Long Content at All Cost Can Backfire – Why and What Is the Solution

One of the most frequently encountered problems that SEOs and freelancers are facing repeatedly is how to make a service page longer when the service itself is boring, straightforward, vague or some nauseating combination of those elements. Then the average SEO specialist finds comfort in the mantra: “Google loves longer content”. Well, that's not necessarily the case.

While it's clear that on average, long-form content wins engagement, climbs the SERP and triggers sharing, it does not make long-form content attractive. Or from another point of view, if it was true, then it would be like the false notion that books are better when they have lots of pages. Imagine if William Shakespeare only wrote poems about peasants toiling for the Crown, and if he used only the same fifteen or twenty words in every single poem. So what can we add up here? It is clear that:

Longer content doesn't equal great content;
Writing longer content shouldn't be your primary goal;
Longer content is not the one and only factor for higher rankings and more shares;

There are many factors that show the downside of that overall trend. It's the constant rise of abandonment rates, the shrinking attention spans and the modest percentage of people who actually read long content to its end. Furthermore, many of the latter not only skip the end paragraphs – they also scan through the body, without reading every word or sentence.

So what are the characteristics of readable and sharable content:

The right content answers the queries of the visitors and help them complete their goals;
It gives great user experience no matter what is the visitor's choice of browser or device;
Saves time by delivering the sought-after information and experience quickly;
Combines the aforementioned elements better than the competitors;

Now let's see some examples. First, you should create content that helps people and do it efficiently. You should match your content to your audience's needs and your business/personal goals. Hundreds of additional words will not help you reach your goals any more than ten more words. Never write an ultimate guide where a single image could more powerfully convey the same value. Just like actions speak louder than words, a single relevant picture is worth a thousand words.

Next, you should always made a clear distinction between user-friendly, content-friendly and SEO-friendly characteristics. These are three different nuances of your website and if one of those three pillars is crumbling, the end result will never be satisfying;

While content is king, the audience is the queen. And just like the queens from the classic novels, the audience wants the relevant information. And it wants it now. So if you still think that those long and detailed guides are worth more than shorter and smarter pieces of information, which are keyword-rich and have lots of multimedia, please reevaluate your strategy before it's too late.

Keyword Research Part II: Methods of Keyword Research Different Than Using Keyword Planner

As I mentioned in the previous article, you have a few possible options to find new phrases and synonyms. And these options are not necessarily confined in the Keyword Planner of Google. In general, your possibilities for keyword research include:

1. The classical methods;
2. Forums;
3. Wiki;
4. Google Search Console (Webmaster Tools);

The Classical Methods include AdWords, checking competition (Ctrl+U for source of webpage) and Google Suggest.

Competition Research

Just open a competitor site and explore what kind of keywords he has used in his copy (text). Look in the headings, the beginning of the paragraphs, in image titles. You can also check the source of the web page (Ctrl+U). There you can look for “keyword” (use Ctrl+F) tag and check what they have entered. Bear in mind – not everyone is putting their keywords there. Then you can copy/paste those words in Google Keyword Planner (GKP). Do you remember that “Your landing page” section just under the field where you enter the words? Paste the competitor's URL there. Use the filters and you can get some really neat suggestions.

Google Suggest

Simply type your keyword in Google Search. At the bottom you will find a few suggestions from the engine. When you find something relevant, go one step deeper. There you can find even more synonyms. All of them you can put in GKP to see if the words are worth it.
Advanced Search

The methods above are rather basic and most of the other SEO specialists and writers will use them. So you need something unique. Here are a few suggestions where you can look for keywords:

Forums;
Wikis;
Articles, Reddit subreddits, Moz categories;
Google Webmaster Tools;
Pinterest boards;

Forums

There you can find content written by users. This is very useful, because you will know how a user calls a service. Every topic could be a potential niche and a potential article for your clients! When you find the right thread (use for example “keyword”+”forum/board/forums”) you can paste the URL in GKP. Wikis, competitor sites, Pinterest boards and other URLs can be used the same way.

Webmaster Tools

You can use them to check how people find your website. If you have a new one, it wouldn't be in much use in the beginning. But as soon as you gain some visits, queries or if you already have some, you will be able to see how the users have found your website. For example, you notice that 4 people have seen the site while searching for “app for cleaning house” and there is even one click. Let's say you haven't worked for this word and you have just discovered a new variation of a main phrase. Run in through GKP to check search volume.

