CONTENT CREATION MARKETING

A. Content Marketing
1. What is content marketing?-
Content marketing can bring both tangible and intangible benefits to your business. Let's explore
these benefits in more detail:

**Intangible Benefits:**
1. **Strong Brand Awareness:**
 Content marketing helps create brand awareness by giving your audience something valuable
to talk about.
 As they discuss and share your content, they spread the word about your company, products,
or services, leading to increased brand recognition and visibility.

2.**Trust and Authority:**

 Sharing authoritative and trustworthy content helps build your brand's reputation as a
reliable source of information.
 When people trust your brand, they are more likely to view, share, and link to your
content, signaling search engines like Google that your brand is an authority in your
industry.
3.*Indirect Customer Conversions:**

 Content that targets potential customers can draw them into your brand's orbit and create a
positive association with your business.
 Even without explicitly promoting your products or services, content marketing can foster a
favorable impression, increasing the likelihood of future customer conversions.
4. **Foundation for Marketing Campaigns:**

 Content marketing serves as a solid foundation for comprehensive marketing campaigns.

 It allows teams like SEO, design, content strategy, and social media to collaborate and rally
around a central message or theme.
**Tangible Benefits:**
1. **Website Traffic:**
 Creating high-quality content attracts visitors to your website and helps retain them.
Valuable and engaging content keeps users on your site longer, which can positively
impact other metrics like bounce rate and session duration.
2. **Improved Search Visibility:**
 Content marketing contributes to improved search engine visibility. When your content
attracts editorial links and covers relevant topics in-depth, search engines recognize your
website as an authoritative source, leading to higher rankings in search results.
 3. *Direct Customer Conversions:**
 By effectively explaining the unique value proposition of your products or services, content
can directly influence potential customers' purchasing decisions, leading to increased
conversions.

**Flywheel Marketing:**
It's important to note that content marketing is not an overnight success strategy. It operates like a
flywheel, where initially, considerable effort is required to get the wheel turning. However, as your
content gains momentum and attracts more audience engagement, the effort needed to maintain
results lessens, and your content becomes more self-sustaining in generating positive outcomes.

What makes great content?

Great content is a combination of various qualities that make it stand out and resonate with the target
audience.
1. **Relevant and Recent: **
 Rather than rehashing familiar topics, focus on content that is relevant to current events or
topics that your audience is already familiar with.
 This approach helps to connect your content to real-world situations, making it more
engaging and relatable.

2. **Long-Form: **
 Dive deeper into a topic than what is commonly seen. Even if the information is
familiar, presenting it in a comprehensive, long-form manner can provide more value
to the audience.
 Evergreen content that remains relevant over time is an excellent example of this
approach.

3. **Targeted to a Specific Persona: **

 Tailor some of your content to specific segments of your audience or potential
audience.
 By addressing the unique needs of a smaller group, you can gain valuable insights
into what the larger community expects and needs from your brand.
 This focused approach can lead to greater engagement and loyalty.

4. **Evergreen: **
 While timely content has its place, creating evergreen content is also essential.
 Evergreen pieces have a lasting appeal and can continue to drive traffic and interest
over an extended period, providing long-term value to your audience.

5. **Interactive: **
o Incorporating interactive elements in your content allows users to control their
experience.
o This can include interactive graphics, videos, quizzes, or other engaging features that
make the content more enjoyable and memorable.
 6. **Personalized:**
 Tailoring content to the individual reader's preferences and location can create a
personalized experience.
 Utilizing data like IP addresses to customize content for specific regions or interests can
enhance relevance and user satisfaction.

7. **Unique Value:**
 Avoid creating content that follows a standard template or formula.
 Strive to make your content uniquely valuable by offering fresh perspectives,
authoritative insights, captivating visuals, or innovative ideas.

