WHY DIVERSE CONTENT HELPS IN SEO?
One may wonder why a website needs dozens of articles on what appears to be the same subject. If a financial consultant already has a page explaining financial planning for individuals, does he need more articles about personal finance?
The answer is ‘yes’ – one subject can involve hundreds of questions from different perspectives, which is why content diversity is important for SEO strategy. As people rarely search for a subject in exactly the same way, they have different problems, levels of knowledge, circumstances and search intentions. Thus, a website that addresses different questions through diverse and useful educational and problem-solving content can create a much stronger presence in organic search.
ONE SUBJECT CAN GENERATE DIFFERENT SEARCHES
Let’s say the subject is personal finance, where potential clients search for many different questions: How much life insurance does a family actually need? What is the difference between term insurance and other life insurance policies? How should I choose health or non-life insurance for my family? Should I invest in mutual funds through SIPs or make a lump-sum investment? How should a first-time investor choose a mutual fund? What documents are required to apply for a personal loan from a bank or NBFC? Should I take a personal loan or use my existing savings for a major expense? What should I check before taking a loan from an NBFC? How can a first-time investor open a demat and trading account? What should I know before investing in stocks through a stock broker or sub-broker? What are the common mistakes made by first-time stock-market investors? How should a salaried person balance insurance, investments and loan repayments?
Hundreds of such searches are connected to the same broad subject – personal financial planning—but each represents a different concern, need or stage of decision-making. A financial consultant who creates useful content addressing these individual questions that potential clients ask can build a much wider search presence.
DIVERSE CONTENT CREATES TOPICAL DEPTH
Search engines need to understand the different subject areas covered by a website. For a retail financial consultant, this means demonstrating knowledge across various financial products and decisions that individuals and families regularly encounter.
These topics together they exhibit considerable depth around the broader subject, which is very different from publishing twenty articles that repeatedly explain the same basic concept with slightly different wording. The objective of diverse content is, therefore, not simply to fill a large number of pages but to build a useful body of new information around the different questions, concerns and decisions that potential customers actually face.
DIFFERENT ARTICLES CAN TARGET UNIQUE SEARCH INTENT
Every search has an underlying intention. People looking for information may be at very different stages of understanding a product or taking a decision, which also includes ambiguity and uncertainty in the user’s journey. Thus, a website on Business To Consumer segment can expand on three types of content – educational, problem-solving and services related.
Educational Content – Educational content explains financial products and concepts such as term insurance, health insurance, mutual funds, SIPs, personal loans, NBFC loans, demat accounts and stock-market investing.
Problem-solving Content – Problem-solving content addresses specific concerns such as how much insurance coverage a family may need, how to compare loan options, how to begin investing through SIPs, or what first-time stock-market investors should understand.
Service-oriented Content – Service-oriented content explains how a financial consultant can assist with insurance, mutual fund investments, loan requirements, or stock-broking services through an appropriate broker or sub-broker arrangement.
Such useful content can allow the website to address different search intentions instead of relying only on highly competitive keywords and rank far below or nowhere.
LONG-TAIL KEYWORDS CREATE ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
A major benefit of diverse content is the ability to appear for long tail keyword searches. A potential customer may not search simply for ‘financial consultant’. Instead, they may ask, How much life insurance does a family need? Is SIP a good way for a first-time investor to start mutual funds? What should I check before taking a personal loan from an NBFC? What should I know before opening a demat account? How does a sub-broker help a first-time stock-market investor?
These long-tail searches attract fewer searches than a broad keyword but can be highly relevant because it solves people’s problems. Thus, the objective is not to target every possible keyword mechanically, but to identify the genuine questions that potential customers ask. A website containing useful answers can attract visitors from a much wider range of searches.
SEARCH ENGINES PREFER INTERNAL LINKING
Having several related articles also creates valuable opportunities for internal linking. For example, an article titled How Much Life Insurance Does a Family Need? could link to another article explaining the difference between term insurance and other forms of life insurance. At the same time, internal links can also help visitors move naturally from one question to another as these are a connected network of related information rather than a collection of isolated pages. A portfolio of such informative articles provides a more comprehensive resource for people researching on a particular area, and therefore, are preferred by search engines for ranking.
CONTENT DIVERSITY IS NOT SAME AS REPETITION
Publishing more articles does not automatically make a website stronger from an SEO perspective. Suppose a business publishes twenty articles, all of which provide essentially the same information with a slightly different title or presentation become meaningless, as they don’t add extra value.
Meaningful content diversity is to present the subject from different practical perspectives instead of repeating the same ideas. For example, content about life insurance could include How Much Life Insurance Does a Family Need? Term Insurance vs Other Life Insurance Policies: What Should You Understand? Common Mistakes People Make When Buying Life Insurance. Each article addresses a different question or concern.
BUILDING TRUST WITH POTENTIAL CLIENTS
Content also has a trust factor, beyond just search visibility. Potential clients often want to understand whether the seller is familiar with their questions and concerns before they decide to make contact. A website that demonstrates in-depth knowledge is able to win the trust of potential clients. After all, a visitor is not seeing a sales page asking them to become a client.
QUALITY MUST REMAIN THE PRIORITY
Content diversity should never become an excuse for publishing low quality articles simply to increase the number of pages. Every article should have a reason to exist. Before publishing, the business owner should be able to answer: What question does this article answer? How is it different from my existing articles? Will this information be useful to my potential customer? Publish, only if answers are ‘yes’.
THINK IN TERMS OF QUESTIONS, NOT KEYWORDS
Thinking in terms of questions and not keywords is perhaps one of the most useful ways for a small business owner or professional to approach content creation. Using this strategy, it becomes easier to produce articles that are both more diverse for search as also useful to visitors.
Instead of asking – How many keywords can I target? ask – What questions are my potential customers asking? For any Business to Consumer segment, this can open up a much wider range of content possibilities. The objective is, therefore, not to find one keyword and repeat it across dozens of pages but to understand the questions, problems and concerns of the people you want to reach and create useful content around them.