A User-First Approach to SEO

Few marketing disciplines evolve as swiftly as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has, and will.

SEO isn’t just about pleasing search engines anymore. Now it’s all about tailoring content to users and their needs. The more valuable users find your website, the higher your site ranks on search engine results pages (SERPs). 

Additionally, new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and voice assistants have been altering how SEO works. As the second part of our digital marketing trends series, we’re here to share insights into what ripples you can expect on the SEO landscape over the course of the next decade. 

So, what are the top SEO content trends digital marketers should pay attention to? Let’s take a look:

1. Optimize for voice search

People are realizing the convenience of talking to their smartphones and smart devices rather than typing phrases or questions into a search box. All the more reason why content marketers should start focusing on voice search optimization! 

First of all, make sure to use natural language in your content, as if you’re having a conversation with someone. 

This leads us to the second important thing – using keyphrases, and not just keywords. 

Do your keyword combinations sound odd when you say them out loud? If so, leave them behind. Remember, the way your brand talks to people should be as human and conversational as possible. 

2. The importance of related keywords

Performing keyword research and focusing on a target keyword aren’t the only significant items on the SEO checklist anymore. 

One of the top SEO content trends right now is to come up with a list of related keywords (keywords related to your target keyword).

That’s because related keywords let both search engines and users know that the topic of your brand’s blog or website is relevant to what the users are searching for. 

3. Keyword quality over quantity

Keyword density is an old-school approach to SEO. The goal now is to use your target keywords and related keywords naturally throughout your site or blog content, otherwise content marketers and managers often find themselves needing to filter out odd keywords that don’t make sense in context, or are grammatically incorrect. 

If you want to maintain the quality of your content, you can’t turn a blind eye to the quality of keywords you’re using.

4. Understand what matters to your customers

Optimize your content based on keyword topics your consumers want to know or care about. Forget about rankings or specific business goals. 

Rather than just focusing on what users are searching for, ask yourself why users are spending time on Google and other search engines. Do they want to find a location nearby (restaurants, spas, hotels – you name it) or buy something? Are they looking for a product that’s sustainably produced?

Once you figure out what matters to them, think of questions that your target audience would pose, and create content designed to answer those questions. 

5. Optimize internal links

Brands have started to realize the power of internal linking and how it can boost their organic traffic. 

On linking to another page on your website, search engines understand that the page to which you’ve linked must be relevant to the current page’s content. 

Design your copy to lure readers into clicking on internal links. It helps to include the target keyword of the page you’re linking to. 

6. Be interactive and see results

HubSpot reports that 51% of B2B buyers find interactive content on their website useful when they’re faced with business challenges. On the other side of the coin, 62% of B2B marketers claim that they’ve already incorporated interactive content in their digital marketing strategy. By having these kinds of tools on your site, you can improve your SEO ranking. 

So, what is interactive content? A piece of content that prompts people to take some sort of action in order to accomplish their goal, or answer a question. 

A few examples would be calculators, assessments, quizzes, games, polls, and so forth. It’s also possible to create interactive-but-simple versions of whitepapers, ebooks, data visualizations, videos, and infographics. 

To sum up

SEO is evolving to be more and more complex. That means optimizing for people and their behaviour, not search engines. In order to build a smart SEO strategy for your brand’s better and brighter future, it’s critical to keep pace with the top SEO content trends.

Some good ways to start are creating high-quality content aligned to your customer’s intent, optimizing that content for voice search, and offering utility in the form of interactive content. 

Overall, delivering a remarkable experience for your target customers should be the first item on your priority list, as it is on Google’s. 

For that, however, SEO isn’t the only thing you’ll need. 

Businesses are now engaging more than ever with their target audience on social media, and consequently, seeing their sales scale up. It’s imperative to take note of the trends in the social media industry, too, as we go on to explore in the third and final topic in our digital marketing trends series.