Why Unique Content Is Crucial for SEO Success

In the digital world, it’s no longer enough to have quality content–and that’s if readers believe your content is quality to begin with. Leading search engine algorithms like Google and Bing reward original content with higher rankings that stick longer.

Google periodically releases guidelines for how websites should present their content–and what distinguishes average content from stellar content–to offer the best user experience possible. This means that you need to create truly unique and relevant content that answers users’ questions and encourages exploration throughout your site.

This article covers key points about why unique and high-performance content is crucial for SEO success, as well as some strategies you can implement to ensure your blog posts stand out among the millions of content pieces published every week.

The SEO success you crave depends on you and your originality. Long gone are the days when you could write 500 words of industry aphorisms and get all the traffic you want. Now and in the future, your SEO content needs an unmistakable sense of personality and never-before-seen insights your niche can benefit from.

Original content is essential for a few reasons. One, original content is proof the creator put thought into their work. They weren’t going to accept just any arrangement of facts. Two, it reveals the creator cares about their audience. Someone who values their audience wants to help before they sell. Three, originality is one of the few things that can’t be faked. You can use tools for tech SEO and even content improvements, but real creators don’t automate the content creation process.

Unfortunately, many businesses launch their SEO content marketing efforts with re-written content from their competitors, borrowed content from other sources, or even AI content creation tools. Taking this approach isn’t just lazy; it’s often counterproductive. To get real SEO results, you need to write original content from scratch and keep it updated. 

SEO, and the importance of original content, can be simplified down to two points. One, original content is useful content. People don’t need rehashed versions of others’ work; they want something noteworthy. Two, you want your content to be as unique as possible so your posts are read, shared, and championed by the people who matter most to your brand. 

The value of originality for SEO content is clear. But how do you distill this timeless principle into actionable content production frameworks? 

We narrowed our list down to six leading characteristics of the best-performing, original SEO content: 

• The topic must be relevant and practical for your target audience. There’s a reason why so much how-to content reaches the first page of Google. Most people turn to the Internet to find an answer or learn a process. If you have the best how-to blog post for your chosen keyword on the Internet, you’re going to see success from it. 
• Your content must be clear, concise, and grammatically correct. This includes being free of spelling, formatting, and image errors. No one will respect content that offers valuable insights but is challenging to read or looks hastily composed. What’s more, many of Google’s recent core algorithm updates place greater emphasis on content authority and trustworthiness. Double- and triple-check your content before it goes live. 
• Your images should be high quality, relevant to your words, and include pertinent alt text. Internet users love content that’s visual, and research indicates blog posts with an image every 100 words get shared at least twice as often. Alt text increases your dental website accessibility and also for search engines to see that more of your content is relevant to a user’s query. 
• Aim for longer-form content. Content should be long enough to be substantive but not too long to be mentally burdensome. 500 words is a minimum for a focused topic. 1,000 words is about the length it takes to write thoughtfully about four or five subtopics within a main topic. 2,000 words gives you more room to expand on a subtopic or include additional information like frequently asked questions. 
• Your blog posts should be published on your website and not on a third-party platform like Medium or Blogger. If you want to generate and retain SEO traffic for years to come, it’s best to publish content where you want people to take action. Medium.com is a nice place to garner brand awareness and cultivate discussions, but it’s not ideal for driving conversions. Show Google which domain it should prioritize and its algorithm will follow suit.
• Your blog posts should be updated once every 90 days to ensure content freshness. Trends, answers, and solutions change all the time–no matter what industry you’re in. That’s why it’s crucial to update your content, even if it’s to add a few links or update your FAQ section. Doing this for all of your content gives Google another reason to trust your site with all of its sweet, sweet traffic. 

Now that you have excellent content creation principles at your disposal, it’s time to see them in context. The following four sections detail the top four benefits you’ll enjoy when you publish original content:

Knowing what works and putting it into practice are quite different. That’s especially true if you’re building a long-term content plan. Here are 10 plug-and-play tactics to increase the chances that as much of your content as possible makes it to page one:

• Thoroughly research your topic before writing about it.
• Look at the questions that are being searched on your topic (the People Also Ask section) and how they’re being answered.
• Consider which topics are valuable to your target audience, and look for keyword opportunities that don’t yet have a lot of blog posts associated with them.
• Use free tools like Google Trends to help you find topics that are growing month over month.
• Develop a written tone of voice that’s as unique as possible, especially for your industry.
• Ensure your content isn’t too short–aim for 500 words as a minimum.
• Make sure your content isn’t too long and burdensome–remember, 2,000 to 2,500 words should be your upper limit.
• Ensure your content contains enough information to succinctly address the questions readers would have when reading it.
• Include citations for sources, especially about health or financial matters.
• Ensure you have a unique and valid URL for your blog post.
• Ensure you have a unique and valid blog post H1 (the reader-facing title).

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