The short answer (video transcript)
So what sort of content is best for SEO? Is it written words? Is it videos? The honest answer is the best content for SEO is the content people like, want to read, spend time on and want to share.
Writing Content for SEO: Understanding What Works
When we talk about content in digital marketing, we’re talking about video, podcasts, articles, service pages and blog posts. However, the real truth is that the written word is the content we focus on the most.
So, what sort of written content performs best? It may sound glib, but the truth is that content people want to share or that motivates the reader is the type of content that is best for SEO.
The tone and type of article will differ for every industry. For example, if you are selling goods to consumers, a lot of the content you create might answer potential questions that buyers have. If you are in an industrial market, a lot of your content might be to educate or support potential buyers.
Finding Out What Works in Your Niche
If you want to find out what type of content performs best in your own niche, take a look around you. There will always be key brands that consistently rank at the top of Google, no matter what industry you’re in.
Take a look at the tone of the articles – are they lively, serious, informative, or entertaining? This will give you an idea of what type of articles Google may favour ranking in your industry. Don’t be afraid to experiment, though. Experimentation is a great way of getting ahead of your competitors.
Simply copying what people who rank above you are doing is incredibly useful in improving your own rankings. However, it does have the negative side of assuming that your competitors know what they’re doing.
We often work in industries where it appears that none of the big players have done any SEO at all. If this is the case with your competitors, you have a golden and exciting opportunity. By following good practice and doing excellent SEO, you will put yourself in a position where it could take many years for your competitors to catch up with you, or even to figure out how you managed to dominate the market.
Measuring ROI and Effective Strategies
If you cannot figure out what type of content is performing best on your competitors’ websites, then create a short content strategy that tests different types of content on your own website.
By looking at which articles are read the most on your website, you’ll have a good idea of what flavour of content will connect with your audience. Measuring the ROI of content becomes very simple if you have a CRM. A good CRM, like HubSpot, helps you figure out which articles people have been reading before they make an enquiry.
We are often asked if measuring the ROI of SEO exercises like content testing is possible. Having a CRM in place makes it a very simple process to ensure that you put effort into the right areas on your website.
Content Strategy for Smaller Businesses
You might be reading this article and thinking, “Well, that’s all great if you have a whole department for marketing, but what can a business owner without a large team do to figure out what type of content will work best for SEO?”
The challenge is still the same, regardless of the size of your business and the number of your competitors. If you are in a smaller industry, scale down the amount of content you create.
For example, a very competitive industry like financial services might need to generate 30 or 40 brilliant new, exciting, and informative articles every month. A smaller market like industrial fixings might only need to write one excellent article per quarter.
If you are running a smaller business, it is also a good idea to make your content production as efficient as possible. A well-made video can be repurposed as a podcast, a podcast episode can be repurposed as an article for your website, and an article for your website can be broken up and used as social media posts. Quotes from your articles can be used in expert roundups in your industry.
If no players in your industry are writing expert roundups, write them for yourself. They are brilliant for developing strategic partnerships and building authority in your niche.
Sustainable Content Strategy
Once you have figured out what type of content works best for SEO in your industry, you need to ensure that your content strategy is sustainable. It is much more useful to regularly publish content than it is to publish a lot of content in a short period of time.
I would like to try to explain this in simple terms: Google is looking for voices in your niche that speak with more authority than anyone else. People who are passionate about their topics talk about them regularly. People who are not authoritative or passionate rarely talk about their topics. This is an oversimplification, but it shows the importance of posting content regularly.
As an aside, it is incredibly useful for your SEO strategy to update older articles regularly. Rolling updates for old articles is a service that we provide to our clients here at Yeseo.
Conclusion
When you figure out what sort of content is best for SEO, you will be on your way to dominating your competitors. But remember, if you are unsure if it is sustainable, then start small and build from there. Keep an eye on your website analytics and lead attribution.
Explain it like I’m five years old – what sort of content is best for SEO?
Digital marketing is like having a big conversation online where you tell stories and share information to make people interested in what you’re selling. The best stories are the ones people like to talk about and share with others.
To find the best stories for your business, you can look at what other successful businesses are doing and learn from them. It’s like playing a game where you try different stories to see which people like most.
You can use special tools, like a CRM, to track which stories work best. It’s important to keep telling new and exciting stories regularly so people keep listening to you.
If you’re a small business, don’t worry – you don’t have to tell as many stories as the big companies. Just make sure your stories are terrific and exciting, and you can use them in different ways, like on your website, podcasts, or social media. Keep trying new things and paying attention to what works; you’ll do great!
FAQs
Whatever works, which is almost always the written word. The most effective content will motivate your audience to share your content with others.
Start by looking at what sort of content ranks well in your industry. Then test what sort of content works best on your own website.
You can compete with larger businesses by planning and researching your content better than they do. One fantastic article will be much more helpful than ten sub-standard articles.
Figure out which articles motivate readers to make an enquiry with you. Use tools like Google Analytics and a CRM like Hubspot to make this process simple and reliable.
As often as you can. To keep the process simple you can update an old article every time you publish a brand new article. Updating old content should be an ongoing process.
Last Updated on January 22, 2024
