In the early days of SEO, many people in the industry didn’t really bother much about content. All they cared about then are keyword stuffing and other tricks that will help them game the SERPs and get prime rankings for their websites.
However, things have changed, big-time. The phrase “content is king” has been bandied about over the years, but since Google started making significant changes to its algorithm in 2011, that phrase has taken on a literal meaning. Today, SEO industry studies have concluded that content, indeed, is king, as it’s the top ranking factor in SEO today.
However, you can’t just publish any content that catches your fancy and expect to rule the SERPs. There are certain types of content that are best for SEO. More importantly, your content must be relevant and useful to users to get any kind of engagement, which leads to better rankings.
Let’s take a look at some of the best types of content for SEO.
Infographics
Well-written articles and posts are good, but you can’t seriously think that all people on the Internet enjoy reading lengthy articles. They could find the topic of your article relevant and useful, but still skip it for various reasons, the most common being “too long, didn’t read.”
However, if you take the most important sections of your article and make an infographic out of them, then your content’s chances of getting read by more people would become better. After all, there’s no such thing as TLDR when it comes to infographics.
In general, infographics are engaging as well as quick and easy-to-digest. There’s also Hubspot’s assertion that infographics are three times more likely to be shared and liked, which means more backlinks for you.
Now imagine the possibilities if your infographic goes viral.
Authoritative blog posts
Of course, you can’t have a website or blog filled with nothing but infographics. You still have to come up with written content after all.
Authoritative blog posts allow you to engage directly with your readers and expertly answer any question they might have about developments and issues within the industry to which you belong. Posting blogs on a regular basis also helps you hone your brand’s voice which will go a long way in setting you up as a leader in your specific industry.
However, it’s advisable to put a little variety into your blog posts. While a focus within your industry is good, touching periodically on other topics that your audience might find interesting would make things even better.
Videos
If you have some doubts about using videos to showcase what your business offers as well as its goals and priorities, then you must have missed the memo about how they now account for a substantial portion of media consumption and web traffic.
The popularity of videos is understandable. Like with infographics, videos are more engaging and easier to take in than an article of a few thousand words. In fact, you can take out the salient points of lengthy articles and turn them into a three to four-minute video that four times as many people would rather watch than read the article on which it was based.
Experts also project that by 2020, video content will represent over 80% of all web traffic.
Podcasts
There was a time when podcasts were all the rage, but even when they’re no longer that prevalent, they’re still a great form of content.
All you need is a working microphone, some technical knowledge, and the ability to express your thoughts on any topic within your industry and beyond, and you can set up a podcast that people can listen to as they’re driving to work or working out in the gym.
For more SEO value, you might also want to publish the transcript of every podcast you make.
How-tos
People, even those who don’t like reading that much, will always appreciate learning something new, regardless of industry.
Whether it’s an article, a video, an infographic, or a podcast, content that gives people tips on how to do certain things properly is inherently useful. Just make sure that your how-to content is about something that would interest your readers.
For example, if your blog is in the marketing niche—digital or otherwise—how-to articles about doing content marketing right or avoiding web design mistakes would make the greatest impact.
For how-to content topic ideas, you might want to comb through your customer service email and see which questions or concerns are the most common. Once you’ve decided which question to answer, create the content that would do so in the form of a how-to article, video, or infographic, whichever you think is more appropriate.
Trending content
Unlike authoritative blog posts, trending topics are just that, a trend that isn’t likely to last long. Trending content, however, can drive massive traffic to your site quickly, and that will always be good for your SEO.
While trending materials are not expected to remain popular after a few days or weeks of publication, they should be popular enough to aid in pushing your existing products or services or launching new ones.
Lists
When you buy your favorite magazine from the newsstand today, your eyes will likely fall on a title on the cover that indicates it’s a list. Chances are, that article would also be the first one you’re going to read because you have a thing for list articles just like the rest of us.
Everywhere you look, from traditional media publications to blogs, you will always find one type of list content or another because lists do appeal to just about everyone. Even more eye-catching are list content with a number at the beginning of the title.
Of course, lists need to be well-researched and cleverly-written. It’s also important to make lists as detailed as you can make them. In most cases, the longer the list, the better.
These are just some of the content types that would serve your SEO strategies well. You can do them yourself, or you can hire people to do the writing, for instance. While no single SEO approach can get you to the top of the SERPs, using the best types of content for SEO can boost your chances of getting there.