Do blogs, social media accounts and mailshots sound like time-consuming nice-to-haves compared to a quick bit of keyword stuffing?

The truth is, the only tried and true way to optimise your site for Google is to be 100% relevant to what people are searching for, and the only way to be relevant is through good quality, rich digital copywriting in all its forms.

Great content doesn’t just boost search impressions. Authoritative, entertaining and engaging content gives readers plenty of ways to tell each other about you and plenty of reasons to come to you when they need to buy what you offer.

There are no SEO shortcuts

There was a time when, with a bit of knowledge of how Google ranked results, you could use science and dark magic to increase your search impressions.

Happily for Google users the world over, the days of cheating your way to the top are gone. Google has extremely sophisticated ways to assess how the content of a website matches the intentions of the searcher. Read more about Google’s 2013 relevance revolutionising strategy here.

It’s win-win-win; Google remains the verb we all use to search for stuff online, Googlers find what they wanted, and, as long as you provide enough content for Google to assess your relevance, you get impressions from people who want nothing more or less than a whole lot of you.

How do you get relevant in search?

In a nutshell, work out what your potential customers want to know then build your content strategy around telling them.

If you’re a plumber, your customers have plumbing challenges and you have plumbing solutions. Don't hold back; spill those plumbing beans. This could translate to instructional pages and videos, or blog posts about your experiences and challenges. You could encourage customers to ask your advice on your Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Those who successfully follow your advice will be grateful and come back for more. They’ll share your content with their friends, spread your name and recommend your services. If they decide plumbing is a job for the pros, your show of authority and generosity has just given them every reason to call you in.