For the past several years you may have heard the term content marketing. Content marketing is no longer the new kid on the block, however it is still the most effective way to improve your website’s SEO. Content creation, and variety of content are vital to most websites because it can help people learn more about your services and help them engage with your business.
Content can come in several forms, including blogs, videos, images and podcasts. Blogs are the most common way people utilize the content marketing strategy. Blogs about topics that are relevant to your business give insight into the processes and methods of your business. This is very useful to people who want to learn all about you, and Google knows this. That’s why Google gives a boost to websites with good quality blogs. If you are a restaurant owner, for example, and make a few posts with your favorite recipes, Google, and your visitors view this as useful information.
Some marketing agencies try to manipulate the system, however. Article spinning is a way to turn one blog post into many different posts by trying to fool search engines into thinking the same basic post is different. It’s like using a thesaurus to change words and sentence structure around in order to create a brand new post. Except it isn’t brand new, and search engines could knock your ranking down. It’s unethical and anyone who practices cheating like this should be avoided at all costs.
Another popular way to generate content is through videos. If you are a handyman, for example, you can create simple, “how to” videos to educate people how to perform minor fixes around the home. Unlike blogs, videos are typically not on-page SEO, however many people do upload videos directly to their websites. The direct upload, via FTP or another source is always best for SEO, but it’s not the only method that works. If you create a YouTube channel and connect it to your website, search engines will respond.
A less popular method for creating content is something I wish clients would think more about: Podcasts. Podcasts are back in vogue and becoming more popular with each passing day. Podcasts can act like videos, without the moving pictures. Podcasts are a great idea for business professionals, like attorneys who want to promote their business while providing useful information to the general public. The best part about podcasts is the opportunity for cross-promotion. You can have a guest on your podcast who will link the podcast from their website, giving you great content and a vital back-link. An attorney, for example, can have a judge or legal expert on a podcast to talk about different aspects of the law.
Images are the least thought about ways to create content. Including an image on every page of your site is the best way to give your SEO a boost. When you add an image you are adding a brand-new URL to your website. Make sure to title your image with a keyword BEFORE you upload it to your website. Multiple-word keywords should included dashes (i.e. SEO-in-Myrtle-Beach) otherwise a search engine or website may add junk where there are spaces.
If you are struggling to create content for your business I can help! I offer ethical SEO services that you can depend on! Please feel free to call me anytime at 440-941-0792 and tell me about your marketing needs today.