SEO Copywriting
The importance of unique content for SEO has been debated in the online marketing circles for years. Those who prefer to achieve higher search engine rankings through a large quantity of submitted articles have argued with proponents of quality content generation about which method is better.
Both sides have had success throughout their run, but in the recent years the odds have switched dramatically in favor of websites that publish unique, high-quality content online. Besides avoiding various search engine penalties, there are many other benefits to using high quality content on your website.
Low Quality, High Volume Content is No Longer Relevant
SEO has been changed forever with the arrival of the so-called ‘Panda’ update to Google’s search algorithm, and another update dubbed ‘Penguin’ has only strengthened that belief in the minds of most Internet marketers and search engine optimization experts. It used to be possible to rank high with copied and low quality content, as shown by sites known as ‘content farms’, but those times are now in the past.
Publishing unique content optimized for search engines has been an effective method of SEO for a very long time and it works just as well after ‘Panda’. The only reason why the importance of unique content was ever doubted was because there were lazier and less ethical methods for ‘gaming the system’ available. Now, unique content is the way to go!
What Exactly is Unique Content?
Unique content, as perceived by search engines, is any content that doesn’t replicate too much text from other online sources. Unlike what some people may think, it’s impossible to achieve 100% unique articles and you shouldn’t even try.
Depending on who you ask, the optimal uniqueness is between 70% and 80% so that it doesn’t get flagged by Google.
However, if you want to go a step further and appeal to actual human readers as well as search engines, you should consider that rewritten and low quality content is also off limits to any website that wants to achieve success. After all, what’s the point of ranking high in Google’s search results if all your website has on it are badly written articles? For maximum conversions, make sure that at least some of it is worth reading and actually relevant in your niche.
Does Quality Matter?
Unique content isn’t just beneficial from the search engine standpoint. Having fresh articles and blog posts on your website can indirectly boost your SEO efforts by attracting greater attention from visitors. After all, people are much more likely to share and tweet about content that’s fresh and original, rather than being an exact copy of articles they’ve already seen elsewhere. Readers are tired of poorly written stories and obvious SEO tactics, and by avoiding these pitfalls you’ll gain their trust and interest.
How to Get Unique Content
Companies that are on limited budgets may not be able to hire several rounds of quality writers to find what works best for their site. They can’t afford to experiment with unverified tactics and would be better off using the services of SEO experts who are aware of the most reliable methods to improve rankings on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.