One of the most challenging aspects of marketing for small to medium-sized businesses is getting noticed on the internet. With all that competition out there, how does someone such as yourself, compete with the big boys in cyberspace?

How can your company gain a position on the first page of Google search results when there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of competing companies all vying for that number one ranking? How can your website compete with those industry leading giants who have a website 10 times your size?

Truth is, there are many ways you can start to compete. Half the battle is knowing what the most important aspect of search engine optimization (SEO) is to help you catch up to your competitors. The answer: content management.

Google is a complicated maze, one with many different twists and turns whose corridors are forever changing. Google is constantly changing their algorithms, not to confuse, but to improve. Providing the user with quality search results is the ultimate goal, which in turn improves your online experience. Nobody wants to sift through garbage to find treasure. Google is finding ways to return the best, most relevant search results to eliminate the hassle of digging through multitudes of irrelevant content.

The point is, if you want to compete in the online space, your company website needs to differentiate itself to the search engines. It all begins with content.

Here are few tips on content writing for your site that can help improve your chances of being found by Google.

1. Make sure each page has clear concise content management. Be specific about what it is you do, without adding any fluff.

2. Don’t keyword spam. Your content should flow naturally. Keywords should fall naturally into place. Don’t try to fit keywords into the text “X” number of times on each page. Forget anything anyone has told you about “keyword ratios.” Google has become very good at detecting patterns and will devalue your content if it thinks you are spamming.

3. Don’t have duplicate pages or duplicate content that might exist on any other sites you own.

4. Be relevant. Keep your content up to date. Update any new product information, personnel if you have a personnel page, or even a simple address change. Sites with no activity will lose points in the eyes of Google.

5. Lastly, the best way to optimize your content is to NOT look like you’re trying to optimize. Google puts the most credence on content that is real, relevant and flows naturally.

Content is the key to improving your SEO rankings and is the first place to start if your company is looking to increase traffic and start getting ranked.

SEO is an ongoing process and will always be changing, but the one thing that will remain important is content relevance. There are also many other tips and techniques to couple with your new content to even further improve your website’s search rankings. I will be covering those topics and more, and look forward to sharing them with you in upcoming blogs.