Glyna: Hello!

Sarah: Good morning! Well, today, we're going to talk about the types of content for SEO that's going to drive traffic to your website. We've talked about SEO many, many times, but it plays a very important role. Your content plays a really important role with SEO because SEO plays an important role in your visibility with search engines and how well you rank with search engines. So, creating the right content is so key, and it's the best way to experience increased rankings, drive more traffic to your website, boost your business trust and authority. So, that's what we're here to talk about today. We're going to tell you the type of content that is vital to getting more traffic and conversions to your website because that's what it's all about. So let's go ahead and get started.

Glyna: All right. Yes. Well, live from the beach... I'm not, but Sarah is, she's enjoying her vacation. But we are still going to bring Marketing Mix to you! So every week, no matter what, vacation or not, we're here to highlight all kinds of digital marketing topics.

Sarah: That's right.

Glyna: Mix it up. That's where the mix comes in for Marketing Mix. So let's look where they can find our broadcasts.

Sarah: You got it. All right. Well, every week we go live on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, and you can catch the replay on Instagram. And we have a shorter version on LinkedIn. And don't forget about our podcast, Marketing and a Mic. It is a great resource. We put all these shows into a podcast, so it's easy to listen to. And as always, don't forget about our YouTube channel, Fusion One Marketing. Again, these are all pieces of content, which is what we're talking about today. All different ways that you can check out all of our information, free resources.

Glyna: Exactly. It all flows right into what we're talking about today.

Sarah: It does. It does. It does. So why are we talking about content? What does it mean in the eyes of search engines? That's the million-dollar question. So, content is anything that you publish online that's accessible to search engines. If search engines can find it and it's informative and useful, it has a really good impact on how well you rank in the search engine. So let's just dive right in on the main types of content that they're looking for.

Glyna: Yeah. Number one, we can talk about blogs. A lot of people, even just that word blog, they're like, what is that? What does it even mean? But a blog is a very powerful thing that you can have on your website that's going to help churn that content, and help your SEO. It helps you share all the information that you know, helps you be a resource, shows that you are the preferred professional. It's a great way to get readers to connect with what you do and on a particular subject that they're looking for.

Sarah: Yes, absolutely. And there's a lot of reasons why blogging helps SEO, but it keeps your site current, and that's the biggest thing. You got to keep in mind, all these search engines, what they need is they want relevant and useful content. So, if you're regularly putting out blogs, it helps keep your site current, showing your audience and search engines that you're actively engaged in providing quality relevant information.

Glyna: Yeah, exactly. And that's really all blogging is. It's talking about what you know. It's that simple. Like I said, a lot of times it intimidates people about, what is a blog? Do I need a blog? I don't even know what it is. But it's really just talking about what you do. So, it's easy as that. So visitors will stay longer on your website if you have a blog because there's just more to look at. And then Google, we're always worried about Google and the search engines. They're always looking for ways to improve the user's experience. So if you have a lot of information, then that's going to help you in the search engines. So it shows Google that you are providing value to the user.

Sarah: Yes. And then there's always the link-building. So SEO concerns itself with links because, by creating links and linking back to other links and other blog articles, it's creating a stronger connection with your keywords, and that's another thing that we'll touch on. But maintaining a blog full of high-quality content gives you an opportunity to increase that authority on your site. And by having those links and creating those links, it's just, again, it's more of what you're talking about, keeping them on the site longer and linking back to other stuff. It helps build your authority and trust to the search engines.

Glyna: Yeah, exactly. It's all about building up your website and the strength of your website. That's what's going to help you with the search engines, and rank higher than everybody else. So you can also target more keywords. Now you want to keep with what you do, obviously. Whatever your industry is, you want to talk about those keywords. But you could have several optimized landing pages, and blogging will help you use more keywords or the long-term keywords that more people may be searching for.

Sarah: Yeah! All right. So, we've got blogs. Let's talk about number two, which is long-form content. This is really like blogs on steroids, in a way. Because long-form content involves providing more details, more in-depth information about a topic. These obviously tend to be longer than blog posts and have more of a professional tone. Blog posts might skim the surface of the topic, or give you a top-level view. Long-form really dives into more detail on the subject and helps readers get just even more information and at different angles. So again, this is all about the search engines and SEO, and they love this.

