Content optimization has become a necessary practice to promote any website online. Whether it’s an online business, information blog, or service-based platform, search engine optimization practices are essential if you want to promote your content online. The best practice for writing optimized content is ensuring that the written material is not plagiarized or copied from any other source without due credits. In addition, you have to write keyword-optimized content that is also readable. To explain things more clearly, we will provide a complete guideline on better SERPs ranking in 2023. These tips will help you secure better recognition in search engine rankings by fulfilling the search engine’s guidelines and conditions. So, follow our step-by-step guidelines that are mentioned below.
1. Perform Keyword Research
The very first step to writing well-optimized content is performing in-depth keyword research. Keywords are used by search engines to find out what kind of topics a website is relevant for. Obviously, that means, your keywords revolve around the choice of your topic.
There are various types of keywords, Searching for primary, secondary, LSI, long-tail, and short-tail keywords is usually best. Each type of these keywords will be featured across your content in various sections.
You can find out various types of keywords by using keyword research tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Ubersuggest. Some of these tools even have daily free uses as well. By using your topic name, or your primary keyword, you can find out the other types of keywords that you can use.
Here is a screenshot from Ubersuggest which shows the various keywords ideas for the primary keyword “Jackets”.
By learning this information, you can optimize your strategy to target words that have a relatively high volume while having a difficulty that you can tackle efficiently.
While adjusting the keywords, ensure you are not overdoing the process by stuffing keywords that don’t seem natural. That’s where keyword variations are useful. They allow you to write content that doesn’t get penalized by search engines for keyword stuffing.
Moreover, search engine de-grades the value of such content by marking it as spam. Therefore, maintain the keyword density by adjusting the proper keywords throughout your content. With a rank tracker, you can trace the effectiveness of your strategies.
2. Write Unique Content
Once you have performed keyword research, the next step leads to creating the content for the website that will feature in SERPs. This content has to be free of plagiarism, and it must contain the necessary keywords that you have extracted from your research.
Writing unique content can become challenging if you’re targeting a competitive niche. Since the internet is your only source of research, maintaining originality becomes a considerable challenge. Moreover, writing unique content is necessary to avoid legal issues such as copyright infringement.
This problem is faced even by honest writers who don’t have any intention to plagiarize content. They can accidentally write something that already exists on an online source. This can get counted as plagiarism, which can cause further problems.
Therefore, it is wise to apply paraphrasing techniques to get help in writing unique content. If you lack proficiency in English, you can paraphrase online to write quality content without plagiarism easily.
Paraphrasing is done with the help of paraphrasing tools. Now, we are going to look at an example of plagiarized content that will be made unique with the help of a paraphraser such as the one by Paraphraseonline.io or Quillbot.
We will use the following 100% plagiarized content:
“Getting the input as per its mode
Once input is pasted, our paraphraser will detect its structure according to the mode selected. In Word changer mode, this rewording tool only changes synonyms in the text. It does not rephrase sentences.
Paraphrase online according to the mode
Content will be paraphrased using NLP technology if the Sentence Rephraser (a.k.a. Sentence changer ) mode is selected. For Paraphrase Text mode, paraphrase online will use GPT-3 technology. And for Text Improver mode, it will paraphrase using multiple models.”
Screenshot of Paraphraseonline.io
We got the following paraphrased output from Paraphraseonline.io:
“Obtaining the input based on its mode
Once the input is pasted, our parser will determine its structure based on the mode selected. This rewording tool only changes synonyms in the text while in Word changer mode. It does not restructure sentences.
Online in accordance with the manner
If the Sentence Rewriter (a.k.a. Sentence Changer) option is selected, content will be paraphrased using NLP technology. GPT-3 technology will be used for text mode on the internet. In Text Improver mode, it will use various models to paraphrase.”
The other paraphraser we used gave us the following results.
Screenshot of Quillbot
We got the following paraphrased output from Quillbot:
“Receive inputs according to their mode
After inserting the input, our paraphrase will determine its structure according to the selected mode. In word change mode, this rephrasing tool only changes synonyms in the text. He doesn’t paraphrase sentences. Paraphrase online modulo
Content is rephrased using NLP technology when Sentence Transformer (aka Sentence Changer) mode is selected. In paraphrase text mode, online paraphrase uses GPT-3
technology. And for text enhancement mode, it is reformulated with multiple models.”
Now we will run the paraphrased content through a plagiarism checker called “Plagiarisma.net” and see the results.
Result of plagiarism check for Quillbot Paraphrase—Plagiarisma.net
Result of plagiarism check for Paraphraser.io Paraphrase—Plagiairsma.net
As you can see, the degree of plagiarism was reduced from 100% to 92% and 72% respectively. So, paraphrasing is indeed effective.
However, do remember this does not mean that you cannot credit the sources from which you took the content. This method is only applicable when using public domain information.
3. Maintain Readability and Intent
Keyword optimization is for the search engine, and the content’s readability is for the audience. Ranking the content is only helpful if you make it readable for the audience.
The intent of your topic should align with the readability style and tone of your writing. For example, using straightforward vocabulary instead of complex terms is vital if you’re writing an informational article.
Similarly, if you’re writing an educational publication, it is recommended to feature formal words and terms.
Maintaining readability is all about mentioning the right words. Remember, using hard and rare words would never represent your proficiency in a language. Instead, always use easy and commonly used words in your writing. It will also enhance readability and decrease the read time of your content.
There are a lot of online tools that can help you evaluate the readability of your content. For example, Hemingway is a popular readability checker. It can help you spot readability issues such as excessive passive voice, hard words, and so on.
4. Optimize Images with Alt Text
Graphical content also plays a vital role in promoting written text. Google also ranks the images based on the information provided in its alt text.
Moreover, it values graphical content featuring infographics, guiding images, featured images, and other visual content that helps improve writing quality.
Alt text must feature the primary keyword of your topic, and it should define the action happening in the image. Moreover, the image should be relevant to the subject and the heading under which it is featured.
Many online images are protected under the company’s license or logo, making them the property of a specific user. Therefore, make sure to feature watermark-free images to avoid copyright infringement.
5. Perform Internal and External Linking
Another essential factor in writing well-optimized content is internal and external linking. Linking helps improve a website’s authority and makes the content more informative for the audience. Both linking strategies have their benefits, which are as follows.
Internal linking is helpful for the audience and the website. The content on a website should be internally linked with the old content. This way, you can keep the traffic flowing on your website to keep the content green. Moreover, internal linking enhances the navigation experience for the user who visits your website by exploring other content.
On the other hand, external linking provides credible information by linking other blog posts or informational content to your website. To perform external linking correctly, it is vital to ensure that links are relevant to your topic.
Conclusion
Search engine crawlers search for quality content on the website to provide value to their users. The algorithms constantly update for improvements to add value to the user’s queries. Therefore, the parameters of content optimization and ranking should be followed appropriately.
This article discussed how to optimize content for better SERPs ranking in 2023. We shared five essential tips with a step-by-step approach to defining how it is approachable to rank higher in the SERPs. We hope this article provides you with valuable information regarding content optimization.
Andrej Fedek is the creator and the one-person owner of two blogs: InterCool Studio and CareersMomentum. As an experienced marketer, he is driven by turning leads into customers with White Hat SEO techniques. Besides being a boss, he is a real team player with a great sense of equality.
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