User Friendly Content Improves SEO
While inserting keywords into SEO content is important, there’s a lot more to it than that. In order for SEO content to be successful it needs to be user friendly, or have good “readability”. User friendly content improves SEO efforts because the more “readable” the content is, the more it will get linked to naturally across the web and shared in social media, improving the increasingly important “social signals” of the content.
So what makes SEO content user friendly and more likely to be shared?
New information
If you can be the first organization to share new information about your industry, that’s a definite plus. However it’s understandable that there may be very few, if any, opportunities to do this. Even if the information itself isn’t considered to be “new”, you can still add your “new” spin on the topic, provide some additional/original insights that separate your content from everything else that is out there. You never want to copy and paste the work of others (even if you give credit) or even simply recap what someone else already said. You need to “own” your content by making it yours.
It’s easy to scan
Remember, people don’t read web content word for word. Who has time to do that today? People mostly scan web content so it’s important to format your content to reflect this behavior. Separate pieces of information by utilizing different font sizes and subheadings. Bold an important point that you make. Use a font that is easily readable and keep paragraphs short.
Simplicity
Your web content isn’t the place to experiment with your artistic ability by testing different font and background colors. Stick with what works: black type on a white background. It’s important to also keep line height in mind, or the space between each line on the page. If it’s not enough or too much it’s difficult to read. You need to find that sweet spot in the middle that looks the best. It’s also important to eliminate any clutter from the page of your web content. White space is often underrated. Think twice about all of the ads, pop ups, newsletter sign ups, lead forms, social icons, etc. that also appear on the page. While some conversion element is necessary, there shouldn’t be too many distractions away from the content. You don’t want to give the reader any reason to look elsewhere for information.
Images
The written text within the web content is the focus, but don’t discount the importance of incorporating images into the content. The web continues to become a more and more visual place as web users have become accustomed to the visual focus of the social networks. It’s now expected that anything worth reading will also be accompanied by an eye catching visual. An image adds an important element to the content for social sharing. The image will appear with the link, which is more likely to attract attention within the competitive News Feed space. It stands out more than other posts, making the content more visible, and encourages the click through.
Categorized in: Content Marketing
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