August 7, 2014
The information consumers find online today directly affects their purchasing decisions. Therefore the quality of content on your site plays a huge role in terms of overall purchasing experience. With Google constantly improving its search algorithms, content marketing has never had as great of an impact as it does today, because we know at the end of the day that search engines will always value quality content. Here are a few tips to get you going in the right direction.
1. Create a Content Marketing Calendar
This may seem basic or mundane but it helps to ensure you post content in a timely matter. It’s easy to get caught up with other aspects of SEO and completely forget about blogging. Sit down and take the time to create an overall content marketing timeline. Knowing your industry and what users would find beneficial to learn more about is key. Map out some general content and as time goes by jot down ideas that come to you as you work on other projects. This way you’ll always have an ongoing log of potential blog topics if you’re ever left feeling uninspired.
2. Utilize the Tools Around You
There are dozens of tools out that there can help give insight into what people are actually searching for on the web, which will in turn help guide you towards creating content that people actually want to read. Google Webmaster Tools and Analytics can be extremely helpful in in this way, but there are others that can be just as impactful. For example, one of the tools I enjoy taking advantage of is Optimizely’s A/B testing tool. This allows you to run multiple versions of a webpage in order to see which version of content creates the most conversions. Another great tool to look into is SEMRush and all of the data it provides. Think of it as a one-stop shop for all of your SEM needs – whether it’s keyword search volume, organic positions for domains, or how your competition is ranking, SEMRush can help give you insight. Certain tools are going to work better for some clients than others so it’s important to test them all.
3. Insert Videos
In elementary school we all enjoyed when our teacher would say, “We’ll be watching a movie today,” giving us a break from the lectures and assignments that we were used to. The same concept can be applied to content creation. It’s refreshing for users to watch videos instead of scrolling through paragraph after paragraph of text. While written content is still extremely important, there’s no reason we can’t combine the two.
4. Reuse and Repurpose Content
This same content that you’re reading now could be turned into an infographic, video, PowerPoint, or series of social media posts. While the content may be on the same topic, the delivery is changed, which will likely produce a different set of results.
Another way to reuse and repurpose content is by creating updates. Some of the tips I’ve mentioned in this article may change over time. In that case I would go back, edit this piece and insert whatever changes have occurred. There’s no need for me to collect research from scratch when I’ve already gathered most of the material. This will allow you to spend less time brainstorming blog post ideas and more time on other aspects of SEO.
5. Newsjacking
For those who aren’t familiar with this term, newsjacking is a technique where marketers utilize and take advantage of the demand for breaking news. They do so by contributing to the discussion of whatever recent event has taken place. While the term “newsjacking” may sound negative, it is important not to make this association because it can actually be extremely beneficial when performing content marketing. For example, an SEO firm could perform newsjacking by creating a post about the most recent Google algorithm update. As more individuals learn about this news, the more likely they are to search for information related to this new Google update. The quicker your company is at posting a timely article, the more exposure your article and company will receive.
Are there other aspects of Content Marketing that you find are crucial for companies to focus on? Let us know in the comment section below, email us at [email protected], or tweet us @Perfect_Search!