Answer Questions in Content for Quality Website Results
The Every Second Answer
People ask questions every second on the internet. They expect Google and other search engines to give them an answer in less than a second.
Google doesn't provide statistics but Hubspot estimated the number of search queries Google processes.
It's estimated Google processes approximately 63,000 search queries every second, translating to 5.6 billion searches per day and approximately 2 trillion global searches per year.
So out there in the web verse people have questions about problems and needs your business can solve.
The important thing to do for your business is to answer those questions that relate to your business. You want to answer clearly in a well-structured content environment to help search engines find your business as the answer.
Your Brand
Your brand is you – your voice, your personality, and your passion for what you offer. It is who you are as a trade waver and who you want the consumer to be. It is this brand personality that can serve as the voice they use to communicate their needs to you.
Your brand message must be consistent wherever you appear on the internet. Your website, social media, videos, etc. must all convey a clear sense of who you are as a business.
This business presence is called EAT - experience, authority, and trust. Approach your web presence with consistency.
Wherever a reader finds your business, they need that consistency to immediately understand your brand. For example, what they see on YouTube relates to what is on your website.
You'll ensure that the traffic that comes to your business is the right traffic.
Content for Answers
When you write content for potential clients and customers, make sure it aligns with your brand presence. Base content creation on two ideas:
Your brand message
Clear, concise answers to questions
You'll bring the right visitors to your site if your message is on brand and demonstrates how your business solves a need.
Think Questions
With all those questions floating around on the internet, some are going to pertain to how your business solves problems for your customers.
One of the best ways to create relevant content is to think about questions potential customers ask about your business.
You need to think, customer first.
You know your business, especially how you differ from your competitors. You may be tempted to create content about all the ways your business is unique. You want to tell the world how great you are.
Before you do that, examine the questions real people like current customers ask. Collect those questions. Then start a process to answer each of those burning customer questions specifically.
Those answers are the ones search engines will find and display for people needing your product or service.
Develop a System to Answer Questions in Your Content
Set a clear goal to answer questions with each piece of content you develop. The first step is to answer basic questions from customers and potential customers.
Later, you can create a content strategy to fill in more advanced answers about the unique features of your product or service. First, you want to build from the basics.
List the Most Prevalent Customer Questions
Gather a list of questions from customers from all resources like phone conversations, social media questions, and those on the web.
You can also use Answer the Public, a search listening tool. It scours the web for pertinent questions according to the topic you enter.
Then, create a piece of content for each question that answers it in a clear, succinct manner. Make sure to add a call to action at the end of the content piece, encouraging potential customers to get in touch.
Understanding your customer will help you address their needs. Take the time to know the basics about your customers’ needs.
What matters to them?
What are they looking for/what problem are they trying to solve?
What do they most love about your product and the experience?
How would your most passionate consumers describe your brand and the benefits?
Focus on a Topic at a Time
Search engines respond to content that is clear and focused on a single topic.
In the old days of search engine optimization, people used the term Keyword. In today's search environment, you can use keyword tools to search for relevant topics. The trick is to think of those words as topics rather than keywords.
Write your content focused on one topic. You can use relevant synonyms and search engines will understand. The days of keyword density where you kept using the same word over and over are gone. Search engines are more intelligent now.
Use natural language to express your ideas. Think of yourself talking to one person who asked the question your content answers. It's like someone who visits your business or who you meet at an event.
Keep your language clear and to the point. Unlike a real conversation, your website visitor doesn't have an opportunity to ask questions on the spot. That's why you want a call to action at the end so they will reach out to your business.
You can check your content relevance by using a tool like INK to guide you through creating excellent content for search engine discovery.
Share Your Content
Don't keep your content a secret. It's all well and good to write content that search engines prefer as answers. But you can enhance your online presence by sharing your content. Use snippets to create short posts for social media. If you have a YouTube channel, base a video on the content piece.
Sharing your content builds brand awareness. The term is called content curation.
If you've made sure your brand has a consistent message on all web channels, you'll build trust and increase brand awareness by sharing your content.
Next Level Content
Concentrate on answering those basic customer buying questions first. Then, expand your content to include answering questions for existing customers to help familiarize them with all the benefits of your product or service.
Approach the expanded content in the same way:
focus on one topic
write in natural language
use short paragraphs
include a call to action
Always Think Answers
Your target audience is out there trying to solve a problem. Help them learn about the solutions your business has to get the help they need.
Stay focused. Answer questions.
Let’s talk about creating your dynamic business web presence - content customers love while improving organic search results. Semantic writing works. 503 468 7008
Photo by Hadija Saidi on Unsplash
