User-first content for SEO places the reader at the heart of your content strategy — and it’s at the core of Google’s Helpful Content update. To stand a chance of ranking high on the SERPs, content needs to be polished, scintillating, and hyper-personalized.
Every post you publish is an opportunity to strengthen your brand, build a community, and convert leads, so make the most of every sentence. Prepare to discover cutting-edge user-centric content marketing and SEO tactics for captivating audiences and dominating search results.
What is user-first content for SEO?
User-first content for SEO is valuable, comprehensive, and well-written content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
Since its Helpful Content update, Google has banished content written with the sole purpose of ranking high on the SERPs into irrelevance. Today, you must make people your number-one priority while keeping a firm grip on the ever-changing demands of Google’s ranking algorithm.
Appeal to users by:
- Understanding user intent: Uncover the “why” behind your target audience’s searches. Are they researching a problem, comparing products, or are they ready to buy? Tailor content to each stage of the buyer’s journey.
- Focusing on readability and user experience: As Google says, focus on the user, and the rest will follow.Prioritize mobile-friendliness and fast loading speeds, and use voice, tone, and word choices that are appropriate for your audience.
- Building relationships and community: Content acts as a conversation starter. Encourage discussion, answer audience questions, and build a like-minded community around your brand. Write consistently about your values and goals so you target people who are poised to like, comment on, and subscribe to your content.
To optimize for search engines:
- Research People Also Ask (PAA): Let’s say you’re writing a blog post about the “Best Laptops for Students.” Analyze the snippets by typing that query into Google and looking through the PAA list. You might find, “Is Dell or HP a better laptop?” Add a subheading to your post addressing specific questions like this if it’s relevant and it flows.
- Optimize for voice search: People are using voice search more and more thanks to tools like Alexa and Siri. Optimize website content with natural-sounding phrases such as “where to get pizza in [your city].”
- Focus on freshness: Regularly update your blog posts with new information and fresh perspectives. If you run a travel blog, you could create evergreen content such as “Must-Have Checklist for Every Vacation” and update it seasonally with new trends and insights.
Why did your website’s ranking decline after the Helpful Content Update?
Your website likely declined after September 2023’s Helpful Content Update because of:
- Too much search engine-centric content
- Lack of E-E-A-T
- Thin or low quality content
- Outdated information
This seismic shift in Google’s content quality standards caused a slew of websites to tumble down the SERPs, leaving many SEO experts and content marketers scrambling to understand the change. Let’s dissect the key culprits before we provide a roadmap to help you navigate the new content landscape.
Too much search engine-centric content
Anyone relying on keyword-stuffing saw a serious decline in SERP rankings. Google is laser-focused on user intent, rewarding content that doesn’t just rank for terms but also actually solves problems.
Take the example of a travel agency. Previously, churning out generic “top 10 beaches in [resort destination]” articles might have sufficed. Now, success hinges on in-depth guides created by seasoned globetrotters catering to specific user needs. Think “family-friendly beaches in Hawaii” with user-uploaded photographs and details on child-friendly activities, safety tips, and trustworthy accommodation recommendations.
Lack of E-E-A-T
Google places immense value on E-E-A-T — a powerful framework that helps search engines determine the quality and credibility of content, and ultimately plays a vital role in determining where the content lands in search results.
Thin or low-quality content
Google prioritizes depth and comprehensiveness and has rolled out changes resulting in 45% less low-quality, unoriginal content ranking high.
Think of it this way: If a user searches for “the best mountain bikes for beginners,” they expect an in-depth analysis, not a 500-word fluff piece. Analyze your existing content. Can you expand thin articles into comprehensive guides? Can you add data, expert insights, images, and user testimonials to existing content to make it more valuable?
Outdated information
Google prioritizes up-to-date, relevant information. Stale, outdated content signals neglect, which reduces its perceived value and relevance. Consistently refreshing content shows Google that your site is active and committed to providing the best user experience, helping you maintain and improve search visibility,
The Helpful Content update marked a paradigm shift. Marketers who adapt to a user-centric approach will thrive.
How Do You Write User-First SEO Content?
Let’s explore 12 tips for producing user-first SEO content that prioritizes customers and ranks high on search engines.
- Research user intent.
- Think of it as a conversation.
- Choose the right keywords and get found.
- Pay attention to brand voice and tone.
- Use topic clusters to organize content.
- Satisfy Google’s E-E-A-T standards.
- Keep users on your site with internal links.
- Make the intro and every heading count.
- Use content formatting best practices.
- Play around with visuals and interactive elements.
- Write easy-to-follow content that’s tailored to your target audience.
- Outshine your competitors.
1. Research user intent.
Uncover the “why” behind your target audience’s searches.
Let’s use an e-commerce store that sells running shoes as an example. Someone is likely to search for “the best running shoes” during the research phase, at the start of their buying journey. To appeal to them, you might create a blog post comparing different types of running shoes for various foot types and activity levels.
On the other hand, someone searching for “buy Nike Pegasus size 10” is close to purchasing. Target them by optimizing the product page with a fast-track checkout and prominent customer reviews.
