#5: Sticky Magic: Power Up Your Business with Irresistible Content!
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Sticky content is like a colourful, interactive playground for your imagination.
It's the kind of content that hooks you right from the start and keeps you wanting more. It's like a catchy tune that gets stuck in your head but in a good way! It makes you want to keep reading it or share it with your friends and family because it's just too awesome to keep to yourself.
But apart from being entertaining, sticky content is a superpower you may not be aware of. It works its magic by boosting your Google search rankings and putting your business in the spotlight, reaching more people than ever before.
But what exactly is sticky content, and how can you combine it with SEO to really supercharge your search results?
In this episode, I'll break down these concepts in a simple, non-tech way so you can craft deliciously sticky content that your audience will love while keeping the Google gods happy and increasing your search engine rankings.
Understanding Sticky Content: The Key to Online Engagement
Standing out from all your competitors can be a challenge. One of the most effective ways to stamp your online footprint is by creating ‘sticky content’. Picture content that's engaging, valuable, and shareable, making your audience come back for more again and again.
Sticky content not only boosts your website traffic but also ignites a spark within your users, making them eager to interact and become loyal fans.
Main Points
0:02 Have you heard the term sticky content?
2:30 Why you need to create high quality static content
7:33 What happens when you have unique sticky content on your website
9:42 Interactive Content helps boost your engagement rates and get insights into your audience
14:32 Don’t rely on social media to help grow your business
16:38 The purpose of social media is just to get eyeballs on your business
21:11 You want to check out what keywords your competitors are ranking for
23:30 On page optimisation
27:43 What are meta titles and meta descriptions
29:57 How to name your images and use alt tags
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Transcription
What is considered ‘sticky?’
There are three main types of sticky content: Static, Interactive, and Social
Let’s start with Sticky Static Content: I’m obsessed with static content – and for good reason.
It's your ticket to outshining your competitors and climbing higher in those search rankings.
I can't stress enough how important high-quality static content is for growing your business. It's like the foundation of a solid building, working tirelessly for you day in and day out. It's more than just words on a page—it's a powerhouse that keeps giving.
Static content is your blog, podcast, YouTube videos and any other long-form content that doesn’t disappear in a few hours or months.
This type of content goes beyond mere words on a page. It works hard for you consistently for years. So, the effort involved in its initial creation repays you on an ongoing basis.
Because long-form content delves deeply into your chosen topics and provides valuable and expert advice and opinions, it gives Google some ‘meat to get its teeth into.’ Google is only interested in what it considers to be reputable, valuable information. If you’re putting out short blogs (500 words or less), you’re not giving the search engines enough to work with, and they will move onto sites that they can crawl deeply and analyse.
By creating content that educates, informs, and engages your audience, you position your brand as a thought leader and a reliable source of information – and Google loves this. So that is the purpose of your blog – to satisfy your clients and the search engines.
Try to aim for 1,000 words or more for your articles. While that may seem a lot, it’s actually quite achievable.
Here’s a handy tip to help you get to 1,000 words.
When I’m brainstorming for ideas to write about, a really helpful tool is the voice record function on my iPhone.
Quite often, ideas will come to me when I’m in the shower or while I’m getting ready for the day so it’s not practical to write them down and by the time I get to my desk, the idea has passed. So, to avoid losing great ideas, when they come to me, I simply grab my phone, open up the voice record app and start talking. It doesn’t matter about the ‘ums’ and ‘ahs.’ It doesn’t matter if my thoughts are scattered, and I jump around the topic. What matters is that I’m recording my thoughts.
Once I’ve ‘brain-dumped’ everything into the voice record tool, I use another app (it’s free) called Otter.ai. It’s a voice transcription app. I use this on my desktop and simply play my voice note to Otter.ai, and it transcribes what I’ve said.
Then I copy my words into a Word document and pull out all the themes and points I want to turn into a blog.
