2023 presents many new and exciting opportunities to master your content and reach a wider audience.
Google’s BERT algorithm update prioritizes audience-focused content. Therefore, is all about putting the user first by creating value-rich content. Add in AI and engaging visuals, and you have the perfect cocktail for SEO-friendly, click-worthy content.
Here are our 10 tips for helping you create SEO-friendly content in 2023 and beyond.
1. Identify your ideal audience
The concept of defining your ideal audience is nothing new, but it’s something that is often overlooked when it comes to content creation.
To create content that speaks to your target audience, you have to thoroughly understand who they are, what they want, and what they are searching for online. This will not only inform your keyword research but also how to create content that compels them to take action.
With this in mind, you can then answer these questions to create highly targeted content:
- What are the top 3 struggles my audience is facing right now?
- What actions have they taken to overcome these struggles?
- Why didn’t those solutions work for them?
- What is their number one goal when it comes to [ SEO, content, marketing, etc. ]?
- What are they looking for in working with a business like mine?
2. Map keywords to search intent
Keyword mapping involves assigning target keywords to certain pages and posts. For example, let’s assume that you want to rank for “Kenya travel guide”. Keyword mapping based on search intent would mean deciding whether it’s a better fit to assign this keyword to a blog post, or a webpage describing your travel guide services.
Do a Google search for your keyword and you will see what kinds of results come up. If the searcher intends to learn more about travel in Kenya – not hire a travel guide – then you’ll want to go the blog post route.
You shouldn’t shoehorn a keyword into your content just because you want to rank for it. Consider what the searcher is trying to find or accomplish in searching that keyword, and then create content that’s tailored to that.
3. Become a topic expert
2023 is all about E-A-T.
E-A-T — also known as Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — is a big deal when it comes to Google’s algorithms. It just means providing solutions your target audience is looking for. It’s relative – and it takes a topic expert to get it right.
For instance, you could pay a lawyer to write a blog post about “Engineering trends?”, but they are likely to miss some important points, nuances, and “isms” that make the content click with an audience that is looking to learn engineering trends.
Further, having some credentials behind your name is likely to give your content even more validity and help you build trust with your audience. Therefore, the best way to create your very best content is to write what you know – or hire a pro who can write well-research content for you.
4. Increase brand authority through guest posting
Guest posting is a great way to attract high-quality backlinks. But are you using guest posting to build your brand authority as well? If not, you could be missing out on some lucrative opportunities.
Even if you don’t get a followed link back to your site, writing for the right publications can help you stand out in your niche and thus attract new clients.
Look for sites and blogs whose readership aligns with your target audience, and whose social following could generate some traffic for your brand. Don’t miss out just because you don’t see backlink potential.
Further, you can hire a ghostwriter to write expert-level content that puts your brand on the map and establishes you as an authority in your space. This can generate massive returns, even beyond what you would get from a few backlinks.
5. Take a multi-channel approach
Being omnipresent is a great way to reach a wider audience and generate buzz for your brand. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked In, and even YouTube.
There are only so many hours in a day and not everyone can afford a team that circulates content around the clock.
But there are some tips for content marketing strategy:
Reduce
Break dense content out into bite-size chunks to be marketed across multiple channels. These bits of content are easy to digest, are highly click-worthy, and do a great job of getting more eyes on your brand.
Re-Purpose
Effective content marketing doesn’t mean having to create fresh content every single day (or, even, every week).
Instead, you can use the same outline for a single piece of content to create content for different platforms.
For example, your latest blog post could easily become a script for your next YouTube video, which you share across social media and send out to your email list.
Or, your step-by-step guide could become a five-day email course you use to move subscribers down your sales funnel.
Re-cycle
Breathe life into your old content by giving it a revamp and sharing it with a new audience.
Perhaps you have an old blog article that was popular when it first went live, but it got buried deep in your blog. Upcycle it with new information and share it on social media to drive new traffic to your site.
6. Invest in high-quality visuals
2023 is the year to step up your image game by adding custom graphics, photos, and videos to your content.
