Which type of content is best for SEO: text, video or podcast?
I want to start with content marketing and wondering which format is best to get found. I am thinking about writing articles or recording a few videos to start. Which have people had better experience with?
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Feb 11, 2016
It is the combination of video, with the right on page text and meta data, that helps SEO. Statistically, as well as results for ourselves and clients, the pages with video (coordinated) perform better. Just like an email with video...it performs better.
So it is not a matter of choice, but of how to integrate video content into your workflow.
Hope this helps.
Robert
Here are two videos to check out as well -
https://youtu.be/StUpCbZMuS0?list=PL62BD1AB9AC26ADA9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtFQ8mDM5dA
Feb 9, 2016
SEO is where the traffic is. Text drives more without visitors, but if you drive 10x more visitors to your YouTube video than your website, then that's your SEO asset.
Feb 9, 2016
Hi Josh, great question! As Gee has mentioned, your best bet is to determine the type of content is search for and focus on giving it to them. But note that landing pages with video convert better. But as with all things SEO you need to conduct your own research to find out what is best for you because best practices for another person may not apply to you. Hope this helps?
Feb 8, 2016
You need to start any SEO or online related activities by defining your target market, that ideal customer or Client Avatar as some call it. Once you know who you are marketing to and what their specific problem is that you can solve with your product or service then you can do some research to see where they are hanging out online.
As some have mentioned, How To's might be good in YouTube format or even something like SlideShare with step by steps. Whereas a highly detailed area like legal or perhaps dentistry might be better served as an article. The question then begs, where do you post this content. Unless you have a website with high authority and good readership already posting it on your blog is like the old billboard in the desert scenario, not going to do you any favours.
Remember we all absorb information differently so there is no right or wrong way to approach this. However, if you start by defining your ideal client you will be a step ahead with where you are posting your content.
Some have mentioned the importance of text for the Google Bots to read, I encourage you not to get to caught up in that. Ultimately Google want to serve the best information to their users so they keep coming back to Google. If they see a video on YouTube that is getting a lot of attention, likes and comments on a particular topic that may well rank very well directly on Google. Of course you can then SEO the video and include a video transcript along with description and tags. But you really need to create the video to help you target customers and ask them to get engaged with the video, leave comments, like the channel. I find a 'Question of the day' helps if you have a existing subscribers on your channel.
My advice is post less content, make it really helpful for the end user and spend time promoting it and sharing it so people can get engaged and give you feedback. It will then grow organically.
We have some great SEO related training courses to help break things down into smaller bite sized chunks if you are interested over at www.emarketeronline.com/search-engine-marketing/
Feb 7, 2016
Good question. There are a couple of layers to this. One is Google crawling your content and two, the human/user engagement aspect. Both will positively affect your search rankings. So the strategy we implement and strongly suggest is to always scribe out your videos/podcasts (not word for word, but write about what was talked about in an easily digest-able format) and embed your video/podcast w/in the blog.
People like to consume content in various ways (reading/watching/listening) so the fact that you are considering multiple content options is awesome, but you need not have to choose. Videos and podcasts are very well received so if you have the ability to produce them, i would just start there and have a system in place to turn those into blogs, this way you win all the way around and cover all your bases.
Feb 7, 2016
Hello Josh, Great question! Content marketing is pretty awesome for getting your site seen. If you want to drive traffic to your website, start with articles. Get an seo plugin if you're using WordPress. If you're using another platform just be sure to get the pages coded with rich snippets so google recognizes them as articles or news or reviews, or whatever content you're creating. It really boosts the seo.
Secondly, since Youtube is the 2nd largest search engine right now - for sure put up some videos. But there is a right way and wrong way to do this. If you just slap up some videos on a channel, you wont notice much seo benefit - if you optimize the videos however, and engage with viewers; add posts on your blog with embedded videos; post to social media about it; and keep descriptions and links up to date - you WILL notice a difference. And so far, you tube is easier to rank for, because there's less competition.
Your best bet is to use them in conjunction. If you have a WordPress site, download my optin on my site - DIY SEO that wont hurt your website. Its at www.wpbarista.com. That will help with the article optimization and using a plugin.
Good luck!
Cathy
Feb 7, 2016
When preparing your SEO strategy, you can make use of all of these rich content. It's true it would make more sense to focus more on one of these, but in general it would be better to focus more on Video as it will entice a wider audience and search engines will also rank these higher.
Feb 7, 2016
Josh,
You've received good advice from the answers below however, I want to be more specific.