This might seem like a lot of work, but it’s not. It’s quick, simple, captures the essence of what you want to write about, and removes the anxiety around any writer’s block you may experience.
Word of caution. Don’t leave your blog like this – these thoughts are not well-crafted articles. You need to employ a solid content and SEO strategy in your writing. The voice notes, and transcription are only to capture your thoughts.
Once you’ve pulled out all the main points, you can put them in a logical order and start your keyword research for the article.
Then you get down to the writing.
You’ll find it so much easier because those little thoughts you had earlier will lead you to deeper thoughts you can research, flesh out and expand on.
By the end, you’ll have a unique, sticky, and SEO-rich article that your readers and Google will love! Your readers will stay on your website longer and interact with other sections of your website, which will reduce your bounce rates and give a lovely user experience.
If you’re still not convinced, I’ll recap the benefits of high-quality static content:
Improved search engine rankings
High brand authority
Increased user engagement
More leads and conversions
You’ll be ahead of your competitors (because everyone hates writing long-form content so they don’t do it)
So long-form content is an integral part of your overall marketing. It’s not a luxury – it’s a necessity. So, make time for blog writing. Your future self will thank you!
Interactive Content: helps you boost engagement and get insights into your audience
The purpose of interactive content is to get people to participate and interact with you. But it’s important to note that this socially interactive content doesn’t directly increase your SEO results. It’s all about the know, like and trust factor and getting people to communicate with you, so they’ll then move across to your website. So it works in tandem with your static content.
The main reason you need to create interactive content is for the insights it gives you about your audience. What they like, and don’t like, the words they use, how they think, and what they want or don’t want. All of these are important for you as a business owner when creating new content, services or offers.
Listen deeply to what people say when they do interact with your content and take note of not just what they say but how they say it. You’re sitting on a goldmine of data that will help you create meaningful solutions to their problems.
The Power of Interactive Content: Get Your Audience on Board
Firstly, what is interactive content?
Surveys
Questions
Polls
Quizzes
Even the ‘drop a comment below’ in your Instagram post is interactive
It’s anything that requests a response from your audience.
Tips for Creating Engaging Interactive Content
Choose the right format. Consider the points above and decide which is more appropriate and easy for your audience to give you the information you’re seeking
For example, polls and quizzes are great for social media, more indepth surveys work well in blogs and email marketing.
Keep it simple. People are time poor and particularly when they’re on social media are busy scrolling and skip past anything long-form. So keep things easy to navigate and understand to ensure the best interaction.
Show some fun and personality. Make your interactive content enjoyable and entertaining by incorporating humour, storytelling, or gamification elements.
Once you have responses or comments to your content, don’t just let it sit there. You need to do something with it; otherwise, you’ve wasted everyone’s time.
Analysing and iterating the outcomes and monitoring the performance of your interactive content will give you priceless insights into your audience. You can then make improvements to further optimise your engagement and use this client-driven data to create spectacular, irresistible offers.
Social Content. Love it or hate it – social content is here to stay and can help you grow your business!
I must admit to a long-standing love/hate relationship with social media. But over the years, I have learned to embrace it for what it is and have built some genuinely beautiful personal and professional relationships along the way that I wouldn’t have otherwise. So, it’s a pretty amazing tool for your business.
What catches most people up is their confidence in using it. You might feel like you have to lose weight before you can do a reel, or you’re too old or don’t know what you’re doing. Those are all genuine feelings, but they’re not good enough reasons to stay off social media. You are harder on yourself than anyone else will ever be, so my big tip is to feel the fear and self-doubt and do it anyway!
Use social media to your advantage. If you’re an extrovert who loves the limelight – fabulous! Sing, dance, talk, and do whatever comes naturally. But it that’s not you, that’s perfectly ok! In fact, you’d be among most business owners, myself included. Start experimenting with different content and work up your tolerance and skills. If you’re not comfortable doing a live video. Don’t. Do a pre-recorded reel instead. Practice filming yourself 10 times just talking to your camera. Record. Play it back. Delete. And repeat! Eventually, you’ll knock out videos quickly and with more confidence every time until they start to feel natural.
