If you are looking to up your SEO game in 2020, you’ve got to implement visual content.
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While most SEO experts are more familiar with writing, and sketching up the occasional graph, it’s time to really stretch your assets.
Research and performance reports are showing that visual content is better than long or short-form content. That huge insight might be true because 90% of the information our brain processes is visual!
While this might already be known in digital marketing, and marketing more generally, its kinda big news for SEO.
Visuals haven’t been such a big deal for SEO because they haven’t been readable by Google. But with all the developments in Google’s ranking algorithm, it is now possible for visuals to garner higher rankings and readability.
Beyond just providing better, more digestible content, visuals can also help your site rank higher.
Continue reading to find out how exactly visuals can impact your site, and what you might want to try out.
Adds interest and readability
A picture says a thousand words. And for SEO, that’s actually the case.
Just like when you were a kid, pictures can be extremely helpful, and attractive, when trying to learn something. Visuals are pretty much always a good strategy due to this.
Whether you are communicating a product, a process, or scientific paper, visuals can be super effective in explaining how something happens.
Infographics, short videos, screenshots, and more provide great visual guides to supplement your research. A reader always wants options. A light and simple infographic can balance out a research-dense article. This way multiple kinds of readers will want to read your content – the ones interested in some of the details, and the ones that want a main take-away.
It’s pretty basic advice, but it needs to be driven home for all you content creators. Diversifying your web page, articles, press releases, blog posts – anything, will benefit from creative, informative media.
Try to make your content unique – generic images are a lot less effective than personalized, niche touches. This infographic is a great example of how a simple, yet informative, visual adds so much to a post.
A little daunted? There are thousands of resources on the web on how to become a visual SEO expert, from classes to websites with content creation tools.
Whether it’s implementing stock photos, taking your own, downloading an editing software, or just taking some screenshots, it’s important to start somewhere!
We process visually – so can Google
Still a little confused on how visual content can help you rank?
We are all familiar with how keywords work, and the complexity of optimizing your content for searching. But all of that is based on text. How could keywords apply to a picture?
Well the Google search engine can’t actually see visual content, but it can learn to see visual content by matching content with other content. Because there are so many images out there, Google has a lot of data to use for machine learning.
We don’t know what the precise algorithm and process for visual recognition is – but we do know that it’s still developing.
What we do know is that Google can search by images by matching shapes in other images and linking them together.
Also, pay attention to the titles you choose for your content – does it really convey what the visual is and its relevance? Always remember that you are optimizing.
And if you have just put a lot of effort and time into an informational video about the process of automated billing, you want to make sure the content is embedded well. It would be a waste to produce content that can’t be seen! Metadata is still incredibly important for optimizing your images
It’s a visual generation
If you are looking for organic growth (whos not) then you’ve got to understand your audience. Millennials and Generation Z consume a lot of visual media, from social media like Instagram and Tiktok, or content sites like Youtube and Pinterest.
Actually it’s not just Millennials, Youtube is the most trafficked website in the world.
Being aware of this is a necessity if you are taking SEO seriously. Keep a close tab on video trends as well as keyword trends. You don’t need to completely switch over to video, but keeping a mix is a great way to grab diverse audiences.
Web pages that supplement their written content with videos that actually show what they are trying to explain is awesome. This page hits the balance perfectly by supplementing their writing with informative and creative videos!
Try to use your writing as a template and inspiration for your videos. Simplify your writing, think visually, and create!
People will spend more time on your site
Visual content not only grabs attention, and of course helps search optimization, it also turns those clicks into conversions.
Besides making your content simply better, videos or visuals also keep people interested and engaged with your site. Videos are great because they are easy to digest and keep people looking at your content.
The more interactive you make your page, the better. You can make boring visuals amazing by adding a couple of interactive features such as a sliding bar or chatbots. And these features are a lot easier to implement than you might think.
Having interactive media or videos is a great way to increase your conversions. It’s pretty simple, but it’s pretty powerful too.
Diversifying media
Options, options, and more options. That’s what we have on the internet, and why we love it. But, sometimes this fact can be a bit overwhelming.
If you can create a source that has it all – writing, visuals, media, etc., then your searcher won’t feel like they are missing out on other content. The best way to do this is by having extensive research and material, but also having diverse forms of content.
It’s always great to have a super technical and informative block of text, but if you can supplement that with a video or interactive graph, you’ve created quite the source. Not only will this optimise readability, but it will also make your content accessible to a wider audience – which means more readers.
Think about diversifying your content like packaging one idea in multiple ways for different people. You’re using the same knowledge, but you just have to see it and convey it in a couple of different forms.
First and foremost, this will help your readers. Just think of educational strategies. Using a variety of approaches to explain the same subject has been long proven to be more effective.
Final thoughts
While it might take a while to completely transition into video editing or making stunning infographics, it’s well worth it for the future of SEO.
We hope you’ve found these tips and reasons helpful – and remember that visual media makes sense!