To maximize your profits from website content, you need to be regular in its development. Often marketers consider effective web content as the end of the success road, but, it is not the case.
Web content if to be result-oriented, has to be refreshed, revamped and updated constantly. Having said that, another common question that arises from here, which might confuse a lot of content marketers, is the list of key points or the checklist to be followed while refreshing or updating the website content.
Now here the idea is not to initiate a brain exercise for the marketers to brainstorm about What? What? What?, but a simple and effective giveaway. Here is the secret checklist that assures an effective way to refresh website content.
Checklist #1: Title Tag & Meta Description
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Title tag – the text that appears on the top of the browser over the address bar in the tab. This is standard and from ages we have been witnessing it on each webpage ever visited. Coding has this text in the <title> tags.
Being the most important element for SEO, it is a powerful indication of relevance and appears as the link on search results pages. Ideal character limit for the title tag is up to 55. So cut it short, crisp & exact.
Note: Don’t forget to insert the target keyphrase at least once in the title. Preferably at the beginning.
Another important element is the meta description. Though meta keywords have lost their worth, but the meta description remains noteworthy. It is the text that is visible in the search results and not necessary that it should also appear in the content of the page.
The “snippet” of text under each search result is either portion from actual content or meta description. In other words, it is the first glance of the content that is in store for the searcher or the user. Hence, making it good is a must.
A simple English summary of your actual content of the page is what your ideal meta description should be. Ideal character limit for the meta description is up to 155 characters.
Note: Don’t forget to insert the target keyphrase once in the title or not more than two times.
Checklist #2: Keyphrase Use & Semantically Linked Words
Using keyphrase and its density in the body of the article is a crucial aspect to take care of. When it comes to density, keyphrase can appear 2-5 times in the content body. We recommend using the words of the target phrase collectively as a ‘bonded’ phrase.
While editing the content, you need make sure that the phrase is used well, but also not overused.
Image Source : Forcepoint
CAUTION!! Over stuffing of keywords is a big NO. Don’t let your readers just go through the keywords again & again. They are smart and you can be easily caught off guilty for ‘keyword stuffing’. Too much repetition can attract bad rankings and chances are quite bright, that you might be penalized.
Further from the specific target phrase, it is advisable to make most of words that are semantically linked to the phrase. Explaining and stretching your meaning by the use of words that closely related to the target keyphrase.
Relevant content and general topic are widely loved by the search engines and offers good search rankings.
Checklist #3: Headline & Secondary Headline
A headline is that part which 60% wins your audience attention. Making sure that it is formatted using the <h1> header tag is a must. Making sure of the aspects like, target keyphrase, indicating relevance to search engines and asserting general topic to headers. Further of all these, the headline should be drafted for readers.
An effective headline can bring in readers’ wandering thoughts to attention. Using special characters generates scope for adding second headline. Which increases the chances of a better engagement rate & conversions. As per a study by The Guardian, ‘headlines with dashes and colons had 9% higher click rates’.
Here are some tricks that can be used you create catchy and effective headlines and also open scope for secondary headlines.
- Advance Content Marketing Guide: 5 Marketing Tricks Search Engines Love
- Promise a specific benefit
- Create urgency
- Use a number
- Ask a question
- Trigger curiosity or emotion
Checklist #4: Featured Image & Secondary Image
Content, either it is a blog or an article, if it has images in it, the chances are very bright that it will have more sharing & clicks over the social platforms.
Images when added to content makes it visually appealing and hence grabs a lot of attention. Another element that gets added to content with images is memory. The pictorial effect makes it memorable.
Note: For your content to be a success, never post an article or blog without an image.
The featured image is a visual face of an article & blog. This image is what most likely will appear on the social platforms when they are seen on social media platforms. Most social media sites show a rectangular area of the image, which is roughly twice as wide as it is tall.
Tall images usually are cropped, as the “aspect ratio” is 2:1 which means showing just the area vertically centered. So social media optimized images must meet one of these criteria:
- Width should be double in ratio as compared to the length or tallness
- The main subject of the image should be visible in the center in a vertical form, rather than somewhere in the top or bottom of the image.
Always make sure that you add the heading as the title in the image, this adds value and meaning to the image. This also increases shares and clicks on the social media platform.
Subheadings and formatting make articles easier to go through or scan, but images altogether builds interest and keep visitors or readers engaged.
Image of 500X500 after few paragraphs can keep the visual attention very easily. At every scroll depth the engagement can get stronger. Today, no write-up is full of just text, images are visibly everywhere.
With most bloggers promoting images in their write-ups, 50% of surveyed bloggers are adding multiple images per post.
Checklist #5: Formatting & Linking
No reader/visitor likes to look at a wall of text. Formatting your content and breaking it into paras & sentences to make it readable is a must. Well-formatted content is truly engaging.
- Short Paras
An ideal length of a paragraph should be no longer than four lines. Using short paras helps the reader to absorb the information gradually and easily. One long sentence or two short sentences can add greater emphasis.
- Bold & Italics
Another excellent way to add emphasis to any text is by using formatting tools. Bold or Italic text naturally attracts attention & also add emphasis.
- Personalization In Tone
Directing your text to a specific person or a group of readers can help you achieve your ultimate goal of converting your reader into a lead or a customer.
Another great way to add emphasis is by linking. Here are various types of links that can be created everytime you are to hit the ‘Publish’ button.
- Link from each new article to an older article
- Link to each new article from an older article
- Link from every article to a product or service page
- A link from each article to the article of an authority or expert with supportive content
Linking is an easy and effective SEO measure. Internal linking between pages, add authority flow between different webpages of your website. External linking though, has way more impact on your rankings. But, with internal linking you easily add target keywords in the anchor text.
Checklist #6: Call-to-Action
Once you are geared up with a well-structured content copy to offer, it’s time to ask for something in return. Every great post has a call-to-action, inviting the visitor to become more engaged with your content or your business.
It can simply at the end, can be kept as an invitation to leave a comment. Adding a question or opinion in the end can allow them to offer an answer.
Another example of an effective CTA can be a one sentence pitch to subscribe to the newsletter. After finishing to read the post, this can be the right point of appreciation and it is very likely that they will subscribe.
For some website pages a CTA might urge the reader to contact. Here the aim is to crack a conversation about how can you be of help to them, in case they turn into a lead.
Checklist #7: Author Box & Sharing
Creating an appealing author box is quite easy, thanks to the leading blog software. However, no matter how easy or difficult it is to create an author box, it is worth the effort. The author gets recognition over various platforms and earns credibility. This reliability helps is enhancing the conversion rate. The perfect author box includes the following:
- Profile picture
- Brief biography (in few sentences)
- Link to the author’s bio on the website
- Link to other social media profiles
- Additional Media Elements
Apart from the author bio, in recent times your content effectiveness highly depends on how well it is shared. The easier it is to share, the more it will be shared. This is another simple way to optimize your content for social media.
With an appealing caption or a tweak, either from the content copy or a line created that briefly explains the content, you can create interest and enhance the sharing rate. Using the article link along with hashtags and mentions is an easy way to make your content shareable.
To Wrap It Up!
Before you press that publish button, make sure you have included everything in your website content. So, did we miss anything? Do share if you any query or suggestion over the checklist to note while refreshing web content, mentioned above.
