The position of a page in a search engine is influenced by various factors, such as its structure, speed, inbound links, domain age and others. One of the key factors in this battle, however, is content, as Google puts it first. 🙂
For a website to rank well, it needs to contain a lot of content that is valuable to the user and, at the same time, optimised for SEO. What does this mean in practice, how does content affect positions in Google and how do you monitor this? I explain it all in today’s post. 🙂
The impact of content on a page’s search engine position – how does it work?
Every website is different and, depending on its subject matter and purpose, will rank for different keywords.
In creating content for search engines, the most important thing is to ensure that the page is visible for the most relevant phrases. For example, for an online shop offering leather handbags, the most relevant phrase will of course be “leather handbags”, as well as its expansions, such as “small leather handbags” or “black leather handbags”.
For a shop in this industry, these keyword phrases are commercial phrases, as they drive to the website users planning to purchase these very products.
How to rank your website on Google with content? 5 essential elements
In order for content to appeal to Google’s algorithms and thus positively influence a page’s position in the search engine, it is worth bearing in mind certain elements. I describe them below.
Selection of keywords
As I mentioned earlier, the most important issue in creating content for search engines is to increase your website’s visibility for the most relevant keywords. When planning content for a website, it is therefore important to carefully analyse which phrases are most likely to benefit the site.
To do this, it is worth using dedicated tools such as Google’s keyword planner, Google Search Console (for analysing existing content), Ubersuggest or paid solutions such as Keyword Tool or Ahrefs.
Appropriate content structure
SEO-friendly texts have a specific structure. They should include a title, headings, and paragraphs. The title (H1 heading) is the most important and must clearly indicate what the text is about. It is very important to include keywords in the title, as well as in the lower headings (H2, H3, H4, etc.).
It is worth realising that this content structure is not only search engine friendly, but also user friendly. In fact, it is the user who is most important and it is for them that texts should be created. In 2023, search engine-friendly content is first and foremost user-friendly content. 🙂
Internal linking
In creating content for SEO, proper internal linking is also extremely important. Explaining this using the example of the leather handbag shop mentioned earlier, it should, among other things, link from the company blog to the most important product categories.
It is mandatory to include a keyword relevant to the website in the link anchor, for example, “leather handbag”.
Interesting and substantive content
According to the principle that SEO-friendly texts are user-friendly texts, it is worth ensuring that they are interesting, engaging, and substantive.
After all, keywords and headings alone are not enough.
To increase the attractiveness of texts, it is worth adding pictures, images, infographics or charts.
This has the double benefit of not only increasing the value of the content for users but also gaining in the eyes of Google. Graphics and images are further places where keywords can be “smuggled in”. The ALT and title attributes serve this purpose.
Meta title and meta description
Another place to include keywords is the meta title and meta description. These are the sections of your website’s code that you see in search results. They have a significant impact on the search engine positions of pages.
To monitor the positions of phrases in Google, site administrators most often use Google Search Console. For the average user, this free tool usually proves to be quite sufficient.
Agencies and specialists managing multiple projects already use more advanced tools. Manually checking the position of phrases for so many sites would be too time-consuming.
What should I do if I notice a position drop?
If you notice a drop in the position of your website for key phrases, you should take action as soon as possible. It is worth checking the technical aspects of the website, tracking the activities of the competition, investing in sponsored articles and improving the quality of content on the website.
Website texts must be regularly updated and enriched with the phrases with the greatest potential.
In summary, content has a key impact on a website’s position in Google. In SEO activities, it is essential to create high-quality texts, monitor the positions of the most relevant phrases and react if any drops are noticed.
