In April, Google announced that it will add a label for “highly cited content” to search results. The aim is to highlight the most reliable original sources. According to the company, the novelty aims to help readers find “the most useful or relevant information for a news story”. But how can this update impact companies, marketers and SEO specialists? Let’s find out in this article.
How to Optimize Your Content for This New Update?
There are several best practices for building an efficient SEO strategy, which can be used even more objectively with the new update. Having a well-structured, quality and easy-to-read text is the first step! See more:
1. Information Hierarchy on the Page
When arriving at your content page through an internet search, it is quite possible for the user to scan it before reading: dynamically, he wants to be sure that he will have the correct answer there.
For a positive user experience, it is critical to structure the page with titles, subtitles, and topics. In this way, it is possible to separate your content into smaller sections and, consequently, facilitate user access to the information they are looking for. After all, long paragraphs and poorly divided sections encourage the user to leave the page, and look for the answer in other sources.
2. Exchange Backlinks With Other Trusted Sources
If we’re talking about trustworthiness and becoming a safe source on the Internet, it’s almost impossible to build that authority alone. After all, if every company or brand specialized in different subjects, we would have a plethora of similar information everywhere – exactly what Google seeks to avoid with this new update.
That’s why a backlink strategy can be a great alternative! They work as a great reference for Google: if a quality site that already has a good reputation for the search engine forwards links to yours, Google tends to trust your site more.
On the other hand, directing your users to the original source or one that already has an established authority on that subject can also make a good impression on the search engine.
That is, if Google understands that source as something reliable and directs its users to it through the search, it is very likely that the redirect links present in that source are also reliable. Therefore, be sure to indicate reliable sources in your content and find good partners to insert your links.
3. Enrich Your Content
Not all news, viral or learning content is really of value on the Internet. This is because we find many replicas of an original text, or of a news article that has just been published! But if the subject is the same, what can you do to stand out? Well, one way out is the enrichment of the original content, adding different information, or even a critical analysis or opinion regarding the main subject.
One of the best ways to develop this is, as we mentioned earlier, through your own audience: how that information affects your user, your market? You can even adapt it to language that is more specific or familiar to your audience.
Think about what your audience could gain from that information, and explore it intelligently and strategically – not just “Ctrl C + Ctrl V” in other words. Google updates always make companies and marketers reinvent themselves, but it’s also a great opportunity to review how you capture your audience’s impressions and return value to them.
Highly Cited Content & SEO
Now that you know the importance of investing in a marketing strategy that prioritizes reliable and quality content, it’s time to think about how to do that. If you need help thinking about an assertive digital strategy for your company, please contact us. We can help you with your content and SEO needs.