Content Development Tips

Read these 13 Content Development Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about SEO tips and hundreds of other topics.

Don't Saturate to Optimize Your Website
There is a distinct difference between providing content that is rich with relevant keywords and providing content that overuses the keywords. Content that has a keyword density that is too high may be flagged as illogical by search engines. As a result your website may be penalized for word stuffing. Also, if your content is virtually saturated with keywords, visitors are not likely to see the benefit of your content. If visitors do not think your website is useful, they are not likely to return and they are not likely to create back links to your website.

Fresh Content Leads to Higher Search Engine Rankings

Keeping your content fresh can help you to increase your search engine placements. Some website owners obtain high search engine rankings and then make the mistake of not wanting to change anything about their website because they don't want to negatively impact their rankings. This strategy is faulted because it is fresh content that keeps visitors coming back to your website. Try rotating your content at least once per month. You will enjoy high traffic to your website which could result in increased rankings.

Is There a Duplicate Content Penalty?

Whether or not popular search engines oppose a penalty for duplicate content is under debate in the search engine optimization (SEO) community. Some argue that it is merely a myth while others testify they have seen a tremendous boost in ratings by simply replacing any duplicated content. One of the main reasons search engines may impose a duplicate content penalty is to avoid serving up nearly identical pages in their rankings. This is not useful to those who use the search engine and may cause people to opt for a different search engine. To be on the safe side create original content on your website and place a copyright notice on your website restricting others from using your content. Also, frequently search for duplicates of your content and contact the webmaster to inform them of the copyright infringements.

Bulleted Content is Easy to Read

Keep your web content easy to read and scan. One way to do this is through the use of bulleted content. Use bullets to highlight key points in your article and to give the reader a good overview of what the article covers. Easy to read text on your website will keep visitors interested in your content and returning to visit. Your search engine placements can benefit from providing content that is appealing to readers.

Hire a Professional Copywriter

One of the best ways to ensure your web content is contributing to solid search engine rankings is to hire a writer with experience writing search engine optimization (SEO) content. One reason to hire a professional is they have the experience and knowledge of SEO to provide you with content that is optimized for search engines. Another reason to hire a writer is they have the talent to create articles that are not only original, informative and interesting but also use your keywords in a way that appears completely natural. You might pay a substantial amount up front for the work of a professional SEO writer but in the long run the benefits you will gain from their work more than compensates for the initial investment. Retaining their services to keep your content fresh can help you to maintain your search engine rankings.

Great Content From Great Writers

Great content is more than useful information. It's compelling, entertaining writing that hooks readers and keeps them coming back for more. After all, searchers are readers. So a successful organic search marketing strategy begins with hiring freelance writers who now what they are doing, like the ones who work for LifeTips. We carefully screen them and hire only the best. Tips that really work aren't easy to write, but our writers have it down to a science. Get the Gurus - LifeTips' writers.

Do Create Useful Content

In optimizing your website you should evaluate the usefulness of your website to visitors. If your website offers interesting information, quality products or helpful services, you are already on your way to increasing traffic to your website. Search engines may be tricked by search engine optimization (SEO) strategies that are geared at increasing rankings and not necessarily providing a quality website but visitors to the website are not likely to be impressed by these techniques. Providing a website that is useful to your visitors and contains quality content will keep visitors interested in your website.

To Optimize Your Website Keep Paragraphs Short

Short paragraphs of 3-5 sentences are ideal when you are creating web content. Website visitors are looking for information quickly. Longer paragraphs are not appealing to most website visitors because it can be difficult to figure out what the paragraph is about right away. Shorter paragraphs can be scanned quickly and the visitor can determine if they wish to continue reading your website. While shorter paragraphs may entice visitors to stay on your website longer, if your content lacks interesting and accurate information visitors will soon exit your website.

Content and Search Engine Optimization

The content on your website should be relative to the overall theme of your website. It should also be written in straightforward language that is easy for visitors to follow. If your content is relative to the keywords you seek to optimize for, you will naturally use these keywords repeatedly and will achieve a keyword density that does not appear forced. Content that is relative and straightforward will also engage readers and keep them returning to your website

Tips for Allowing Others to Duplicate Your Web Content

As the debate on whether or not search engines penalize for duplicate content, there are those who take both sides of the argument. Whether you believe the penalties exist or not, there are some precautions you can take to potentially avoid a penalty if it does exist. Some website owners provide content in exchange for links to their website. The theory behind this strategy is the inbound links will more than compensate for any penalties that may exist. One way to safely allow others to use your content is to provide the content to them in a text only format. This ensures the other website owner will have to do some coding to place the article on their website. The coding is very likely to create enough of a difference in the content that it is not viewed as duplicate content.

Use Keyword Variations to Optimize Your Website

One mistake that novice website owners make is not taking advantage of keyword variations to optimize their website. Repeating the same keyword throughout your article may result in a high keyword density but it might be worthwhile to replace a few of those original keywords with variations of the keyword. While it is a good idea to do keyword research to determine which keywords are popular in search engines, it is important to remember that not all Internet users think alike. For example, a website on keyword variations should contain keyword derivatives or keyword deviation as these might be terms used by Internet searchers. Fill your web content with keywords and variations of these keywords in a natural way and your website will appeal to both visitors and search engines.

Resist the urge to use too many keywords

Even though META keywords are less important now than they were 5 or 10 years ago, you still need them in your site. After all, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of search engines and they all rank sites differently. The META keyword tag can accept up to 35 keywords. Don't use all 35. When search engines see a page with 35 keywords in the META tag, it views that site as not tightly focused enough. Instead, use 8 or fewer highly relevant keywords per page to achieve better rankings.

Keywords are decreasing in importance

At one time, having the right keywords in your META tags was the key to SEO success. Not anymore. As search engines and their ranking techniques have gotten more complex, META tags have taken on less importance in good search engine optimization. You still need to use them wisely and effectively, and keywords placed elsewhere in your site are still very important, but bear in mind that Google employees have published documents stating that Google pays almost no attention to META tags anymore.