Glyna: Oh, yes. The more words, the higher number of words that you can use... now you don't want to go crazy. Yeah. It's going to give you a lot more authority in the search engines. So if you use long-form content, it tends to be more useful and comprehensive than just a real short blog. And the more useful and comprehensive it is, the more value it's going to provide to your users. Some people like to really dig in and find out a lot of information on a topic, and the long-form content will allow you to give this to them. And then all of this leads of course, to increasing your authority and user experience, which Google loves. Google loves to see that churning content all the time.

Sarah: That's right. I know. That's the thing to always keep in mind is, what's going to make those search engines happy? And their main job is these... when people are searching, their main job is to give them the best information, the most thorough information that matches exactly what they're looking for. So, another reason why long-form content works, again, it earns more backlinks. So, quality backlinks are generated when link creators deem your content to be valuable to their audience, and they link it. So, link creators, want to link to content that offers their audience a reinforcement of their ideas. So, this is really huge. And again, it's building that trust and authority of you as a resource, and long-form content has a greater probability of earning quality backlinks. Which again, significantly contributes to improving your search rankings. And what better way than if others are creating links, because they're saying to you, I deem what you're putting out there as very resourceful. And it just boosts you as more and more of a trustworthy resource. So, your website's just going to get more of a boost.

Glyna: Yeah, exactly. I don't know if you're like me, but if you are following someone, you want to find as much information as you can about that person, and if it's all in one place like your blog or your website, that's even better. You don't have to look everywhere. So viewers want that too. They want everything they need all in one place. So it's going to lead to increased time on your site. And if the content is helpful, that means that they're going to spend a lot more time on your website too, looking around. So it's all great. And then they're also more likely to visit some of the other pages on your website. So, the more information you can give people, the better.

Sarah: Yeah. Absolutely. So we've got number three, which is videos. And boy, we could talk about videos. Clearly, we're a fan of videos because here we are, but videos, they're number one, still. They're an excellent engaging format. A lot of people prefer watching videos to get information. It's the highest shared content, so you got to really think about that. Conversion rates actually improve by 86% with videos, which was just wild for me to hear. But it makes sense. Because it's becoming the preferred form of content for a lot of people, it just boosted just the ability for people to want to share it, to take action off of it, all that kind of stuff. And video, again, gives you such another way to share an abundance of information at once with your audience. And they're really versatile. This is the key thing. You've got a blog and you've got long-form content, and it's one format. With videos, they could be done alone, you can integrate it into a blog, you could integrate it with your long-form content that we talked about, and you can do different types of videos. So it's really so versatile, and that's what makes it also another great form of content to use.

Glyna: Yes, exactly. Video is here. It's not coming, it is here. You have to embrace it somehow, because it's going to improve the user experience. And most of the time, if you have video in addition to your content, people are going to spend a lot more time on your site. Some people don't like to spend time reading, they just want it right there, easy, so that they can digest it instead of having to worry about reading stuff. And it also sends positive signals. And again, we're talking about SEO to all the search engines, and they rank that kind of content higher in the search results. So you definitely want to keep that in mind for the reason of how video can help your SEO.

Sarah: Yes. So I'm curious to ask you, what's your kind of preferred... what do you go to when you're looking for information? Do you go by video? Do you go by blogs?

Glyna: A little bit of both. I would say... I start with YouTube, but then again, if I can find a video and then it leads me to someone's blog that has all the information I could ever want to know on that topic, that's key. That's what I would love to have. So, it's a combination. But I'm like what we're talking about, I like all that info in one place. I don't want to have to go all over everywhere to find all the stuff. What about you?

Sarah: I would say both, just similar to you. I like to have a video, but I'm always a reader, so I love to have a way to read through it. But anyway, yeah. So, back to videos, you talked about this a little bit too, so search engines prioritize videos. So if you've noticed now, when you go on Google, you'll see in your search results, videos. So they've now been adding this, and they've been adding video-rich elements over search engine results pages. And here's another statistic drop for you that... You're 53 times more likely to rank higher in Google search engines if you use video on your website.

Glyna: Wow!

Sarah: So not only do you want to put videos out there, but you want to actually have them on your website. So, they're always in the search results. It's way better for you if you have yours included there on your website as well.

Glyna: And also, more ways that video can help your SEO. We talk about backlinks. It's building those very credible backlinks, and that's quality backlinks. You don't want to just be connecting the things that don't matter.

Sarah: Yeah.

Glyna: Video can give you quality backlinks, which again, here we go, SEO, search engines. That's what the game is all about. You want to be higher up in the ranking. Also, if you publish videos to places like YouTube, or social media, or someplace other than your blog, you can also use those links to your website, which is going to just make your website stronger, build it up higher, and again, boost your rankings.