2. Think of it as a conversation.
Search engines are better than ever at understanding context and nuance, so write content as an engaging two-way conversation rather than a static monologue. Perfecting this conversational style will help you resonate deeply with your audience and enhance your SEO performance.
Learn how natural language processing (NLP) works
Google’s sophisticated algorithms are driven by NLP and can interpret subtleties within search queries. Make your content flow naturally, like a real conversation, and you’ll capture the most relevant web users’ attention.
Use long-tail keywords and questions in H2s
Incorporate natural-sounding long-tail keywords and questions into your content’s headers so it aligns with conversational search queries. For example, instead of using “Features of Good Running Shoes” as an H2, write “What Makes a Good Running Shoe?” That way, Google can match your content with someone asking that precise question.
Make it a two-way interaction
Encourage questions and feedback to build community and signal that your content is engaging and valuable to search engines. Try out CTAs such as, “What’s your favorite feature in a running shoe? Share your thoughts in the comments below!” Inviting readers to interact makes your content more dynamic and community-oriented.
Address readers directly
Speak directly to users with second-person pronouns. Adding a personal touch helps the reader feel acknowledged and important. You might replace a sentence saying, “Customers should consider their foot type when buying running shoes” with “Consider your foot type when picking out your running shoes.” The second version feels warmer and more empathetic, humanizing your brand and making the copy more engaging.
3. Choose the right keywords and get found.
Keep in mind that focusing on a single keyword will make your writing stiff and robotic. With semantic SEO, you focus on a topic rather than a sole keyword, adding depth and nuance to your piece. What are people who search for your primary keyword interested in? How can you add value to keep them on the page?
Start by using keywords that are important to your business. Then, add related, or semantic, keywords. Let’s use a pet food store as an example. According to the PAA, users searching for kitten nutrition ask a range of related questions: Should you feed your kitten wet or dry food? How much weight should a healthy kitten be gaining? When can you switch to adult food?
When you incorporate some of these questions into your piece, you address your initial topic and deliver value by covering it comprehensively.
4. Pay attention to brand voice and tone.
Creating content that resonates with your audience requires a consistent and compelling brand voice and tone. As a study from Deloitte points out, “the foundation of emotional connection is trust; and the foundation of trust is consistency.”
A reliable, predictable brand voice helps customers feel secure enough to form an emotional connection and consider spending money or becoming a loyal customer. What’s more, the internet is overflowing with content, and having a well-defined brand persona is one of the few ways to cut through the noise.
Start by clearly defining your brand’s personality. Is it formal and authoritative or casual and friendly? Do you use humor to punctuate your points, or would your audience find that off-putting? Would being strongly opinionated or gently empathetic make your customers feel safer?
Your brand’s voice should remain uniform across all channels to build recognition and establish trust. For instance, a playful and energetic brand voice should reflect in all communications. If your social media posts are witty, your blog posts should maintain the same lighthearted tone.
5. Use topic clusters to organize content.
Approach content creation strategically and use topic clusters to organize your pages. Topic clusters are hubs of content anchored by pillar pages. Pillar pages set up a broad overview of the topic, using links to direct readers out to more specific but related cluster pages. Topic clusters are useful for SEO because they help your site signal expertise and topical authority.
For example, a pet food store can create a topic cluster about feline nutrition. The pillar page might discuss the overall importance of feeding cats healthy food, linking to more specific pages based on a reader’s interest. These pages could include in-depth nutrition guides for cats at different life stages, such as kittens, adults, and seniors.
This type of structure is more useful than a random assortment of pages. because you’re matching keywords to the buyer’s journey — aligning content with intent. It’s good practice to use broader keywords in pillar pages to draw in readers researching a topic. As you go into greater depth, make the keywords more precise.
Our fictional pet food store may eventually guide readers to an article comparing foods for overweight cats. This comparison piece may then drive readers to a product page for low-calorie cat food.
6. Satisfy Google’s E-E-A-T standards.
Readers want content they can trust. To deliver this, Google looks for signs that the person writing the content, the SME editing it, and the platform publishing it are credible. The more Google can trust your content as a reliable source, the more likely it is to rank high on Google.
As you’re writing content, make sure it meets Google’s E-E-A-T requirements:
- Experience
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
Experience
Experience adds depth and authenticity to your content. Share personal insights and practical applications to connect more deeply with your audience.
Expertise
Showcase expertise by creating detailed, well-researched content. Be sure to use data, industry insights, and practical advice to demonstrate your knowledge.
Authoritativeness
Authoritativeness comes from recognition by other reputable sources. Aim to get backlinks from respected sites and highlight any industry awards or certifications.
Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness involves accuracy, transparency, and security. Make sure all content is factual and current and that your site is secure.
Check our Google E-E-A-T SEO checklist for more tips on achieving authority across your entire website.
7. Keep users on your site with internal links.
Internal links improve user experience, directing readers to important pages such as products, services, and additional resources that may be interesting. They’re also helpful for highlighting pages from your archives readers might otherwise miss, keeping them engaged with your website.
