Over the last few years, Google has moved towards favoring longer-form content. While search engine marketers have known about this phenomenon for a while, we have just discovered why the search engine prefers longer-form content and how to create the type of long-form content that tends to rank well. In this article, you’ll learn how to create the “complete content” that makes Google loves your website or blog and rank it higher on the search results page.
How To Create The “Complete Content” That Google Loves
Analyzing the top-ranking posts for high-volume searches indicates that Google wants to rank articles that answer every possible question a searcher may have on a given topic. The success of pillar content and “ultimate guides” is a testament to this.
These types of posts have been branded as being “complete content.” Articles that are “complete” tend to dominate the SERPs for both seed keywords and longer tails as Google seems to be giving a smaller range of content visibility but rather having these long-form articles monopolize the top of the SERPs.
Therefore, it’s vital that you start creating “complete content” if you want to succeed with an organic search strategy. Here, we will explain exactly how Google measures the “completeness” of content so that you know exactly what to put in an article to make it complete.
Why does Google prefer “complete content”?
Google’s preference for “complete content” stems from the search engine’s shift towards assessing the quality of webpages based on user engagement metrics and how it measures this engagement.
Google wants users to be able to end a search when clicking on the first piece of content they deliver for any given keyword. If a user searches for a keyword, clicks on a result and ends their search, this indicates to the search engine that the webpage in question has provided the right answer to the user’s search.
Compare this to searches where a user clicks onto a webpage, then clicks back to the search engine results page (SERP), and then back into another search. The fact that a searcher has had to click onto a second page tells the search engine that the first page that they clicked on did not provide an adequate answer to their question. If this happens repeatedly, the page in question will be demoted in the SERP.
The main reason users “pogo stick” from page to page is that the discovery of new information from reading a piece of content usually leads to follow-up questions. If an article fails to provide answers to these follow-up questions, users will move on to another piece of content to answer them.
To satisfy the type of user experience that Google wants a piece of content to provide, your articles should, therefore, address and answer all the possible follow-up questions that could arise – in other words, create complete content.
How does Google measure the completeness of content?
Google has several ways to assess the completeness of its content. These measurements broadly fall into two categories: on-page factors and user-experience factors. Let’s run through them now.
On-page factors:
Word count
A page’s word count indicates to Google how complete an article is. A study by Neil Patel confirms the positive correlation between word count and average position in organic search:
While you should not pad out your articles with unnecessary words, looking at the word count of the top 3 or 4 ranking pages for a given topic gives you an idea of the depth required to create a complete piece of content.
If you can, try to write articles slightly longer than what is already ranking. Again, ensure that you do not unnecessarily pad out your articles to do this.
The addressing of semantically related questions in a “topic cluster”
Google has become sophisticated enough to lump several related topics and questions into one “topic cluster.”
When evaluating the completeness of a piece of content on a specific topic, the search engine will identify the larger “topic cluster” that the article falls into and look for evidence that you have addressed all the other questions within that cluster.
The more of these related questions and points you cover in your piece, the better your chances of ranking in Google.
When planning a post, you should consider the wider topic the article falls into and brainstorm all the related questions that arise out of that topic in order to answer them in your post.
User experience factors
“Pogosticking” (negative)
As mentioned earlier, having users click onto your page, bounce off, and then click on another page in the exact search will, if it happens regularly enough, tank your rankings.
This is avoided by leaving every stone unturned in your articles. If your competition covers the same topic as you do more comprehensively, then a degree of “pogo-sticking” is inevitable. Update your content regularly to ensure that you are always one step ahead of your competition regarding the thoroughness of your articles. Learn how to create the “complete content” that makes Google loves your website or blog and rank it higher on the search results page.
“Search completion” (positive) to create complete content for Google
Every page on a website should have an intended “conversion goal.” This can be an email sign-up, clicking to another website page, or purchasing.
Search engines are beginning to get a vague understanding of what conversion goals are for each webpage.
For informational searches and articles, such as blog posts, Google considers the goal of these pages to end the user’s search.
By “ending the user’s search,” we mean that once a user reads a webpage, he or she will either stay on the website or make a completely unrelated search.
This is essentially the opposite of “pogo-sticking,” where users continue searching after reading a webpage.
If a user completes their search when visiting your page, it tells Google that the page has answered the question comprehensively. Thus, the page has completed its intended goal (in this specific context, at least).
