SEO storytelling: what’s that?
Once upon a time there were few search engines that regaled the world with all manner of contents (helpful and crappy).
A time came when standardization ruled and those who thought they’ve won the battle quit and went back to another 9 – 5 job.
In line with this, search revolution started and another search engine emerged; more powerful and simplified than all that have ever existed.
This search engine is like a “decent guy whose wife is a perpetual nagger.” This search engine is called “Google.”
Storytelling has been in existence since the dawn of man. And in SEO, it’s become the footprint of achieving success with Google and positioning web pages to show up on search engine result pages (SERPs).
If you want more quality traffic from Google, consider how Ancient civilization used storytelling to entertain, educate and pass on knowledge. These are the three fundamental SEO principles.
Plan Your Content before Writing
I’ve been a victim of this and the reason many people give up in web marketing. Before you put pen to paper or hands to your keyboard, proper planning has to be in place. Planning is not for General Managers alone, it’s for every blogger, webmasters and internet entrepreneurs.
“Your content will go as far as your plan goes.”
When you tell stories in your content, creatively, you streamline the process of indexing and even ‘gladden the heart of Google spider’ to quickly reward you. I’m yet to see anyone who abhors short and interesting stories, especially when such a story is timely, helpful and relevant to the topic under discussion.
I know why so many bloggers complain, and struggle for organic traffic: they’ve neglected story telling in their posts. We’re so serious these days and wants to make quick money, live in affluence and travel the world over. We’ve neglected the real ‘stuff’ that life is made of (sharing, connecting, socializing, communicating etc).
Stories bring us together. Stories entertain, it educates and informs. And in the presence of telling stories, conflicts are settled between two or more clans. Even as a kid, I would stay with my mom as he reads to me and my younger siblings. I love adventure stories, Poetry and Fiction.
Google Loves Short, Real and Unique Stories
It doesn’t matter what you’re writing about; social media, search engine optimization, blogging tips, list building, and info product launch or freelancing, there is a way to squeeze in short stories.
In a relaxed atmosphere, success is always real and obtainable. That’s why, when spouses are in love, they can achieve anything they place their minds and concentrate efforts.
What is Google Really Doing?
Have you ever asked that question? Off course, we don’t have total control over their decisions and steps. But we can do something to win the race even when algorithm tweak is out of reach.
So, what is Google really into and why is everybody talking about them?
Truth is: Google is no your friend and is never in love with any blog. I had always thought Squidoo, hubpages and ezinearticles.com as the best sites, but they’re all gone today.
Google do not care about you or your business and even if you’re a Google Staff, your blog might still be bumped if you fail to walk on the right path. What Google is concerned about is relevant and helpful contents.
Google only cares about two groups of people:
- AdWord Advertisers (The paying cash-cows)
- Web Searches (The free information seekers)
And they also care about a particular kind of content. This content must be:
- Entertaining
- Engaging
- Educating
- Easy to read
- Keyword-based
Every other person and content that doesn’t fall into this category is secondary to their plan. So, where you do come in? Find a way to craft content that has the above properties, and Google will be-friend you.
Let’s quickly consider the 5 special stories Google has been keeping from you. Are you ready? There you go:
1. Search Engine Optimization Requires Time
Don’t believe those so-called gurus who promise to spike-up your blog with thousands of visitors in 2 nights. That’s unheard of in this new age, and much as I know, there is no free lunch anywhere; you’ve got to put in your best before success comes. A new blog might take time before hitting the top 10 spot.
But the time is worth it. Keep doing the right things and you’ll definitely come up when you least expect.
Impatient people seldom make it to Google homepage. Get-it-quick mindset is the reason for failure in search engine optimization. So, stick with proven SEO writing strategies and you’ll see the spike in organic traffic that would stay for years.
2. Keyword Research Tools Aren’t Accurate
If you like, sue me for this, but the reality can never be buried. I’ve used about 7 keyword research tools and all of them have different ways to extracting information from search database.
In all, I rely mostly on Google since it’s the mother-of-all search engines. And more so, we’re optimizing our web pages for Google ranking, so staking your trust could be justified.
But don’t believe the statistics you get. If a particular key phrase receives 12,000 searches locally in a particular month, don’t be surprised it’s actually lower and highly competitive. These keyword tools are guides, to give you an idea of what you’ll be racing against.
The best thing to do really is to understand your niche, what the people are hungry for and brainstorm keywords before using any of the tools.
3. Quality Content Isn’t What You Think
“You should write quality content!”
How many times have you read that on those blogs? Countless times, isn’t it? Now listen to me: quality content isn’t what we know. In fact, we’ve been spoon-fed with lies. Quality content has nothing to do with article length, language or topic.
If this particular post you’re reading interests you, it means I’ve written quality content and that’s what Google is looking for. So, the only justification for quality content is when it solves a particular problem, adds value to reader’s life, help them improve their business, remain evergreen for months/years to come and makes people happy.
If your post lacks any of these properties, you’re getting it wrong. SEO padding is when you write a long post, but after reading it, the reader is still broke, despondent and regretful. There is no harm in making reference to a published post, if it’s relevant. Quality content might not be “entirely fresh.”
Tell me; is there any fresh thing online?
4. Google Spider Is Like a Baby
I’m sure you didn’t know this before? Yes, and like a baby, he needs to be spoon-fed with the right meals. You can’t give a 12-month old baby a hot pizza and expect him to enjoy it.
You first have to cut it into shreds, prepare it for quick and easy digestion and even help the baby to enjoy it. Google spider is like that. If you simply write articles blindly, you’ll confuse them and that’s the beginning of failure. If they eventually index your content, getting it ranked highly will be a problem because you didn’t make it easy.
How do you spoon-feed Google spiders? It’s very simple if you’ve been spoon-feeding your baby or younger siblings. Simply select the right meals (right keywords), cut the meals for easy chewing (begin the title with your target keyword), and cheer them up as they eat (write naturally, putting end user in mind).
5. All Links Are Not Equal
The last SEO story for you lies in the area of link building. Until you understand the hierarchy in the linking system, you’ll keep wasting time building thousands of links and wonder why you’re not ranking.
What makes a link strong and relevant? You’ll be shocked to know that strong links may not come from authority blogs or PR 7 blogs. Strong links that improve SERPs performance is wrapped around ‘relevancy.’
In order words, if the link you got isn’t from a relevant blog, or content, it’s a waste of time and this will take most of your precious time. When building links, concentrate on blogs that have active users – if such blogs and websites have engaged readers, any link from such a place is “strong”, “weighty” and “relevant.”
Tell Your SEO Story
Wow, this is an eye-opening SEO stories about Google. I actually wrote this post from my heart and I hope you add these few tips to your SEO marketing arsenal. Getting traffic to a blog is not as difficult as you think – I admonish you to join Google in making the web a place where people can find valuable, helpful and soul-lifting information. As you do this and forget every red and black-hat optimization tricks, you’ll attract targeted traffic to your web pages effortlessly.
What’s your story? Share your experience and share this post with your readers and social fans. See you at the top!
Image Credits: chaostoclarity and agentseo