As you begin your livestreaming journey, are you having any of these thoughts?
You don't think you can dominate your industry
You don't need any more organic traffic to your website
You don't think you can benefit from having your website rank higher in searches for your target audience
Actually… I bet that's exactly what you want! And, I have just the person to help you get there.
In this Digital Confetti episode, I'm joined by Mike Allton, better known as The Blogging Brute. Mike has been crafting content strategy and turning out blog content for over a decade. He is an award-winning blogger, author, and speaker and has a unique holistic approach to content strategy.
Mike's live streaming career began on Google Plus. He commented on video streams often and soon was asked to be a guest on various shows. Over time, this became a habit. His follower count went from a few thousand to a quarter of a million.
In just a few years, Mike built a huge audience and reputation as somebody who could not only write about and explain and teach these different concepts but come on somebody's show and talk about them intelligently.
Over the years, Mike has been a guest on countless shows, hosted his own shows, held virtual summits, and more.
Live streaming allows you to get to know others and build your audience. Unfortunately, many live streamers move from one show to the next. While they may repurpose their content like a GIF or a story, after that… it disappears. They're not giving their content enough breathing room to get any SEO love and engagement.
Mike is an expert when it comes to repurposing live videos into long-form blog content. He is my go-to person whenever I'm creating content. I often DM him, asking, "Can you be my brain right now? Can you take a look at this to make sure it makes sense?"
So, let's find out more about how to repurpose your live stream to rank higher in Google.
What are the benefits of repurposing your live stream into a blog post?
The first time Mike recapped a live steam into a blog post was after a Google Plus show. Big-time Hollywood producer, Gary W. Goldstein, was a guest on the show. As more and more people asked Gary questions, Mike typed everything out in an Evernote document and recorded the entire conversation.
Within 15 minutes of the show ending, Mike realized he had a blog post. So, he published it. The blog post was a hit, and many people started reading it, even though they had missed the show. Later, another live streamer at the time told Mike he was "some kind of blogging brute" for publishing so quickly, and the name stuck.
Whether you recap the live stream yourself, use a transcription service, or have a virtual assistant, repurposing your content into blog posts is so important.
One of the main reasons is because not everyone has the time to sit down and watch 45 minutes or an hour of video. With a recap, they can quickly scan the blog for the content or questions they're looking for.
Recapping your live stream into a blog post also allows people to access the information you shared, even if they missed the original live stream or video.
Another huge benefit of creating long-form content from your videos is to save you time in the future. When Mike and I co-wrote our book, Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing, with Jenn Herman and Amanda Robinson, I already had so much content ready to go. Or, when I'm asked to speak at a conference, I can take pieces of past blogs and reuse them in my presentations.
Finally, the more content you have out there, the higher you can rank in Google, which leads more people back to your website.
“When you’re able to cater to your audience’s learning style, the better it is, and if you’re already going to start with the video first strategy, you might as well repurpose that content into long-form content.”
How to create a content pyramid
Many people might wonder what content they should share with their blog posts and how they can fit it into their future live shows. The solution is a content pyramid.
Mike explains that the idea behind a content pyramid is you're not just creating a single piece of content and hoping that it will rank well. The idea is that Google will look at all the content you create about a particular topic, and the more content you have, the more interlinking that goes on within your site. And the higher the entire body of work ranks in SEO.
At the very top of the pyramid, you have a single page or post with your most important piece of information. If somebody wants to learn about a particular topic, that's where you want them to end up. Let's use remote live video production as an example.
You want to create a main page or post on your website where your audience can learn everything there is to know about remote live production. They’ll also learn on this page that you are the person to talk to if they want to take their business to the next step.
The same concept can be used for your business, products, and services. You all have things you want to be known for that will end up resulting in sales, phone calls, subscribers, whatever the case might be. So that's your number one page at the top of the pyramid.
Below that, Mike ideates three subtopics that talk about the main topic on separate pages. Then, you can write three additional blog posts with content for each of those major subtopics. As a result, now you have 12+ incredible pieces of content that all talk about the main topic and link together for SEO.
“At the top of the content pyramid, you have a pillar piece with your most important piece of information. You then have three supporting pages with additional content and three blog posts per page. Google recognizes the traffic linking together and rewards you for that content.”
