Search engines have certainly changed over the years, which have forced changes in the internet marketing field. Keywords used to be the biggest component of an article, and in order to get someone to click on your blog post, all you had to do was fill the article with that specific keyword. This led to the highly undesirable practice of keyword stuffing. Users of the Internet quickly tired of reading articles that were overly stuffed with certain keywords, especially if they were not grammatically correct. For instance:
"If you want the best plumber Boston make sure to call us today. We beat all other plumber Boston in customer service and quality. No matter what your plumbing problem is, our plumber Boston can find the problem and fix it for you right away."
The first thought that comes to mind when reading something of this nature is that the writer is clearly not a native English speaker. The sad part is that articles such as these used to abound on the Internet. Good writers continually created content such as this because their employer asked them to do so.
Another trend of the past was to spin articles. There was even software available for this purpose. To flood the market with hundreds of articles quickly, a writer could place his article through a spinner. The software would replace many of adjectives and verbs to create a so-called new article that wouldn't be caught by plagiarism checkers but was still the same basic content. That earlier example would then read:
"If you desire the greatest plumber Boston ensure you phone us right away. We will win all other plumber Boston in serving our clients. No matter what your plumbing difficulty is, our plumber Boston can discover the difficulty and apply a solution for you immediately."
Luckily, Google finally stepped in with algorithms that may sound complicated but basically boiled down to one thing. High-quality articles that actually gave the reader solid information were going to get rated higher. Now the pressure was on to create content that was reader-friendly and gave the reader the information they were seeking. Interestingly, this led to a rise in content mills for writers, as all business owners do not necessarily know how to write great content.
Unless and until Google changes its algorithms again, great content is more important than ever. First, you must catch the reader's attention with a title that promises them the information they need. Then, your meta description and first few lines should draw in their attention. Finally, however, you must keep their interest and get them to read the article.
In a world of short social media posts and text messages flying around all day, getting a reader to read through an entire blog post is a challenge. The solution will always be great content. Formatting plays a role, as many studies have shown that our eyes do not like big blocks of text. But to win and retain readers, great content is the number one factor.
