (or more) and sums up the data you discovered in the research.

Google “persona profile examples” and you’ll get a bunch of ideas on how to put one together visually.

For more, see: Web Personas: Creating Jane

Your Target Audience and Their Journey Matters in SEO

SEO is very much a part of the customer journey.

A customer journey, also known as a buyer journey or consumer decision journey, is the steps a person takes to make a decision to buy a product, sign up for service, or convert in some other way.

Of course, behavioral intent can shift as people go through the customer journey. Most people start out with an informational intent, then move through their research and investigation phases before reaching the point when they’re ready to buy (the transactional intent phase).

Behavioral intent categories should supplement, not replace, understanding your personas. Knowing your audience is the first step in making sure your SEO efforts are on target so that you can bring in the right organic search traffic and convert your visitors.

If you’d like to discuss your particular marketing challenges and how the team at Bruce Clay can help you, contact us for a free quote and start the conversation today.

FAQ: How can demographic data enhance audience targeting strategies?

Crafting campaigns that genuinely connect with your audience demands a deep understanding of their needs and preferences. Demographic data can be an invaluable asset to marketers. Demographic characteristics like age, gender, and location give marketers invaluable insights.

Demographic data serves as the foundation of audience targeting. Marketers gain a comprehensive picture of their potential customers by analyzing this data. Take age, for instance. A younger audience might respond better to social media campaigns, while an older demographic could engage more with traditional advertising channels. Armed with such insights, marketers can tailor their messaging to each group’s preferences, increasing the likelihood of capturing their attention.

Location is another critical demographic factor. Regional nuances often impact consumer behavior and preferences. A product that sells well in one area might not resonate in another due to varying cultural norms or economic conditions. Marketers can develop region-specific campaigns that foster a stronger connection and drive conversions by segmenting audiences based on location.

Gender plays a significant role in crafting targeted marketing. Consider skincare products. Men and women might have distinct preferences, leading to tailored messaging for each gender. These nuances extend to language and imagery choices, which can profoundly impact how a message is received. By aligning campaigns with gender preferences, marketers showcase their understanding and connect on a more personal level.

Educational background is a valuable demographic dimension. A highly educated audience might appreciate in-depth content and technical details, while a less-educated group may prefer simpler language and visuals. By gauging educational levels, marketers can adjust the complexity of their content to ensure it resonates with the audience’s intellectual level, enhancing engagement and comprehension.

Demographic data empowers marketers to go beyond assumptions and create campaigns founded on real insights. Demographic data forms a powerful toolkit for crafting highly personalized strategies when combined with other factors like psychographics and purchase behavior. By recognizing the unique characteristics of their audience, marketers can establish trust, deliver value, and drive results.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Enhancing Audience Targeting Strategies with Demographic Data

  1. Define Your Target Audience: Clearly identify the audience you want to reach and understand their potential demographic characteristics.
  2. Gather Data: Collect relevant demographic data through surveys, forms, and analytics tools.
  3. Analyze Age and Gender: Examine age and gender distributions to tailor content and messaging appropriately.
  4. Consider Location: Analyze geographical data to create location-specific campaigns and promotions.
  5. Assess Educational Levels: Understand the educational background of your audience to adapt content complexity.
  6. Segment Audience: Divide your audience into subgroups based on demographic traits.
  7. Develop Persona Profiles: Create detailed personas representing different demographic segments.
  8. Craft Targeted Messages: Create messages that resonate with each persona’s preferences and needs.
  9. Choose Communication Channels: Select communication channels favored by different demographic groups.
  10. Language and Tone: Use language and tone that align with your audience’s preferences.
  11. Personalize Content: Tailor content to reflect the unique characteristics of each demographic segment.
  12. Test and Optimize: Run A/B tests to refine your strategies and optimize engagement.
  13. Iterate and Learn: Continuously analyze results and iterate based on performance.
  14. Combine Data: Combine demographic data with psychographics and purchase behavior for a comprehensive view.
  15. Leverage Technology: Use data analytics tools to gain deeper insights into audience preferences.
  16. Update Regularly: Keep demographic data up-to-date to reflect evolving audience characteristics.
  17. Adapt to Trends: Stay attuned to shifting demographic trends to adjust strategies accordingly.
  18. Monitor Engagement: Track engagement metrics to measure the success of your targeted campaigns.
  19. Refine Over Time: Refine strategies based on ongoing analysis and feedback from the audience.
  20. Build Trust: Consistently deliver relevant, personalized content to build trust and loyalty.

