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Over the last couple of months, I’ve met with nearly all of Coast Digital’s online marketing clients and reviewed each individual campaign. And if there’s a single topic that refuses to stay in its place on the agenda and forces its way into every conversation, it’s this one: content.

More, more, more

Although people tend to assume that most companies have an in-house marketing department, external PR agency or reliable copywriter to churn out regular press releases, case studies and white papers, the reality is often very different.

More businesses than you might expect struggle to maintain the regular flow of new content that’s needed to support a flourishing SEO campaign. And whilst I can’t fault our online marketing team for wanting “more, more, more” so they can keep pushing pages higher and higher up the SERPs, some clients will always find it a challenge to produce fresh, interesting and relevant website content on a regular basis.

Quality vs. quantity

Whilst it’s easy to set yourself or your team a target of adding, say, four new articles (press releases, case studies, blog posts, etc.) to the website each week, producing content to support an SEO campaign is more than just a numbers game. Your content not only needs to be based on your keywords, but it must also be fresh and original.

It’s not an easy balance to uphold. I admire good writing, so it is difficult for me to support the idea of creating content that exists just for the sake of link building and improving search rankings. Our online marketing team agrees and points out that content need to say something about your business, your marketplace and your views.

If you genuinely care about a subject, it is much more likely that you will write compelling content people want to read and to link to. Simply writing articles filled with keywords won’t to appeal to anyone and, believe it or not, the search engines won’t appreciate it either.

Top tips for writing for SEO

1. Quality – Content that you add to a website should reinforce your company’s credibility and must be readable. This might sound obvious, but you would be amazed at how many firms post content on corporate blogs that has not been thoroughly proofread. Not only does this reflect badly on the post’s author, but it can make the company look slack. Remember that first impressions count — and, if you’re not careful, you can easily drive away potential clients.
   
   High quality content will not only make your business appear more trustworthy and reputable in the eyes of your customers, but it will also improve your website’s credibility in the eyes of the search engines.
    
2. Clarity – Articles added to your company’s website should help visitors to understand easily what it has to offer and where its expertise lies. A blog can be a very persuasive sales tool if visitors are convinced that the company is in tune with the issues affecting its customers and is able to offer practical advice.
    
3. Engagement – Use fresh content to engage with your audience. Inviting responses via a moderated comments section will let others respond and add to the debate. It will also extend the lifespan of each post, increasing the chances of others linking to it and driving additional traffic to your website.

This is not an exact recipe for success and many corporate blogs flourish in their own distinct ways. However, it’s not a bad place to start, and I don’t doubt that we could all benefit from thinking a bit harder about quality, clarity and ways of engaging our readers when we sit down to write.

Most importantly though, I’d suggest you find a tone, style and process that works for you, your company — and your SEO agency. And if you need a little outside assistance, please contact us — we can help.

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