Over the course of my career, I have started, or been deeply involved in starting nearly 10 companies. Through trial-and-error, I’ve learned what it takes to build a company.
This boils down to three key elements:
Find something you’re interested in
Clearly identify the problem you are solving
Surround yourself with partners that you trust
In the summer of 2016, my co-founder Alexander De Ridder contacted me about a massive impending change in how Google was going to start ranking web content.
Our initial conversation was very technical and, frankly, a lot went over my head. He did say one thing that stuck: 94% of the content on the web will never be seen.
This struck a chord.
I’ve always been interested in sales, marketing and how those worlds merge on the web. It was easy to go down the rabbit hole, so to speak.
One thing was evident. Writers spend hours brainstorming, researching, outlining, and crafting the perfect piece of prose only for it to get lost in the noise.
We researched the apps that promise to help but found that they solely focus on perfecting readability. They do this by performing basic functions like correcting grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
If they did attempt to help with page views, they were rules-based. This is limiting because not every piece of web content fits neatly into these rules. Creatives can’t fit in a perfect little box.
This was massively disappointing but also exhilarating. We can HELP.
Alexander and I had several conversations about the inevitable industry shift to neural networks. Global ranking factors as we knew them would be killed off.
It was clear then that Google would begin using their neural network advances for search engine optimization (SEO).
In 2016, we co-founded Edgy Labs to test a well-founded hypothesis on how we thought Google was ranking content.
We Studied Google, and This is What We Learned
We tested what we call the Rank Candidate Theory. Alexander had the hunch that Google reads your page and decides if it is good enough to answer a query. If your page seems like a relevant candidate, Google will send some traffic your way as a test.
If users like your content, congratulations! Your rankings will go up.
This said one thing to me: User Experience and Content Relevance are going to dominate the future of search. And, no one but us had noticed.
Laying the Foundation for INK
Like good scientist-entrepreneurs, we had to test our hypothesis. We started with an entirely new domain: edgylabs.com (now edgy.app).
Our goal was to grow it big and grow it fast.
We set out to do this organically with two main ingredients: well-researched and relevant content plus a super-fast and user-friendly site.
Using our SEO + Content method, we were able to test how Google responded to different optimization strategies. And, different types of content.
The results? Astonishing. We grew big and we grew fast.
We organically grew a brand-new domain to 100,000+ monthly sessions. And, we did it through sheer content and site optimization that focused on what our audience was asking for. No paid search about it!
Our next thought?
What if we could put this power into the hands of content writers?
We were able to prove our theory and control our own search destiny. How could we help other content creators do the same?
SEO for Non-SEO People
We decided to take these years of research and our Rank Candidate Theory to build a next-generation Content Performance Optimization (CPO) platform.
INK”s content relevancy score is critical to the success of the article. It gives the user tasks they can choose to complete to optimize their ranking.
We developed the patent-pending, AI-enabled INK platform based on these principles:
Optimize the content’s chances to qualify as a rank candidate with Google by ensuring it is the most relevant resource on the topic.
Optimize the content’s language to improve user satisfaction by ensuring it is written precisely for the target audience.
It’s an exciting time for our company that we started three short years ago. Back then, it was based on a theory.
Today, we’re using AI to help content be seen by more eyes.
Short story, it works. And, it’s free.
Both aspects of this product are near and dear to our hearts in helping achieve our original goal: put the user first.
Let’s all go back to grammar class. Remember how the teacher rambled on about passive and active voice? You never thought you’d use that info, did you?
Image from Readable
With active voice, the subject acts. Conversely, with passive voice, the subject receives the action.
You may have learned that the passive voice is weak and incorrect, but it isn’t that simple. When used correctly and in moderation, the passive voice is fine.
For example, “the content writer typed an article” is an active passage.
In a sentence composed of the passive voice, the subject is acted upon. For example, “The article was typed by the content writer” is a passive sentence. In most cases, it’s more difficult to read and not as clear.
As Grammarly notes, you don’t need to abandon the passive voice entirely. But limiting its use it will improve your writing and help your website’s SEO.
Why the Passive Voice is Bad for SEO
Google rewards websites that answer the searcher’s question. It’s really that simple. The websites that do this with a high degree of readability rank higher.
Image from Ragan Communications
Readability is the ease in which your target audience is able to digest written text. As with the example above, the passive voice is more difficult to read.
It affects the site’s readability. I have to remember that we’re talking about the article but at the end of the sentence I find out who actually wrote it. Confusing, isn’t it?
