Optimizing content for SEO is one of the crucial parts of a complete website development process. Lately, content SEO optimization went beyond focusing almost solely on keywords, to providing a quality user experience and trustworthy content. How did we get there?
Well, in today's digital world, users know exactly what they're looking for and search engines, mostly Google, are improving their algorithms to better address the users' intent.
To help you better understand how to please search engines and your customers, we are going to provide you with four tips on optimizing your content for trust and customer experience.
1. Tap into user-generated content
2. Match user intent
3. Offer quality
4. Add visuals
1. Tap into user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC) refers to original content created and posted by customers.
UGC can be in the form of videos, images, or testimonials and, in some cases, even podcasts. If you have ever seen an "unboxing video," you've seen UGC. To efficiently manage and showcase these testimonials, utilizing a dedicated video testimonial app can be incredibly beneficial. UGC can include videos, images, or testimonials, and even podcasts with subtitles. Leveraging an AI video editor can simplify the process of creating professional and visually engaging content. Managing these testimonials is easier with a dedicated video testimonial app.
With online users demanding more from brands, you need to find more ways to gain their trust and fight your competition along the way. This is why UGC, as a form of authentic content, has far more success in converting users than other forms of content. Harnessing the power of user-generated content agencies becomes pivotal for brands. Collaborating with a user-generated content agency empowers businesses to curate a diverse range of content, from engaging videos to compelling testimonials, fostering an authentic connection with their audience.
Studies have shown that consumers are 2.4 times more likely to recognize UGC authenticity compared to content generated by brands.
This all sounds great, but how do you improve your UGC strategy?
We thought of that too and created a list of the top 3 tips for improving your UGC:
- Don't forget to ask for permission – asking for consent before you use or re-share customers' content is a must.
- Give credit where credit is due – by giving credit to the original creator, you show that you appreciate the work of original creators and you encourage them to keep posting content related to your brand.
- Make sure that UGC creators know what kind of content you want and need - this way, you will align your UGC and campaign strategy with more ease.
It's not a secret that people will always trust people more than they trust brands, so try to profit from it.
2. Match user intent
Meeting the customers' needs has become very important for any business's success. So understanding search engine optimization, SEO tools, and focusing your content on user intent will benefit your SEO strategy greatly.
The first step is identifying the user intent, and this can fall into three categories:
- Informational – searching with the intent of learning something about a particular topic.
- Navigational – searching for a specific source, website, or page.
- Transactional – searching for a product or service.
The next step is to optimize your content in relation to where the user is positioned in your sales funnel. Tools like Semrush supports content optimization at various stages of the sales funnel. In its free trial you can Keyword Magic Tool, which can be used to target broad search queries related to your industry. You can also access SEO Content Template tool provides recommendations on how to enhance your content's readability, relevance, and structure based on top-ranking pages, ensuring that it resonates with users who are considering their options.
When your users are in the first stage, awareness, they look for general information such as answers to specific questions or data. They may also want to gain knowledge on a specific matter.
To streamline your ebook creation process, consider using a professionally designed ebook template that aligns with your brand and messaging or you can use an ai ebook generator from Visme.
When your users get to the middle of the funnel, the evaluation stage, they start to evaluate whether they are going to engage with your business or not.
This is where you need to provide them with enhanced content, such as product manuals or product demonstrations.
When they reach the bottom stage of your sales funnel, they show an intent to buy your product or service. To give them that final push, offer them various discounts or free trials. Working with professional product development companies ensures your offerings are finely tuned to convert potential customers at the bottom stage of your sales funnel.
Matching user intent is an important part of customer experience and Google takes customer experience very seriously.
3. Offer quality
Creating content that people need and want to engage with is the definition of quality content.
When you create your content for quality, make sure that it provides the information your users are searching for. This is where keyword research becomes useful.
Conducting keyword research will help you with defining what topics you need to cover in your content.
Another thing you can do to improve your content quality is to make your content easy to read. This includes the structure of your texts and the words you chose to use.
Make your text easy on the eye by using multiple headings and paragraphs. This way, your texts won't come across as too tiring for people to read them.
Always keep your content up to date to make sure it's relevant at all times. By doing this, you show your users that they can always come to you when they want accurate and relevant information.
Creating quality content is very important if you want to set yourself as an authority in a certain field and authority builds trust in your business. Especially if you are using a client self service portal, crafting quality is essential to provide customers with valuable and accurate information, ensuring a seamless and trustworthy customer experience.
4. Add visuals
People tend to respond better to visual content as it attracts their attention more than text. It requires a little more time and, in some cases, investments, but if you want your customers to spend more time reading your content, you must include visuals in your content strategy. You can even use videos to make the content more accessible by turning to video marketing services and getting high quality videos.
Here are the most important types of visual content:
Images
Dividing your text with high-quality and relevant images makes it easier for people to read it.
Articles that have inserted images get 94% more views than those that don't. This is due to the fact that people's attention span is getting shorter and shorter.
You can choose between original images or use some of the free images on photo-sharing sites such as Imgur, ImageShack, or Behance.
Videos
Videos can be very useful in adding quality and value to your content strategy. By utilizing tools that allow you to edit video online, you can easily create and enhance your video content. Types of videos that can serve these purposes include how-to videos, demonstrations, customer testimonials, and even animated videos if you want to go that extra mile. If you're just starting your business journey you can collaborate with startup video production companies to create professional and engaging videos that effectively communicate your message and showcase your products or services.
You can use various tools to help you create engaging videos such as Adobe Spark, Clipchamp, WeVideo, and others.
Infographics
Infographics are very useful as they can simplify complicated data and statistics for your users. The information you portray with your infographics must be accurate and relevant to the text. An infographic timeline can also be an effective way to showcase chronological data visually. Plus, you can make accessible presentations with the help of an AI PowerPoint maker that will create captivating slides in seconds.
Presentations
Presentations became more accessible with the emergence of sites like SlideShare and they are no longer restricted to boardrooms only.
The benefit of presentations is that they are accessible to a wide range of people regardless of the type of devices they use.
Just as web design experts in Miami emphasize the importance of visuals and user
experience on websites, the same principles apply to presentations.
Pay attention to the design, colors, and fonts of your presentation. Make sure you use trustworthy sources to back up your claims.
Visuals help you with your content shareability and engagement. Furthermore, visuals instantly grab attention and transfer information more efficiently.
Conclusion
Optimizing your content for trust and customer experience requires some time and dedication, but if you want your business to be successful, it is an absolute must.
Always aim for quality before quantity and your customers will reward you with their trust. This will make you recognized as an authority in your field and as such, you will be ranked higher in the search engine results pages.
Better ranking means more traffic, which ultimately leads to more conversions and increased revenue, and that is a universal goal for all businesses.