Four ways Google ranks content in search results for SEO

By Dominic Nwelih

1: Bounce Rate: A major factor that works against Search Engine Optimization SEO efforts is the bounce rate. This refers to the percentage of website  visitors who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.
According to Google: "A bounce is a single-page session on your site. In Analytics, a bounce is calculated specifically as a session that triggers only a single request to the Analytics server, such as when a user opens a single page on your site and then exits without triggering any other requests to the Analytics server during that session."
Google further describes Bounce rate as "single-page sessions divided by all sessions, or the percentage of all sessions on your site in which users viewed only a single page and triggered only a single request to the Analytics server."

2: Time spent on page: The more average time visitors spend on your page coupled with low bounce rates serves as an indication to Google algorithms that you boast compelling content, which viewers find satisfying and spend more time reading.

3: Traffic: Wikipedia defines  Web traffic as " the amount of data sent and received by visitors to a web site. This necessarily does not include the traffic generated by bots.
It further defines traffic as "the number of visitors and the number of pages they visit. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are popular and if there are any apparent trends, such as one specific page being viewed mostly by people in a particular country." Google algorithms also take cognizance of the amount of traffic your published web content is generating and uses same to rank search results.

4 Links: The more people share links to your content also serves as an indication that  its content is endorsed. Consequently, Google's algorithm is more likely to rank content with more shares higher than a competing one with less shared links.

How effective content boosts marketing and sales

By Dominic Nwelih

 The advent of the internet and  sheer volume of information posted daily has severely influenced consumer behavior patterns as it, relates to marketing. Content marketing strategies are now obligatory and form a critical component in the tool box of discerning marketers. 

This is underscored by its use as the preferred  medium through which consumers seek and evaluate information about goods and services, before making purchase decisions.

From reading up information about offerings on products and services
on blogs to reviews and articles published via online journals, news outlets,  industry trade publications and a plethora of  sources which abound on the internet - today's "smart consumers" in Lagos, Nigeria and across the globe are able to make informed choices.

Third party endorsement of goods and services using content creation and other apt  Public Relations (PR) methods - offered by Media Accent Nigeria and other PR consultancies operating in Nigeria,  prove more effective than in-your-face advertising.

Simply put, advertising is directly saying to consumers your products and services are good. Public Relations on the other hand, is getting a third party to do same on your behalf. As a consumer which narrative would u trust?

As the case may be, that third party or neutral medium could be a journalist from a credible news source, influencer, blogger, opinion or thought leader who disseminates and gives a seal of approval to your written or produced content obtained independently via press release,  interview or other forms of media events.

Herein,  underpins the need for effective content generation targeted at the right audiences, as a marketing strategy tailored to boost leads and drive up sales.

Currently, content serves as the main thrust that propels the internet.

Important statistics related to content on the internet:

- On average around three million blog posts are published daily .

- Over 65% of consumers  learn about products and services before making buying decisions from publications on the internet - as opposed to in-your-face advertising.

- Marketing teams who  post  content regularly online enjoy improved sales, as opposed to those who do not post content online. Surveys show marketers who post content steadily enjoy about 12 times more return on investment, when compared with teams that don't.