By:  Ricky Ochs 

Content marketing has changed immensely since it first gained popularity as a marketing strategy. Creative, forward-thinking SEO specialists continue to devise ways to garner customer attention, build reader trust, and drive conversions for their clients.  Yet, the core of such a successful strategy remains the same: compelling content.

Blog posts remain one of the best ways for content specialists to attract and retain audiences.  There are several types of blog posts SEO specialists use, each with their own distinct advantages. The key in writing these types of blogs is using them to their full potential to engage readers, build a consistent audience, and drive business conversions.

Instructional Posts

One of the most common, effective types of content is the instructional post.  Instructional posts educate and help readers complete a given task with “how to” articles, advice pieces, expert reviews, or tutorials.

Instructional posts are an excellent choice for SEO because the target keyword phrase becomes the central idea of the post. So if somebody searches for “how to write haiku,” your “how to write haiku” article will be optimized to rank. Instructional posts are used a lot, so it works best if you focus on unique ideas and reach for niche-focused subject matter.

Instructional posts are valuable to the reader as well, especially if you include visual materials like infographics.  But remember, you must make yourself the authority on whatever subject matter you choose.  You are the expert, offering useful, educational material to your target audience.

Media Post

Media posts are popular among SEO specialists due to the increased demand for visual content. High-quality images, short videos and infographics all work well as centerpieces of media posts.

Readers are more likely to share a media post over a post containing only text, giving your brand more visibility, more exposure to potential customers. Now, that is not to say your post should just be a video, you will need at least a few paragraphs of text to introduce or otherwise highlight your visual content.  Text is also necessary for SEO, as Google still doesn’t relate media content to keyword queries.

Opinion Posts

Offering your opinion on news or trends in your industry is a good way to develop unique content for your blog.  This can range from reviews of products, tools, or concepts to expressing strong feelings on a hot, trending topic.

Opinions and reviews – that are truly your own – have the distinct value of offering a unique voice to your blog.  It can be a struggle to create unique content, especially in industries where most topics lend themselves to instructional posts.  But Google rewards unique, useful content that addresses specific concerns of a search audience.

For strong opinion pieces, you’ll want set editorial guidelines that maintain your brand message.  You want to share real views with an authentic voice, but not to point that it alienates the target audience you’re trying to connect with.

Entertaining Posts

Top salespeople know that when you can get a lead to laugh, you’re winning them over.  The goal entertainment post is to show the fun, lighter side of your business.

As with opinion posts, you want to offer humor but stay on brand message.  Content for a more conservative, serious brand will not be as playful as content for a more lighthearted brand.

Funny, entertaining content gets shared on social media and remembered by leads.  It’s a great way to show the personality of your staff, put a funny slant on your solution, and even show the folly that’s a part of any business – because that’s life.  But keep in mind you need to be original and stay on topic about how you offer a solution to your audience’s problem.

Haiku Posts

In a perfect marketing world, haiku posts would propel any business to the top of a Google search. Think about it, a haiku post could be informative, instructional or entertaining, all in only three lines. Here are a few examples.

A dental haiku post:

Your tooth hurts real bad

What are you supposed to do?

Call our office now!

A restaurant haiku post:

Lunch was hours ago

Tummy is empty abyss

Make reservations

A veterinarian haiku post:

Fido barfed on rug

He must not be feeling well

Take him to the vet

Did you see what we did there? We injected a little humor into this post.  And maybe someday, when word count no longer matters, Google will reward haiku posts.  But until they recognize the sheer beauty and brilliance of haiku posts, you will have to rely on the more traditional marketing posts.

Mix-up the content on your business blog with these different types of post.  They make the writing fun and engage readers.

And whatever types of posts you create, do so with consistency.  The best business blogs are not only varied, but frequently updated.

If you just looked at your watch, wondering how you’ll find the time to write on your blog consistently, give us a call.  We have a team of writers at Marketing 360® that understand SEO and how to engage your audience.  For many SMB owners, the best way to create an effective business blog is to leave it to the pros.