Content and the Marketing Funnel

 The real value of content for search is in a brand’s ability to deliver information for web
searchers at various stages of what’s called the marketing journey.
 That is, it enables your brand to deliver and create content for users at each step along the way
as they learn about your products and services online.
 For example, visitors could be in the awareness stage, where they are becoming familiar with
your brand; the discovery phase, where they are learning more about your brand; or the
consideration phase, where they are considering doing business with you.
Brands hoping to use organic SEO to show up for that search query would need to put themselves in
the shoes of the searcher and create content that answers questions (and ranks for keywords) like:

 Are they looking for adult or children's boots?

 Would they prefer actual skiing boots, hiking shoes suitable for snow, etc.?
 Do they have a brand preference?
 If they're a skier, are they a beginner, intermediate, or novice?
 Will they be purchasing shoes, or are they just browsing?
The elements listed above are just some of the things a brand has to consider, but we can still see that
the various pieces of content to be created would need to answer all of these questions if we’re to have
the best chance of being rewarded with a click.
The funnel: A vehicle for clarity

 To help marketers think of the content web searchers need at each step of the journey, they
typically use a funnel to visualize the path a web searcher might take, the likely thought
process of the searcher, and the content the brand needs to create.

 It’s important to realize there is no hard and fast delineation between the stages. A searcher
could be in the awareness phase, then learn enough that they feel comfortable making a
purchase, meaning they’ve jumped to the conversion stage.
The funnel itself is generally made up of four main stages:
 Discovery: The top of the funnel — typically viewed as the first step in the conversion
process — represents awareness: people becoming familiar with your brand.
 Consideration: The middle of the funnel refers to where people seriously consider paying
you for your products or services.
 Conversion: The middle-bottom of the funnel is where the rubber meets the road, in that it
depicts customers deciding to do business with your brand.
 Retention: The bottom represents the area of the funnel where brands are working to retain
customers.
You should also know there is no consensus on labeling for the funnel, but most brands tend to think
of the funnel as having three core stages. That is, it’s instructive to see the funnel not as having hyper-
specific, clearly defined areas, but as continuum that dynamically overlaps from one stage to the next:
 Top of the funnel (TOFU)
 Middle of the funnel (MOFU)
 Bottom of the funnel (BOFU)
As brands, the better we understand the questions or concerns prospects have as they interact with our
content, the better able we are to create content for each step along their journey.
Separating fact from fiction

 As SEOs, we often hear that “content marketing is a top-of-the-funnel” affair.

 That is, it’s only used by folks to encounter and maybe learn a little bit about our brands.
Therefore, why should we worry about content for, say, conversions or retention?
When you hear this, it might help to ask that person a question:
“So we’re relying on people to convert right after they open our webpage or read a blog?”

Discovery: The top of the funnel

Business goals: Indirect customer acquisition; brand awareness, improved search visibility
Tactic: Educational content, evergreen content

 At this stage, your brand is attempting to generate awareness of your brand among potential
customers.
 In some instances, when the use case for your product isn't immediately obvious, you may
also be tasked with educating the market that there's even a problem to be solved.
 It's not enough for people to simply hear your brand’s name.
 The content your brand offers at this stage should also stimulate visitors’ interest in learning
more about your organization.
 Our goals at this stage might include nudging potential customers toward conversion, but the
way we go about that is not by talking about ourselves.
 Instead, it's about figuring out what the audience wants and needs to learn about.
 We use our content to educate them.
 If you're doing that well, you're associating feelings of gratitude and respect with your brand
— not to mention authority.
  All the while, you're raising the competence of your readers to a point where the products or
services you have to offer are more useful to them.
Types of content that work well during the awareness phase include:
 Blog posts
 Quizzes
 Videos
 Webinars
 Big content (games, tools, long-form content, parallax scrollers)
 Comprehensive guides
 Videos
 Email newsletters
 Checklists
 Tips/advice
 Infographic
 Numbered lists
As an SEO, you play a big role in all of these areas, whether it’s in determining which keywords are
likely to bring the most qualified traffic to your blog for a given topic, what format works best
according to competitor research, or in helping to attain links to help bump up a specific piece of
content in the search results.
And in turn, the content you create can have a substantial impact on your site’s search visibility as a
whole.