In addition to making the site more useful for customers, internal links give search engines context by showing how pages are related, especially if you use clear anchor text to describe where a link takes the reader.
Links are especially helpful for sharing authority between pages, which can help with ranking. This is known as link equity. A strong-performing page that Google already considers authoritative can pass on some of its authority to another page through links.
8. Make the intro and every heading count.
Even if your content contains the information users are seeking, you need to present it in a compelling way so that your audience wants to consume it. Pique your readers’ interest with a snappy headline and introduction.
Try appealing to emotions, outlining what’s at stake, or using humor to grab their attention and entice them to read further. Accurately explain what readers will learn if they invest time in your piece, and deliver on your promises clearly and concisely in your copy.
9. Use content formatting best practices.
A couple of issues that played a big role in the Helpful Content update’s obliteration of low-quality content were walls of text and desktop-only formats.
First of all, white space. That’s right, clear areas make your content more readable and less overwhelming. Break up information dumps with short paragraphs and ample spacing. Avoid walls of text at all costs, using spacing and multimedia to create a clean, inviting layout that guides readers smoothly and invitingly through your content.
Failing to provide mobile-friendly formatting can cause problems. With the majority of users accessing content on mobile devices, optimizing your content for mobile display is absolutely essential. Text, images, and your overall layout should use a responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes.
Before publishing any web page or post, make sure the buttons are easily clickable, text is readable without zooming, and images load quickly. Test content on various devices to confirm it looks great everywhere.
10. Play around with visuals and interactive elements.
Visuals and interactive elements improve the user experience and drive deeper engagement. Let’s look at a few innovative tools for making content more dynamic.
Images and infographics
Images and infographics break up text and make your content more visually appealing, helping you illustrate points and making complex information easier to digest. For example, in a content marketing article, an infographic showing the correlation between page load speed and bounce rate can vividly illustrate why speed optimization is critical.
Videos
Videos are incredibly powerful for capturing attention and conveying information succinctly. They can demonstrate processes, showcase products, or provide tutorials in an engaging manner. For a post on email marketing techniques, embed a video tutorial that walks viewers through setting up a successful email campaign.
Interactive elements
Interactive content such as quizzes, polls, and calculators can increase user engagement by actively involving readers in the content. These elements also make your content memorable because they draw people in and encourage them to spend more time on your page.
In an article about social media strategies, you might include a quiz that helps users determine the best platforms for their business. Questions could cover audience demographics, content types, and engagement goals and provide personalized recommendations based on their answers.
Data visualizations
Charts, graphs, and maps can make complex data more digestible and visually appealing. They help to present information in a way that is easy to understand at a glance.
When discussing market trends in an SEO article, use interactive charts to show changes over time. A graph illustrating the growth of mobile users versus. desktop users can highlight the importance of mobile optimization in your SEO strategy.
Hover effects
An e-commerce site could try using hover effects on product images to show different views or provide quick details like price and key features. Even small interactions can significantly enhance the user experience.
Interactive timelines
Interactive timelines are an excellent way to present historical data or project timelines. They allow users to explore information chronologically and can make your content more engaging.
In a post outlining the evolution of SEO practices, consider using an interactive timeline that users can click through to see major changes and updates in SEO guidelines over the years. This makes the historical data more engaging and accessible.
11. Write easy-to-follow content that’s tailored to your target audience.
Dense, hard-to-read content is likely to push readers back to the search results to find a competing site. Make your copy easy to scan and understand so users don’t have to struggle to find the answer to their query.
- Avoid jargon and write in an appealing style.
- Use short paragraphs.
- Add variety to your writing with sentences of different lengths.
- Bring ideas to life with examples.
- Organize ideas using headers and subheaders.
- Use bullet points and numbered lists.
- Choose an easy-to-read font.
- Format the page with plenty of white space.
You can still cover a topic in-depth and make it easy to read. Try summarizing complex information with illustrations and charts, and add alt-text so search engines and visually impaired readers can understand the content of an image. You can also provide an outline at the beginning of your article with links to key sections so readers can jump to applicable sections quickly.
12. Outshine your competitors.
SEO is competitive. While you’re trying to land at the top of search results and convert customers, so are your competitors. The best way to outshine them is by offering something unique. Conduct SERP analysis and use these insights to create content that goes above and beyond.
The aim of the game is to deliver informative, original content that’s more comprehensive, compelling, and authoritative than what everyone else is creating. Make your content valuable:
- Back up all claims and ideas with statistics, studies, and surveys.
- Offer complimentary resources such as downloadable templates or checklists.
- Let your brand’s voice, personality, and unique insights shine.
Elevate your SEO content game with Stellar
User-centric content for SEO is a far cry from plugging in keywords to reach the top of the SERPs. It’s based on an understanding of your customers and what they want to read. Drive your business toward its goals with optimized content that puts people first.
Learn how Stellar’s SEO content writing services can supply you with publish-ready blog posts, landing pages, and web content that will take your SEO performance to the next level..
