Marketing content has become very popular in recent years. It’s an effective strategy to attract prospects, generate leads and help you increase your conversion rates for your business. Content marketing has many different formats. You could be writing site content, social media posts, blogs or even videos. It can also be versatile and dynamic in the right hands.

Content marketing includes a great deal of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is an important part of your content strategy if it’s something you want to be found on search engines. The more SEO-optimized your content, the higher the chances it’ll get seen by the right people at the right time in all sorts of places.

82% of marketers invest in content marketing, with 60% taking note of its success through sales. As such a digital marketing specialism that’s looking more and more successful every year, it’s important to be aware of the upcoming trends in content marketing & SEO.

You can’t beat the first position on a SERP. The click-through rate for content at the top of Google is 25%, but as you go further down in the search results, this rate drops off dramatically to just 2.5%. This just shows the importance of your position in Google’s search engine. Similarly, organic content has become harder to rank on the engine because a lot of searches now focus on its own products.

Google has also introduced new updates to make the Web more accessible for people of different abilities, including screen-reader-friendly design, good contrast, font size adjustability, and image descriptions. This means that accessible sites will be rewarded and climb quickly in search engine rankings.

Content marketers need to start including 4 key components of content marketing in their strategy:

• When creating content, it’s important to consider what the target keywords are and integrate them whenever you can. This will help your content for better visibility when someone does a search on those same words.
• Search through the People Also Ask answers to make the most of your copy.
• Start tracking keywords and trending searches to keep track of performance. Also, be sure to include new keywords as they become relevant.
• Increasingly, people are conducting “question-based” Google searches too. Consider adding questions to your page titles and headlines, as well as to your content in order to make it easier for them to find what they’re looking for.

Great Designs on Google Discover

Google Discover is a swipeable content bank on your mobile. It’s tailored to your interests and automatically lists content you’re interested in, based on what you search for, read, etc.

Content marketers would love Google Discover because it offers them the possibility of having their content show up in mobile feeds, advertising your company to potential customers. But how do you get on the app?

1. It’s important to create high-quality content to rank well on Google. However, remember that Google wants only the most relevant and high-quality content in front of its users, so you might need to make yours stand out by posting regularly and including good keywords.
2. A strong focus on authority and trustworthiness will ensure that Google ranks your content highly. Make sure to include quotes from experts or highlight your experience and expertise in the field.
3. You’ve put time and effort into creating engaging and relevant content but they need to access it in order for it to be of use. Bring them to your great, fast website and keep them happy!
4. Think about your titles. It can be tempting to use a clickbait title, but that might turn off your audience.
5. Keep your content timely by using trending events or current news as a source of inspiration.
6. Include great visuals. Google Discover is all about visuals, so make sure you’re including eye-catching and relevant images in your content.

Google is entering a new era – one in which image search is becoming more common and popular. A few sites have started to rank better because they’re strong on imagery, and as you know Google Discover has completely revolutionized how we use Google.

Interactive Content

Interactive content has grown in popularity over the past few years. Interactive content can include calculators, quizzes, polls, maps & infographics – as well as games and TV shows. Interactive content gets TWICE as many interactions as static content and can be really useful for B2B marketing campaigns like LIVE webinars or VIRTUAL events. There are many types of interactive content to use throughout the marketing funnel, each with a specific purpose. Different types will result in you either building awareness for your brand or generating leads.

One of the best things we’ve found to drive traffic is our Digital Skills Test. It helps measure proficiency in digital and marketing skills so you can see where you stand and what’s needed to get ahead. In the future, new worlds like the metaverse might mean that interactivity starts to play a more central role in content marketing. “The metaverse…is Facebook or ~Meta’s big bet for the future. People should watch with interest what happens there,” says Ken Fitzpatrick, CEO of DMI.

Artificial Intelligence & Content Creation

Content marketers from all over the world know that it’s important to get creative when we want to craft content that engages. They pick the right word or phrase and use humor to attract attention in a world of content saturation. Creating quality content takes time and experimenting with different approaches. But don’t worry, you will find it very rewarding.

However, AI is set to become more sophisticated than ever before in copy creation. Google has been investing time in technologies for natural language processing to improve computers’ understanding of search queries and as a result,

For many companies, automation is a more affordable option. However, it does not always produce the best copy because AI writers are not great at writing wit, slang, or tone. I don’t think that human copywriters need to worry just yet because in my opinion there’s no one who can do this better than them. But I think automation will be a big focus to save time and money. This particular AI can be useful to SEO experts. It allows you to generate a lot of elements all at once while still maintaining valuable, high-quality work. Page title tags, meta descriptions, and alt tags are all included in this type of automation.

Answer-Based Content

Consumers today are more focused on getting a quick answer when they search for content. Over 14% of the searches on Google are now questions with ‘how’ being the most common type of keyword in them. Customers are now more likely to ask questions by typing into search engines themselves or using voice search on devices. This presents an interesting challenge for contentions when it comes to the art of scribing content like blog posts, video scripts, and infographics for their clients.

It’s harder to rank in organic search for “blank keyword” given all the factors needed to be successful, but answering questions is still a good bet. If you know who you’re targeting and their pain points, then it’ll be much easier to answer their individual questions. There are so many ways to phrase a question. One of the things you can do to optimize your content for SEO and user engagement is by adding a FAQ schema. This can be done in two ways – by implementing QA answers or a static FAQ page schema. This is very easy to do and might also make you come up in the “People also ask” sections on search engine result pages.

Keep track of your customers & their changing needs

News of the pandemic is everywhere now, with various topics referencing it in one way or another. It’s changed a lot of things, from how we work to how users behave online. Still, it would be great not to hear about it for just one day. As AI and automation continue to become more prevalent in the workplace it’s still an ongoing global conversation. To succeed with your content marketing strategy, you’ll need to take these shifts into account to stay on top of what your audience is interested in.

• You should run an audit of your COVID-19 content. If your audience is experiencing pandemic fatigue, it might be worth looking back at your content and seeing if the tone or messaging needs to be modernized. Replace outdated content with a more appropriate message for a new readership.
• You should talk to your customers. The best way to stay relevant is to understand your customers – what are their current needs and how will your product or service help them? Are they about to go back into the office soon? Wanting leisure & relaxation experience outdoors? Keeping in touch with your audience can produce new ideas for content.
• Consider voice-to-text material. More and more people work from home these days, so this is a way to reach some of them better. Voice search is growing quickly and it’s a good idea to adapt your company’s content to match it. (There are other changes to pay attention to as well.)

Use voice search in a different way from traditional search engines. Focus on using long-tail keywords and phrases, that are said much more often than common phrases. Place lots of emphasis on the conversational tone, by anticipating what your audience might be looking for when they speak to you. It’s important that you always keep these practices in mind when creating content for your marketing efforts. Since the pandemic is always changing, these tips can help make sure you stay successful well into the future.

Content marketing & SEO is constantly changing. We should keep in mind that it’s not just about engaging more with customers and more conversions, but also giving them content that offers solutions to their pain points. It’s clear customers want to feel like they are being spoken to on a personal level by brands. They’re looking for information through question-based searches and want an immersive experience through interactive content. Content is at an all-time high, so take the time to research, plan, and create content. You might be surprised at what you can do!