Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

November 23, 2005

SEO–Five Traits of Relevant Content

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 2:23 am

Practical SEO for Every Blogger

Five Traits of Relevant Content

Relevant is the keyword. Content without “relevant” is less than content. Who would want to post something irrelevant? Here are five traits of relevant content.

Relevant content is text.
Search Engines love quality relevant content. They love quality content because readers do. Content here means text, not graphics or photos. That’s where search engines and readers see pages differently. Readers “read” photos and graphics; search engine spiders crawl right past them. So under that photo or graphic include a caption explaining what’s in it.

Relevant content is fresh and free-flowing.
Search engine spiders are demanding creatures. They want original, relevant content to list for their readers–and lots of it. Provide original content with accuracy and frequency about topics readers search for, and your posts will be born relevant.

Relevant content is formatted.
When your document follows a structured format, a search engine can follow how topics relate. Relationships between topics establish that keywords aren’t just mentioned–they are connected and relevant.

Relevant content is linked–Links in, links out, and links to yourself are relevant.
Spiders crawl the web by following links. Links draw spiders to related pages from blog to blog and within your blog. Connections in content are inherently relevant.

Relevant content is error free and accessible.
Open HTML tags, gross errors in spelling, and unnecessary plugins trip spiders. Enough said.

Relevant content is what readers are searching for, what spiders are crawling for, what bloggers are blogging for–right?

I’d rather not blog than be irrelevant.

I think there’s a t-shirt in that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss





Filed under Blog Review, Content, SEO, Successful Blog, Writing |




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25 Comments to “SEO–Five Traits of Relevant Content”

  1. November 23rd, 2005 at 6:21 am
    Martin (HomeOfficeVoice) said

    Hey Liz,

    You could have whittled this post down to just … ‘Relevant content is really all tht matters’ Full Stop! :-)

  2. November 23rd, 2005 at 6:59 am
    Gerard McGarry said

    Liz: Love the redesign, BTW - I wondered where I was when I clicked through from the RSS feed!

    As far as images go, the accepted way to assign text to them is to add an alt="description of image" tag to the image. This gives the search engine something to chew on, but more importantly it provides valuable information for blind users who rely on screen reader software.

  3. November 23rd, 2005 at 7:52 am
    indeterminacy said

    Gerard: That is a great tip with the image tag. I want to start using that at my blog, to help along the image searches.

    Liz: How can search engines and spider web crawlers know what is relevant and quality content. They cannot tell quality content from non-quality content?

  4. November 23rd, 2005 at 7:54 am
    indeterminacy said

    P.S. I love your new design. And let me give an example to my point above. One of my stories, which I think is not as good as the rest, gets the most search engine hits because it has the words “strip poker” in it. If the search engines were clever they would find my best stories.

  5. November 23rd, 2005 at 8:53 am
    ME Strauss said

    Yeah Martin,
    But then you wouldn’t have had time to finish your coffee, and I wanted to try a new take on the definition of content. I thought you’d be proud of me. Did my brothers tell you it was tease Liz day? :) Darn them.
    Liz

  6. November 23rd, 2005 at 8:59 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Gerard,
    Thanks for your design feedback. I think the response is running abou 50/50 from those who’ve said something. I like it better than the old one . . . I think it has a western feel.

    As far as images go, the accepted way to assign text to them is to add an alt=”description of image” tag to the image. This gives the search engine something to chew on, but more importantly it provides valuable information for blind users who rely on screen reader software.

    Thanks for that and knowing that I can’t know everying. After the past couple of days I really appreciate that. :)

    Changing my name again, this time to Learning Liz

  7. November 23rd, 2005 at 9:13 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Indie,
    Thanks for the design comments and for the question that I can answer with some confidence.

    The following is a vwry huge genralization, but you can extrapolate the idea from this:
    It has to do with how search engines define relevant I

    • If a term such as strip poker is searched for often it must be relevant.
    • If your post is linked with other posts about the same topic, i.e. having the same key words, it is considered relevant.
    • If your post is structured as I showed, which I know your stories cannot be, the spiders can crawl the heirarchy and see important idea in the header with keyword and important idea in the content that follows which implies that keywords are not just mentioned, but are actually relevant to the discussion. (This sophisitcation of software most likely evolved because webmasters were hiding keywords everywhere for ranking purposes.)
    • If your post is linked to other posts in your own blog or other blogs that are on the same topic, the relevance of your post goes up.

    So in those respects, yes a search engine can tell whether your content is relevant. When you add the human factor, as in the partnerships between search engines/directories in which for example Google uses DMOZ to supplement their work. People going over what the search engines find kicks it up a notch furthers.

    Whew!
    Liz

  8. November 23rd, 2005 at 9:47 am
    Martin (HomeOfficeVoice) said

    Liz, this is rubbish, get someone better :-) What’s going on!

    I’ve just been lurking at performancing.com and have noticed that Nick at his ‘Why Link Swaps for Blogs Are Stupid’ post has a go at you and Eric.