Part of readability is the proper use of grammar. A site that has typos, poor punctuation and misuse of words will give a bad impression of the author.
A site that is lacking in readability will not be deemed an authority on the subject matter. You want your target audience to have confidence in your response to their question asked.
Put yourself in their shoes. Do you want to try to power through typos or bad grammar to find your answer? Of course, not. No one does. The searcher exits without their answer and clicks on another link.
Google looks for this. It will punish the site by ranking it lower. Keep in mind that this will happen even if the information is presented by an expert on the subject.
INK analyzes competing content with your keyword or key phrase and optimizes your readability for the highest SEO ranking.
You focus on writing with authority, and INK analyzes the competition, giving you real-time data. It determines the Flesch-Kincaid reading level and the number of words of your competition and compares it with your article.
INK also takes into account the indirect factors of readability. It indicates sentences that are too complex for your target reading level. This ensures a consistent flow of information without readers exiting too soon. With this knowledge, you can tailor your content to compete with the top sites.
Always remember that sentences need to be short and concise.
INK shows the word count of the competition and too complex sentences.
INK performs a number of other tasks that improve your site’s readability. It checks for grammatical errors, misspelled words, complicated sentence structure, and overuse of adverbs.
INK shows that the word “checks” is misspelled. It gives like word choices.
INK tells me that I have overused the passive voice in this article. I need to aim for 14 uses or fewer to optimize my SEO ranking.
As you can see above, INK is telling me I need to follow my own advice and do a bit of editing. INK is entirely free to use, so it’s simple to give it a try yourself.
There is a Place for Passive Voice
As the screenshot from INK demonstrates, there is a place and time for passive voice. In fact, after analyzing my competition, I’m able to use passive voice less than 15 times in this article. Here’s why. In some cases, it does a better job of presenting an idea.
Example One:
“My home was broken into yesterday.”
We don’t know who broke into your home. The use of passive voice focuses on the home being broken in to.
Example Two:
“The dog was put in the pet carrier.”
Does it really matter who put the dog in the carrier? Probably not. What’s important is that the dog has been secured in the carrier for whatever reason.
Example Three:
“The defendant swore to tell the truth in court.”
It doesn’t matter who swore in the defendant. What matters is that he or she swore to tell the truth.
In examples above, it’s the person or thing receiving the action that is relevant. That means the person who performed the action can be absent from the sentence.
Before you go…
Readability is key in your organic search engine ranking. It’s logical. If no one can read what you wrote, they will not hang out on your page.
Over-use of passive voice is part of readability. Use it sparingly. Aim for active voice.
INK can help you decide how to pepper passive voice throughout your content without it affecting your ranking. This tool is free to download and can really help you improve your writing.
Does Google care if I use adverbs? Short answer: Google doesn’t care. It’s great writing with a high degree of readability that is ultimately what Google is looking for when ranking sites.
However, the over-use of adverbs can have a negative impact on search engine ranking if they affect the readability of your content.
Adverbs Affect Readability
Readability is the ease in which your target audience is able to digest written text.
Ha! Adverbs aren”t a new way for content writers to shove in keywords either. Image from EBB Web Design.
Readability is a very important factor in where your site ranks. In fact, you can have the correct formatting, meta title optimized, key phrase usage perfect, and are topically correct. However, if your audience is unable to comprehend what you’ve written, Google will give your site a poor ranking.
For example, a searcher types in the key phrase “what to bring on a camping trip.” They are expecting an explanation that answers their question. The site will most likely provide pictures of the items one should bring. It will probably have links to where one can purchase some of the items.
If the first link the searcher clicks on is written in Spanish. Then the searcher quickly exits the page and looks for one in English. Even though they were expecting image-heavy results, the searcher still wants the content in a language they are able to read.
Google tracks these exit points.
I know you’re thinking this is an extreme example. We’re just talking about adverbs’ effect on SEO.
Here’s why adverbs matter. They are a sign of sloppy writing. Your goal is for your writing style to invite your reader in, capture their attention, and hold it as long as possible. This has a positive influence on your SEO.
Readers hang out longer on your site which Google rewards.
More importantly, though, searchers will share your site. This organic link sharing is very valuable. You get more eyes on your site. Google takes notice and deems you an authority on your subject.
Besides the use of Adverbs, Poor Grammar Affects Your SEO.
Another factor in readability is the proper use of grammar. A site that has typos, poor punctuation and misuse of words will give a bad impression of the author. They are not deemed an authority on the subject matter if they are thought to be illiterate.
