SEO content writing: Get better results with Google’s latest algorithms
Content writing is a powerful marketing tool that can only be effective if Google deems your material good enough to share.
And only content that aligns with Google’s algorithms – which are updated several times a year – will pass through to its search engine results pages (SERPs); if it is not there, your target consumers may never see it.
This is why content writing – from blogs and social media copy to website text and ebooks – is such a specialised craft. It requires expert knowledge and skilful writing techniques, such as search engine optimisation (SEO), in order to satisfy the needs of both the consumers your business is targeting and Google.
Latest Google algorithm updates
While your written content needs to inform, educate and engage consumers, it first has to reach them. And for that to happen, your material has to align with Google’s ever-changing algorithms. This can be achieved with strong SEO content writing skills.
Core updates are made to Google’s algorithms several times a year so that the search engine can “deliver on its mission to present helpful and reliable results for searchers”.
The most recent core Google algorithm updates rolled out on 19 April 2024, relate to:
- Improved quality ranking
- New and improved spam policies
Reducing low-quality, unoriginal results
Some of Google’s core ranking systems have been refined to help it better understand if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience or feel like they were created for search engines instead of people.
It is expected that users will now see 45% less low-quality, unoriginal content in search results.
Keeping more spam out of your results
Spam policy updates will enable Google to better address “new and evolving abusive practices” and manipulative behaviours” that lead to unoriginal, low-quality content showing up in search results.
- Scaled content abuse
While Google has long had a policy against using automation to generate low-quality or unoriginal content at scale “with the goal of manipulating search rankings”, the update intends to strengthen the focus on this “abusive behaviour”, whether it is automated, carried out by humans or a combination of both.
“This will allow us to take action on more types of content with little to no value created at scale, like pages that pretend to have answers to popular searches but fail to deliver helpful content.”
- Site reputation abuse
While some websites have their own, strong content, they may also host low-quality content provided by third parties with the goal of capitalising on the hosting site’s strong reputation.
“For example, a third party might publish payday loan reviews on a trusted educational website to gain ranking benefits from the site.”
Google now considers such content to be spam.
- Expired domain abuse
Expired domains (website addresses) are sometimes purchased and repurposed in order to boost search ranking of low-quality or unoriginal content. This can mislead users into thinking the new content is part of the older site, which may not be the case.
Such domains are now considered spam.
SEO content writing: Google’s latest algorithms
In addition to Google’s already long-standing algorithms, the latest updates will require copywriters to place a greater focus on writing high-quality, informative and engaging content. Producing content that is low-value, unoriginal or badly written could see your website demoted in Google’s rankings. Such content may also be removed from Google’s SERPs.
The objectives
SEO content writing is a key component of a strong digital marketing strategy, but to achieve success, your written material needs to meet the objectives of content marketing – and whether you are a mortgage broker, financial adviser or real estate agent, these goals are the same; your content should inform and educate your target consumer in a way that encourages engagement with your business, establishes your credibility and, hopefully, leads to new clients and sales.
The concept may sound simple but the execution can be tricky. Even if you do have strong writing skills and engaging content, it won’t matter if your audience doesn’t get to read it. And, unfortunately, most of them won’t – unless Google shares it with them.
Why Google is so important for content writing
There are 25.21 million internet users in Australia, according to DataReportal’s Digital 2024 Australia report, and 18.73 million of them (74.30%) mainly use the web to search for information. The data also shows that:- 15 million users (59.5%) research products and businesses
- 13.21 million (52.4%) use the internet to manage their finances and savings
- 6.35 million (25.2%) use the internet to conduct business-related research
While Google is not the world’s only search engine, it is the most widely used. In Australia, its market share is 83.86%, according to Statcounter. Its closest competitor is Bing with a 12.42% share of the local search engine market.
Hubspot research published in August 2023 estimates that Google processes approximately 99,000 search queries every second. This amounts to 8.5 billion searches each day and approximately two trillion global searches per year.
These figures illustrate the importance of smart content writing – in other words, SEO content writing.
SEO and Google ranking
The stronger your SEO content writing skills, the more value Google places on your content. And the higher the value (according to Google’s algorithms), the higher your content, and website, will rank on its SERPs.
While it is estimated that about 60% of users click on one of the top three search results, detailed analysis from Semrush shows that, on mobile, the average click-through rate (CTR) is 22.40% for position one, 13% for position two, and 10% for position three. Meanwhile, position 10 gets you just 2.30% of clicks.
Top 8 Google algorithms
There are more than 200 SEO factors that Google takes into account when ranking its search results, according to Backlinko, but these are the top eight:
- Quality content : The most important SEO factor
- Backlinks : Links from other websites to your website.
- Technical SEO : The technical aspects of your website, such as its website speed, mobile-friendliness and crawlability.
- Keyword optimisation : Using relevant keywords throughout your website’s content.
- User experience (UX) : How easy and enjoyable it is for users to use your website.
- Schema markup: Structured data you can add to your website to help search engines better understand your content.
- Social signals: The likes, shares and other social interactions that your website’s content receives.
- Brand signals : The overall perception of your brand online.
SEO and content writing: A winning combination
Done well, content writing can be a highly effective marketing strategy, but there is a lot more to it than merely writing; SEO content writing is key.
Fortunately, Hunter & Scribe’s team of copywriters specialise in content writing for financial services and real estate; we have the expertise, SEO content writing skills and content creation tools to deliver content that ticks all the right boxes.
Reach out to us, reach out to your consumers.