Social media is like anything. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. The only barrier is you.
Some of the content you can create is:
Videos. Reels, short stories, longer videos and lives
Memes
Static posts with images or Canva graphics
Quotes
Personal stories
Promote your new website, blog article, podcast or service
Infographics
Client testimonials
Behind the scenes of your work day
Polls and quizzes
Live streams
Giveaways
Seasonal or trending topics
Creating social content is an integral part of your marketing plan. The overall purpose of your social media is to get eyeballs on your business and transition your followers into your business ecosystem. You want to take people from the social media platforms into the platforms you own, which are your email subscriber list and onto your website.
This is where the real connection and conversions happen. Social media alone will never increase your Google rankings. Use social media as a tool to drive people to your long-form content.
Now you’ve learnt what sticky content is, it’s important to know how to infuse your sticky long-form content with lashings of delicious SEO juice!
The Power of SEO: Boosting Your Website's Visibility
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is all about getting eyes on your business. It’s enhancing your website's content and structure to improve its visibility on search engines like Google. A well-optimised website ranks higher in search results, which attracts more organic traffic and increases the likelihood of conversions.
Breaking Down SEO Elements: Keywords, Meta Tags, and Meta Descriptions and more
Keyword Research: This involves identifying relevant words and phrases that your target audience uses when searching for information related to your niche. Think of keywords as the "ingredients" in a recipe. Keywords are the ingredients to create meaningful content for your readers, give a good user experience and attract search engines. In simple terms, keyword research is looking for the words normal people use when they search for something in Google. You want to find words that are used in the natural language and tone of the audience.
Here are some simple tips for how to do keyword research:
Brainstorm. Jot down all the ideas and topics related to your blog post. Consider what your target audience (your clients) might search for when looking for content like yours. This brainstorming session will give you a starting point for potential keywords.
Google Autocomplete: Type your main topic into Google's search bar and see what popular queries pop up as suggestions. This autocomplete feature is a goldmine for discovering what real people are searching for and gives you a better idea of the relevant keywords to target.
Spy on Competitors: Check out what keywords your competitors are ranking for by visiting their blogs and using tools like MozBar or Ahrefs. This can help you identify gaps in their content strategy and potential keyword opportunities for your own blog. If they are ranking really well for a keyword you also want to rank for, but they have a much higher website authority than you, it is often a better approach to start trying to rank for a less competitive keyword first and work your way up slowly. It’s often a better strategy to start ranking for lower search volume keywords to get a bit more authority for your site before you start going after the big guns! That will help you to level out the playing field and get some runs on the board.
Keyword Research Tools: Using tools like Google's Keyword Planner, Keywords Everywhere, or Ubersuggest can make your life so much easier. These tools provide valuable insights, such as search volume and competition level, helping you choose the most effective keywords for your content. And don't worry, they're super easy to use! They will give your alternate suggestions and show you related keywords you could potentially try to rank for as well. SEMRush is also another fantastic tool to use, however, it’s quite expensive if you want access to their full suite of products (which are amazing!). It’s well worthwhile signing up for their free option to start with. But I find Ubersuggest and Keywords Everywhere to be amazing tools. Give them a try.
Have Fun with Combinations: Play around with different keyword combinations and variations. You never know, you might stumble upon a hidden gem that no one else is using, which will give you a unique advantage and help you rank higher on search engines.
Remember, the key to successful keyword research is finding a balance between high search volume and low competition. So go ahead, have some fun exploring the world of keywords and watch your rankings will increase over time.
On-Page Optimisation:
Optimising your content is all about making it easy for Google to find you, crawl your website content and recognise you as providing good, reliable information that people want and need to read.
