„Content is King!“ his phrase is used as inflationary as it is true. If you want your website or an online shop to be indexed by Google, you take great care to ensure that your visitors have the fun of their lives while browsing. There are a number of criteria on a technical, design and structural level that can be addressed. The content of the website is particularly relevant for organic search engine optimization. At the same time, it drives up the conversion of the page if it is tailored to the customer. In this article, we explain what to look for in first-class web content and how you can inspire your customers.
Google's zoological incentive for content optimization
With Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird, Google has given its code updates to evaluate content on websites and put it in a thematic context. Inferior content, in which just tons of keywords have been stringed together, is also rated accordingly by Google and in many cases even removed from the index. The classic SEO texts have had their day with the improved algorithms and high-quality texts are given preference. But not only Google itself, but also the users of a website reward good text content with a longer stay, better conversions and stronger customer loyalty. Because they feel that their needs are understood and informed when they have good content.
Which online shop texts offer potential for optimization?
Basically, all texts can be optimized with a view to their added value and the search engine algorithms. Depending on where exactly they are used, the content has a different weighting and objective. That is why it is important to approach the optimization of the texts strategically. If the basis is successful, the content can be expanded as desired. We recommend optimization in two levels:
Level 1: Product descriptions and category texts
These texts primarily appeal to the customer and, if they are of the right quality, they also appeal to the search engines. Anyone who is already in a category of your online shop or is even already on a special product page can be prompted to make a purchase decision directly. The chance of making a purchase increases. Whoever tackles and optimizes the descriptions of categories and products first has already gained a lot.
Level 2: Content Marketing
Content marketing refers to the content that is created in addition to the textual basis. This includes, for example, blog articles, guides, press releases, landing pages and viral content. These can be ideally used to lure potential customers into the online shop via additional channels. Content with added value is the top priority here. If you follow a sensible and creative plan here, you will not only increase your traffic, but ideally you will also be able to maximize your sales.
WDF*IDF and the term frequency
It is well known that pure keyword density as an SEO quality feature for texts on the web has come to a well-deserved end. It was also long overdue, because for many years readers on the web had to contend with content that was not aimed at them, but exclusively at the search engines. An online shop that sells sofas, for example, only paid attention to the individual keyword density or term frequency until the rethinking of search engine optimization, without relying on added value in terms of content.
Finally, sofas and couches and corner sofas have always been great, which hasn't ruled out sofa beds and sofa beds. Because sofas and couches can stand next to an armchair and you can really lie or sit on sofas and couches. If the customer is looking for a colorful sofa when looking for sofas and couches, then the online shop for sofas and couches is the right place for them. bad, right?
Sofa, so good.
Until about 2011, this loveless stringing together of keywords was a common way to fill the rainy afternoons of interns or trainees. Let us be grateful that this time is behind us. It is not for nothing that Google and meanwhile every marketer preach that content today should primarily be written for the user in order to inspire the search engines as well. That should have been the case before, but was really taken to heart in very few cases.
Algorithmus undercover
How does the Google search engine recognize whether the text is really relevant in terms of content? To do this, it uses a special algorithm, which is of course kept top secret. But some online marketing experts have taken the trouble and figured out the principle behind it. To determine the relevance of a text to a specific keyword, you look at the entire text content and compare it with other documents on the web on the same topic. The WDF*IDF tools used for this now look at which terms belonging to the keyword are used how often in these other documents and sets them in a certain proportion, which is then broken down again to the text length in its entirety.
After some mathematical breakdowns, a short formula emerges from
WDF (Within-Document-Frequency)
- How often does the main keyword appear in the text?
- How often do topic-related keywords appear in the text?
- How long is the text?
and
IDF (Inverse-Document-Frequency) - What is the proportion of keywords on other sites? - How long are the texts on other related sites? - How often does the main keyword appear on other sites?
The finished formula is WDFIDF. In a WDFIDF analysis, not only is a single keyword examined with regard to its frequency in one's own and in all other documents, but also all other terms on the respective topic at the same time.
What does WDF*IDF mean in practice?
A quick example:
If you run an online shop for dog accessories, you concentrate on main keywords such as collars, leashes, baskets, dog beds and other items from this range. Related terms at this point can be "nylon", "leather", "flexi leash", "harness", "upholstery" or "sizes". All words that can be thematically related. If we proceed in this way with all topics and products in the online shop, it is a beautiful portal with real added value for everyone who is looking for dog accessories on the Internet. The content can be realized via guides, blog posts, product descriptions and category texts.
But if we were to suddenly start mentioning minced meat, tomatoes, schnitzel and tequila on every page of the online shop instead of leashes, collars, materials or padding, the relevance of the topic would drop rapidly. Statistically, these terms have no place in a text for dog accessories. Why? Because the other online dog accessory shops don't use them either. This is how Google succeeds in classifying your website thematically in the general context. If your texts are a little more detailed and respond to content-related questions even better than your competitors, your online shop will probably be indexed more easily.
WDF*IDF: A common misconception
Based on the previous description, one might think that after the WDF*IDF analysis, the enormously long list of keywords that are now to be placed in the text is sufficient, then Google will like the content. Many copywriters are presented with such an analysis document and are supposed to conjure up real added value from it without going into more detail about the required content. While this approach can work, a little love for the copywriter and the reader is definitely the better way. Reading a text that is only optimized for a given combination of terms is neither fun nor does it help a customer with his purchase decision. This just catapults us back to the years before 2011.
