How to Create Helpful Content That Actually Ranks
Most people assume that SEO writing is simply hitting the keywords, and that's one part of the truth. Based on Google's recommendation of E-E-A-T, a text, article or post ranking on a search engine requires more than just knowledge from the author. In this blog post, we'll be addressing what makes a textual piece of content helpful and how it can rank in searches.
A Refresh on E-E-A-T
Previously covered in our Why Thin AI-Generated Blog Content Does Not Rank Well, the E-E-A-T recommendation by Google refers to the following:
- Expertise: expertise that comes with theoretical knowledge or certification
- Experience: the experience of having tested and tried possible solutions before sharing findings and using that as a guide to understand what the target audience is looking for
- Authoritativeness: possessing a consistent tone and having answers that prevent further searching because of clarity, not frustration
- Trustworthiness: the ability to source information and editorial transparency
But there is a twist to it.
Helpful Content is For Humans
Not Google.
The trick to understanding how content ranks isn't because Google reads. And no, not because it has an internal evaluation team to sift for content quality.
Spoiler alert: Google tracks user behaviour instead, based on keywords in the title and which links users click more frequently. These first-time clicks from new users are called views.
When an article has important information, the user stays on the page longer and may click an internal link. These are referred to as backlinks. (Psst, we did internal linking above!)
The goal for most websites is to earn authoritativeness and trustworthiness — by utilising its pages to keep users around on the same domain (your website dot com) for as long as possible. That is what helps content rank higher.
Meanwhile, expertise and experience mostly comes through in writing.
How to Write Helpful Content
The starting point? Niche down.
By focusing on your specialty, the aspects of expertise and experience further underlines the trustworthiness and authoritativeness. Having a primary focus means providing a solution only you with your skills and experience can give, thus establishing topical authority.
Once again, it is important that you centre your writing and blog posts around people-first content. Once readers engage with your content, that is when the blog SEO does its part — by tracking behaviours and pushing helpful content upwards in the results!
Most importantly, is adding value to your content quality. To do so, having a specific audience in mind helps.
Figuring out the audience shouldn't be hard. Consider the kind of questions you'd think when searching, and that's the kind of mind space you should be responding to. You can't always assume to know your audience to a T, but you can assume that they are hungry for information just like you were.
Which is why it's always important to consider to yourself, "what are the questions I would like addressed by this article?" and "why would I want to trust this author's perspective?". These provide great launchpads for original insights and content quality.
The Slash Studios MY Takeaway
We are a group of creatives, carving a spot in the marketing scene with more than just service. We aim for "marketing that makes you feel" and choose to work with "brands that care".
A lot of our work aims for wit and emotions, all the things that add a little "wabi-sabi" against the monotonous and minimalist. If we're writing helpful content, we want to maintain a balance between informative and personality, because that's what adds a sprinkle of E-E-A-T to our work.
Slash Studios MY is a 360° growth marketing agency, and our work encompasses end-to-end social media management, website and brand building. From the aesthetics to the vibes, Slash Studios MY aims to make sure your marketing hits the right spot, powered by our strategy, storytelling, and strong creative execution.