Weekly SEO Tip: Which Elements Impact Your Content’s SEO Value?

With marketers focused on developing distribution models to get more engaged eyes on their content, search engine optimization (SEO) will inevitably become a component of their jobs.

Advanced search engine algorithms like Google’s Hummingbird have brought a whole new meaning to relevance when it comes to organic search. Now, an article’s implied meaning can be accurately represented in search engine results pages (SERPs) when a user looks for information on the web.

This week’s SEO tip showcases a new function of Google’s SERP and explains the on-page content elements that make one page rank higher than another.

What’s the New Feature?

By now, we’ve all engaged with Google’s Knowledge Graph. See an example below:

But what few of us may have noticed is that Google continues to push the boundaries beyond the box you see to the right of SERP links. In fact, the search engine has been proactively updating what it includes in rich snippets, linking the Knowledge Graph to other aspects of SERP optimization.

This new feature—structured snippets—incorporates information into rich snippets in search results. See Google’s example below:

Based on the information found within the page content, Google is listing more facts in the search results to help users find the content most relevant to their needs. Obviously, this puts greater pressure on content creators and SEOs to get the right information on a given page. But what exactly does Google look for when determining rankings, and how can you apply this SEO tip to your work?

Searchmetrics Report Reveals On-Page Elements of High-Ranking Content

According to Searchmetrics’ Ranking Factors Study 2014, there are dozens of search signals that contribute to a page’s SEO worth on the Web. For our purposes, some key qualities of custom content can influence what’s shown in the Knowledge Graph.

Searchmetrics makes some concrete recommendations regarding what to include in custom content and what not to include. Here are common qualities of high-performing assets:

• They’re comprised of around 975 words.
• They have semantically comprehensive wording.
• They feature higher word counts using relevant topic terms.
• They contain content with other media, like images and videos.
• The average number of internal links of URLs ranking in the top ten? 130.

Here’s what you should avoid:

• Adlinks (which are rare in top-ranking pages)
• Keyword stuff

Why Does This SEO Tip Matter?

The way you write your content is increasingly important to where it shows up on the web. Google has made great strides to connect what’s good for the reader with what succeeds in search. Consider the insight above when you’re formulating your next article or series of blog posts, and then look out for any SEO lift you may experience as a result. I’m interested in what you find!

Check back next week for another Weekly SEO Tip. If you’d like to learn more about how Skyword can amplify your content strategy, request a platform demo.