Yeah, right. Google is the gatekeeper, but you’re the key-master. Unless you want to go off the grid, take these tips into consideration when creating findable content on the Internet.
Have you ever asked yourself, “What’s the deal with Google? How do things come up in search?” Especially in a Jerry Seinfeld voice? You’ll be happy to know you’re not alone. If you want to be found and have your content show up on Google search, there are a few things you should know. Fancying myself a marketing unicorn, I’m going to tell you what’s up.
Creating content can be challenging in its own right: identifying topics, figuring out what position to take, making it engaging and educational, finding out where to post it, where to share it, and understanding what it all means at the end of the day. Doing this WITHOUT thinking about what your audience is looking for or how they are going to find it will cost you clicks, views, and potentially revenue.
Before we get to some tips, you first must understand how Google works. Google first started out by indexing all the webpages on the Internet. Back then, there were a scant 60 million pages (as compared to the 30 trillion today), of which Google scanned all the text and code on the pages, and indexed the URLs to help them rank in searches. So when you typed into Google, “the best unicorn costume on the planet”, any site that had that set of keywords on their site would come up in the search results.
Pretty good unicorn costume, right? Note: must spray out like bowling shoes after usage.
As the people of the Internet do, they figured out ways to hack the system, with keyword stuffing (ew) and other black hat tactics (that’s bad - hello Westworld). So Google is continually evolving, and as a result, now has a more advanced algorithm that takes into account what was searched, the web pages out there, and if they meet the algorithm’s requirements for “good content” (like having keywords, lots of links to their pages from other high profile sites, relevant and timely content with a good user experience and mobile optimized pages) - in the hopes to serve up the best piece of content that answers the searcher’s questions or delivers on what they were looking for - all so they will do it again and again. And again.
So now that you understand the fundamentals of how search works, what does this mean for you? You, as a content creator, can take into account some of these core best practices to help you be found on Google and take advantage of Google’s algorithm.
1. Give ‘Em What They Want
First and foremost, good content is paramount. There’s no substitute for something that is well written, entertaining, and provides value. How do you know what will provide value and entertain? Do your research. Who do you want to see your content? What are they typically interested in? Better yet, what do you think they are searching for? Try and get in the head of your audience and identify topics for your content that are being looked for on the Internet, of interest to your particular audience, and delivers something of value - even if it’s just a good laugh. That’s in high demand nowadays.
2. Get Tactical
Now that you’ve identified awesome topics that everyone loves, you need to create content that is findable. Sure you can just upload a bunch of images to Facebook and hope that they get found… but it doesn’t really work that way. Google looks for URLs and page content with the text “best unicorn costume” in them if that’s what you searched for. So your image of a Unicorn Costume on Facebook won’t be found because: a) it’s got a URL with a post ID in it (like this - www.facebook.com/Milestonerunshop/posts/1058347337630271 - Shout out to Milestone Running Shop in North Park!) - which isn’t particularly findable, b) there’s no content associated with it that is searchable with natural language and c) Google doesn’t index Facebook content. You can create a blog on a website or post to a platform that is indexed by Google (like Holonis or Medium).
Knowing that Google is looking for keywords and relevant copy to those keywords, make sure you incorporate those in key places (get it… key?) like the URL, the headline, summary of the article, in captions to images and image names. The more times you get those keywords in there, the more important your content seems.
3. Keep Posting
So you create one blog post and you’re irked that no one has visited it? Cocky, aren’t you. Well, it turns out people like fresh content. The more you create, the more people are interested in your content. Same goes with Google. If you keep posting good content, you’ll be seen as a good content creator and that can help you rise the ranks in search results. A couple times a week is good to get started, but start posting daily if you can.
4. Get Some Linkage
Not only does Google check for how your content ranks against the search terms being entered into that empty search box, it also ranks you based on how many other people have found your content interesting and compelling, and if THOSE people (or sites) are relevant. The more links you have to your content (backlinks) the more impressed Google is with you. But just like in real life, if your poor deadbeat cousin vouches for you and writes a job recommendation letter, HIS credibility impacts YOUR credibility. So get some links from others in the same field, who have high authority, are respected, and have their own large audience and following. This will go a long way to giving you credibility and helping your search rankings.
5. Get Creative
When thinking of new topics, you can go a little farther afield from your norm or expertise, especially if it’s relevant to your user base. If something is timely, pounce on it knowing that more people will be searching for it. If you’re going to tell a video story, make sure you pair some of the written word with it. It’s classic, and won’t go out of style. Link to other content to keep people engaged or embed relevant content on your site (with due credit, of course). Also, get specific. Don’t be afraid to focus on very specific topics. There’s an idea of a long tail of search keywords. It’s the Internet. People want very specific things and aren’t afraid to ask for them. You can fill that niche with your blog post on the impact of wearing Star Trek socks to a Star Wars party, and how that can result in a full on gang war.
