In the competitive media industry, publishing good content doesn’t guarantee a good search engine ranking. Posting relevant content will only do half the job. In this article, you will find some essential SEO tips for publishers that will help strengthen their positioning in SERPs.
Google’s algorithms have become increasingly sophisticated by smartly identifying the best sources of information for readers. Google aims to organize the world’s information to be universally accessible.
To achieve this, Google updates its algorithms almost six times daily for better results. We can help search engines better understand our sites by adopting some smart practices. It is also recommended to use wordpress and plugins for this. Given below are some of the tips on how to do this.
1. Follow on-page SEO best practices
Your On-page SEO best practices should align with certain content guidelines. Keep in mind the following points:
- Always write your titles using keywords and try using them early in the title.
- Invest time in writing meta descriptions. Use keywords with a compelling CTA to attract readers to click on your page.
- Make your callouts and headlines on the inside pages, like the title. You can also use them differently, which may confuse the readers.
- Use subheadings to group similar topics in your content. This contributes to the reader’s experience. Adding subheadings can drastically improve the scannability of your content.
2. Optimize your site’s architecture
Google prioritizes user experience. In 2021, Google officially made Core Web Vitals a ranking factor. When it comes to experience, it doesn’t essentially indicate performance. Loading speed is crucial, but there are other factors as well that play a pivotal role. Make sure your site is intuitive and easy to navigate. You can improve this in the following ways:
- Have a clear navigation
Show your users a transparent navigation that creates a clear picture of what they will find on the site. Use concise menus (mobile and desktop) and lead the visitor through the crucial areas of your site.
See the headline of The New York Times. See how enlightening it is. Each piece of information is meticulously provided.
- Show your editorial universe on the homepage
Every user who visits your homepage must understand who you are and what you do. Consider that not all visitors will visit your homepage, and those who do should be able to locate themselves quickly through the menu or the footer.
The above is the footer from The New York Times. A user can access all categories, manage subscriptions, etc.
- Have a sitemap
Adopting a sitemap is a good practice when the publisher is complex or extensive, such as a large newspaper. Sitemaps help readers and search engines find and index your entire site. You can also generate sitemap xml WordPress for further clarity.
3. Add the author’s image and biography
Google pays enormous attention to concepts such as E-A-T, which stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Adding the author’s bio may not add to ranking, but it will surely offer more transparency about who produced the content. Avoid using author names such as admit, team, or editorial staff. Using an individual’s name provides more clarity.
4. Optimize for Google Discover
Discover is a Google product that offers personalized content to each user. It can drive heavy traffic, but you need to adopt certain practices:
- Publish high-quality and reliable content.
- Try producing evergreen content because it has a better chance of being displayed on Discover.
- Use images and videos to enrich the visitor’s reading experience.
5. Publish news quickly
News is all about being fast and accurate. Publishing news quickly can make a huge difference and help you stay ahead of the competition. Publishing news first can determine whether a story gets 10,000 or 1 million page views. You can do the following:
- Follow your competitors on social networks.
- Join different Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
- Create Twitter lists and follow feeds from various handles.
- Consider using an amp on WordPress for faster loading of your content.
What if you fail to report it first?
Publishing original content doesn’t translate to posting something new. If you couldn’t break the news first, put your creativity to use. Use a slightly different approach, a personal opinion, to give a new angle to the same story. Apply your point of view and try to take advantage of this way.
6. Use a suitable featured image
An attractive image for traditional search or Google Discover can grab readers’ attention quickly. Original graphics, images, and custom images can generate higher engagement.
If you are using an image from a third-party website, make sure it is free from copyright and not used on several other sites. Make sure you optimize images for SEO. Things you can do:
- Compress image size to improve page load time.
- Use relevant file names, and if possible, try using keywords too.
- Use the alt tag on images.
- Keep in mind the path structure of the images because Google considers this for ranking the images.
- Make sure your images are mobile-friendly.
7. Produce evergreen content
Though the news industry runs on factual content, you should also try to publish evergreen content because it doesn’t age quickly. If a post has stopped getting traffic, consider turning it into something timeless. You can try the following:
- Update facts, statistics, or images that may be out of date.
- Review the CTAs of the story.
- Add new material.
- Write new introductions and conclusions.
- Redirect (301) all old content to a new page on the topic, thus maintaining any SEO gains already made.
8. Include visuals
Users want visual content. Images and videos can significantly boost the chances of content getting higher views. Add videos to your posts whenever possible. Consider including the video transcript in your content. Also, don’t forget to optimize the content elements of videos for SEO purposes.
Likewise, infographics and images are valuable for your SEO strategy. You can include keywords and improve the readability and rank of your content.
9. Follow editorial guidelines
Google loves well-written and engaging content. But do you know what it adores even more? Relevant and authoritative content written by a subject matter expert. Make sure you possess this authority and expertise by staying within your editorial universe. Choose the topics carefully and provide thorough information around them. Don’t write content on off-topics.
10. Publish
You can always expand your content reach by sharing it on multiple platforms. Consider sharing your content on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Keep in mind that each platform will attract a specific audience. Continue to publish content regularly while using best practices for content production.
After following the above tips, you will be amazed to see how your content will attract the audience.
