Brands need to create and publish “awesome” content and then promote it in some way to improve the chances of better organic rankings in search, according to Google expert John Mueller.
During a regular Webmaster Hangout this week, Mueller, who works as a trends analyst, said that getting the word out about engaging content is an important part of SEO as it helps Google to find it and rank it in “competitive areas”.
Google has spoken about promoting websites in the past and has even outlined useful tips and tactics in its SEO guidelines to help companies signal boost their best content marketing efforts.
Mueller said that creating excellent content should be the first port of call for marketers but that it needs to be backed up with a robust distribution strategy.
When talking about promotion, Google has recommended organic methods rather than paid.
In a list of best practices, it urges brands to use social media to match with interested groups that will want to consume relevant content on a regular basis.
Reaching out to a site’s related community can also build a platform for engagement and feedback, which can then spark new ideas for content.
Google also says to avoid any attempts to promote “each, new small piece of content” and instead to focus on big-ticket items.
Mueller has spoken regularly about the need to publish high-quality content, but this is the first time that he has noted that Google is also looking for websites that are promoted and made visible in some form.
He said that getting the word out will bring people to a website, which can then lead to more shares.
Mueller concluded: “And all of these things can add up as signals and it can help us to better understand where your website fits in with the rest of the web.”