Your corresponding blog posts can be lists, interviews, or roundups. It doesn't matter if they are short, medium, or long. As long as you're creating great content to answer questions and speak to people, it leads them up to the top of the funnel.
Once you've mapped out your content pyramid, you need to figure out what to write about. Mike suggests a few tools, including SEMRUSH, which is a tool for SEO, content marketing, competitor research, and more. It's not free, but it's a great option.
However, you can also use a free Google account to use Google Ads. A free account gives you access to their keyword planner, showing you the actual search results and search data happening every month.
We all know Google is the number one search engine in the world. People worldwide go to Google every single second, looking for what they want and need to know. Google tracks precisely how many times people each month put in the exact same search phrase.
Going back to our original example of remote live production, the keyword planner can show you exact data for how many times people searched on that specific phrase last month. It will also tell you how much competition there is for that particular phrase.
Because Google wants you to buy ads against these phrases, they also take it one step further. It will show you 10, 12, 100 other related phrases and how many people are searching for that phrase.
Here's another example. Let's say you want to share content about blogging.
If you have a pillar piece for "start a blog," Google recognizes that "create a blog" and "start a blog" mean the same thing in your keyword search. It's called a semantic search, and Google is getting better and better every day at understanding the semantics of words. You can actually integrate "create a blog" in your "start a blog" page, optimizing that piece for that particular keyword. In the end, it allows your content to rank even higher.
“With Google keyword planner, you can identify phrases to use and determine what your actual topic should be at the top of your content pyramid and what are engaging blog post ideas.”
When it comes to repurposing your live stream content into long-form blog posts, you need to take it one step further than embedding the video with the show notes on your website. You need to do a whole blog recap.
Google scripts will go to your website, usually once a week, to view what code sources have changed. The web crawler will recognize a YouTube or Libsyn link, but what it cares about the most is new and updated text. The text (content) is what helps you rank higher in Google.
An easy way to add long-form content is by transcribing your live video with Descript. From there, you can edit the content and repurpose it into blog posts, short videos, and more.
The average blog post is 1,200–1,500 words. If you can publish a recap that is 2,500, 3,000, or even 8,000 words, that is HUGE for your website and ranking. Once you add images and embedded clips, it may seem too long, but I promise you it pays off.
If it seems like too much content from one live stream or interview, break that out into three or four blog posts. Pick out each pain point, question, or main topic from the video, and create new corresponding posts for your website.
Finally, one additional note from Mike is you don't want to primarily focus on sites like Medium. While you can still summarize your posts there and draw an audience, always post your unique blog content on your own website. That way, you own your content and don't risk losing it for whatever reason.
What your next steps need to be
For even more tools and resources about blogging, content strategy, marketing, and more, visit Mike's website and check out his posts and guides. You can also join his Facebook group, The Blogging Brute Squad, or his Blogging Bootcamp.
If you feel a little overwhelmed with all of this information, that's okay. It's a lot to take in and takes some practice. But, once you learn to take a particular video, find the questions answered, and craft it into an article or blog post to live on your website, people will find it through a Google search.
Here's the thing: if people are searching for something on Google, it's because they WANT to read about it. If they want to watch a video instead, they'll go straight to YouTube. If you aren't repurposing your content, you're missing out on a vast opportunity and audience. It is such a small thing that truly pays off in the long run.
So, if you are not bombarded with client work, you need to invest in yourself and take the time to work on long-term content strategy and marketing. But, if you don't have the time: hire a virtual assistant. I have an entire Digital Confetti episode dedicated to hiring and onboarding a virtual assistant to grow your channel, featuring Nathan Hirsch.
Additionally, no one expects you to crank out a 10,000-word pillar piece tomorrow—primarily if you've never written a blog post before. Start by embedding your live stream video into a blog post. Then, as you get comfortable with writing, work your way up: 200 words, 750 words, 1,200 words, and more.
As time permits and as you grow more comfortable with the live streaming platform, your blog platform, and graphic design tools, you can start to add on and layer on additional techniques and tools like transcript services and take the time to optimize for search.
Trust me, friends; it will all be rewarding.
Thank you to Restream for sponsoring Digital Confetti!
If you haven’t heard, Restream allows you to broadcast live video to 30+ social networks at the same time.
