What is Content SEO? A simple explanation of the disadvantages of B2B
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 6:58 am
Many people feel that Google search has become completely useless recently. A blog post titled " Google Search is Dying " seems to have become a hot topic in the United States as well.
Nowadays, when you search for a keyword to find something, the first page of Google is full of content with almost the same headline. Sometimes, even if you search 7 or 8 pages, the results are the same. To make matters worse, both the articles with substantial content and the ones without much content have similar titles, making searching even more difficult.
By the way, have you heard of the term "content spam"?
" Content published solely for search engines, well-written but saying nothing new, and only fuelling the ever-growing pile of related content ."
Unfortunately, I think that this is true for many of the articles in Japan that focus on content SEO. Of course, there are also companies that are achieving great results by ranking high in search results.
However, at least for B2B companies, creating such content will not only not directly lead to results, but may actually damage your credibility. In this article, we will explain in an easy-to-understand manner the concept of content SEO, which has only disadvantages for B2B.
What is Content SEO?
Content SEO is a type of SEO strategy that involves creating content that meets users' search needs and having search engines highly evaluate the site to display it at the top of the results.
The underlying idea of "creating and disseminating content that is beneficial to users" is the same as content marketing, and is compatible with the policies of search engines such as Google.
However, in reality, most of the content created is shallow and just contains keywords. In the 2010s, content SEO came to be interpreted as content spam, and unfortunately, this trend is still continuing today.
The problem is that they place too much emphasis on creating content based on keywords and neglect the quality of the content. In this article, we will explain the concept of content SEO, which has received such a bad reputation.
The reality of SEO in Japan
There are various approaches to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but broadly speaking, they can be divided into technical SEO and content SEO.
Technical SEO: source code, operating system, and server configurations. Prerequisites for optimization actions to improve search speed and ranking.
Content SEO: Providing useful content to users based on Google search keywords. Optimizing content by utilizing images and data, improving the site's UI, etc., in order to rank higher in search results.
As long as your content SEO is appropriate, there will be no problem.
However, in February 2023, Masahiro Tsuji ( @tsuj ), a leading SEO expert in Japan, wrote an article in Marketeer about the history and future of SEO in Japan. According to Tsuji, many people student phone number list involved in SEO in Japan used to focus on artificial links, and now they focus on content SEO, and the demand for technical SEO has not kept up for a long time.
In addition, he made some harsh comments about the reality of content SEO:
Interview article with Masahiro Tsuji from "marketeer."
❝I believe the number of companies that support content SEO will definitely decrease.
In order to provide easy SEO support to small and medium-sized businesses with a monthly budget of 100,000 to 200,000 yen, the only options are to provide tools or create articles at low cost. Tool vendors often seem to provide something valuable, but the problem is with article creation companies.
Of course, there are companies that put their all into creating good content at low cost. However, in reality, most companies are performing a 40-fold alchemy, using crowdsourcing to create articles for 0.5 yen per character and then delivering them as articles for 20 yen per character. Such terrible companies will inevitably be weeded out. ❞
I think this is a world that really exists. It is not uncommon for the content of the owned media of a decent company to be content that is actually written for 200 to 500 yen per hour and is by no means of high quality.
Recently, know-how on how to use AI to finish content efficiently has become popular in the industry, but in many cases the topic of discussion is limited to how to mass-produce articles cheaply, and there is even an attitude that the people involved believe that it is up to the creators they outsource to improve quality, not their job.
After all, it is up to the ordering company to carefully select a content production company, understanding how the articles are created.
What are the SEO guidelines?
SEO stands for "search engine optimization." There are several search engines , but as of 2023, Google is the most prevalent, so SEO can be said to be Google optimization.
So what kind of content does Google value?
Google has published detailed information about the content it evaluates on the " Create useful, reliable, user-first content " page of its Search Central (formerly Webmaster Guidelines) .
