Content Marketing Give Them Something Valuable
Why is there so much free content out there?
Web pages, logs, articles, YouTube videos, e-books, white papers, podcasts, infographics… Why would people go to so much trouble to create all that stuff when they’re not getting paid for it?
Obviously, there’s something in it for them…
The why is actually pretty simple: because when people consume the content, over time, a relationship is forged between the provider and consumer. The consumer will begin to recognize that the provider has expertise, authority and trustworthiness (this is affectionately termed E.A.T. in this biz and it’s a big deal for your SEO).
Definition: Content marketing is providing information that is valuable, relevant and findable to the people you’re trying to reach.
Of course, that begs the question: how do you figure out what’s valuable and relevant—and how do you get it in front of the people you’re trying to reach?
Answer: it’s an SEO thing.
I have no interest in things I have no interest in.
The Cornerstone of the SEO Faith: Content is Still King
Search is about only 1 thing: ANSWERING PEOPLE’S QUESTIONS.
When people search online, they are initiating a contest between you and your competitors to see who can best answer their question. The search engines will compare the main words (keywords) in the user’s search term with the words on your web pages and blog articles. The search engines will show your web pages and articles to a searcher if you provide valuable and relevant content that answers their question, or at least does a better job of it than your competitors.
Here’s the good news: Most websites, including your competitors, use keywords that are either highly competitive or so niche that no one is searching for them. We’re looking for the exact opposite! We want to write content that will actually be of interest to people and that we stand a chance of ranking for on search engines.
The trick is to find topics and write content that:
- People are already interested in (high volume).
- Your competitors are not providing (low competition).
Some things to think about when creating content for your website:
Source: this is directly from Google, following an impactful core update back in 2019. We’re including it here because it’s good info that’s still relevant today and we know that nobody but SEOs read the webmaster guidelines.
Content and quality questions:
- Does the content provide original information, reporting, research or analysis?
- Does the content provide a substantial, complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
- If the content draws on other sources, does it avoid simply copying or rewriting those sources and instead provide substantial additional value and originality?
- Does the headline and/or page title provide a descriptive, helpful summary of the content?
- Does the headline and/or page title avoid being exaggerating or shocking in nature?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Would you expect to see this content in or referenced by a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
Expertise questions:
- Does the content present information in a way that makes you want to trust it, such as clear sourcing, evidence of the expertise involved, background about the author or the site that publishes it, such as through links to an author page or a site’s About page?
- If you researched the site producing the content, would you come away with an impression that it is well-trusted or widely-recognized as an authority on its topic?
- Is this content written by an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well?
- Is the content free from easily-verified factual errors?
- Would you feel comfortable trusting this content for issues relating to your money or your life?
Presentation and production questions:
- Is the content free from spelling or stylistic issues?
- Was the content produced well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
- Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
- Does the content have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
- Does content display well for mobile devices when viewed on them?
Comparative questions:
- Does the content provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- Does the content seem to be serving the genuine interests of visitors to the site or does it seem to exist solely by someone attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
Pro tip: Content creation can be time-consuming and expensive! You can (and should) repurpose a single piece of content in a number of ways to get more bang for your buck. For example: take that video or blog article and parse it out into a newsletter and social media post.
