How important is content driven SEO?
Google is ever more sophisticated at picking sites which creep up the rankings and sit on the throne - page 1 of a
search. Never has quality content been so important in determining your rank, according to Julian Thompson, Head of
Digital at MOSH, the country’s top social media agency. ‘In the past people believed that simply repeating key words and
phrases was a big factor in improving your page’s leap up the list but Google is way cleverer than that. Google is,
first and foremost, a search engine and so tries to find pages with content most relevant to your search. A good
internal link structure and media integrations within the page correlate with good rankings. Key factors include Google
plus shares, Facebook shares and backlinks.’
Recognition across social media plays an enormous role, not least because of the vast amount of activity on these
platforms. Facebook comments, likes and shares as well as Google plus, tweets and links on Pinterest give weight to
rankings so it’s vital these areas are linked within an organisation.
Jon Randles, Head of Strategy at MOSH says ‘When we analyse and assess our clients’ social media presence and
performance, I’m often surprised that there are different teams to produce content, manage social media and SEO is
frequently outsourced. As these three areas are inextricably linked it is vital they are run by the same team or at the
very least, clear lines of communication are established to enable SEO maximisation.’
Thompson concludes ‘Write for your audience, not for an algorithm at Google you aren’t entirely sure of. There’s no
point in trying to trick Google. Equally, Google want the most appropriate and relevant content according to each search
so if you provide exactly what your audience want, they will share it across social networks and link back to it thereby
fulfilling the biggest factors in SEO.’
ENDS