The reader doesn’t want to plow through typos in the content to find their answer. Google looks for this. It will punish the site by ranking it lower. Keep in mind that this will happen even if the information is presented is correct with high authority.
This is a pitfall that occurs when someone is writing in a language that is not their primary one.
There is a Content Writing Tool That can Help With Adverbs and Readability.
Screenshot from INK shows that I need to use fewer adverbs.
INK is a super helpful tool that checks for the overuse of adverbs. This is a screenshot from INK showing that I’ve used too many adverbs in this article. I guess I need to follow my own advice and do a bit of editing.
Below is a screenshot of the other readability factors that INK checks for.
Screenshot from INK of my task list for this article.
While I’ve been working on this article, INK has been running in the background. It ensures that I’m writing on topic as possible to compete with my competition.
In the checklist above, it notes that I have used passive voice too much. I want to sound like an authority on this subject, so I’ll make the corrections.
INK tells me that I have two sentences that are hard to read. I often like to combine subjects into one sentence. I bet I’ve done that this time. Sentences should be short and concise.
Word count is so important in SEO ranking. If your competition has 2000 words on a subject but you’ve only written 500, this is an issue of perceived authority.
Screenshot from INK to help me optimize my content for this article.
INK reminds me that I’ve optimized my meta title but I haven’t completed my meta description yet.
Also, I need to work on my key phrase usage. I haven’t used it enough throughout this text.
All of these items will work together to help make this article rank at the top of the search engine optimization page.
There is no magic length of your content that is a positive or negative influence on your SEO ranking. Google rewards sites that best answer the key phrase entered by the searcher. However, there are components of your content that do affect the length. These influence whether you get moved to the top spot or sent to the dreaded second page.
Back in the Olden Days of Google…
Since Google launched in 1998, thoughts on the length of content to optimize a site’s SEO have changed. 250 words was the magic number thrown around for forever. Either more than 250 or less than 250 words depending on the year and Google analytics.
At one point, content enthusiasts considered 250 words too overwhelming for most searchers. It was thought that no one wanted to read that many words. The term “skimmer” was thrown around to describe the person Googling a key phrase. Image heavy pages were used to replace text.
A good example of this style used today is a landing page.
INKforall.com is a good example of a landing page that is graphic rich with few words.
Now, however, things have changed pretty drastically. Short-form content can work well for landing pages, but for search queries, it’s an entirely different story.
If you want to rank for the large majority of keywords, you’re going to have to write far more than 250 words. However, it’s not as easy as just writing several thousand words of fluff.
Thin Content
Thin content is a term used to describe content that is filler and provides little or no value to the user. This can be anything from doorway pages, low-quality affiliate pages, or simply pages with very little or no content.
Thin content pages are also considered non-original pages, cut and pasted text from other pages, and duplicate content.
Today, a less than 250-word blog post is considered “thin content” and doesn’t meet the target audience expectations.
Think of thin content as when someone is trying to tell you a story about their calculus exam. You’re curious as to how the test went, had they adequately prepared, and what were some of the questions asked.
All content writers need to write “focus” on their hand as a reminder.
While they are sharing all the information that you’ve asked for, they also overshare other details that do not pertain to the test. You find out that the girl two seats down was chewing cherry-flavored gum. There was a guy in a green shirt that kicked over his water bottle spilling liquid on the boy in front of him. The professor had a hacking cough. The test taker also had a ham sandwich for lunch.
None of the information added to the story or answers the fundamental question of how the test went.
In summary, give your searcher what they are asking for. No one wants to have their time wasted, so answer the key phrase, give details, but avoid adding nonsense that doesn’t advance this goal.
More Than 250 Words
Now, companies want to position themselves as experts on their subjects. They think nothing of creating 5,000+ word in-depth guides to establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry.
This is critical when a company is establishing its organic authority on a subject. If they provide a detailed answer to a question, it’s much more likely the page will be shared by readers. Google looks fondly on organic link sharing and rewards these sites with a higher ranking.
The more you write, the better chance you have of explaining the answer to the question posed. A 1,500-blog post (or more) can better answer the readers’ questions than a 500-word blog post. Of course, this assumes the key phrase merits a longer explanation. This is what Google is ultimately looking for.
Remember that not every key phrase though should yield a 1,500-word post. It becomes thin content and the reader becomes uninterested. Could you imagine a 1,500-word post on how to make lemonade?
