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The ‘Key’ to Quality Content is NOT the Keyword

It’s a Lot More!
In the early days of search engine marketing, the keyword epidemic hit and stuck. Despite several algorithm updates from Google and all the talk of content relevancy, many organizations are still hung up on keywords as the main focus of their content generation. For content generation services, this is a nightmare, with clients demanding that a handful of keywords should be squeezed into even the smallest piece of text. Not only does forcing keywords into content lead to poor-quality reads, if any, but it does not truly leverage how a search engine will see your website and rank it on the results pages (SERPs).

Unfortunately, the so-called SEO experts and marketing agencies that “advise” these organizations don’t take seriously the responsibility to educate and inform their clients about the importance of quality content. There can only be two reasons for that:

  1. These “advisors” don’t have the knowledge, skills or resources to create content that is meaningful, relevant and share-worthy.
  2. Keyword-based content generation can be done by the mindless, automated software that churns out reams of content, so the organizations on whose behalf it is created do not think they need to get involved.    

Having said that, we don’t believe it is fair to place the blame squarely on the agencies or content creators. After all, the audience doesn’t care who created the content at the bottom of the chain—they only know the brand or organization the content is representing. So if YOUR content is poor quality, the buck stops at YOU. Remember, this is Content Marketing, not Keyword Marketing!

So If Keywords Are Not It, What Is It?

First, your company needs to let go of the fascination with keywords. It won’t be so easy to do; especially after all you have been taught or told in the past. Yet, it is the only way to go. You should be targeting the trends, themes, subjects and topics your audience wants to know more about. Think of the right phrases instead of singular words. Long-tail phrases will still make some contribution towards improving search engine visibility and rankings. Of course, the value of the content within which those phrases are used is of utmost importance.

Here is what else you need to consider in the content creation exercise:

  • Identify Your Concepts and Themes - First, establish the concepts and themes your audience wants to hear about. Your web copywriters will then have the ability to naturally create content that satisfies both, search engines and readers, when they are not forced to pigeon-hole their content into a limiting keyword.
  • Relate Secondary Phrases to Your Themes and Subject Matter - Next, your topic needs a few key phrases, but also related words and phrases that people could use or search for instead of the main key phrase you are targeting. For example, you may be writing about “winterizing your home”, but keep in mind that your audience is also thinking about “preparations for the holidays”. Can you link the two themes and deliver quality content that is useful, unique, immensely useful and definitely worth sharing? 
  • Classify Your Queries - There are three main types of queries: informational (I need to know more about something), transactional (I need to do something) and navigational (I am looking for someone or something). Your key phrase should fit into one of the three query types and your content written to match. This is the best way to go about achieving a keyword match with SEO-friendly content that is compelling, engaging and worth sharing.

For more tips on how to effectively craft content that is easily found and shared, talk to us at MintCopy. Give us a call today at 888-646-8003 or send us an email.

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