The short answer is no. Content has many forms and is shared on a variety of mediums, and for SEO content is the lifeblood of any successful SEO campaign. In order to form a successful content strategy for your business, you must take into account your SEO goals and build upon them rather than conflict with them.
Let's go over some of the different intricacies of content and how to rollout content effectively and in line with your SEO plan.
SEO & Content
The purpose of a search engine is to provide users of a search engine with the best possible answer to their query. Google uses a number of factors to evaluate and determine what the best site or search result currently is. One of the most important factors given high priority within their algorithms is content. Not all content is created equal and content for the sake of content is not going to be enough to make sure your site is the best answer to a user's query. Rather, they are looking for high quality and relevant content to what users are searching for. Sites with little to no content will always underperform in comparison to sites from competitors that are rich in content. Therefore, it is crucial to take content into account when creating and implementing an effective SEO strategy through your site.
Forms of Content
When it comes to the classification of content for SEO purposes, not all content is equal or the same. The following are the most common forms of content
- Videos - such as webinars, YouTube videos, and Screenshares.
- Audio - such as podcasts, radio, etc.
- Text – Lists, guides, articles, and blogs, are all examples of text content
- Graphic Media & Art – Images, artwork, infographics are examples of media and art content
Mediums for Content
Just like there are a large variety of types of content there are also a vast number of mediums that can be used to share that content online. Examples of the most popular mediums to share content include:
- Social Media
- Websites
- Forums
What is Best for SEO?
While there can be a whole debate and discussion relating to the best form of content, that is not what we are referring to here. We are here to discuss what kind of content strategy is the most effective when it comes to improving rankings and improving your SEO. Your SEO strategy is based on the optimization of your website to fall in line with what search engines are looking to be the best answer. This means the highest value of content that you own must be placed on your website to raise your rankings and attract more relevant visitors to your site. While you may think that publishing content on other sites, forums, or social media may be a good move it will not benefit your site but rather the site you have published on. A better strategy would be to post links on the mediums that will direct visitors to your website to view the actual content.
What Kind of Content Will Give Your Site Greater SEO Success
While video and audio are exploding in popularity and used across all mediums to create an engaging user experience; these mediums are not the optimal content form for SEO. When it comes to SEO strategy text-based content is number one without a doubt. Search engines notoriously have a hard time reading videos and images, and if they can't read it they cannot evaluate it and rank it. High-quality text-based content on your website will yield you the best results. There are instances when a video is needed and in those specific instances, it is always best to publish a transcript alongside the video allowing search engines to crawl that data.
Content is a Necessity for the Best SEO Strategy
Content should be the focus and main source for producing an effective and successful SEO strategy in addition to your overall marketing strategy. SEO cannot survive without content in today's search engine landscape. By developing a well-planned SEO strategy that includes the best content to yield positive results you will greatly improve your website's overall performance and in turn, grow your business.
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