If your blog only uses text-based content, then you are at a huge disadvantage against competitors that use a wide variety of media types when it comes to producing and posting content. In recent years, search engines have become much better at identifying the relevance and quality of different types of media, and you should take advantage of these advances in technology by diversifying your blog’s content. To help you boost your blog’s appeal to both users and search engines, here we’re going to look through a number of the ways that you can use non-text content on your blog.
Video Content Structure and Implementation
Video content is much easier to set up and manage than most people think, and having a regular video segment on your blog is a great way to add value while diversifying the media your blog uses. For people starting out, it’s going to probably be best to use an account on a video site like YouTube to host your videos. Then you can easily embed the videos into your blog without having to set up a special player.
Your videos don’t have to be super long or have any kind of special production. You sitting in front of a webcam for five minutes talking about your analysis of recent events in your blog’s industry will more than suffice for the kind of content we’re looking at here. Using a video format for a weekly blog post that summarizes the past week’s news is a good starting point for regular video content on your blog.
Developing a Podcast
Adding audio media to a blog is a bit trickier than adding video content because the format doesn’t mesh as well for the attention-deficit culture we live in today. One way to get around this limitation is to format your audio content as a podcast and release it on a regular schedule. All you need to make your podcast is a microphone and a free audio recording program like Audacity. This particular program can also save your files in the popular and compact MP3 format.
For your podcast, you should have a general format in mind for your “show” and try to incorporate other people into things. A good starting format would be to use the first five to ten minutes talking about industry news, another five to ten minutes going over a few tips or emails from subscribers, and the final ten to fifteen minutes talking with a special guest. This will put the total length of your podcast at around half an hour, which is a good length since it’s short enough that you will be able to include high-quality content without having to add much filler.
Photography and Visuals as Supplemental Content
Even if you’re super excited about what you’re reading, sometimes it’s hard to stay interested for long periods of time if all that’s in front of you is a giant wall of text. You can break this monotony for your readers by providing photos and visuals as a sort of supplemental content. The idea is to momentarily renew the reader’s concentration by adding a visual component to your articles and blog posts. This also allows you to better explain critical ideas by showing in pictures what is difficult to describe in words.
Other Benefits from Special Media
There are a number of extra benefits that you’ll get from using a variety of media types on your blog. If you set up a YouTube account, for example, you can get backlinks from the pages your videos are hosted on. Another idea would be to sell a short advertising segment in the middle of your podcast, or to accept payment to mention certain products or services available in your niche.