By leveraging demographic data in audience targeting, marketers unlock the potential to create impactful campaigns that resonate on a personal level. Understanding the unique characteristics of your audience empowers you to deliver the right message through the right channels, fostering deeper connections and driving meaningful results.

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Content Development & SEO Content Services https://www.bruceclay.com/content/services/ Wed, 13 Mar 2019 03:48:06 +0000 https://www.bruceclay.com/?page_id=62692 You need content — or better content. Either you believe it, or you’ve been told. Here are some of the benefits of working with Bruce Clay, Inc. to write your website content. Speed: We improve or add to your website content faster. Content is what convinces your website visitors to buy, and it’s a significant […]

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You need content — or better content. Either you believe it, or you’ve been told. Here are some of the benefits of working with Bruce Clay, Inc. to write your website content.

Speed: We improve or add to your website content faster. Content is what convinces your website visitors to buy, and it’s a significant factor that search engines like Google use to rank your website. With our SEO writers on your team, you’ll add content to your website faster than if you were writing it on your own. Publishing faster means you’re on the way to results faster.

Quality: We write content that engages and ranks. Content that works hard for your business attracts visitors and is also written in a way that search engines understand and use to evaluate and rank your pages compared to all the others on the web. Our content specialists are experts at creating content that achieves both of these goals.

Flexibility: ​We tailor your content project to your budget and priorities. We can create entirely new sections of a website, write a selection of critical pages, or provide keyword guidance and page optimization/editing for clients with in-house copywriting staff.

Integrated with SEO: Content is driven by the SEO team and client requirements. SEO content projects are part of larger SEO projects and as such, are directed toward specific strategies and goals. Our writers work closely with clients and the SEO team throughout the writing process. We ensure the content meets ​all needs and standards. We produce web page copy that is unique, high-quality, and rank-worthy that will contribute to a business’s search and marketing goals.

If you need content optimization, creation, or editing, we deliver content that assists your ​SEO goals. Here, we overview our SEO-minded content services.

SEO Content Services benefits

SEO Content ​Writing: Content Development and Editing

Did you know your website content can serve multiple goals? Website content can:

  • Inform and educate visitors
  • Persuade and sell products and services
  • Cause your website to rank well in search results

The SEO content services we offer include writing, editing, and optimizing text. Our content services are tailored to your business’s needs.

We solve these common SEO content problems:

  • Duplicate content: When duplicate content is holding back a site’s rankings, we write unique, optimized content. Replacing manufacturer descriptions on ecommerce sites is a common example scenario where Bruce Clay, Inc. copywriters will be called on to replace duplicate content.
  • Thin content: Google ​defines thin content as content that adds no value. Google penalizes sites with thin content ​by demoting search engine rankings. You might commonly see thin content on affiliate ​websites or autogenerated by a content management system. We enrich thin content with unique, relevant, and appropriately optimized content.
  • Unoptimized content: Content that isn’t thoughtful, strategic, and purposeful can water down website relevance and drag down rankings with it. Bruce Clay, Inc.’s SEO content services lift the dead weight of unoptimized content by reviewing content to ensure it’s optimized according to best practices.
  • Unclear content or content that needs an editor: Content should be free of typos, errors, and unclear wording, and content should motivate a reader to take action. Google scores content quality by looking for these qualities. Content can’t just “get a point across” — it needs to match the tone and professionalism of the organization it represents. We can match your website content quality with your business’s exceptional quality.
  • Needed content: At times, our clients’ websites are found to be missing content in critical places, like the home page or landing pages. We write unique content that is optimized to match prime keywords that your customers are using to find your business in a search engine. The content fits the audience and the brand and creates a deeper connection with future customers. We can also be at hand to write specialty marketing content, including announcements and press releases — content that sets the business apart, establishes authority and expertise, and is optimized for search traffic and online branding.

Our content team works closely with you at all stages of the process to ensure it meets your needs, voice, brand, and SEO objectives. Request more info if you’re interested in working with a professional SEO content development team to elevate your website quality.

