While SEO principles such as keyword analysis, meta tag usage and link strategies are vital to attaining high search engine rankings, content continues to be king. Search engines love to find new content on websites, and lots of it. Therefore, site owners should make it a priority to continually add fresh, relevant content to their portals.
One approach that has been gaining steam among sites across various industries is the use of blogs. A number of webmasters have learned to effectively use blogs to increase their search engine rankings by posting relevant articles with strategic keyword positioning in the titles and within the posts. If one has the resources, ideas and importantly, the time to blog consistently, it can bring very positive and measurable results.
For those who don't have the time or the resources to maintain a blog, there are other ways to increase the amount of content on your site.
A few months ago, my colleague, Bill Cook, posted 4 Low Cost Ways to Promote Your Website. One of his suggestions was to develop an email newsletter. For those of you who took heed, are you archiving your e-newsletters on your site? If the answer is no, you should start doing this immediately, as the content of most newsletters is already optimized for websites. Since newsletters are centered around a particular topic of discussion, whether it is a product promotion, an idea being advanced or simply an informative release, it will tend to be keyword rich by nature. Upon utilizing good file-naming techniques and individualized, keyword rich title tags as well as descriptions, your site will begin to enjoy increased rankings in time.
Perhaps you have a large amount of print materials, such as direct mailings or articles, lying around the office collecting dust. You may want to consider archiving some of these documents on your website. Take full advantage of relevant offline content that can be used to beef up your website, as it gives search engines more content to index, as well as giving your visitors a wider variety of information to consume on your site.
A text rich online encyclopedia, or wiki, is another approach to increasing the amount of content on your site. While it can be an effective tool in raising search engine rankings, it can also display your organization's vast industry knowledge, therefore instilling confidence in the brand. Your website visitors will appreciate your expertise, and the search engines will appreciate, and reward you for the additional content.
As you can see, achieving higher search rankings is just one of a number of benefits of increasing the amount of relevant content on your website. Combining this with other SEO principles will surely result in improved visibility in the search engines.
