The four main content forms include: text, graphics, audio and video. Each of these content forms has its own benefits and drawbacks, with each appealing to different audiences. different goals and different needs.

Here’s an overview of each of these four kinds of content and when they should be used.

Text-Based Content

This is by far the most common type of content on the internet. Just about every webpage you see is based on text content.

One of the biggest benefits of text-based content is that it’s very search engine friendly. In the past, search engines could not translate (read) videos or audios, but they definitely can understand text. Of course, that has changed with all the new tools and apps available that give non-text based content the ability to be read. But that’s for another post.

The main reason text based content is so valuable is it increases your chances of getting ranked in search. And combined with the other forms, your rankings can increase many times over.

Text-based content often requires less preparation to create. You don’t need microphones or videos, or expensive graphic editing programs. All you need to do is write/type.

Graphic-Based Content

In addition to photos/images, photos,  CTAs, surveys, interactive tools, illustrations, screenshots, comics, memes, visual quotes, data visualizations, gifs, worksheets and presentations, the infographic is a very popular content type. These are essentially graphics that contain information in and of themselves.

One of the biggest benefits of infographics is that it’s often more entertaining and informative than just text. They tell a story with words and pictures.

For example, if you’re illustrating the history of a war, it’s much more alive to actually have graphics than just to describe it in words.

Audio

Audio content has really taken off ever since the iPod became popular.

In the past, audio content had to be consumed in cassette or CD format. That was both expensive and quite a bit of hassle, and it just wasn’t that popular as a format.

But today, people can listen to audios anywhere they go. In the car, on the bus, while walking, at lunch, etc. It saves time and is extremely convenient. Audio content works really well for many businesses.

Video

Video content is one of the most dynamic methods of distributing content on the internet. You can put funny content, informational content, interesting content, high tech content, personal content – just about anything you can think of.

Video content also has some of the strongest “share culture.” It’s very easy to share video content with friends on Facebook for example.

A video has a greater probability of going viral than most other forms including an audio podcast.

The only downside to video content is that it does take more effort to produce. You need to shoot the video, edit the video and finally render the video. The whole process could take many hours, rather than just 30 minutes to write an article.

So which content format is right for you and your business? It really depends on what kind of content you’re creating and who your market is. There’s no harm in trying all four different kinds of content and seeing which one(s) your audience responds the best to.