As a website owner, the most effective thing you can do to improve overall search engine optimization (SEO) is to create compelling written content on a regular basis on your website and on social media. Consistent web content allows search engines to index relevant search terms more frequently, but more importantly, it creates a conduit to engage with your customers.
SEO is one of the best investments a smoke shop can make for increasing sales. This is largely because the majority of millennials discover brands and shops online first, and Google does not allow tobacco companies to pay for AdWords (pay per click ads). Let’s give a read to some ideas for creating SEO written content.
Blog Form Articles
Many companies today invest time and resources into blogs. If you like to write or have a marketing person on staff, this is something you may be able to do in the house. However, many small and mid-sized businesses choose to outsource written content so they can focus on other core aspects of their business.
Blog posts or articles should focus on your products and cigar related themes. Blog posts should exude your brand’s passion and be conversational and engaging. Ideally, written content shouldn’t just exist gratuitously for SEO, but spark conversations among your customers and followers.
A recent survey by Response Agency reveals that cigar smokers find topics like flavor profiles and origins of ingredients to be the most interesting.
Written content for digital platforms generally should not exceed 400-600 words. Most people will read your posts on their phone while doing other things like commuting or waiting in line at a coffee shop.
Make sure to break up your content with subheadings and keep paragraphs short to make it easy to read on a small screen.
Numbered Lists for Clicks
Some of the most clicked articles are formatted as numerical lists. Make sure to include blog posts in this format in your regular written content scheduling. For example, a reader will be more likely to click on an article titled “5 New Rules of Premium Cigar Marketing” than simply “New Rules of Premium Cigar Marketing”.
Do Proper Research for Keywords
Search engines pick up on keywords so before writing a piece, research which keywords you want to incorporate into your writing. Keywords aren’t just singular words, but also phrases such as “wine” and “wine food pairing”. Make a list of words and phrases that pertain most to your industry and use them throughout your written content and in social media hashtags.
Partnering with an SEO expert can also be very helpful in this area. Marketing pros know how to create keyword strategies that garner the most clicks and searches for your content.
Ranking Written Content for SEO
Once you have a number of blog posts written, focus on the cornerstone pieces you want Google to rank highest. Chances are a lot of your blog articles will cover similar topics. Google does not inherently know how to rank each article in order of importance, thus your content may be competing with itself. This can be addressed by creating a site structure through internal linking.
Google generally ranks homepages highest since they have the most backlinks. For posts, you want to prioritize, make sure to link them on your homepage versus subpages. Then Google will rank those posts higher in search. Embed hyperlinks to your top posts on other pages on your site. The more links to a page, the higher it ranks.
Shareable Written Content for SEO
You want your customers to share your content. After all, cigars are a social passion. Make sure to include links to social media platforms and include a comment section to converse with your customers about your posts.
Some business owners do a great job creating search-friendly content. However, we find not many have the time it takes to do SEO and produce content on a regular basis. At Cigarketing, we help our customers with both creating content and SEO so they can focus on selling products and connecting with customers in person.
Conclusion
At Cigarketing, we help companies build modernized websites that customers love and that are optimized for search engines. We’re passionate about the premium cigar industry. Want to be the best cigar shop in your area? Let us help you.