Quality content: what you need to know to win over readers (and Google) | SiteMap 43

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Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s SiteMap. In the last episode we gave you 6 reasons why businesses should have a blog embedded in their website and we stressed that search engines love quality content that is updated regularly.

BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS QUALITY CONTENT?
In 2011, Google launched Panda, an update to its algorithm specifically designed to prioritize sites that provide quality content. And in November 2015, after several information leaks, it made public a 160-page document with its “Quality Rating Guidelines” . What was shared by Google , the evolution of search rankings , the history of site penalties and various studies allow us to present a set of factors that are unanimously considered important for achieving quality content .

1. WRITE FOR PEOPLE, NOT SEARCH ENGINES
The days when planting links on the Internet or stuffing pages with keywords were useful processes are long gone. Today, these practices, in addition to creating texts that are impossible to read, lead to penalties. These are tricks of the past .

2. WRITE RELEVANT AND USEFUL TEXTS
Who said that length doesn't matter?! Texts should be long part time data enough to explore the topics in the necessary detail (it's been proven that Google likes long texts). It's difficult to say exactly what the minimum number of words should be, but they should be enough to create articles that add value and not just to be able to publish another article.

3. RIGOR AND LEGIBILITY
It's important to write about topics you're familiar with and to do your homework to avoid mistakes that could undermine your text's credibility . Oh, and forget about professional jargon, unless you're speaking to a very specific niche.

4. USER EXPERIENCE
Well-structured content makes it easier to read and contributes to more time spent on the site and a higher number of page views. These metrics tell Google that readers enjoy the content, which can help improve the site's position in search rankings . To achieve this, segment the texts with titles , subtitles and bullets and add images and links , for example.

5. MOBILE OPTIMIZATION
If your website is not yet optimized for smartphones, there will be little point in writing exceptional content because no one will be able to read it without making a monumental effort ( see here how to create a responsive website ). And this is not expected to happen.

6. CONTENT YOU WANT TO SHARE
If users find the content unique and useful, they can share it on social media, on their own websites and blogs, or in forums. This way, you can naturally obtain links that will help your website/blog rank. As a result, your reader base will expand.

7. AVOID AT ALL COSTS
Copied content , automatically generated content , buying and exchanging links , cloaking (making different URLs available to users and search engines), keyword stuffing (filling texts with keywords for which you want to rank well in searches), malicious content (viruses, phishing, etc.). All of these practices contribute to penalties. Grammatical and syntax errors should also be avoided at all costs because they undermine the credibility of the content.