Importance of Content for SEO

June 22, 2019

Put Unique Content Above The Fold: Google

Importance of Content for SEO
New edition of SEO success factors reinforces the importance of content. A theme that resounded in the SEO community during SMX Advanced in Seattle was that Google wants relevant, differentiated content above all else.

At SMX Advanced in Seattle on June 4, the 2019 edition of the Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors was officially unveiled. The Periodic Table, first launched in 2011, is updated every two years to reflect changes in Google ranking factors, emerging trends in technology and the evolution of SEO strategy.

Hundreds of SEO experts voted in Search Engine Land’s online poll on the relative importance of factors like content freshness, site speed, backlinks, user experience and so on. As is their standard practice, Search Engine Land’s editorial team then reviewed the poll results, added their own input, and produced an updated Periodic Table and explanatory materials, which can be reviewed and downloaded here.

Onstage at SMX Advanced, Search Engine Land’s editor in chief Ginny Marvin was joined by members of the editorial team, including Barry Schwartz, Detlef Johnson and Jessica Bowman, to discuss the new edition of the table and share their own views on the success factors that matter most.

The common theme throughout the discussion, and in the updated Periodic Table itself, was the importance of high-quality, relevant content, delivered to users in a well-structured, easily digestible format with an emphasis on usability.

As Schwartz noted in his introductory remarks, in the contest between content and links, it’s now a settled fact that content is more important.

Content is, to be sure, one of the main categories of success factors in the chart, and has been in previous editions as well. In the first part of their discussion, the panel discussed these content-oriented factors, with Schwartz noting that Google is getting very good at determining the authority of sources, especially in verticals where authority is particularly important, such as healthcare.