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A study conducted on approximately 1 billion web pages showed that over 90% of web pages receive no traffic from Google. That amount is incredible, and it shows why so many people struggle to maintain their websites.
What can you do to prevent your website from falling into this category? Well, if you haven't already, you need to employ the use of SEO tactics.
But if you're already aware of what SEO is, you might be wondering, "does original content matter for SEO?"
The short answer is: yes! Original content is vital for SEO as it helps your website rank higher on Google. In this article, we'll discuss why original content is essential for SEO. We'll also include some general SEO and digital marketing tips for those looking for more information and guidance.
Does Original Content Matter for SEO?
A good part of any quality SEO strategy is to write original content for your blog posts. Original content is vital because Google no longer recognizes duplicated content as quality content. Google is all about delivering 'optimized' and quality content to users.
In the past, SEO users would duplicate content already written in a method called spun content. This duplication was an attempt to increase their website's ranking on Google.
The process would include finding a quality written blog or article and copying it into a program. Next, the program changes the content to have a slight uniqueness to it. After that, all the users had to do was post the content, and they'll rank higher on Google.
This method worked in the past, but Google shifted its algorithm around 2011 to use the Panda and Penguin algorithms. These algorithms eliminated low-quality, duplicate content from search results.
Google now punishes websites for duplicate content by ranking them very low on the search results pages.
You don't want your website to rank low on Google, or else you won't be able to drive the traffic to your website that you originally wanted. Thus, you need to make sure you are writing original content for your blog.
What Does Google Consider Original Content
"What exactly counts as original content?"
Just know that anything 'new' that you write and publish is original content. The topic you're writing about doesn't even have to be new itself. You could write about a movie that surfaced 10 years ago.
The point is, so long as you're writing original and unduplicated content, you'll be fine. Here are some ideas for original content:
- Use a personal story in your blog. Using personal stories depends on what you're writing for and who you target, but a personal narrative is great for original content.
- Create a unique title. Titles are everything since they are the first thing people see whenever they first look at what blog posts to read. Titles like "5 Best Products for Content Marketing" might seem like they are suitable for traffic, but think about how often other people have used that title.
As an additional layer of protection, if you have content created for you, you might also want to consider running your pieces of content through a plagiarism or duplicate content checker. Running your content through these programs ensures that no other pages have blog posts strikingly similar to yours.
Tips on Writing Quality Original Content
Aside from writing a blog post with no copied content, there are some additional aspects of writing good quality original content.
Find your target audience.
Make sure you're writing for the right people. Don’t direct your content towards someone who wouldn't be interested. Ask yourself some questions about your audience.
Are they looking for a specific item? Do you want to attract new customers or keep your old ones engaged? Would your audience be more attracted to your site if you offered something else?
Knowing what your audience likes and dislikes will help you determine how to write your article. It'll also help you uncover the next aspect of quality original content: keywords.
Keywords
Think of the last time you searched for a doctor's office or a particular business near your house. It was probably something like "best candle shop near me," right?
That phrase is called a keyword.
Keywords are essential because they're the exact words and phrases people put into search engines like Google.
But how do you find what keywords to use? Well, there are plenty of ways to do that. Try using a few different keywords you come up with and type them into Google.
Whichever ones land higher quality search results, use those. Using these keywords will rank you higher on search engines like Google.
Backlinking
Backlinking is the method of linking to high-quality, high-ranking websites in your blog post as sources or references. You want to use high-ranking and high-quality sources because they draw more traffic.
But please be careful not to overdo the links. Not only do they distract from the reading, but Google also hurts your rankings when you use too many. When used correctly, backlinking will help your content marketing campaign by increasing your website's ranking on search results.
Consider A New Approach
Some topics will, unfortunately, have dozens upon dozens of articles already written about them. Examples include articles about the top 5 best 'x' products, personal reviews of movies and shows, news articles about celebrities, etc.
Take a new approach if you see something written on your topic. Maybe change up the narrative. For example, instead of the top 5 best moisturizers for dry skin, you can write about the top 5 moisturizers to avoid if you have dry skin.
Additional SEO and Content Marketing Help
While there are many things you can do on your own to help drive traffic to your site, one of the best things you can do is enlist help from professionals in the field.
At E-marketing associates, we know a thing or two about SEO and SEO-related tactics. When you are thinking of how to choose a marketing channel, you should consider SEO. We've helped numerous clients drive more traffic to their site and get their business landing on the front pages of Google.
We'll take a look through the content on your page and determine what SEO strategies would benefit you the most. We also offer other services, such as social media and visitor management software.
So does original content matter for SEO? Yes, it is arguably one of the most important SEO tactics. So go ahead and start writing original content now, and be sure to visit our website for more help on content marketing.
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