What is “Relevance” in Search Engine Marketing?

(Updated 14 July 2024)

When it comes to marketing your business and getting your website found online, it’s all about relevance.

So, what exactly is “relevance”?

Relevance is the degree to which your website is authoritative on a given topic.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say your website is all about underwater photography. If you want that website to get found online, you need to make sure that it’s the most useful underwater photography website on the Internet. The degree to which you succeed is the measure of relevance. When a website user searches for “underwater photography”, your website has a chance at ranking among the top results.

So how do you achieve relevance?

Here are the top 3 things you need to achieve relevance:

1. Content. Content is king! Your website content should be original and fresh. Never copy content from elsewhere on the Internet; always write it yourself. I have seen people argue that duplicative content doesn’t matter much any more — I strongly disagree. Make certain that your website content is useful and to the point. Update your website often; a blog is an excellent way to do that.
2. Inbound Links. Search engines give a lot of consideration to whether or not other external websites are pointing back to yours; this is an indication that your website is useful. Work on developing relationships that result in outside websites linking back to content on your website, or hire someone to develop inbound links.
3. Activity. Relevant websites tend to have lots of visitors. Interested visitors tend to spend time on the site, view more than one page, and may even subscribe to the website’s blog. Make sure your website is a resource that attracts visitors and you will increase engagement and activity on your site.

Remember that many of these things happen automatically when you become an authority in your chosen field. And remember, too, that you don’t have to be #1 — you only have to be better than your competitors!