Important: The success or failure of a text optimized according to WDF*IDF does not depend on how perfectly the terms from the analysis are placed. You and your customers will be better off if you only tend to meet the frequency of the keywords if you create real added value in terms of content. It's like this: An oak tree is not classified as authentic based on the exact number of its leaves and branches. The natural overall picture has to be right, as is the case with texts on the Internet.
Wie lässt sich das WDF*IDF-Prinzip in einem Onlineshop anwenden?
Especially on the start page of an online shop or on a category page there is enough space to describe the topic of the shop or an individual category. But here, too, a text does not have to be 3,000 words long to inspire Google. If the right questions have been answered and the topic has been examined from all relevant perspectives, 500 words may be sufficient. The topic itself basically dictates the length of the text. The more complex it is, the more you should devote yourself to it and the individual aspects. Your customers want to be informed and not just texted.
The same applies to a product description. A product that is already very complex and in need of explanation, such as a smartphone or a PC, can be described in detail without becoming too excessive. But if you try to apply the WDF*IDF concept to a white A4 picture frame and ask for a 500-word description, your copywriter will want to throw himself out of the next window. As someone whose career began with the lengthy textual description of lightbulbs, I know what I'm talking about. However, if you want to get more out of a topic that seems simple at first glance, we recommend outsourcing advice and application examples for a product to a suitable blog article, for example. This is how you generate content with added value that both readers and search engines like.
How long should a text in an online shop actually be?
With all the value of WDF*IDF for search engine optimization, the focus is still on the customer. And they basically want to find a text that is just long enough to fully satisfy their need for knowledge and information. If you can do that in three short sentences, then that's very good. If it's 500 words or more, that's fine too, as long as the product provides the amount of information. Ideally, a good text is just as long as it inspires and then shortened by less relevant words. If you manage to bring your customers closer to their purchase decision through excitement, wit and information with added value, without boring or even scaring them away, then everything is fine. And how to create real added value by highlighting all the essential points is the topic of the next section.
"I'll play customer now": anticipate wishes and needs
When writing a product description, a guide or a category page, the mind of the reader is crucial. What wishes does he have? What does he hope for from my product and what advantages does it offer him over a competing product? In most cases, a customer does not make his purchase decision from just one point of view. The product is also considered from just as many points of view.
The points of view could be:
- Environment
- Economics
- Use
- Creativity
- emotions
- Safety
- Quality
- Advantages disadvantages
- Timeliness
- Legal background
- Social context
- Time
- Taste
- Comfort
- Consistency
- Culture
- Trust
- Applicability
- Healty
- There are countless other aspects according to which customers consciously or unconsciously evaluate products and then buy them or not. The various story points cannot be applied to every product in their entirety, but depend on the thematic context. After all, you won't judge a book by how easy it is to assemble, and a car by how quickly it relieves a stomach ache. Find all those perspectives from which your product could be viewed in order to best describe it.
If you communicate with your reader about the aspects that he expects, a “sales pitch” practically takes place at eye level. Your customer will find what he needs. In the best case, this leads to a purchase decision.
Without the right perspectives, it can happen that your product description communicates past the customer.
How should I know what my customer is looking for?
It is crucial to use the aspects that are relevant to your own product. Which aspects are fulfilled by the product and in what way? If we bring all of these aspects together and give our customers informative feedback on each one, we increase the probability that the item will actually be bought to a maximum. In addition to online shops, this principle can be applied to all other content on the Internet that is intended to sell a service or a product. This applies to texts, videos, podcasts and images.
The customers themselves will tell you from which perspectives a customer might view your product. It is worth searching the internet for reviews, forum posts and other user experiences and looking at them in a non-judgmental manner. Why did a person buy product X? What did he expect from it and what use did it have for him personally? Now this information only has to be placed in a meaningful way in the product description or in the guide. Collect as many perspectives and experiences as possible and you will grab significantly more customers with their own longings. With the internet, there is a huge gap between you as the shop operator and your customers. Close this gap by describing your products from all important perspectives. This is how you inspire your customers and it is not far to the final purchase decision.
If you communicate with your reader about the aspects that he or she expects, a “sales pitch” practically takes place at eye level.
Grab customers "despite" WDF*IDF when they need it
Good WDFIDF tools not only look for the most frequently used keywords on a topic, but also determine the most frequently answered questions and needs for the respective product. And this is where we get the curve to content with added value: What moves the customer? What questions could he ask himself about the product? Which needs and impulses have to be satisfied before the purchase decision is made? These aspects result in a thematic structure that can be worked with. Experience has shown that if all questions on the subject are answered concisely and without digression, the fulfillment of the WDFIDF requirements is almost self-evident. You may only have to make a little adjustment.
The competition never sleeps
Because more and more website and shop operators are optimizing their content with regard to WDFIDF and customer benefits, the term combinations that a WDFIDF tool publishes are also constantly changing. The perspectives from which a product is viewed by the customer also vary constantly. That is why content optimization is not a one-off process that is completed after a one-off revision. Those who remain inactive in this area could lose valuable rankings. It is therefore always worth taking a close look at how up-to-date your own text content is and updating it regularly.
Conclusion: Be close to the search engine, but even closer to your customers
Search engine optimized content is always an advantage. They give you more traffic and ensure that a large number of potential buyers browse your online shop. But that's only half the battle. In many cases, their products can also be found in other shops. With sensitively written and presented content, you not only address needs, but also awaken them. Only then can you increase not only the traffic but also your conversion rate.