Long-form vs Short-form Content
An average word-count of 2,000 to 2,500+ words for a blog post is considered long-form content. Although, some argue that as little as 700 words can be considered long-form. Others say the magic number is 1200 to 1800+ words.
Let’s forget the word count and focus on what it is. In general, long-form content is data-rich with in-depth explanations. A searcher expects to see videos, graphs, images, and statistics that contribute to their understanding of the topic. This article is an example of long-form content.
Short-form Content
short-form content is easy and cost-effective to create. But, it doesn’t have much influence on SEO ranking.
Long-form content is much preferred by Google in SEO ranking. Although it’s more time consuming to create, it can organically increase your brand awareness by performing better in searches. There are more backlinks, stronger brand signals, and longer time spent on the page.
This image from slideshare.net graphically compares shows the advantages and disadvantages of long-form content.
This is quite simple. Google has trained users to enter more words into the search bar when asking a question. A specific key phrase is rewarded with the exact answer instead of the searcher having to click on multiple links to find their answer.
This is backed up by data released by Hitwise. 8-word search queries were up by 34,000%. This trend has only continued to grow.
This chart shows how even ten years ago, searchers were becoming more sophisticated in their use of keywords.
The use of keywords is a critical factor in your SEO ranking. If the key phrase is not used throughout your text, it will be considered topically incomplete by Google. The number of times the key phrase is sprinkled throughout your text is much more important than the length of your content. It demonstrates that you are answering your question.
Here are the most important uses for keywords:
Keywords in the URL slug
Keywords on-page in the body of the copy
Keywords used in heading and subheadings
Keywords in the image alt text
Internal links on your own site pointing to the page have keywords in the anchor text
Google doesn’t like pages that are overflowing with keywords either. Google has gotten smart and learned to distinguish between valuable and low-quality content, especially since the launch of Google Panda.
Write for Your Target Audience
Please don’t forget this. The number one influence on your content’s SEO is how efficiently you answer the searcher’s question. It has nothing to do with the length of your content.
A person enters a key phrase in Google. They are looking for answers. If your content solves their issue and does it with authority, it will increase your SEO ranking. This can be achieved in 250 words or 2,500 words.
It’s important to keep in mind who you are formulating your answers for. Don’t use technical terms if you are writing for a non-technical audience.
The reverse is true. If your target audience is technical, make sure you are using the terms they would use to discuss your key phrase. Think about what they would say if they were talking to a group of their peers.
Go as Deep Into Your Subject as Your Target Audience Will Tolerate
Once again, this goes back to knowing who your target audience is. Identify what key phrase you are writing for. Then, put yourself in the searcher’s mind. Ask yourself what sort of answer are they expecting.
For example, a person searching for “how do I start a square foot garden” has certain expectations. They are different expectations than someone searching for “how do plants synthesize high energy carbohydrates.”
Basics for Optimizing Your Content
It’s not necessarily the number of words when it comes to your SEO ranking. It’s the size of the document. Don’t think of this like “the number one ranking website has 2,000 words. That means 2,300 words must get me a higher ranking.”
That’s not how SEO ranking works. If it were, it would be super easy to drop in fluff content and optimize your SEO ranking.
Add images that enhance your content. Drop in data and graphs. The image should help answer your question, break up the page, or emphasize a point. Whatever the use, they increase your file size and add to the overall readability of your content. Think long-form content over short-form content.
Quality over Quantity.
This is basic math. Using more words and explanations gives you more ranking opportunities. Your keywords used correctly gives your reader the knowledge they’re asking for.
The same question may be asked by a searcher using different combinations of keywords. The more detailed explanation you give allows for your keywords to be analyzed in many different ways. This isn’t fluffed content. Provide real answers for your reader.
INK analyzes competing content and shows the number of words you should aim for to help boost your SEO.
You focus on answering the searcher’s question, and INK analyzes the competition, giving you real-time data. It determines the reading level and the number of words of your competition and compares it with your article.
It ensures the length of your content will positively impact your SEO.
INK tells the user that the competition has an average of 1562 words.
INK takes into account all the factors that affect your SEO ranking. It indicates sentences that are too complex for your target reading level. This ensures a consistent flow of information without readers exiting too soon. With this knowledge, you can tailor your content to compete with the top sites.
INK performs a number of other tasks that improve your site’s readability. It checks for grammatical errors, misspelled words, complicated sentence structure, and overuse of adverbs.
There is no magic length of your content that is a positive or negative influence on your SEO. INK shows you how well you measure up against your competition.To experience INK for yourself, just visit the homepage to download INK for free today.
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