If you rely on cheap stock photos for your site, your readers may be irked knowing they see those same images elsewhere, and if you accidentally source copyrighted images, you may be in for a big fine.
You can source affordable graphic design from sites like Upwork or Fiverr, or find designers on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Give your content a competitive edge by incorporating your on-brand images, videos, and graphics.
7. Utilize content optimization tools
You don’t have to be a professional writer to create search engine optimized content, and you don’t have to be an SEO expert to write engaging articles.
You can fill in the gaps with content tools that help you write better and optimize your content the right way.
Tools like Grammarly, Hemingway Editor, and CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer ensure that your content is user-friendly, engaging, and click-worthy.
Use these content tools to your advantage when it comes to writing audience-friendly content that ranks.
8. Be receptive to audience input & feedback
An essential part of the content writing process is collecting input from your target audience through audience surveys.
Ask your audience what blog post topics they’re interested in, what products they like, what trends they are following, and more.
It doesn’t stop there. Use Google Forms and social media surveys to ask your audience how they like your published content and what suggestions they might have for the future.
Through this, you can get a read for what they consider valuable and whether you have hit the mark.
This is a humbling approach that ensures that you are providing content that’s relevant to your readers, not just content you think they want to read.
9. Ride the wave of trending topics
Is it possible to outrank big-name sites?
Yes – if you learn to “ride the wave.”
Staying on top of the latest trends and creating content that targets those high-traffic keywords can be a great way to outrank even the biggest sites.
Since the nature of a trend is that it tends to be short-lived, you may not generate long-term traffic through this approach, but you can see a surge in traffic overnight.
For example, consider “Bill Gates” was trending (according to Google Trends) right around the time that his new documentary dropped.
Say, if you were a tech or business blogger, you could have hopped on this trend by reviewing his latest documentary, even ahead of major publications.
The key is to put a twist on a trend to make it relevant to your niche and audience. For example, some ideas might include:
- Reviewing a new football player’s contract to discuss the importance of contract law (lawyers).
- Writing an article on “how to break the internet” with your marketing, following Kim Kardashian’s Paper cover (writers).
- Publishing “What Super Bowl LIV Commercials Can Teach Us About Marketing” (marketers).
- Releasing a travel guide that covers “coronavirus advisory information” that helps people stay safe while traveling abroad (travel bloggers).
Don’t get too political or controversial – unless that fits with your brand – or else you risk angering or alienating your audience.
Keep it light, keep it helpful, and make sure it aligns with the rest of the content on your site.
10. Build and engage your email list
By growing and engaging your email list, you can direct users to new content on your site through email automation tools.
Convert Kit and Mailchimp are just two examples of email marketing tools that can help you grow your email list and generate more traffic and leads.
A huge perk of investing in email marketing is that you own your list; if anything were to happen to your site or social media channels, you can always remarket to your subscribers.
Use content upgrades like free checklists and other downloadables to convert readers into subscribers. Then, get set up with an email automation platform and hire an email copywriter to write high-converting email campaigns.
Further, segmentation will allow you to nurture sets of subscribers until they are primed to buy the offer that’s most relevant to them.
Here are tools that can assist you to create content for your blog and social media
Where to get content ideas
- Quora
- AnswerThePublic
- FAQfox
- YouTube
- Buzzsumo
- Answer Socrates
- Headline Generator
- HubSpot
- Inflact
Where to get content stock images and icons
Content creation tools
Hashtag research tools
Content scheduling
Create your best SEO content ever this year
I’m excited to see what new content trends pop up in 2023. In the meantime, we all can take action on what we know and apply these data-driven strategies to our content. Use these tips and tricks to create high-value, high-converting content that gets your website noticed online.
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A well-written article with excellent grammar, and use of keywords throughout the content can be considered as SEO-friendly.
Hi Laurenrodriguez
Thank you. Glad we could assist.
It’s fantastic that you want to share those tips with us. This is definitely the article that I will try to follow. I always search to read the quality content and finally found this in your post. Thanks again I really appreciate you.
Hi Jeevan
Glad we could help.