So you're on the road to an inspiring and informative content campaign. You've assembled the necessary resources, outlined the general plan and maybe even started planning out some themes you want to attack as you move forward. Now it's time to think about how to make your content strategy stick. After all, what's the point of all your hard work and creative genius if your posts don't generate a following? Here are six steps you can follow to produce high-quality, search-optimized articles on a consistent basis. These steps will ensure your content also flows with ease into the algorithmic crawlings of search engines.
1. Define your content formats
Content comes in many forms: blog posts, infographics, slide shows, white papers, videos, e-books and webinars. No matter which form you choose to start with, remember that each topic can be easily repurposed for different formats: A blog post can be translated into a cool infographic; a webinar can be recapped in an insightful blog post, an e-book can be culled into multiple infographics. Understand the resources you have available and then determine the types of content you can produce well.
2. Create a structure
You essentially need a content style guide or a set of standards for creating content. Style guides usually help writers with the following content creation aspects:
- Desired length of content: By setting page, paragraph or dimension length for your content, you can help prevent over (or under) producing your pieces.
- Article structure: Having a unified way for creating blog posts, articles, e-books, or infographics helps maintain a consistent format for our audience so they know what to expect, how to navigate your content, and how to get the most out of it. Your style guide needs to outline the following elements: your approach to article titles, subtitles, bylines, author pictures, introductions, main points, supporting evidence, key takeaways, conclusion and calls to action.
- Image bank: Don't make your creative team dig for your logo, fonts, or color scheme. Place them in a template document so these can be easily found and used.
- Standard use of visuals: If you plan use a lot of photographs or pictures, make sure you set the standards for size, length or positioning for these visuals.
3. Give your content the right home
Analyze your website and its sections. Determine where your new content will live, how it will be categorized, and how it will help aide your visitors on their discovery journey. Adding fresh content to your website regularly also helps with your ability to rank on the first page of Google - so you now have multiple reasons to integrate your content on your website in a regular fashion.
4. Know your purpose
Decide what table you are sitting at in the content cafeteria and what value you will provide to your readers, and then speak to your audience in ways that resonates with them. Patagonia's blog The Cleanest Line shares tales of adventures and outdoor experiences written by their staff, clients and partners. Without promoting their product directly, Patagonia is able to make a connection with their audience by hosting a place for them to come and share in the things important to them.
5. Commit to a unique voice
Think of it this way - if your brand were a person, what kind of person would it be? How can you instill your content with your unique brand personality? For example, Home Depot has defined their YouTube channel voice as that of a helpful friend. When you watch their videos, friendly employees introduce themselves and provide useful tutorials on a wide range of D.I.Y. projects. Dollar Shave Club uses a brand voice reminiscent of a frat boy's one - their blog content is full of slang and wise cracks. This unique brand voice keeps the interactions with the Dollar Shave Club light-hearted and entertaining.
6. Choose your strategic keywords wisely
Don't "stuff" your content with keywords - just because you think by doing so you will get your content to show up on the first page of Google. Remember, the overall goal of content is to help your customers make better decisions, faster. When choosing your top keywords, map them against your customers' online discovery journey and build content that supports each step of the way. Once you have created content supportive of customer needs, consult with keyword discovery tools such as Google Adwords to hone in on the terms that are popular for your industry or category so you get the most eyeballs for your content.
Use these six steps and you will undoubtedly see better traction with your content. You will be on your way to producing quality blog posts, e-books, and infographics that help you form and carry on meaningful, lasting connections between your brand and your customers.
For more tips on content marketing, check out our upcoming webinar, How To Kick-Start your Content Marketing Program. The conversation begins July 17, 2012 at 1 pm EDT.