Content marketing, as a way to gain relevant engagement and traffic, remains on the increase and shows no sign of disappearing any time soon. Re-evaluating current SEO strategies in order to capitalise on your content marketing in this day and age is absolutely essential for brand success.
Visual content is one of the most effective methods of engaging your target audience, as it is scientifically proven to attracts more attention than text. It is therefore important to include visuals in your content in order to increase traffic on your site.
Luckily there are a various types of visual content that can be used to achieve this. Lets look at seven ways this can be done.
Videos
Video is one of the most effective methods of successful content marketing. Video content has become increasingly popular with audiences preferring to engage with this form of media than any other type. The rise of easy-to-use video making technology has made producing video content a reality for even the most novice filmmaker. Numerous online tools make it accessible for all website and SEO professionals to create engaging and relevant video content, for example, product demos, testimonials, how-to videos and many other videos that would interest your client base.
There is concrete evidence that videos do lead increased conversion rates when used on the landing pages, with one report stating that post with videos will attract approximately 300% more inbound links.
Infographics
When sites are trying to impart how-to guides and step by step instructions, the use of infographics can be a very useful tool. This format allows you to break down the information into smaller, easier to digest data. By visually simplifying complex data your audience will be more likely to engage with the easy to read content and stay on your site in turn leading to a higher conversion rate.
Images
Images help to make text come alive. Large blocks of text will not entice your visitors to stay, as generally people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, so in order to keep your potential clients you need to add relevant images to grab their attention. It’s important to choose the right images that directly relate to your products or services and make sure they are high quality.
How many images should be used is dependent on the amount of text on the page. A general rule of thumb is to use 1 image for every 100 words of text.
Data Visualisation
Data visualisation is extremely important when trying to visually show data in a way that is easy for people to read. Visual data breakdown into graphs, charts and tables helps complex information to be explained in a simple and logical method allowing your audience to clearly understand what it is they are looking at.
Memes
The original meaning of ‘meme’ was to describe a ‘concept able to replicate itself’. Today it generally refers to videos or images with humorous connotations. Not initially thought of as a tool for content marketing, memes have lately come to be seen as a vital tool in content marketing strategies.
Especially popular with younger people, memes can send a powerful message but are not relevant for all industries so must be used with care. The humour attached to memes must be relevant and appropriate for the products and services you are marketing.
Annotated Screenshots
Long blocks of plain text are basically boring for most to read and often result in traffic leaving your page. The most effective way of communicating step by step tutorials is to use annotated screenshots, generally because visual images and demonstrations make information easier for audiences to absorb. By using arrows, underlining and circles and squares to highlight crucial data, the page visitors can follow instructions easily.
Presentations
Presentations make content easy to share, particularly on the platform such as SlideShare. Consistency when creating presentations is key. You will need to ensure you use the same font, colour, scheme, borders etc. You should add text captions and ensure test has been proofed to ensure no grammar or spelling mistakes.