Dwell time and scroll depth (positive) to create complete content for Google
Google’s equation with dwell time (the length of time a user spends on a page) and scroll depth (how far down a page someone reads) is one of the key reasons why the search engine has begun to prefer longer-form content.
Currently, it seems that Google interprets a user spending a long time on a page as meaning. That the user is engaging positively with an article and that the article is, therefore, satisfying the user’s search.
While longer-form articles, on average, have a higher dwell time. So, it would help if you did not sacrifice conversions or other aspects of user experience to make your article longer.
Rather, multimedia such as illustrative videos and infographics. Tables of contents, and jump-to sections can help improve your page’s dwell time and scroll depth without potentially lowering the quality of your article by padding it out unnecessarily.
How to create complete content For Google
Now that we have examined why Google prefers complete content. So, how the search engine measures its “completeness,” let’s examine how to create these types of articles.
The best way of creating complete content is to have a genuinely deep understanding of the topic. That you are writing about. There are some ways that you can “hack.” The creation of complete content even if you are not a topic expert. Here are some techniques for doing this. Ideally, you want to combine these methods to create the most thorough content possible. Keep reading to learn how to create the “complete content” that makes Google loves your website or blog and rank it higher on the search results page.
Use the “people also asked” box to discover topic clusters
Remember the concept of “topic clusters” that we discussed earlier? Google gives a number of questions that it believes are clustered together in a particular topic. Google gives you this in the “people also asked” box. That it displays at the top of a SERP when you type in a question:
The “people also asked” box for the question: “how to write a blog post”. These semantically related questions can give you an outline of the points. That needs to be covered in order to create a complete article on a topic.
Try to answer as many of the most relevant suggested questions as you can within a topic. Some of the questions that Google delivers to you in the “people also asked” box are not relevant enough to merit inclusion in your article, so you will need to use some common sense when choosing what questions to answer for the Complete Content that Google Loves.
Given that Google looks to whether you have addressed these semantically related questions. When assessing the completeness of your post. It is well worth putting these questions in H2 tags and dedicating specific paragraphs of your article. To answer the specific questions. This will ensure that Google can read that you are addressing these questions in your piece.
Make a note of any of your followers’ questions and answer them in your posts
Google’s “people also asked” tab will not exhaust all the potential follow-up questions.
This is an excellent way to find more potential follow-up questions that someone may have. When reading one of your posts, take note of questions that come up. When speaking to your customers or your followers when reading a particular piece.
Write down any questions that come up when you speak to your customers. Segment these questions by topic. Then, add them to your post and answer them for the Complete Content that Google Loves.
If your website has a comments section enabled. If a reader asks a question, you should edit your post to address that question. Answer the question directly in the comments when possible.
Look in forums for additional questions to answer
Forums such as Quora and Reddit, specifically related to your industry, are excellent places to find additional questions to include in your blog posts to increase their completeness.
The forums are good places to find these types of questions. People tend to ask questions on forums when they have Googled a question and not found a satisfactory answer.
If you can add this question to an already comprehensive piece of content on a broader topic, answer it thoroughly. Then, you have both created a more complete piece of content overall. You and your competitors have likely won more visibility for anyone who searches for that question in the future.
Always look to one-up your competitors to create complete content for Google
Google’s preference for complete content has essentially created an arms race. Who can create the most thorough, helpful content on any particular topic?
Do not keep an eye on the ranking of other articles for your keywords. Ensuring that you are always creating something better than they are will cause you to lose visibility slowly over time. You’ll need a page rank checker tool to keep up with your competitors. It allows you to see how your pages rank for specific keywords, and in addition, you can check out your competition.
Always ensure that you provide more useful content than those around you in the SERPs.
What is needed to create better content than your competitors depends on the search term in question.
Here are some of the more common ways that you can create more complete content.
- The searcher asks a factual question, such as “What is the depreciation on a Ferrari.” Then it is worth doing some original research into this question and publishing the data on your post
- If a searcher is looking for instructions, such as “how to tie a tie,”. A video that goes over how to do this step-by-step will be more complete.
- If a search calls for professional advice, such as “how do I know if I need a filling?”. Then interviewing a dentist and publishing what they have to say on the matter will be a better article than one that has no such professional input.
In short, you should ensure that your article provides the best answer to a specific question on the Internet.
