When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), most people know that content is key to ranking high on the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs), but have only a general idea of what that content should look like to make that happen. To be fair, Google has made many confusing changes over the years — it is a lot like trying to drive on Southern California freeways during the first rain of the season. Everyone loses their mind every time.

We get it.

But we also want you to know that, whatever SEO-related changes come this year or in the future, you don’t need to worry that all of your efforts will be washed away.

Why? Because Google tells you what things matter in ranking highly and if you do those things well and consistently, you’ll rank well even through change.

It isn’t necessarily easy.

In the past, having the proper density of keywords was enough to get content to rank. Google's technology has gotten much more advanced over the years; it now looks for more than just keywords when deciding whether to rank your web pages.

Google considers more than 200 ranking factors when promoting web pages in SERPs. Almost all of them fall under one primary category: quality. That means if you focus on creating quality content, Google will reward your efforts no matter what changes.

So how do you create Google-friendly, quality content?  Here are the basics.

Create Original Content

Most information on the internet is just revamped content taken from somewhere else. Google looks for original data, research, or reporting. Use your security industry knowledge and expertise to provide a comprehensive exploration of a relevant topic.

Implement Semantic SEO

As a dealer, integrator, or manufacturer, it is easy to assume readers know certain things and write authoritatively. It is essential to balance that by implementing semantic SEO. Google’s natural language processing models now understand semantics, or how search queries relate to each other. Semantic SEO is not only about optimizing for a single term, but many keywords, phrases, and subtopics in the same space.

To implement semantic SEO, address what people ask, what they may ask next, and what they haven’t asked regarding a topic, and factor in how they may ask it.

Implement keywords and synonyms and those of your target reader naturally. When your content contains semantically-rich related phrases, Google will perceive the page as having more topical depth than competing pages that don’t include all those terms.

Scope Out the Competition

Before you create content, do competitive research. See what is already ranking well for your keywords and phrases, and then do what they did, but better. For example, write on a similar topic but link to higher-quality references, use semantic richness, add elements such as graphs, and provide greater insight and analysis.

Show Quality Through Information Architecture

If you improve quality signals such as depth and quality of content, your articles will likely be longer. This provides the opportunity to add another quality indicator: information architecture. Information architecture refers to how your content is labeled, structured, and organized. It also encompasses how pages are organized in your site’s hierarchy. Include page or article titles, heading tags, internal links, and anchor text in every piece of content. This helps the readers, but more importantly, it helps Google find, identify, and rank your content.

Bottom line: If you want your content to rank well and get found in searches, make it your mission to provide quality content by addressing your potential customers’ concerns in a format that is easy for Google to understand and deploy in rankings.