411 Locals Keyword Research Part I: The Evergreen Method of SEO & Content Marketing

Let us take a deeper look into the keyword research. What are keywords? Those are the phrases the users enter in the search engines. With them they can find our websites and we, as SEOs and content marketers, must provide them with the best content possible. But the real question is “How to find those keywords?” All of us have some targets, websites, services to work for. This following method should be your starting point;
Keyword Planner

This is the basic tool you’re going to need. It will always be part of your future research, so it's essential to know how to use it. Just remember, this is not the actual search of the phrases. Those numbers are based on AdWords (ads in Google). There are four options you can choose from:

1. Search for New Keyword and ad group ideas;
2. Get search volume for a list of keywords or group them in ad groups;
3. Get traffic forecasts for a list of keywords;
4. Multiply keyword lists to get new keyword ideas;

You will mainly use the first of the aforementioned. The second is for search volume only. The fourth is great when you want to combine words. Let's check option number one.

Your product or service is the place where you enter your keywords. You can add them on different rows or with commas. Your Landing page is the place where you can add a URL, but more about that later. Targeting is the location you are targeting. You can choose the city – London, Sydney, Austin, or you can choose a bigger region – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, etc. Negative Keywords is the place where you put words which you don't want to appear in the suggestion box. E.g – you want results for “carpet cleaning Las Vegas”, but you don't want results like “rug cleaning” to appear. In the negative keywords you enter “rug”. It won't show in the suggestions any more.

Keyword Filters – Here you get three options. The first one is Average monthly searches – you can choose whether the results to have a volume lower or higher than the value you have entered. The second is suggested bid, which is used for PPC campaigns. Ad impression share is also not so important from SEO point of view. But the bottom menu – Competition, is quite significant. Here you can choose the competition of the phrases. High means it is harder to rank for this word, Low is easier.

Keywords to Include – if you want some words to be in the suggestions, add them here. If you use the example above “carpet cleaning Las Vegas”, you can place “carpet” in this box. Now every suggestion will contain the phrase. This is how your result page should look like. Let's start from the top. Modify search is where you can change the phrases you have entered. Search volume trends is when you want to check how the same phrases work for mobile searches. 

Then you have Ad group ideas and Keyword ideas. What you should be more interested in is the second option. Here is where you can check each of the phrases you've entered and their average monthly searches as well as the competition. You can hover over the “?” boxes for more information. That chart icon shows you the search of the keyword for each month for the past year (when you hover). At the bottom you will see the suggested words. There could be hundreds of results. Use the filters to get the most on-point ones.

411 Locals 's Top Priorities for SEO Content Creation

As it's already a common knowledge among the SEO specialists, content is king and the audience is the queen. Creating good content itself is a process that deserves its own ranking factors. Below 411 Locals is showing you the top priorities you need to have in your mind when coming up with content marketing strategy.

Creating More Engaging Content

Having the attention-grabbing formula of success is the first and foremost priority when creating content. Setting yourself apart from the competition does not take a genius. You just need to follow these steps:

Write shorter sentences;
Use power words – Google a list and put it to use;
Utilize headings and subheadings;
Use a storytelling approach;
Involve your audience;
Be confident – IMAO works better than IMHO;
Use information from your niche more often;
Come up with a compelling title, shocking if needs be;

Better Understanding of What Content Is Effective – and What Isn't
As I mentioned before, the best way to measure the online impact of your content is the audience you're building around it. Never forget to publicize your articles and blog posts. Once you do it, use tools that track and show detailed data of your influence.

Finding Better Ways to Change the Purpose of Your Content-ma

If you are a content creator with more than four years of experience, you will find out that most of your texts written in for example, 2012 are just floating around, without specific purpose. You can reforge those raw materials and publish them one more time, as soon as they go out of index.

Creating Visual Content

Visuals make the huge difference between useful information that stays unnoticed and the viral nonsense that everybody's talking about. Add visuals – videos, images, graphic content and more.

Become a Storyteller

People remember stories, not facts. Incorporate your data, watered-down statistics and arguments into a story that will be touching to your audience. This is a tactic of content personalization and better understanding of your readers.

Content Curation

According to the Wikipedia definition, content curation is the process of gathering information relevant to a particular topic or area of interest. Services or people that implement content curation are called curators. Curation services can be used by businesses as well as end users.

Focus on Content Personalization

The content marketing space is full of bland writing that lacks distinction as well as a capacity for understanding a brand’s fit within its margin. In other words, most writers produce content that could fit them OR any of their competitors. This isn’t particularly useful, so focus on the personalization of your writing style. For example, you can diversify your content by considering the average age of your audience. For example, you can include the perspective of recent college grads or mid to late twenty-year-olds. Or else, focus on experienced managers and consultants who need to build teams and learn how to spot the required talents.