The short answer is no. The smart answer is yes.
Here’s why.
No: You don’t need a blog to rank higher in Google Search.
Content, or original text, is really what you need, whether in the form of web pages, articles, blogs, posts, testimonials, or educational pieces. Unique text that’s not indexed in Google from any other website will be seen by indexing robots as good information. If that text is also strategically created, based on keywords you currently don’t rank high for; keywords people are searching for; and what competing websites have published in your area, your website can rank even higher. For assured page one ranking, a strategy has to be developed based on these factors.
Content marketing means taking influencing data, creating a strategy for copywriting and publishing, then implementing the strategy. But that’s not the end of the work. You must also collect data on the results of your efforts. Did you move up the Google Search results for the targeted keywords? Is a competing website still above you? Why? Does the strategy need to be amended or expanded?
In some cases, in addition to writing a new page or a blog post, a series of articles need to be composed. Submitting articles to third-party sites can help with incoming backlinks for keywords in your strategy. Testimonials, social media posts, videos with scripts, image tags, and other factors may come into play as well. Never forget metadata. Page and post descriptions should be specially crafted to complement your keyword strategy, for optimal ranking results.
A dentist, hygienist, or marketing person in your office can handle all of this. However, there can be a steep learning curve, both with learning and staying abreast of the latest SEO tactics and with copywriting in general. If you want to rank higher in Google, but you don’t have time to mess with it, call Identiwrite Creative. Getting your dental website on page one for specific keywords is our specialty!
Yes: You do need a blog to rank higher in Google Search.
Not only are blogs a form of content, they’re also indexed as news. Google ranks news high and fast, but it does not have staying power. Informational pages (web pages, in the case of dental websites) reach higher rankings more slowly, but they tend to retain the higher ranking, particularly if backed by incoming links from related pages, posts, and websites.
Blogs, then, are another weapon in your arsenal for winning the battle of Page One of Google. Not using blogs puts you at a deficit, particularly if your peers are leveraging their power.
How to Make the Most of Content Marketing for SEO
The best practices for content marketing are:
- Add webpages to your site every month
- Blog 4+ times per month
- Submit articles to third-party sites, and link back to your website
- 550+ words per page or post
- 95-100% original content
- Implement heading tags
- Use a keyword strategy in headings, text, images, videos, and links
- Build backlinks from authority sites
- Maximize meta descriptions and titles by using the right number of words and including keyword phrases
- On-page linking should incorporate phrases, not just words – and follow certain rules so that indexing robots are not confused
- To show up on page one for highly competitive phrases or out-of-town areas, use a multi-page strategy that plays webpages and blogs off one another
- Track keyword rank in Incognito mode (not just with Google Analytics) and adjust your strategy monthly to consistently meet goals Make social media posts that link to your pages or blogs
- When commenting in social media, link to your website
If you do not have the time, desire, skills, or energy to do these things, but you want the new business that comes with earning page one Google rankings, call Identiwrite Creative. We create content-based SEO strategies and provide full-scope web design, development, and copywriting for dentists, dental labs, consultants, and dental product manufacturers. Call 940-395-5115 or email [email protected] today.