Sarah: Yeah. Absolutely.

Glyna: All about that SEO.

Sarah: It's all about that SEO and having different forms of content too. Because as we were just talking about, what do you prefer? Well, what do I prefer? What do I go to? And so you really want to make sure that you blanket it, and you cover all that type of content that your audience is looking for. Okay. So, now we're going to talk about listicles.

Glyna: Be careful.

Sarah: What the heck? Listicles.

Glyna: I'm like, careful on that word.

Sarah: I know. I was like, I really got to make sure I say that and pronounce that well so I don't get myself into trouble.

Glyna: Tell me what a listicle is.

Sarah Listicles. Got to really start with the L. Okay, listicles. They are pages that contain content in the form of a list. These are extremely popular because it's easy to scan it, and users can gain information quickly. I have to say, this is another thing that I really like because I like to read, but I'm also like, I want to get my answer quickly. So when something... And I read an article, and that's kind of what this is, a list and an article merged into one. It's so great, because it's that perfect way of like, hey, I need to get some information quickly. It's in a really nice format, or a how-to list or a tist of...list of...

Glyna: I told you to be careful!

Sarah: Oh, gosh. It's a how-to list and a list of tips. That is hard to get out. Oh.

Glyna: I don't even know if I want to try it. All right. Why listicles are great for SEO. And again, we're talking about content that's going to drive more people to your website. Okay. Just as you mentioned, people can sift through it quickly, because it's a quick list. You don't have all these paragraphs of information, so you can get your stuff quickly. It's easy to read. And it also encourages people to stay on your side a little bit longer if you have quick, little blurbs of information that they can digest easily.

Sarah: Yes. And another thing is you can insert keywords. Now, this is another piece of SEO. There are so many pieces of SEO, and we've said that several times. But keywords is another really, really important component. And you can insert related keywords into your headings, your subheadings, into your listicle that can help Google determine your page's relevancy. So it's a great way to help your site rank better, which is what this is all about. So inserting those keywords. And when you have it in a form of a list, it makes it easy to strategize that.

Glyna:  So again, we're still talking about listicles. These are highly searched content. This is stuff that people are always asking questions about. And it's more likely than not that they've already searched online to get their answer. So if you have this information, and again, it's easily digested, then it's going to make it even better. So because they are popular searches and it's just the most frequently asked questions, I think. This is if you searched them out and you know what we're talking about. It can give the audience a lot of tips in the form of an article, video, or infographic.

Sarah: Absolutely. And to your point about that, when you think about, okay, if I got to do long-form content, and I got to do blogs, and I got to do videos, I got to do listicles, what the heck would you talk about? So when you think about your industry, to get ideas, a good place to start would be, what are your clients asking you? What are your salespeople hearing? What are the questions that they're hearing out there? So if you have a support center, what are the support tickets? What are the questions that are coming in? What are the things people are needing help with? So it's almost like, how you're going to get your ideas is, what are you hearing? What are people asking you about the most? That, as you said, the frequently asked questions. That is such a great start because that's going to tell you exactly what your key customers are inquiring about, and those are things that you could start writing about. And again, all this comes down to content. You can't have a stale website.

Glyna: Yes.

Sarah: You've got to keep adding stuff to it so that it stays relevant. And that's exactly what search engines need and are looking for because they're about the user experience.

Glyna: Yeah, that's exactly right. If you are in the game for people to find you on the internet, you have to be creating this content. And you make a good point. Start with what people are asking you. Do a brain dump. We call it a brain dump. Literally, just make a list of all the stuff that people ask you. Make another list of all the products and services you have and all the little things that you know about it. Content's endless if you really just sit down and think about it, even just for a few minutes. It's easy if you really sit down to think about it. And we can always help you come up with ideas. Again, it's all about search engine rankings if you're wanting people to find you on the internet.

Sarah: Yes.

Glyna: It just makes sense. And you have to have the content to do it. So, that's the bottom line.

Sarah: That's the bottom line. That's right. That's right. You've got to make sure that you're putting stuff that's fresh out there so you don't get left behind in the ranking world, right?

Glyna: Yeah. That's exactly right. Well, I think that was a lot of great info, so I think that's a wrap. Huh?

Sarah: That's a wrap. That's a wrap! So we'll have another one next week, of course. We'll be back with more information. So as always, if anybody needs any help, has any questions, we're always available for a consultation. We'd love to have a conversation with you. Just go ahead and message us for details.

Glyna: Yep. Sounds good. We'll see you next time.

Sarah: See you next time.