How To Write Content Your Audience Needs But Still Please Search Engines

As Search Engine Optimization tactics are pushed harder and harder, content writers are almost forced to decide whether to write content that will satisfy search engines or content that resonates with their audience.

While I understand the pressure to build authority with search engines because without that there may not be an audience to read the content you worked hard to write. However, even with page 2 of Google's SERP looming at the forefront of every article I write I still choose to put my audience first.

My followers are loyal, my followers take time out of their day to read my content, sign up for my newsletters, and truly enjoy reading my articles. A search engine could never bring me that kind of pride. And believe me, I am not downplaying the importance of SEO and the impact properly executing SEO techniques has on content visibility, I am just pointing out that your readers should always come first and that does not mean your SEO strategy has to come last. Both should be taken seriously because the two in tandem can foster results greater than you could have ever imagined!

Creating content that satisfies search engines and captivates your audience is the holy grail of content writing, But how do you strike that perfect balance? That is what I am here to talk about today. I will cover game-changing techniques that prove you don't have to choose between search engines and your audience, you can please them both.

1. Start with a Bang: Craft Irresistible Headlines

There is no arguing that the headline of a blog post is one of the most important factors of the post. It is the first portion of your content to be seen by your audience and by search engines. Your headline also tells the reader and the search engine what to expect from that particular post.

It is an undisputed fact that headliners affect CTR (Click Through Rate) and play a part in where the search engine places your post on its SERP, both are satisfied by completely different aspects of the headline.

Search engines, for instance,recognize well-researched and strategically placed keywords. The impact of keyword research and properly employing keyword research techniques is meant for a post of its own, so for now I just want to drive home the importance and impact that keywords have on search engine ranking and content visibility overall.

Your audience is attracted to completely different aspects of the headliner, most of which they may not even be aware of.

?? Pro Tip: Use tools like CoSchedule's Headline Analyzer to refine your headlines for maximum impact.

2. Tell a Story: The Power of Narrative in SEO Content

People remember stories, not facts. Weave your SEO knowledge into compelling narratives.

Case Study: When I wrote a piece on "How to Recover from a Google Penalty," I started with a real-life story of a small business owner who saw their traffic plummet overnight. The article ranked well for "Google penalty recovery" and saw an average time on page of 4 minutes and 30 seconds – well above the site's average! A clear example of keeping my audience engage while appeasing search engines in the proccess.

3. Visualize Data: Make Complex Information Digestible

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Data visualization isn't just eye candy; it's a powerful way to convey complex information quickly. Create infographics, charts, and graphs to illustrate key points. This makes your content more shareable while also increasing the likelihood of earning backlinks.

4. Engage with Interactive Elements

Keep your readers actively involved with your content:

• Quizzes: Test your readers' knowledge with interactive quizzes.
• Calculators: Create tools that provide personalized results.

Below is an example of an interactive question that is easy and quick to create. I made this example for free using Canva Pro and it truly does make the audience feel more involved incorporating this simple quiz.

These elements increase time on the page and encourage return visits – both positive signals to search engines and a sign that your readers are enjoying the content as well.ee

5. Expert Insights: Bring in the Big Guns

Nothing adds credibility like expert opinions. I reached out to the Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst and Search Relations team lead, John Mueller, for his thoughts on content creation (of course I didn't hear back from him, however, I was able to dig up one of his quotes that alligns perfectly with the subject matter):

"Focus on creating content that solves real user problems. If you do that well, SEO will often take care of itself."

Including quotes from skilled professionals within your niche adds value to your content and for your readers. The more credible your writing proves to be the more trust you will gain and this is true for your audience and buiilding authority.

And hey, the expert you featured just might share your article, further expanding your reach. ??

6. Deep Dive with How-To Guides

How-to guides are the bread and butter of SEO content. They address specific user queries and often rank well in search results. They also have very high CTRs meaning once again you can satisy your audience and search engines.

While How-to guides are highly sought after in just about every niche you can very quickly bore your audience with walls of text and people will start dropping off before you get to the good stuff.

There are, however, ways to keep readers engaged:

• Break complex processes into simple, actionable, relatable steps
• Use plenty of screenshots or videos (the more visually rich long-form content is the higher the odds are that the readers will see the post through to the end)
• Nobody wants to read walls of text with no breaks, it is draining and most often to hard to follow. Again, adds images, videos, infographics, anything that is relevant and gives the reader a short break from reading
• Include real-life examples of each step in action, this will help your audience relate and anytime your readers are relating with you your on the right track!

Example: My main focus used to be educating investors and aspiring investors about cryptocurrency and gave investment advice sharing my opinion of which tokens were going to be the next Bitcoin. My metrics always did pretty well, I had an upperhand due to the popularity of my niche and how undersaturated the cryptocurrency niche was at that point. Despite my decent metrics my air drop guide that covered in detail upcoming air drops, information about the drop and a link to get in line for one saw a 40% increase in social shares compared to my average post, and readers spent an average of 7 minutes on the page!

7. Keep It Fresh: Update Regularly

Search engines love fresh content, and so do your readers! Keeping your content up-to-date is like giving your website a breath of fresh air, ensuring it stays relevant and valuable in the fast-evolving digital world.

Search engines favor recently updated content therefore staying on top of your content ensuring everything is up to date will likely boost your rankings. Not to mention fresh content gives your readers a reason to regularly check in and see what new content you have written. Readers appreciate accurate, up-to-date information, making a habit out of posting content that fits this description will lead to trust and engagement as time goes on.

Updating your content regularly is like tending to a garden – it requires consistent effort, but the results are worth it. Your readers will thank you with their attention and loyalty, while search engines reward you with better visibility.

Wrap-Up

As you learned in this article, when it comes to fulfillment your audience and search engines are looking for many of the same elements they are just interested in completely different aspects of these elements. Making yourself aware of the expectations of your audience and how you can satisfy search engihnes at the same time makes the proccess of gaining a following while improving rank and authority a much easier goal to accomplish!