Writing a blog is no guarantee of ranking for that page in Google. There are companies which do extensive keyword research, write lengthy articles, optimize their headers and post frequently; however, they receive minimal organic traffic on their pages.
In case your content is not ranking on Google, it might not be the lack of keywords on the page that hinders its performance. Content intent, quality of the content, internal linking, technical SEO, competition and website authority could all affect a page’s ranking on Google.
Currently, Google’s guidelines recommend producing high-quality, informative, helpful content that provides value and is not just written for ranking in searches. (developers.google.com)
1. You’re Targeting the Wrong Search Intent
Understanding search intent can be one of the first factors to consider when creating your content.
For instance, when people enter the phrase “how to create a content marketing strategy,” chances are they need some educational material rather than an advertising page; on the other hand, when entering the phrase “content marketing agency,” their intention may be completely different.
Even by adding a lot more keywords, you won’t be able to improve your content ranking if you cannot meet the user’s needs.
2.Your Content Is Too Generic
An article may be written very effectively without providing much value.
When your article just gives the kind of information that exists in many other sites, it is unlikely to attract any attention.
Give your content more value by adding:
- Original examples
- Recommendations
- Case Studies
- Experts’ insight
- Data
- Experience
- Instructions
The ultimate goal must be that your readers find value which is not found in every other article.
3. Your Topic Is Too Broad
Narrow topics can be highly competitive.
Rather than writing a broad article on “digital marketing,” choose to target a certain problem or specific audience.
For instance:
Broad: Digital Marketing Guide
Narrow: Digital Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses
Having chosen a narrow topic allows you to satisfy certain search intent easily and target your specific audience.
4. Your Article Doesn’t Answer the Question Completely
This is not always the case since having long content doesn’t necessarily make it better. It should only aim at providing information relevant to answering a reader’s question.
Incorporate heading and examples that add value, lists, visuals, and FAQs if necessary.
Take into consideration some of the possible questions that a reader will have after the introduction.
5. Your Internal Linking Is Weak
Internal linking allows the users to find information associated with the topic and helps the search engines understand the relation between your website’s pages.
For instance, an article on the content strategy can be naturally linked to your services page that offers you the services of content marketing.
Moreover, even the articles associated with each other can be linked to each other forming topic clusters in turn.
Do not try to put unnecessary links just to increase the number of links. Every internal link must offer your visitors the relevant step forward.
6. Your Content Doesn’t Demonstrate Expertise
Content which displays the expertise and experience tends to win trust of people more easily.
Include wherever relevant:
- Author’s credentials
- Experience of the author
- Examples
- Datasource
- Case Studies
- Experts’ views
It is important to highlight why your company/personal website is qualified to write about the topic.
This point becomes even more crucial when it comes to competitive commercial subjects where numerous websites are discussing similar subject matter.
7. Your Content Is Outdated
Changes in digital marketing happen very often. Strategies, platforms, tools, stats, and recommendations might get out-of-date soon enough.
Check outdated materials from time to time and correct outdated information.
Update examples, broken links, outdated screenshots, statistics, and recommendations.
But at any cost do not alter the date of publication just to make an old article look fresh again.
8. Your Title Doesn’t Match the Search
Ensure that your title tells the readers what they will gain from the article.
Example:
Weak: Content Marketing Tips
Stronger: 10 Fixes to Your Content Marketing Strategy If You Are Not Receiving Organic Traffic
The second title explains the problem and solution much more effectively.
Be truthful in your title and don’t offer information not provided in your article.
9. Technical SEO Could Be the Problem
Your content might be very good but you may face problems where Google is unable to crawl and index the page.
Look for:
- Indexability
- Crawlability
- Canonical URL
- Mobile usability
- Page Speed
- Internal Links
- robots.txt file
- Noindex directives
- Inclusion in sitemap
Even the best article written won’t perform optimally if it is being restricted in being crawled and indexed by search engines.
10. You’re Not Measuring Performance
Publishing is just one part of content marketing.
Use Google Search Console to track:
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR
- Search queries
- Position
- Best performing pages
An article that gets a lot of impressions but very few clicks should prompt you to take another look at its title and meta description.
If it ranks for surprising keywords, it means you should write a little bit more about those issues.
And if it gets virtually no impressions, it is high time to think about all the above factors.
Build a Smarter Content Marketing Strategy
Do not post blogs on random platforms but rather follow a replicable methodology of:
Researching → Understanding Search Intent → Creating → Optimizing → Linking internally → Promotion → Measurement → Updating
This ensures the creation of a sustainable model where helpful blogs are linked to appropriate services offered by the business.
For instance, a blog that talks about the process of lead generation through content marketing can link the reader to the company’s content marketing services page.
If the content isn’t ranked on Google, writing more blogs won’t do much help either.
First off, make sure that the search intent, the quality and originality of content, internal linking, SEO, and performance are analyzed. Only after this, start improving the current blog post rather than writing a new one.
It is important to realize that a good content marketing strategy is not about saturating the webpage with keywords but providing people with valuable and helpful content that creates trust in your company.
If used correctly, good content along with SEO, internal linking, and optimization can be a great long-term tool for attracting people.