Do-It-Yourself Content Resources

Don’t have the budget for professional content services? If you’re writing, editing or intend to assess your own content, take advantage of these resources.

  1. Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals – Learn how to create and effectively share compelling content that attracts clicks, conversions, and links. With insights from more than a dozen expert contributors, this book by Bruce Clay and PR pro-Murray Newlands is a comprehensive guide to content development and strategy. Advice is organized by content type; blogging, curated content, video, images, live events, and social media are each covered in-depth, along with recommendations for using various content types together for amplified reach and results.
  2. The Bruce Clay, Inc. Blog – Looking for in-depth articles on the best practices of SEO-minded content? Then, you’ll want to check out the Bruce Clay, Inc. Blog. Read the blog, updated several times a week, to stay abreast of the latest SEO and content development news. The blog features articles on SEO, social media marketing, paid search marketing, and more.

Learn More about Our Content Services

Want to learn more about content services tailored to meet the needs of your unique business? Call us today at (866) 517-1900 or request a quote online and discover the personalized solutions we can offer to ​make your content work harder for you.

FAQ: How can professional content creation enhance my website’s performance?

Professionally crafted articles, blog posts, and multimedia offerings provide valuable insights, solutions, and entertainment, fostering a connection that keeps visitors returning. Regular updates, infused with a unique voice and style, build anticipation and trust, turning casual browsers into loyal patrons.

Search engines are the modern-day gatekeepers to the internet. By optimizing your website’s content with relevant keywords, authoritative backlinks, and proper formatting, you create a compelling case for search engines to rank your pages higher. Professional content creation ensures a seamless fusion of valuable information and search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, propelling your website to the forefront of search results.

Credibility is the cornerstone of online success. Your brand will succeed more if you create accurate, insightful, and researched content. If your visitors perceive your website as a trustworthy information source, they are likelier to engage, share, and recommend your content. Producing consistent and high-quality material will establish your brand as an authority while building a loyal following base.

Beyond written content, visual elements such as images, infographics, and videos add a dynamic dimension to your website. Professional content creation extends to these mediums, enhancing user experience and comprehension. Engaging visuals complement written information, catering to diverse learning styles and ensuring your message resonates deeply with a wider audience.

Incorporating professional content creation into your website strategy requires meticulous planning and execution. It involves identifying your target audience, conducting thorough research, devising a content calendar, and enlisting skilled writers or creators. Regular analysis of user engagement and SEO metrics guides ongoing improvements, ensuring your content remains aligned with evolving audience preferences and search engine algorithms.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Enhancing Website Performance through Professional Content Creation

  1. Identify your target audience and their preferences.
  2. Conduct comprehensive research on trending topics, keywords, and industry developments.
  3. Develop a content calendar outlining the frequency and types of content to be created.
  4. Enlist professional writers, designers, and creators who align with your brand’s voice and vision.
  5. Prioritize accuracy, credibility, and value in every content.
  6. Incorporate SEO techniques, including relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and internal/external linking.
  7. Create diverse content formats like articles, blog posts, videos, infographics, and podcasts.
  8. Maintaining a consistent posting schedule keeps your audience engaged and informed.
  9. Encourage social sharing and engagement to amplify your content’s reach.
  10. Monitor website analytics to track user engagement, traffic sources, and bounce rates.
  11. Adapt your content strategy based on analytics insights and audience feedback.
  12. Continuously optimize content for mobile devices to cater to on-the-go users.
  13. Foster collaborations with influencers and other brands to expand your content’s reach.
  14. Leverage email marketing to distribute your content directly to interested subscribers.
  15. Implement a user-friendly website design that complements your content’s visual elements.
  16. Engage with your audience through comments, forums, and interactive content.
  17. Regularly update and repurpose evergreen content to ensure its relevance.
  18. Stay updated on industry trends and technological advancements to remain ahead.
  19. Adapt your content strategy based on emerging platforms and consumption habits.
  20. Evolve your content creation process by incorporating lessons learned and experimenting with new formats.

Professional content creation is the catalyst that propels your website’s performance to new heights. By fostering engagement, optimizing for search engines, and establishing brand credibility, your website becomes a compelling hub of valuable information and a trusted resource within your industry.

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