Part and parcel of an effective digital marketing strategy is search engine optimization (SEO) content, or content developed to attract more traffic on search engines. SEO content runs the gamut from short, straight-to-the-point blog posts to lengthy “ultimate guides” that cover everything that a potential business customer or client would want to know about a particular topic.
Businesses must take advantage of different types of content to fulfill their goals and satisfy their audience’s needs. However, figuring out what kind of SEO content resonates with your audience and what topics to focus on requires a strong knowledge of your goals and your target market. Good content writers and SEO experts who’ll work with your business are also obligated to be in tune with the latest SEO trends and strategies to develop attractive and revenue-generating content. It’s precisely for this reason that many companies have the good sense to invest in content writing and SEO services to get a leg up on the competition.
While the effectiveness of the different SEO content types depends on several variables, there certain types of content that have withstood the test of time and earned value for companies of various industries. To that end, here are eight SEO-friendly types of content that you should consider utilizing for your business website:
The Best Types of Content for SEO
Short-Form Content
Content pieces that are less than 1,200 words in length comprise what’s often called short-form content. This type of content easily attracts new visitors and keeps loyal followers engaged. Good short-form content is often straight to the point and proffers quick answers to website users’ questions without the need for excessive scrolling. Because of its brevity, it’s the content of choice for visitors pressed for time or those with limited attention spans.
Short-form content is also easier and faster to create than its other counterparts below. Publishing short-form content on the regular will allow you to maintain a consistent publishing schedule and stay in your customers’ line of vision.
Long-Form Content
Any type of content longer than 1,200 words, on the other hand, is considered within the realm of long-form content. This type of content allows users to delve deeper into a topic and leave with everything they need to know about it without consulting another website. Effective long-form content offers valuable and detailed information with little to no fluff.
Long-form content is often touted to be better for SEO, as it offers more value and allows you to target more keywords. In addition, long-form content is more likely to get more backlinks and be shared on social media.
Pillar Content
Pillar content, or cornerstone content, comprises lengthy and exhaustive articles that are comprehensive in their coverage of specific themes or topics. This type of content can be repurposed and broken down into several subtopics, thereby forming new blog posts or articles (also known as topic clusters).
The development of pillar content will help a business like yours achieve a more organized site architecture for your website. This, in turn, will help searchers find information on your website more efficiently while allowing your site to rank higher on Google.
Original Research
Original research means that you’re the primary source of data for your content, and marketers will link back to your site to reference the data you’ve collected. Content developed with original research typically showcases data or feedback collected from interviews, surveys, and other methodologies.
If done well, original research can be extremely valuable to your business. This type of content can elevate your brand’s authority and earn for you more social shares, backlinks, and mentions from news outlets and media.
Thought Leadership Articles
Thought leadership content is developed with a credible author’s insight, experience, and expertise. It offers more value and credibility than content that is merely spun or repurposed.
Because of its specialized and expert nature, thought leadership content will do a lot to improve your website’s veneer of authority while offering unique insights to engage and interest your readers. Well-written and well-optimized thought leadership content is also likely to generate more backlinks from authoritative domains, thereby enhancing your SEO.
Videos
Depending on your goals and target market, videos can serve as great content to boost your SEO. Consider making tutorial videos or product reviews and incorporating these into your overall content plan. Including video content on your website can also improve SEO by reducing bounce rate, boosting dwell time, and generating more backlinks. You can optimize your videos further by adding video transcripts, ensuring that your thumbnails are engaging, and crafting keyword-rich titles and descriptions.
Lists
According to Better Marketing, headlines with numbers get 73 percent more engagement and social shares compared to headlines without numbers, and the reasons are not surprising. Listicles, or pieces of content that revolve around numbered lists, offer clear value and a predictable format, which makes them one of the most popular SEO-friendly content types. They’re also easy to skim and great for audiences with short attention spans.
On the writing side, listicles are also easier to compose than conventional articles because of their predictable and divided structure. This also reflects on the reader’s experience; it’s not hard to pick out items a listicle and tick them off one by one.
Infographics
Recent studies also proffer that content with images or graphics generates 94 percent more views than content without these elements. That should give you an idea about just how helpful infographics are to SEO.
Knowing that many of your customers may consider themselves visual learners, you’ll want to publish infographics to allow them to visualize and understand complex data and information. Infographics also have a better chance of attracting backlinks and going viral, therefore boosting your SEO.
End Note
Having SEO-friendly content on your website will allow you to drive up your organic traffic and enhance your website’s visibility by a great deal. Invest in the content types listed above to satisfy search engines, provide value to your audience, and establish both visibility and authority for your business brand.
