We’ve all heard a thousand times that websites need “content.”
But what is content, and why is it needed?
Content is information communicated through media.
Media is the communication channel — the internet, television, radio, etc.
Content is the message — the information itself.
On the internet, content can take many forms:
- blog posts
- videos
- social media posts
- infographics
- guides
- case studies
- podcasts
- white papers
- images
- webinars
- and more . . .
Content is needed to:
- Increase website traffic across local, organic, referral, and social channels
- Demonstrate specific expertise to attract best-fit clients
- Restate your brand to keep your name in circulation
The most powerful marketing content is evergreen — the information does not become obsolete.
Playing Along with Google
Google search aims to deliver the most relevant and useful content to users — including your potential clients. So why not play along? Give Google what it wants — high-quality content. Thanks to ingenious research tools available today, we know exactly what people are looking for and what content is needed to match their search intent.
By purposefully designing your content to match search queries, Google will rank your website and local business profile higher in search results, and more people will contact you about services.
As a pro, you should create at least some of your content; it’s one of the best ways to promote your business at a high level and boost visibility in search.
Boost Your Google Rankings with Engaging Content
Want to rank higher on Google? The key is to create content that keeps users engaged!
Google pays close attention to how users interact with your pages. When it notices people are spending more time on your site, scrolling through your content, and clicking on your links, it takes those as positive signals.
Make Your Pages User-Friendly
To increase engagement, focus on making your pages pleasant to read:
- Break up your text into short, digestible paragraphs
- Use clear headings and bullet points to organize your ideas
- Add visuals like images and videos to break up the text and add interest
Ditch the Walls of Text
Gone are the days of stuffing your pages with lengthy blocks of SEO text. Google is smart enough now to prioritize content that users actually enjoy reading. Focus on delivering value and keeping readers interested. Your text doesn’t need to be long – just engaging!
The Problem
You have the ability to differentiate your practice and attract ideal clients with content. But producing and sharing content for marketing purposes is a tough slog. Production, especially writing, may feel like foreign territory that takes you away from your main work, and it presents a fundamental problem:
Creating content takes too much time.
Don’t Write, Speak
This rapid content method is something you naturally do each day . Instead of writing a post or shooting a video — make an audio recording.
Why audio?
Audio is simple and lends itself to spontaneous production. You can create a compelling audio track in minutes.
I scored popular content creation methods by several dimensions: ease, persuasiveness, cost in time and money, communication mode, personalization opportunities, etc. Transcribed audio comes out on top!
- Transcribed Audio: 22
- AI-assisted Text: 18
- Podcast: 16
- AI-assisted Video: 15
- Live Streaming: 14
- Video: 14
- Human-written Text: 12
Transcribed audio scores highest for our purpose of rapidly creating useful, unique content. AI-assisted writing comes in a close second. Manually writing text — what most people do — scores worst!
If you don’t like AI, use audio. If you don’t like audio, use AI.
If you’re good with both modalities, combine them like this . . .
UPDATE: The power of AI lets us mash up new ways to create content. For example:
- Use your voice to instruct AI
- Create lists of things to talk about
- Transcribe audio recordings into text
- Voice the text (that is, speak it)
- Generate both the audio and visual components of video
What About Video?
If you’re going to the trouble of recording something, why not just record a video?
As much as I love video, it’s far more complicated, time-consuming, and expensive to produce compared to audio. There’s lighting, equipment, space, editing, and people needed to put it all together.
Beyond that, uploading a few videos is unlikely to surface new local clients. 30,000+ hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every hour; how will your business surface in that global tsunami? 1
Here’s why social media platforms are usually a poor source of local leads. Just think about it; have you ever searched for a local lawyer, dentist, or financial planner on YouTube? It may happen occasionally on Facebook — “Hey, can somebody know a good divorce lawyer in Phoenix?” — but from the data I’ve seen, the numbers are small.
Overwhelmingly, people search Google to find exactly what they want — “best divorce consultant in St. Louis”. From every metric, local search results are the place to be, and you don’t need video to get there.
Rapid Content Creation: Step‑by‑Step
Step 1: Keyword and Question Research
Keyword and question research reveals topics. It tells us what people are searching for and how many are searching. For example: “divorce financial advisor.” (450 searches per month in the U.S., medium competitiveness), or “What is the difference between mediation and collaborative divorce?” (4th most popular mediation question).
Choose a topic based on search data, and if you’re an expert, you’re personal take on the topic. Explore keywords and questions with free tools like Ubersuggest and Search Response.
Plan your content to match searcher’s intent.
Step 2: Tell Your Audience What You Know
This is where you share your thoughts. Talk about a client experience. Explain a trend. Tell a story.
I’m sure you can speak about some aspect of your service for five minutes. How about a couple of 5-minute sessions? Believe me, I have done it dozens of times — ten minutes goes very quickly. So let’s say you end up with ten minutes; that’s about 1,500 words of written text.
Can you do 15 minutes? Go for it! That’s 2,200+ words — longer than most of your competitor’s blog posts and a perfect search engine snack.
Step 3: Transcription
UPDATE: You can still send your audio file to a human transcription per the instructions below, but we now have Whisper, which will transcribe at near-human quality, for free, in a couple of minutes. Whisper works with audio files, YouTube videos, and even live transcriptions as you speak!
Send your audio file to a transcription service. They will convert your audio file to a text file and send it to you via email in a couple of days. Paste the text into WordPress. Check it over. Add a Title. Done.
For professionals, it’s better to save time, even if it costs more. So, hire a transcription service that uses native English speakers (assuming you’re somewhere in the American or Canadian markets). Cost: about $1 per minute of audio. A 1,500-word blog post would cost about $10. Dirt cheap! Top human-powered transcription services include Speechpad and Rev.
Congratulations, You Just Created a Search Magnet
That’s the process. Not too bad, right?
You just created a laser-focused search engine magnet in a fraction of the usual time. Your content will be unique, with a personal viewpoint — not some outsourced codswallop.
Unique content that adds value for users is precisely what Google wants! Your transcriptions will provide a real advantage in organic search, voice search, local search, and social media.
Outsource Everything but the Recording
You could do everything above yourself, but your time is too valuable. Consider getting help from a remote editor.
You make the recording, the editor does everything else.
Ask your editor to make the transcription, clean up the text, add some headings, a title, and a couple of images, then publish the post on your website. If you like your audio recording, have them publish it with the post. The editor can also send your post to your email list and it publish it on social media as well (this part can be automated).
How to Make a Good Recording
How do you create a decent audio recording that’s on-point?
Firstly, what do you want to say? Jot down some bullet points as a guide. At least, that’s the way I do it to make sure I cover the main ideas. You don’t have to get fancy. A pencil and paper will do. Keep your topic notes loose but on target. If you’re interviewing, have a few questions in mind.
Get yourself in a quiet space where you can loosen up and speak as if speaking to a person in the room. Hit the record button and go for it. If you mess up, just restart the recording. Or pause and come back later. Over time, your delivery will improve.
If you publish the audio recording itself, your physical space affects sound quality: You don’t want too much reverberation (echo) or distracting noise. Drapes, carpets, furniture, and the right kind of equipment help. Carve out a section of your physical workspace at home or in your office for recording. It could be the same space you use for Zoom calls. Set up your equipment and keep it there. Make it easy to flip the switch and knock out content quickly.
On the road? Vehicles and hotel rooms are great places to record! Use your phone or a portable digital recorder to capture the audio file, then forward it to your remote editor.
References
1. https://www.statista.com/statistics/259477/hours-of-video-uploaded-to-youtube-every-minute/