We may think we know everything on a given subject, but there’s always more to discover. Recently a team of paleontologists unearthed a new species of dinosaur in southern Utah, illustrating that amazing breakthroughs are all around us.
At over 16 feet in length, the spikey-headed, club-tailed lizard would have made quite an impact in its day. After hiding for 76 million years or so, the Akainacephalus is ready to shine new light on the fossil record.
Here in the world of content marketing, we’re always on the lookout for new insights, trends and discoveries, too. This week, we’re uncovering exciting digital marketing trends in a new edition of the Content Marketing Weekly.
How to Optimize Your Website for Audio Search
In the past five years alone, the ability to conduct searches via voice has evolved significantly. A new post by Robert Katai explains how audio search has already changed SEO and how it will continue to shape web experiences.
Search users are only beginning to find their voice. Some industry experts predict that half of all searches will be performed by voice by 2020.
Unlike text search, where users tend to simplify their queries down to a few words, voice search is much more natural. This could mean that long-tail keywords will increase in value as search queries contain more words and even full sentences.
In addition to SEO, voice search will also impact site performance by demanding faster speeds. Users who speak to their devices like to establish a natural cadence with their digital assistants. Therefore, sites that can answer questions quickly will likely earn a larger share of traffic.
Reputation Management SEO: How to Own your Branded Keywords in Google
You spend a lot of time making sure your website offers a great first impression to visitors. There’s just one problem: Your site probably isn’t the first thing a potential customer sees. In fact, users who find your site through search are likely to be influenced by Google SERPs before they make it to your site – if they do at all.
Brand reputation management via SERPs was the subject of the most recent Whiteboard Friday over at Moz. In his weekly post, Rand Fishkin discussed a number of tactics brands can leverage to establish a positive brand reputation.
As Fishkin notes, this challenge perplexes marketers because it’s often unclear how or why certain elements appear in SERPs. Using established tactics for developing Featured Snippets and site previews can give brand owners more control over how their businesses appear to first-time visitors arriving via Google SERPs.
Video SEO for Universal Search: Tips, Tools & Techniques to Get Found
Videos are an essential part of any holistic content marketing strategy. They also pose a problem for SEO because it’s difficult for an algorithm to determine the relevancy of a video.
In a recent post, SEO expert Greg Jarboe explained why video represents an amazing growth opportunity for marketers who want to increase their organic acquisitions. When executed strategically, video can help brands to get discovered by valuable readers.
In addition to filling out the meta-details for each video, Jarboe explains how production value and consistent publishing schedules can increase engagement metrics. Users love video content, but they won’t pay attention to your content if someone else is doing it better.
Content Manager Checklist: 10 Things to Do Before You Hit Publish
Managing content production and publication is a time-consuming job because there are so many details that require your attention. From keyword optimization to basic grammar, a content manager’s job isn’t done until the content goes live.
Before that happens, content managers need to ensure the article, graphic or video satisfies its intended purpose and is easy to find online.
To make this task a little more manageable, content marketing expert Megan Krause developed a 10-point checklist to help publishers ensure that every piece of content is of the highest possible quality prior to publication.
Krause recommends that writers break up their content with in-line elements such as images, infographics, subheads or bulleted lists. Her checklist goes beyond the written word to address user intent as well as link-building strategies.
Check out the handy guide here before you celebrate your next blog post.
We’ve unearthed a lot of new knowledge in this week’s edition of the Content Marketing Weekly. Put it to good use as you develop content for your site, then come back next week for fresh discoveries.