Reason 1: Providing useful information to searchers is the top priority
There are questions for content creators to self-assess their content. Below are some excerpts from the questions:
If you can answer "yes" to any of the following questions, then your content is likely to be useful:
Although the word "creators" is used here, in the case of B2B, this is something that all content clients, production companies, and creators should ask themselves.
Content and Quality Questions
Does the content present original information, reporting, research or analysis?
Does your content include insightful analysis and interesting information, not just the obvious?
If your content is sourced from other sources, does it sufficiently demonstrate added value and originality rather than simply being copied or rewritten?
Is this a page you would want to bookmark and/or tell or recommend to a friend?
～Omitted～
Questions about content presentation and production
Is your content well-produced? Does it look shoddily or hastily produced?
Is the presence of individual pages or sites diminished because content is mass-produced by many creators (perhaps outsourced) or spread across a large network of sites?
～Omitted～
(Source: Google Search Central )
Tip #2: Avoid creating content with search engines in mind
This question might be easier to understand.
Google explicitly states that the content that ranks highest is content that is created with the user in mind, rather than content that is created with search engines in mind, and asks the following questions:
If you answered "yes," it says you need to reevaluate your content creation.
This means that Google will not rank sites that :
Is your content created primarily to drive traffic from search engines?
Do you produce lots of content on different topics in the hopes that one of them will rank high in search results?
Do you use automation to a large extent to create content on many topics?
Are you primarily summarizing other people's opinions without adding value?
Once users have finished reading your content, do they feel like they need to search again for better information from other sources?
Are you writing your articles to be a certain number of characters because you heard or read somewhere that there is a Google preferred number of characters ( there is no such setting )?
Have you decided to cover a niche topic despite having no real experience, thinking it will generate search traffic?
(Source: Google Search Central )
Tip 3: Consider the who, how, and why of your content
Google is recommending the "EAT" perspective, which adds "Experience" to the "EAT" approach that it has previously advocated, from December 2022. E, E, A, and T are the initials of the following English words.
Experience
Expertise
Authoritativeness
Trust
For example, it is in line with the EEAT concept to clearly identify the author of the content, and it is also recommended that information about the author's background and area of expertise be included.
The type of people who create content and the knowledge they use to create it have become even more important.
Nowadays, when you search for a keyword to find something, the first page of Google is full of content with almost the same headline. Sometimes, even if you search 7 or 8 pages, the results are the same. To make matters worse, both the articles with substantial content and the ones without much content have similar titles, making searching even more difficult.
By the way, have you heard of the term "content spam"?
" Content published solely for search engines, well-written but saying nothing new, and only fuelling the ever-growing pile of related content ."
Unfortunately, I think that this is true for many of the articles in Japan that focus on content SEO. Of course, there are also companies that are achieving great results by ranking high in search results.
However, at least for B2B companies, creating such content will not only not directly lead to results, but may actually damage your credibility. In this article, we will explain in an easy-to-understand manner the concept of content SEO, which has only disadvantages for B2B.
What is Content SEO?
Content SEO is a type of SEO strategy that involves creating content that meets users' search needs and having search engines highly evaluate the site to display it at the top of the results.
The underlying idea of "creating and disseminating content that is beneficial to users" is the same as content marketing, and is compatible with the policies of search engines such as Google.
However, in reality, most of the content created is shallow and just contains keywords. In the 2010s, content SEO came to be interpreted as content spam, and unfortunately, this trend is still continuing today.
The problem is that they place too much emphasis on creating content based on keywords and neglect the quality of the content. In this article, we will explain the concept of content SEO, which has received such a bad reputation.
The reality of SEO in Japan
There are various approaches to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but broadly speaking, they can be divided into technical SEO and content SEO.
Technical SEO: source code, operating system, and server configurations. Prerequisites for optimization actions to improve search speed and ranking.
Content SEO: Providing useful content to users based on Google search keywords. Optimizing content by utilizing images and data, improving the site's UI, etc., in order to rank higher in search results.
As long as your content SEO is appropriate, there will be no problem.
