When it comes to content, it’s important to manage your content writer well. SEO mistakes are very common and it’s easy to get lax and lose sight of the ultimate goal.
Content is ultimately for the purpose of driving leads and revenue. Content that isn’t optimized well for SEO is bound to generate a poor return on investment.
Content writers are an important part of any growing business, but having the wrong one is a difficult task.
Before you go and spend more money on a content writer that may only look good on paper, make sure that you aren’t noticing these missteps.
1) Not using exact keyword matching
In the first 100-200 words of the <p> copy, in the page title and meta description, in your <h1> headline, and in two subheadings.
Having it right in the first paragraph is best. This helps search engines know what the page is all about.
There are more areas where your content writer could be using exact keyword matching, so if these bare essentials are not even being met… that’s not good.
Such content is likely to not rank well for very much at all and produce a poor ROI.
2) Alt text missing
Not including descriptive “alt text” for every image and having at least two that include exact keyword matching (especially for the featured image) is a no-no.
3) No upgrades or CTAs
Your content writer or agency is not insisting that every piece of content be accompanied by some sort of “put your email here” tool (i.e a PDF, tool, or presentation)?
Make sure you’re getting leads in one way or another.
Even if your business is ad-based, getting repeat visitors to your site is important. Recycle more of that traffic.
Make sure you have “sign-up” and “get started” CTAs.
4) Lack of internal linking
Not including at least 5 interlinks to existing pages that are high value.
Internal linking is one of the most underrated content marketing strategies.
5) Not reporting on traffic and conversion
If you’re only getting reports on keywords, be on guard.
You should be getting traffic and conversion reports at 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month intervals.