Google gives a very similar explanation for nearly every change in their search algorithm. The goal is to improve the users’ experiences, and help them find the highest quality content and most relevant results. The quality of your website will directly impact your search rankings, probably more than any technical aspect of SEO.
Unfortunately, quality is subjective. If you have ever discussed your website content with your office staff, then you know how varied opinions can be. The question is, “What does Google consider quality content?”
Unique
Creating content is time consuming. It may be tempting to reuse information from dental association websites, marketing materials, and other sources. In some cases, this content is offered for reuse, so there is no concern about copyright infringement. However, search engines try to direct traffic to the original source.
If Google detects duplicate content, even a small percentage, your rankings will suffer. Use a tool such as Copyscape to verify originality.
Valuable
Your website should provide real value to the reader. People often search for information about oral health and dental procedures. However, they are not searching for advertisements. Provide useful, accurate information and present it in a user-friendly way.
Authoritative
Credibility is more important than ever, due to recent concerns about “fake news.” In April, Google announced Project Owl, a set of updates intended to filter misleading, offensive, inaccurate, and low-quality results. As a dentist, you are an expert in oral health, which gives you an edge. However, in order for your website to outrank other dentists, you need to be more authoritative. Quality links, such as those from respected dental associations and health information sites, help establish the authority of your website.
Straightforward
Many of Google’s own quality recommendations revolve around what webmasters should not do. These things include hidden text, cloaking, using irrelevant keywords, and other techniques that attempt to deceive the user, or the bots that crawl and index websites.
Conclusion
The simplest rule of thumb in presenting quality content is to create it for people, not for computers. When reviewing your website design, layout, and text, try to see it as a potential patient would. Is it genuinely helpful? Is it relevant to the targeted keyword? Is it easy to use and engaging? Is it something they won’t find elsewhere? If you can answer “yes” to all of these questions, then you have a solid foundation for effective SEO.
About the Author
Naren Arulrajah is President and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete Internet marketing company which focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education and the online reputations of dentists. With a team of 140+ full time marketers, www.ekwa.com helps dentists who know where they want to go, get there by dominating their market and growing their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call 855-598-3320 to speak one-on-one with Naren.
