Content is a huge part of SEO and must be understood well. Here are the areas most important to Google when considering and evaluating your site. Luckily, with Craft CMS and the built-in CK Editor, it's easy to write content this way.
User intent
If you don’t have the right user intent with your content, then it will be incredibly difficult to rank for Google for that phrase. Let’s say Google, through its clever algorithms and profiling, thinks you are looking to check out if a certain pair of trainers has waterproof capabilities. Google will want to show you content to answer that question.
There are 4 types of user intent.
- Informational - you are looking for a certain bit of information and are likely to find an answer to a certain question or problem.
- Commercial investigation: you are either looking for a range of products to select from or for a question before purchasing a product (as in our trainer example above).
- Transactional - you are looking to purchase a specific product.
- Navigational - You are looking for a specific page or service. Such as the Gov.uk login, to pay taxes.
Completeness and covering a topic
Google values content that thoroughly covers a topic, but quality is not about word count alone. Instead, it’s about covering the topic so well that the user doesn't go back and pogosticks on your content. Remember that pogosticking is something you want to avoid, and you can do this by covering the topic so well that the users don't have to go back to Google and click on another result.
When in doubt with your content
Always favour the person you are writing for, not the search engine. Let’s say you are in a situation where you are debating whether a section ‘sounds right’, yet also balancing that piece of content with inserting a keyword you want to target in the search engines.
My advice would be
- Read that part aloud - does it sound awkward or off? Would you say that to a friend?
- Favour the user, ditch the keyword.
- Or rewrite that part with a similar keyword so it sounds like something you would say to a friend.
- Always favour the user and the person you are writing for
Always write with a clear purpose and not wild, meandering content that sways from topic to topic. Always have a purpose in each paragraph and section you write. Google will reward you.
Originality
It goes without saying that you do not want to copy content. Google is very clever, and you don’t want to trick it. They can quite easily detect if you are copying content, certainly word-for-word. That’s the basics, and you should know not to do that. However, even when fully rewriting content from multiple sources, you still want to inject your own personality and originality. *
- What unique angle do you have?
- Can you give a one-of-a-kind quote?
- Can you provide some data or research?
Even one of these will add to the originality of your content and help your content stand above the competition. Just add something different to your content, don't copy, improve!
E-E-A-T
I covered E-E-A-T previously, and it’s an important topic to comprehend, especially if you are in a health, safety, or financial niche. Google is looking at signals to make sure you know what you are talking about, such as backlinks and on-page content, such as contact and about us pages.
Accuracy and reliability
This stands alongside E-E-A-T. Google, of course, has a massive database and indexing of billions of pages. It can compare your pages to its vast index quite easily. Your content should be accurate and reliable. Again, Google is clever and some weak system and can likely detect if you are misquoting or misrepresenting a piece of content. Don’t just write things if you are unsure so research and compare multiple sources before publishing. Check your facts for accuracy.
User Experience
As mentioned in another article, user experience is a VERY important factor when it comes to Google. Let's take pop-ups, those boxes that appear when we are viewing a page's content, normally with an email sign-up call to action. Whilst Google won't penalise you for having one, it may very well if you have multiple pop-ups on a single page. The web has moved on since the days when multiple windows and pop-ups would appear almost simultaneously. This was a thing maybe a decade ago, but the web and users have matured. They know that they can likely get to another website with a better experience quite quickly by going back to their search engine of choice. With the pogo sticking method I discussed earlier, the user experience signal going back to Google will detect that the user doesn't like that page, and therefore, Google will likely promote one of your competitors' pages.
Mobile
As Craft gives us full control of every single line of front-end code on our site, there is NO excuse for having a poor mobile experience. With responsive web design now standard across almost all sites, it's easy to style your website for an optimised mobile view. If your site falls down on its mobile experience, you know what will happen - Google will promote a competitor over your site.
Keep sites updated regularly
You need to get into the mentality of updating your site regularly. It's not a pump and dump. Keep content updated by setting aside dedicated time to review your articles and content. Update with newly relevant content and add unique insights that may have just been revealed recently.
Craft CMS makes it easy
Crafts editor makes it easy to write good content. Everything in CK Editor is customisable, and there is no excuse for writing poorly structured or poorly maintained content. Craft has great web performance, which helps greatly with user experience. Craft makes for great SEO.
There are no shortcuts to quality. When content is created with care, clarity, and purpose, it naturally aligns with what Google is looking for—and earns sustainable rankings as a result.
Written by John Macpherson