Follow Gee, Adam, Sunita and Judy's helpful SEO tips on content marketing using both text and video yet keep the following few key factors in mind.
-Create content that is new, fresh and in both article and video format.
-Always remember to use 'meta tags' on your content! EX: When using PHOTOS link the photo to your blog url.
-Use long-tail keyword phrases. Why? There is a massive amount of information for your prospective market...as you know. When we are looking for anything via a search engine, we now type in exactly what we are looking for. EX: 'Which type of content is best for SEO'...somehow I believe you already know this ;)
-Your blog should be 'Topic' driven! Only focusing on keywords is not enough. Your entire website needs to be topic focused. EX: 'Marketing Mentor' is your niche...on your blog/website you must have a 'Menu' with categories named 'Marketing Online'...'Marketing Courses'...'Marketing Coach'...'Marketing Tips' etc..etc. Whatever the category name/topic make sure to keep individual blog post/page title relevant AND keyword driven! Do the exact same with any social media accounts as well.
Stay consistent with your article and video posting...just as your podcast. If you post an article 3 times a week...a video 2 times a week...post on the same days and roughly same times.
IMPORTANT: Wether you use dates on your post or not, it is vital to 'update' your posts as needed.
TIP: ENGAGEMENT...the longer you can keep people on YOUR blog/website will have the most impact on SEO. Stay active in the comments engaging with your readers AND optimize your comments with the relevant category/page title along with keywords/keyphrase.
Thank you Josh for allowing everyone here to share our advice. If I may be of any help, do not hesitate to message me!
With Sincere Gratitude,
Bradley L Chase III
PS...Josh, no matter if you are using paid advertising or not...the make or break of your content marketing effort to "get found" completely depends on you marketing EVERY article, video and podcast individually. Do not just 'create, publish and forget'...share your content...and encourage visitors to share as well!
Feb 7, 2016
Something to remember - google or seo cannot scan a video nor can they scan a podcast or image - but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't use them - Text is something those little bots are reading - make sure that whatever medium you are using that it is completely descriptive - Example - bringing in an Infographic - these are awesome tools to use - people don't have the time to sit and read things at length
And that adage? Pictures speak a thousand words? That is very true - when I use an infographic in Wordpress - I name the infographic what the content is - like best time to garden - would be the file name "when my infographic is giving some short precise steps or tips - but I don't stop there - I do an intro first - which is describing what the infographic is about - insert the infographic then at the bottom I actually reiterate the steps that are pictured all in text - Not everything - but I pick out the key points and add them below the infographic
If you are using images in Wordpress - you not only need to make sure the file name depicts what the file is, but you need to fill out the alt txt and the description - Wordpress has these area's there for a reason -
If you are including or embedding a video - if you have uploaded that video to youtube or vimeo - you need to be very descriptive on what that video contains - add a couple of paragraph's that describe what the video is about
Same for podcasts - and for slide shows - these types of media are not descriptive - so we have to make them descriptive
Feb 7, 2016
I did a Twitter poll few days ago asking which form people love the most. Amond Text, Audio, Visual and Video, Video got the maximum votes. You can get your videos found faster than text when optimized well. Text content surely an easy go. Do a mix and dominate with what you love doing the most. Be it video or text, see where you can contribute at your best.
Feb 7, 2016
Th hard part about SEO is that there is no one best thing. At the moment, search engines can only read AND understand text. So text is vital to any SEO. However, things like videos and podcasts convert a lot better because, lets face it, no one wants to read when they can just listen and/or watch.
If you create a video or a podcast and then link it or embed it on your website, be sure to include a lot of text or even just have the video or podcast transcribed so the search engine will better understand what the video or podcast is about and will rank you better for it while still having the video or podcast there to be consumed by your users
Feb 6, 2016
it depends on the type of content your audience is searching for. A search query such as "How to change a lightbulb" might be best served with a video or step-by-step photo-heavy text page, for example.
If you're going down the video/podcast route ensure that you have a text transcription referenced somewhere, for search engines to crawl when they're ranking your content.
HTH
Josh,
I just read an article today that made me think of you and your question above. I provided the link to this post below. (And no, this link does not promote me nor my business...my only motive is helping YOU...period.)
http://unbounce.com/content-marketing/lessons-learned-from-analyzing-top-shared-marketing-blog-posts/
Hope you find the information in the above link helpful and put it to work!
With Sincere Gratitude,
Bradley L Chase III