Tips: the basics of content marketing
Volume: a website with one very succinct line about the company may look unbelievably cool and confident, but it won't get found by Google search. You need words and pages to fill up your site.
Keywords: Panda and Penguin updates from Google may well be spelling the end of old-school SEO techniques, but you still need those all important keywords – how else do those search spiders find you?
Blogs: Regularly updating your site is one of the most effective ways of increasing search ranking and a blog is the easiest and most straightforward way to do this. Tell your customers what you are doing, what's happening in your industry and how they could be affected.
Unique: You can't just lift content for other sites as it's illegal and it will get your site penalised by Google. Similarly, if you feel like copying and pasting part of your site to fill up a page elsewhere; don't – that too is bad Google sense.
Relevant: Ultimately, whatever content your want – whether it's just the static words on the homepage, a lively blog or engaging social media posts, you need to ensure it's actually relevant to the people you want to attract.
Holistic: It's a horrible phrase, but it makes sense. Take any of these five points alone and your attempt to climb the search rankings will fail. Cherry pick two or three and similarly you won't see the results you want.
Take the Apple Pie approach. Think of your online strategy like baking an apple pie. You need apples, flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon. Sure you can leave out a little of each and it will turn out OK. You can even forget the cinnamon or sugar entirely and it will still be edible. But will it be the best apple pie anyone's ever tasted? The answer is of course no, but that doesn't seem to put some businesses off.
But if you are not attempting to be the best at what you do, what are you doing?
And finally, don't forget, just like your apple pie, your content strategy requires time – be patient and keep plugging away and you'll climb those search rankings quicker than you think.
Keywords: Panda and Penguin updates from Google may well be spelling the end of old-school SEO techniques, but you still need those all important keywords – how else do those search spiders find you?
Blogs: Regularly updating your site is one of the most effective ways of increasing search ranking and a blog is the easiest and most straightforward way to do this. Tell your customers what you are doing, what's happening in your industry and how they could be affected.
Unique: You can't just lift content for other sites as it's illegal and it will get your site penalised by Google. Similarly, if you feel like copying and pasting part of your site to fill up a page elsewhere; don't – that too is bad Google sense.
Relevant: Ultimately, whatever content your want – whether it's just the static words on the homepage, a lively blog or engaging social media posts, you need to ensure it's actually relevant to the people you want to attract.
Holistic: It's a horrible phrase, but it makes sense. Take any of these five points alone and your attempt to climb the search rankings will fail. Cherry pick two or three and similarly you won't see the results you want.
Take the Apple Pie approach. Think of your online strategy like baking an apple pie. You need apples, flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon. Sure you can leave out a little of each and it will turn out OK. You can even forget the cinnamon or sugar entirely and it will still be edible. But will it be the best apple pie anyone's ever tasted? The answer is of course no, but that doesn't seem to put some businesses off.
But if you are not attempting to be the best at what you do, what are you doing?
And finally, don't forget, just like your apple pie, your content strategy requires time – be patient and keep plugging away and you'll climb those search rankings quicker than you think.
Evergreen content: the essentials for great static content writing
Evergreen content - or static content - is a core part of any content marketing strategy.
Evergreen content is all about creating content that lasts. It sticks around because it stays relevant for its entire life-cycle, which can be anything from a few months to a few years.
Usually, evergreen content takes the form of guides, how-tos, tutorials, lists, advice, tips etc.
Evergreen content is all about three things: link building, social media shares and authority.
Read more on how evergreen content should be a key plank in your content marketing strategy.
Evergreen content is all about creating content that lasts. It sticks around because it stays relevant for its entire life-cycle, which can be anything from a few months to a few years.
Usually, evergreen content takes the form of guides, how-tos, tutorials, lists, advice, tips etc.
Evergreen content is all about three things: link building, social media shares and authority.
Read more on how evergreen content should be a key plank in your content marketing strategy.
