Content Strategy: Make Google Panda Work For You

In the world of Web design, everyone is clamoring to get an invite to Google’s party. Landing on the first page of Google’s search returns is the holy grail of SEO. If your pages show up higher in the rankings, the more likely potential customers and clients will jump to your pages, leading to new business opportunities.

It used to be that you could get those sought-after Google rankings by using strategies like keyword stuffing and link building. This led to a lot of advertising sites, content farms and other low-quality Web sites leading the rankings.

But Google Panda has changed the searching landscape. Google Panda, the changes Google recently implemented in their search algorithm, seeks to improve the quality of the returns, providing the user with original, quality content and pushing those imposters lower down in the rankings.

The Key to Excellent Web Design

Real estate agents tell their clients there are three important factors when selling a home: location, location, location. In Web content, there are also three important factors to keep in mind: quality, quality, quality.

Now more than ever, you need someone professional handling your content and your content strategy. A Web content professional understands the two equally important components of Web content creation:

• The front end, the user, who is pulled in by high-quality content and an attractive, readable Web page.
• The back end, or the technical side. A deep understanding of SEO is critical, using h1 tags where needed and keyword-rich content (used judiciously, not stuffed).

Make Social Media Work for You

Now it’s time to share your content with the world. Social media channels are the most popular and effective way to get people reading and sharing your content. But you can’t just barrage the world with your website. Create a careful, well thought out plan to distribute your content using social media.

How can you harness the power of social media to work for you? Your Web content professional can help you with that as well:

• Blog posts. Regular blog posts are a great way to enrich your content. The blog should be updated regularly, targeted to your user base and include popular key words. A wealth of rich content pushes your pages higher on Google. Keep posts short and relevant, and encourage comments. The blogosphere loves reciprocity—if you comment on other blogs and share their sites, those authors will come and do the same for you, thereby growing your audience base. And make sure you integrate relevant blog posts with static content. A strong taxonomy comes into play here.
• Twitter feed. Keeping it short isn’t a problem on Twitter, but make sure your tweets are relevant and useful. Don’t bombard your followers with self-promotion tactics. Provide them with links, tips, advice and news they will use and appreciate.
• Facebook fan page. Nothing says “I am a social media dud” more than a neglected Facebook fan page. Keep it robust—include information about who you are and what you do, and update the page with pictures and interesting links on a regular basis.

You can also reward your Facebook fans and Twitter followers with special discounts and promotions they won’t find on your regular site, encouraging them to keep coming back for more.

We also recommend the use of the Creative Valuable Content™ checklist to help businesses manage their content and grow their user base.

Our Checklist ensures that your content is:

• Findable: Can the user find the content?
• Readable: Can the user read the content?
• Understandable: Can the user understand the content?
• Actionable: Will the user want to take action?
• Shareable: Will the user share the content?

These steps are the foundation for exceptional Web content. Focus on quality, originality and relevance. We encourage our clients to be diligent about using the checklist to create a successful, content-driven Web site.

For more information:

• Visit Aha Media Group, LLC.
• Like our Facebook page and get the latest updates and useful tips on Web content strategy.
• Follow us on Twitter @ahaval