This might go without saying, but if you want your site to rank well on search engines, you have to offer something of value to the people that land there. After all, search engines rank their results based on how helpful the URLs are to users.

If lots of people click on your link and stay to explore your site, this tells Google, “Hey, this website is a good resource,” and your ranking will likely get a boost. But how do you get to that point? How do you convince visitors to your site (and as a result, search engines) that you are a valuable, trustworthy source and deserve to rank highly on results pages? White papers can help.

WHAT IS A WHITE PAPER?

White papers (or whitepapers) are a type of long-form thought leadership content that companies can create to share their knowledge about their industry, and establish their authority on a particular topic. White papers usually come in the form of a PDF document with a highly developed layout and well-researched content. As a business, a marketing tool like this can be a good opportunity to show off your expertise, and demonstrate to potential customers how well you understand them and the problems they face.

A white paper should not be used to sell or promote products and services; rather, its sole purpose should be to inform and educate readers. This is where your site’s SEO can potentially get a boost.

WHITE PAPERS AND SEO

As we know, search engines are looking for sites that are helpful resources for searchers. Lucky for you, PDFs can be crawled, searched, and indexed, so as long as your white paper is visible on your site, it should show up in the SERPs. As long as you follow SEO best practices when optimizing your white papers, they will definitely help you improve your SEO. Don't forget to optimize your white paper just as you would any webpage. 

• Make certain that the title and headers of your white paper have relevant, descriptive keywords, and are easy to understand. 
• Make sure any images you include have illustrative alternative texts that aren’t too long. 
• Keep your target audience in mind at all times, and keep an eye on your traffic to ensure you’re attracting the right visitors. 
• Write a meta description that is an appropriate length.
• Use your target keywords and phrases wherever possible, but don’t overload your content with keyword stuffing. 

BECOME A RESOURCE IN YOUR INDUSTRY

Remember that a huge part of SEO is simply appealing to your target audience and making sure your content is not only readable, but enjoyable to read. By offering white papers that explain the ins and outs of certain processes, concepts, or technologies in your industry, you can become a resource for people, and in turn, boost your rankings on search engines.

Need help? At Ecreative, our copywriters can assist with writing and optimizing your white papers for SEO. We understand how to craft value-added content, and we can help you integrate white papers into your internet marketing strategy.