Search Engine Optimisation 101 Series: Part 6 – Creating Engaging Content That Also Works for SEO

The old reality is stuff like metatags. The new reality of search engine optimisation is content, content, content. Google wants fresh content that others find useful and relevant. This is shown by their ‘social interaction’ with it.

Content doesn’t just have to be lots of articles however. If you look at any search engine results, you’ll notice a wide variety of different types of media showing up. Google ranks everything from news articles to videos to slide shows!

Varying up the content your website produces is good for search engine marketing for the following reasons:

• It’s interesting content that people will actually engage with. A simple article may cause someone to simply skim and head back to search engines, giving your link a low quality view in the eye of Google. A video or a slide show will engage them for a decent bit longer. This additional real interaction with your content will boost its quality in the eyes of Google.
• Varied content stands out on the search engines. An article ranked third in the results with Google+ authorship gets as much attention as the very first article ranked! This is because people’s eyes are drawn to images and visual items first before they are drawn to words.
• Varied content is less competitive. It takes more time to develop a slideshow or draw up a meme than it does to simply write an article on a blog. This means that there is less competition for your media and a well-done piece can see good results in record time.

Here we outline some of the different types of content you could create to give variety to your search engine marketing and stand out from the crowd.

• SlideShare
  Slideshare is online software allowing slideshow presentations to be shared to the public. Who would care about a bunch of slideshow presentations? Well, turns out, quite a lot of people. Anyone looking to learn about a specific topic or wanting to see a ‘Top 10’ list with pictures loves the slideshow format. What article could you turn into a slideshow? If you’ve ever written a ‘top 10’ or ‘5 ways to…’ this could easily also work as a slideshow.
• Videos
  With the increase in bandwidth particularly on mobile phones, video is becoming more and more common to watch as a result of a search. Many people spend hours on YouTube surfing through the different channels and watching content. Videos come in many forms; slideshow-similar formats with music in the background, cartoon voiceovers, amateur videos or professional advertisements. Make sure you use appropriate keywords in your description of your video. Ensure your web host can handle the extra data – there’s no point having videos if they’re too slow to load!
• Images
  Usually when someone thinks of images they imagine a simple picture. But images can be anything that is visual rather than simply text. For instance, infograms are images, as are memes and graphs. Think through whether there are ways you could represent your products or services, or develop content that is interesting to your reader, through the use of images. Images are paired excellently with a Pinterest account, giving you an SEO-double-whammy; high ranking for ‘images’ and social authenticity for your website.
• Google + Authorship
  Search engine optimisation specialists think that Google+ authorship is slipping in importance for search engine marketing rankings. Even if Google isn’t prioritising Google+ articles anymore, it’s still worth ascribing an author for the simple fact that your article will display with a photo and name next to it. This definitely draws a searcher’s attention away from your competitor’s articles and provides your own with authority.
• News Articles
  Traditional marketing meets website search engine optimisation when we discuss the role of news articles. If a topic is hitting the headlines, it will often display above articles or pages that deal with that topic on a regular basis. If you can generate news about your topic, it will not only be seen by the news outlet’s readers but also provide strong authenticity and quality link back to your website and stand out in search results.
• Places
  Many businesses forget about places but it is one of the most powerful ranking tools you have. Listing your business on Maps and ensuring it has a couple of recommendations will rank it above many other listings if a person searches for a business within a certain locality. If your business is local, this is the option for you.
  There are plenty of different ways to communicate your message. Which methods do you use?

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