Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
You’ve read all of the search engine optimization articles and have put what you’ve learned into practice and the website still isn’t gathering the attention you want. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s not as easy as it sounds. I have been involved in the development of many websites for several clients, and there seems to be one common flaw among many of them: there is simply not enough content on the site to attract the attention of search engines or visitors.
What Could Be Causing Your Site to Fail?
Even if you composed an amazing 1000 word article rich with the perfect keywords and consisting of the secrets to immortality, it could still perform poorly. It takes more than a few pages of quality content and perfect keywords to grab the attention of sites like Google or the occasional friend that visits your site after you emailed him or her the link.
Competition
Given that a new blog is developed every 0.5 seconds, the competition for your particular niche could be immense. If your site pertains to a particularly popular niche, the competition could be unfathomable. Your single page of content or two isn’t going to do well against many competing websites that are full of content regarding the subject matter. You need to increase production of quality content if you wish to stay ahead of those websites.
Unique Perspective
Another method of producing content is to provide a unique perspective to the subject matter. If you simply regurgitate what is already available, your site simply becomes another one in a long list of sites that say the same thing. Add a personal touch to the experience or add something that no one else has on their website.
Social Media
Being active on social media sites is more important than what some professionals may assume. Every time I post a new link on Twitter and Google+ alone, the traffic to this website doubles for that day. In the near future, I plan on including a few other social sites. Don’t discredit what social media can do for you in the way of attracting attention to your blog or website. Each visit brings you that much closer to success.
Lack of Regular Posting
Like I mentioned earlier, your competition may have far more material posted on their websites than what you have. The more material a site has to absorb, the better it will perform. You need to increase the flow of your content if you want to increase the flow of visitors. Unless you plan on paying for directed advertising to attract attention to your site such as Google’s Pay-per-click Adwords account, you need something for visitors to read.
Low Quality Content
This is where content writing could get tricky for websites. What you may think is high quality could be viewed as nonsensical by others. On the other hand, articles you think of as filler could turn out to be the most popular post on your site. It’s all about finding what it is your target audience wants to read about. This may be easier than you may think if you use the right tools. Analytical data such as Google Analytics or other system can offer you a great deal of information regarding what visitors find the most engaging about your website.
Internal Linking
Yes, I am guilty of not providing enough internal links with most of my articles. Usually, it’s because I am too busy to remember. However, I have seen the difference in bounce rate on articles that have links to other content on this site that the visitor may be interested in. I try to remember to include two to three links within the post that may interest a visitor. Think of it like a “if you liked this, then you’ll love this” kind of a scenario. Try to anticipate what a visitor would like to read on your site after the first page is done.
Focus on the Niche
Sometimes a website can do poorly because the niche is too broad. Take this site, for example. It is based purely on freelance and content writing. You won’t find posts regarding saving money at the grocery store on this site unless it has to do with writing. The more focused the topic for your website is, the higher the quality of visitor and the more professional the site becomes.
Don’t be discouraged if your site is doing poorly after you’ve put effort into building and maintaining. It can take a few months before a site really takes off. If you are still frustrated by the lack of progress, look closer at your material and do some research. It could be that your content isn’t strong enough to attract the attention you want.
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