You're online, you're writing, but are you getting anything in return? We've all heard content is King so why are people not responding to the gazillion blog posts I'm putting out there? 

Google is the King and we all want to play in the kingdom so we kind of have to follow their rules. We need to write for both search engines and the actual people that read our stuff. Unless you don't care about that. If you're just trying to fill your site with words, then go for it; grammar, spelling, and comprehension mean nothing, but just understand Google will know that people are not actually reading the content, it's just filler on a page. 

But, if you're reading this, you're probably not doing that. 

So how do you satisfy both?

I know, I hear you saying, "I never write for search engines; I don't care, I want to write for people" and that's great! But is your content being found by real people? You may have an awesome story to tell but if no one can find it, what's the point?

We have to write for people and market for search engines.

Sounds easy, but hard to do ... well.

Thin Content

First off, stay away from thin content. These are pages on your site with less than 50 words. Google knows that you probably won't have a lot of content on login or contact pages but if most of your pages have infographics, video or just very little content, the whole site will start to get penalized.  

Make sure every page, post, and article on your site is well written and has at least 300 words. More is better in many cases and great posts over 1,000 words can often go far.  But, don't give us a wall of words either. Look at these two pages, which would you rather read?

 

We have about a 2-second attention span. I remember watching Sesame Street as an adult and realizing there is something different happening every 2-3 minutes. Well, kids need that to stay interested, but in our fast-paced, instant gratification world, so do adults. If we don't find what we're looking for or are interested in about 5 seconds, we move on... Have I lost you? Are you still reading? Maybe you've skimmed the page for the highlighted points? Did anything strike you as interesting? 

We honestly don't even read every word nowadays. We look over the article to see if it will inform us or excite us. If not, we move on. Are you losing people fast? 

 

Think about how you read... are you writing that way?

Are you giving people images, points, headers, lists, great titles and answers? Why would someone come to your page? Are you regurgitating the same information 8 million ways?

I have a client that wanted to write on one specific community. We wrote every post on this area adnauseam. None of the pages were really doing amazing. Maybe one or two were on the 1st or 2nd page here or there. So I decided to blend them all together. I took all the major points about this community and added it to one amazing page with links, images, headings, and resources. Guess what? That page is #3 on the 1st page of Google for that community now. We were informative and exhaustive and it paid off. 

 

You have to write the way people can understand and comprehend but also relate.

 

If we are too professional in our words and structure, it may go right over people's head and they'll get bored. I'm not saying to make mistakes, but be real. Let people know you're not just reiterating another news piece or wiki content. Let people know why YOU love the community. Why YOU feel buyers or sellers should do something a certain way. And YOUR experience. People will feel a more genuine approach to your writing.

Be silly, be real, be honest, and be correct. That last one is huge! Don't lie or give false information just to sound better. People will find you out. If you quote someone, give a reference or credit the original piece. It's okay to do that to a degree. You're not plagiarizing if you attribute the original author so long as you are not passing off the entire piece as your own. 

Read More: Ranking means nothing if your conversion rate is low

 

Over-optimization

Are you craming in 18 keywords per article? If you're writing style sounds like this:

"Welcome to Orlando homes for sale. If you're looking for Orlando homes for sale or Orlando real estate, we can help you find the right Orlando home today. Search our site for Orlando properties for sale and all Orlando real estate with the best Orlando real estate buyer's agent around."

Just stop it. Seriously... stop it. Moving on...

Give them the visual.

 

Do you like reading a wall of words? Probably not. We get eye fatigue and bored. We need something fun for our brain to process. Even if it seems unimportant, that image that breaks up the text gives our brain a little recess so we feel we can continue the article. Give people images (not copyrighted images) and add your own flair with sites like Canva.com. Give people graphs, infographics (but not just that), and fun images to put an illustration to what you're saying, and/or video to go along with it. 

 

Then spread the love. 

I always say this; don't let your content work in a vacuum. Get it out there, and then get it out there again and again! Share it on social media, link to it from different future and past articles, boost it, like it, tweet it, Pin it, scoopit, Flip it, Reddit it, however you can, get that information out there so it's shared more and more. The more people share it, the more valuable Google will view it and therefore continue to rank it higher and higher, eventually getting you to that coveted search engine spot where the leads come rolling in. 

Read More: The Best way to syndicate your blog and why

 

The content you create today may be the authoritative source that drives people to your site tomorrow. Don't make it boring, make it great! 

 

More Ways to Create Awesome Content

 - Why a little SEO doesn't cut it

 - Making your website stand out!

 - News articles and market reports - duplicates and SEO No-No's

 - Personal SEO - Who we are, what we do

 

Tammy Emineth is an expert in custom content and original articles for blogs, website, press releases and more. Contact me anytime and feel free to subscribe to this blog to stay up to date on my latest blogs and informative information. Email me or contact me for Real Estate Website Marketing and SEO Content Writing.

The information contained in this blog is believed to be true and correct and while every effort is made to assure that the information is as accurate as possible, the author of this blog, and its comments disclaim any implied warranty or representation about it's accuracy for any particular purpose. All information is copy written and the property of Tammy Emineth.