All About Content Optimization: What You Need to Know

In the past, many businesses were under the assumption that a basic website would do -- no matter how bare. As long as it contains your contact information and a brief overview of what your company does, you might assume that this will suffice. But doing the minimum isn't nearly enough for potential customers to actually find you. As you might already realize, this is where SEO can come in handy. There are many facets of SEO, including what's known as content development. In order to be truly effective, this content needs to be optimized. In today's post, we'll discuss the importance of optimized content and what your business needs to do to improve site optimization.

What is Content Optimization?

Let's first talk about what optimized content is. Regular old content refers to just about any website copy, like the text included on landing pages or blog posts. But optimized content is more specific. When your SEO agency optimizes the content on your site, they're making it more attractive, more useful, and more relevant to both human audiences and Google's bots. Essentially, this makes your content the best it can possibly be and ensures that search engines understand what it's all about.

Why Does Content Need to Be Optimized?

You might assume that, if you're a doctor located in middle America, establishing your website and claiming your business will be enough to keep your patient roster full for the foreseeable future. But in the digital age, there's so much choice out there. That can make it tough for those with very basic websites to survive.

You may already know that search engine optimization is designed to improve your visibility on the web through better rankings and higher traffic. When you optimize your content, these aforementioned reasons apply. But you're also aiming to improve the user experience of your site, build trust with your audience and help solve their problems, establish your authority in your field, communicate your brand message, engage website visitors, and more. Optimized content ensures that your branding is consistent, that you're able to increase web traffic, and that you provide what web users want to know in the hopes that consumers will want to do business with you. Ultimately, it's a more passive form of marketing that has proven very successful in the digital age -- but it may not be totally familiar to those who are used to traditional forms of marketing and advertising copy.

What Are Some Examples of Optimized Content?

• Optimized Web Copy: Many businesses believe that having a product page with a simple picture and the name of the item will do. But a sparse webpage like this won't do you any favors. Your SEO and web design company can ensure that the text featured on every distinct page of your website is relevant, useful, and optimized. That may mean adding extra information about the product, about your business, or about an issue the product could solve.

• Optimized Blog Posts: Pretty much every business needs its own blog that's updated regularly. While publishing press releases or positive reviews is fine, you also need to provide interesting and timely information here. Keep in mind that companies that published 16 or more blog posts a month in 2015 received nearly 3.5 times more web traffic than organizations that published fewer than four blog posts per month. Your SEO company can ensure that the blogs published on your site are accurate and that they contain optimized content to direct visitors your way.

• Optimized Images and Videos: Pictures and videos you post on your site should also be optimized! These pieces of content are included in different types of Google searches, which means you need to make it easier for people to find your site if they're looking for a specific image or a process caught on video. The tags, descriptions, and titles should be optimized to appear in relevant searches and appeal to audience interests.

This post barely scratches the surface of what's included in optimize content and how this process is achieved. But understanding the importance of optimizing your content can help you communicate more effectively with your SEO team and ensure the information on your site serves both your business and your intended audience.