If you read part one of our post panda content strategy series you will have learned the basics of how to go about planning your content for the post-Panda world.
As we know this new algorithm/algorithm filter has placed a great deal more emphasis on QUALITY content and there is no better place to look for inspiration than specialist magazines when searching for ways to improve your writing for targeted visitors. I know this as I spent the first chapter of my career working within the industry and had the opportunity to learn several from some of the very best.
The aim of all online content creation, of course, is to create AUTHORITATIVE articles and, in light of the new Google Author markup, begin earning some ‘author rank’ for yourself and your writers. (We will be writing a separate piece on why we think the rel=author addition could play a huge part in the future of search marketing in our next piece.)
So, the question is: How do you combine what they have learned with what you need to include technically for the perfect online article? Here are a few of our thoughts.
Segmentation
You will already know how to choose your subject matter from part one of our guide but the one area we didn’t touch on is the classification of the article you are about to create. Rule one of any good writing plan is to group your good content ideas into segments that, simply, fall into these three areas:
- Product Guides
- Advice Articles
- News
Your writing style should differ depending on which of the above your chosen piece falls into (there is more advice on online content segmentation and article structure on our blog).
Once you have decided which hole your piece sits most naturally in it is then time to start thinking about the technical structure of your article.
External Linking
One real eye-opener for us in recent weeks has focused around some A/B testing that we have been carrying out. By comparing very similar pieces on similar domains we have seen that those featuring one or two OUTBOUND links have consistently outranked those without, as Google looks to promote those writers that share knowledge and look to link out to other authoritative content.
It makes perfect sense too. If you are writing a detailed, class-leading piece you would naturally link out to other articles on similar subjects to help add depth to your own article (see any quality scientific thesis for a great example of this).
You should then also link internally to one or two pieces of your own related content and also include bold tags where appropriate (but please do not overdo this).
Check your Work
Before you publish do get another person to check over your work for flow, tone and errors and it can also be useful to run it through a simple online keyword density tool to check that you have not overdone the keywords and have also not forgotten about your Meta.
Panda has put more emphasis on the quality and depth of content and that does mean more work and a much more professional approach to your writing. That’s a good thing for search ultimately, but it means that we must all now start thinking like pro writers – and there are few better examples than in the specialist magazine world. So go get yourself a copy of Men’s Health or Knitting Weekly this weekend and study it like never before! They might be writing it on the wrong medium but the content is still tip-top!
Five Things to Take Away
- Decide whether your piece is a product guide, piece of advice or is news. Write it in an appropriate way to fit that segment.
- Ensure your article features H Tags and you break your writing up into bite-sized chunks.
- Link out to authoritative content.
- Include bold text and internal links.
- Check your piece with a density tool to prevent spam issues.
By Simon Penson, Founder of ecommerce SEO, online content and advanced link building specialists Zazzle Media. (@simonpenson)