We do this by using all the keywords we’ve just spoken about in your titles, headings, and meta descriptions. Ensure your content is well-structured with clear headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs for readability. Then using meta tags and alt descriptions plus descriptive, keyword-rich URLs.
Let me explain how to do this.
Once you've identified your keywords, you need to put them somewhere. When writing your long-form content, consider the keywords you’ve chosen and use them naturally within your sentences, titles, headings, meta tags, and even your alt tags.
It’s important that you don’t put your keywords everywhere. That’s known as ‘keyword stuffing.’ Google hates it and will penalise you for it, and you’ll find yourself slipping in the ranks rather than rising. Keyword stuffing is bad.
An easy way to determine where to put your keywords is if you’d use those words naturally in a sentence you speak, then it will most likely be ok in the written sentence. Just don’t put multiple keywords in every sentence. Sprinkle them lightly throughout the entire article instead.
Meta tags are like "labels" that help search engines understand the context of your content. They are made up of Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions.
For example, when you write a blog post, you need a meta title and a meta description. The meta title is what appears in Google to describe the heading of your article. It’s the blue, clickable link that appears in Google to take people to your blog.
The meta description is what appears underneath the blue clickable link in the Google search (your Meta Title), which is a more detailed description of the article.
Google has guidelines around the length of each tag. A meta title should be no longer than 60 characters, while a meta description should be between 155-160 characters long (including spaces). You can use the ‘review’ function in Word to check how long they are. Simply select the text, click on ‘review’ in the top bar of your Word document, then click ‘Word Count’, and you will see the total of characters both with and without spaces.
If you stick to these guidelines, your Google search results will show up beautifully and just how they’re supposed to.
Alt tags are really important. They are the description used for all the images on your website and in your email campaigns. Images are highly searchable on Google, and there is even an ‘image’ search section where people can search specifically for images. So you have a great opportunity to get more hits when people search if you name and tag your images correctly.
There’s no specific length for Alt tags; however, try to keep them around 150 characters if you can, for readability.
The image title (how you name your image) is important too. It serves two purposes – firstly, it helps visually impaired users understand your content and helps search engines do the same. You want Google to know what the image is about. Name your image for what it is, and keep it short. Include a keyword if you can and separate each word with a hyphen (not an underscore) as that makes it easier for Google to read. If you string the words all together, it makes it difficult for Google to analyse.
When using headings on your website, there should only be one H1 title per page. The rest can be a combination of H2, H3, H4 up to H6. This is because Google will read H1 first and considers it the most headline information on that page. This is why it’s important to have relevant, specific headings with good use of your keywords. For example, if you’re a Sobriety Coach and the H1 on your home page says ‘Transform Your Life With Me’ that’s a huge waste of prime real estate. Why? Because it doesn’t have your business name, it doesn’t have either the word Coach or Sobriety, and it doesn’t say what you do. So Google doesn’t know how to reference the page. These are the crucial elements you need to capture in your H1.
The same principle applies to your blog headings, sub-headings and the main content you’re creating.
Good use of strategic keywords and on-page optimisation will make Google sit up and take notice of you over time.
So, there you have it. An intro into sticky, SEO-optimised content that will boost your visibility on Google and get you more clients. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode, part two of the three-part series on how to get the SEO juice flowing through your website and ramping up your traffic and conversions.
Next week is the third part of the series, where I’ll share 8 website SEO tips to get more eyeballs on your business. Don’t miss that one – it’s full of really simple steps you can take.
Links and Resources
Episode 4: SEO Demystified: How to Use SEO in Your Service Business
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LISTEN + SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS + SPOTIFY
Hi, I’m Samantha Bell
I’m all about helping you build the business – and life – you’ve always wanted.
Listen in for the simple, actionable strategies, mindset shifts, and practices you need to make your business thrive. Plus, a healthy dose of self-care, health, and wellness so you can live the life you absolutely adore while building your beautiful business.