However, in February 2023, Masahiro Tsuji ( @tsuj ), a leading SEO expert in Japan, wrote an article in Marketeer about the history and future of SEO in Japan. According to Tsuji, many people student phone number list involved in SEO in Japan used to focus on artificial links, and now they focus on content SEO, and the demand for technical SEO has not kept up for a long time.
In addition, he made some harsh comments about the reality of content SEO:
Interview article with Masahiro Tsuji from "marketeer."
❝I believe the number of companies that support content SEO will definitely decrease.
In order to provide easy SEO support to small and medium-sized businesses with a monthly budget of 100,000 to 200,000 yen, the only options are to provide tools or create articles at low cost. Tool vendors often seem to provide something valuable, but the problem is with article creation companies.
Of course, there are companies that put their all into creating good content at low cost. However, in reality, most companies are performing a 40-fold alchemy, using crowdsourcing to create articles for 0.5 yen per character and then delivering them as articles for 20 yen per character. Such terrible companies will inevitably be weeded out. ❞
I think this is a world that really exists. It is not uncommon for the content of the owned media of a decent company to be content that is actually written for 200 to 500 yen per hour and is by no means of high quality.
Recently, know-how on how to use AI to finish content efficiently has become popular in the industry, but in many cases the topic of discussion is limited to how to mass-produce articles cheaply, and there is even an attitude that the people involved believe that it is up to the creators they outsource to improve quality, not their job.
After all, it is up to the ordering company to carefully select a content production company, understanding how the articles are created.
What are the SEO guidelines?
SEO stands for "search engine optimization." There are several search engines , but as of 2023, Google is the most prevalent, so SEO can be said to be Google optimization.
So what kind of content does Google value?
Google has published detailed information about the content it evaluates on the " Create useful, reliable, user-first content " page of its Search Central (formerly Webmaster Guidelines) .
Reason 1: Providing useful information to searchers is the top priority
There are questions for content creators to self-assess their content. Below are some excerpts from the questions:
If you can answer "yes" to any of the following questions, then your content is likely to be useful:
Although the word "creators" is used here, in the case of B2B, this is something that all content clients, production companies, and creators should ask themselves.
Content and Quality Questions
Does the content present original information, reporting, research or analysis?
Does your content include insightful analysis and interesting information, not just the obvious?
If your content is sourced from other sources, does it sufficiently demonstrate added value and originality rather than simply being copied or rewritten?
Is this a page you would want to bookmark and/or tell or recommend to a friend?
～Omitted～
Questions about content presentation and production
Is your content well-produced? Does it look shoddily or hastily produced?
Is the presence of individual pages or sites diminished because content is mass-produced by many creators (perhaps outsourced) or spread across a large network of sites?
～Omitted～
(Source: Google Search Central )
Tip #2: Avoid creating content with search engines in mind
This question might be easier to understand.
Google explicitly states that the content that ranks highest is content that is created with the user in mind, rather than content that is created with search engines in mind, and asks the following questions:
If you answered "yes," it says you need to reevaluate your content creation.
This means that Google will not rank sites that :
Is your content created primarily to drive traffic from search engines?
Do you produce lots of content on different topics in the hopes that one of them will rank high in search results?
Do you use automation to a large extent to create content on many topics?
Are you primarily summarizing other people's opinions without adding value?
Once users have finished reading your content, do they feel like they need to search again for better information from other sources?
Are you writing your articles to be a certain number of characters because you heard or read somewhere that there is a Google preferred number of characters ( there is no such setting )?
Have you decided to cover a niche topic despite having no real experience, thinking it will generate search traffic?
(Source: Google Search Central )
Tip 3: Consider the who, how, and why of your content
Google is recommending the "EAT" perspective, which adds "Experience" to the "EAT" approach that it has previously advocated, from December 2022. E, E, A, and T are the initials of the following English words.
Experience
Expertise
Authoritativeness
Trust
For example, it is in line with the EEAT concept to clearly identify the author of the content, and it is also recommended that information about the author's background and area of expertise be included.
The type of people who create content and the knowledge they use to create it have become even more important.