Content marketing has been around for ages and it’s no surprise that search engines are now starting to evaluate and rank pages based on the user experience that they provide. So if your site is slow, clunky, or has a high bounce rate, then chances are you won’t show up on the first page. And this is crucial because more than 70% of clicks happen on the first page of the search results.

Now, let’s say your site is already optimized for SEO. You’ve done all of your legwork and you’re waiting for the results. How do you get your content in front of the searchers? In this article, we will cover top tips to optimize content marketing for SEO – tried and tested by many a local SEO agency. 

Let’s dive in.

How to Optimize Content Marketing for SEO

1. Do an SEO Audit

The first step is to use an SEO tool like Ahrefs or Moz to see which pages on your site already rank well. Perhaps there are several keywords that your site ranks for already. If there are pages that are showing up on the second page then you should start with those. There are several elements you can change to increase ranking. Add the specific keywords that you are already ranking for into the page title, URL, meta description, and the actual content on the page.

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

2. Do some A/B Testing

A/B testing is the golden cradle of marketing. You should look at all of your pages that rank on the second page of Google and then test a new version of their meta description. You should have one group be a control group – with no change – and the other group of pages with the new meta descriptions. That way you can compare the effects of the change properly. Once you conduct the first A/B test use the data and lessons you’ve learned to set up the next page. Through consistent testing, you can optimize your pages and actually have them show up on the first page of the search results.

Read: What is a Staging Site and Why Do You Need One?

3. Optimize for the Rich Snippet

The rich snippet shows up on top of the first organic search result. It always displays a list of items or steps and seeks to answer a specific question that is searched by a user. In the example below I found a rich snippet for the search query “How to Optimize SEO”.

This is the snippet that shows up before the first organic search result, right on top of the page. The way to optimize your articles to hit this spot is to use H2 and H3 tags for the headers. It’s also important to have the particular keyword(s) in your title, URL, and throughout the article. So start with those long-tail keywords that you are ranking on the first page for and see if you could optimize your article to show up in the coveted rich snippet.

Recap

We’ve covered three tips to optimize your content to show up on Google’s first page. First, look at what is already ranking on the second page and optimize those pages. Second, consistently A/B test to get better and better search rankings. Third, optimize your content for the rich snippet spot. If you follow these tips you will surely see your rankings improve.

推荐阅读：
在一个面积5平方分米的正方形里画一个最大的圆　 数学题：有两个底面半径相等的圆柱，高的比是2:5　 数学题:用这堆沙在5米宽的公路上铺2厘米厚的路面　 数学题：某县城去省城的高速公路长160千米　 数学题：把一个棱长为4分米的正方体填满水　 数学题：一批工人到甲乙两个工地进行清理工作　 数学题:问乙等了甲多长时间？　 数学题:一个商人骑一头驴要穿越1000公里长的沙漠　 数学题：有一个底面周长为9.42厘米的圆柱体，斜着截去一段　 百度算法经常更新要怎么解决？