    I’m not standing up for anyone here, but such attacks gives me the you know whats…

    While performancing.com has some decent content I don’t like some of their “know-all” attitude - they seem to be preaching to their readers rather than engaging them (they should take a close look at someone like Darren from ProBlogger.net and how he talks to his readers and not down at them)

    Sorry, but I couldn’t help myself - I left a comment there.

  9. November 23rd, 2005 at 9:54 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Martin,
    I heard you thinking that before you even knew it happened. :)

    We have a help each other out here kind of place and that “Stupid” title hit me the same way as it hit you.

    I appreciate your encouragement and have from the minute I got here. Sorry my contents all junk. I’ll try to do better. :)
    Liz

  10. November 23rd, 2005 at 9:55 am
    Martin (HomeOfficeVoice) said

    Aha … after finishing the previous comment I have checked back at Performacing.com and guess what … you wouldn’t believe it: my comment has been removed!!!

    Unbelieveable. And he says that you guys are sensitive!!! My comment wasn’t insulting or had foul words, it simply carried on what he had started.

    It was there one minute and taken down within 5 minutes - blogging censorship at its worst.

    Any repects I had for them it now zero and I will post about this at my blog.

  11. November 23rd, 2005 at 10:00 am
    ME Strauss said

    Martin,
    I’m sorry that happened Martin for all involved. It was an opportunity missed for a relationship that could have been a sharing of ideas. Now it’s not.

    Go figure. I think we’re back on an even keel here.
    I have to go. I’ll stop by your place when I get back.
    Liz

  12. November 23rd, 2005 at 2:20 pm
    Jennifer Grucza said

    Hi Liz, I’d like to re-emphasize your point of having original content. Neither search engines or readers like websites that have mostly regurgitated content. Readers won’t want to come back, and search engines will penalize you.

    The rest of the points are very good, too.

  13. November 23rd, 2005 at 2:29 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Jennifer,
    Thank you. I’m ready to take all of the support I can get.:)

    I was thinking of you last night when I saw the new design for the first time. My thoughts went to, but I wasn’t able to give them Jennifer’s comment suggestion. The group who did the design is the next interview. I’m trying to figure out how we can get questions from you to them. Have any ideas?

  14. November 23rd, 2005 at 3:48 pm
    indeterminacy said

    Liz: Thanks for your detailed answer to my questions/observations. I understand how they are using the word relevance, but I think it is misleading, because the relevance is based on purely superficial qualities. Just now I got another hit to my strip poker story ;-)

  15. November 23rd, 2005 at 4:42 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Indie,
    Hey it was nice to know the answer to something. :)
    And it was a pleasure to answer you.
    I think maybe you should open a poker club.
    Liz

  16. November 23rd, 2005 at 5:20 pm
    Shirley George Frazier said

    This daily tutorial leads me to believe that my blog practices the traits of favorable and relevant content without prior understanding of SEO. At least that’s the way I see it.

    I’ll bribe my more SEO-knowledgeable cyberbuddies for a confirmation.

    I appreciate this education.

  17. November 23rd, 2005 at 5:30 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Shirley,
    I think that you probably do. What I know of you, Shirley is that you care about quality and really that’s what all of those points are about. If you are about quality you will get linked, format well, see to good HMTL etc.

    Just now you know it.

    Let’s just call it sharing. You’re teaching me too you know.
    smiles,
    Liz

  18. November 23rd, 2005 at 6:44 pm
    Martin (HomeOfficeVoice) said

    I think you’re spot on Shirely - I believe that without knowing it we are all doing fairly right by seo standards.

    Liz: Who’d have thought that this litte tutorial on seo whould have caused this much of a ripple - if you hang around seo-type forums like I do on the rare occassion - you’d know anyting seo-related is hotly debated, flames, shout downs are quite common.

    I guess it’s a highly competitive arena being in the seo game and not having definitive rules to play with.

  19. November 23rd, 2005 at 6:50 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Martin,
    You beat me. I’m just finishing a long boring post with a toy at the end. :)

    I’m no worse for the wear. I’m really grareful to you, Mark, and Scrivs for standing up for me each in your own gentlemanly manner.

    I think a lot was learned from this. And that’s a good thing–right?

    Liz

  20. November 23rd, 2005 at 7:11 pm
    liberalcowboy said

    If you want I can stand up for you in my not so gentle not so politically correct manner.

  21. November 23rd, 2005 at 7:17 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hey Cowboy,
    You are my hero, too.
    I’m pitcuring high noon with you walking toward a gunfight.
    smiles,
    Liz

  22. August 30th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
    cm said

    Yes indeed content is the king.

  23. August 30th, 2006 at 7:47 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Thanks cm,
    I agree.
    Liz

  24. October 29th, 2007 at 10:19 am
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    [...] “I’d rather not blog than be irrelevant.” [...]

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