Consideration: The middle of the funnel

Business goal: Customer acquisition or educating potential customers
Tactic: Solutions to use-case challenges

 In this stage, prospects have often started associating your brand and the solution it offers
with their needs.
 It’s now time to start sharing with visitors the content that helps them evaluate whether your
brand and its products are a good fit for their needs.
 The content we create and share is typically speaking directly to the people we think our
business can help and making sure they’re aware of how we can assist them.
 Consideration content is the ideal vehicle for making certain it's as frictionless as possible for
visitors to learn all the information they need to help them differentiate your brand from the
competition.
At this stage people are likely to be looking for the following:
 Case studies
 How-to content that showcases your specific solution strategy or products
 Product descriptions and data sheets
 Testimonials
 Reviews
 Case studies
 Comprehensive guides
 Comparison content
 FAQs
 Statistics
Use cases illustrating how your brand solves customers' problems are ideal content for prospects at
this stage in the funnel.
Keep in mind, though, that middle-of-the-funnel content usually doesn't focus directly on what you're
selling. The content is designed to help them learn more about an area (e.g., a coffee aficionado
viewing Blue Bottle’s video blogs) relevant to your business or brand that’ll make it more likely that
they do business with you.
Because prospects at this stage are aware of what your brand offers, the content produced for them
should aim at being educational, fostering a greater connection between the prospect and the brand.
Great examples of middle-of-the-funnel content include webinars or videos aimed at alleviating a
struggle the prospect is likely to be facing.
Conversion: The bottom of the funnel
Business goal: Sales
Tactic: Product information

 The bottom of the funnel is the point of transaction (or conversion.)

 In this stage, it’s a safe bet people desire what you market and sell. The job for our content is
straightforward: convince them to push the “buy” button.
It helps if you can deliver a wow-level content experience that makes the decision that much
easier:
 Interactive assets
 Demos
 Pricing pages
 Calculators
 Success stories
This type of content is more straightforward.
 While it comes in many forms, it’s helpful to think of bottom-of-the-funnel content as the
sales material of content marketing.
 It can involve things like clear descriptions of your products that outline the unique value
they provide to customers, or it could include charts that compare your various products to
one another or to those of other companies.
 You can also consider using existing, say, sales copy, which could be adapted for the website.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE: AMAZON.COM
 When we first added books and CDs to a “cart” on Amazon.com, it felt futuristic. Now,
however, visitors who have “1-Click Ordering” enabled can access an ordering process so
seamless it invites frequent shopping excursions.
 There's not a lot of content in the course of ordering — and that’s intentional. Amazon has
taken concision (of both words and process) to a whole new level, and we'd be shocked if
their sales didn't reflect that.
 Think you, as an SEO, don’t play a role in that?
 The strength of Amazon as an e-commerce platform has a great deal to do with its search-
friendly content, including keyword-optimized titles and descriptions, and aptly titled images
— both of which play a role in Amazon’s almost-ubiquitous presence on search engine result
pages and make it easier for the brand to attract and attain customers.
Retention: Beyond the funnel
Business goal: Retention of existing customers; advocacy
Tactic: Help, support, and onboarding
 Once you have happy customers, your goal isn’t simply to keep them satisfied; it’s to convert
them to brand evangelists and retain them long-term.
 At this stage, your brand is focused on turning one-time buyers into repeat customers (or, for
companies with a subscription model, making sure customers continue their subscriptions
instead of canceling) while also continuing to serve them at such a high level that they cannot
help but spread the word about our brand.
 This evangelism by your customers often leads new prospects to enter the funnel.
How are retention and evangelism valuable to SEO?
Since happy customers often spread the word about your brand/products, you stand to gain increased
traffic and links to your site without much effort.
For these customers, the content you should be creating and sharing specifically for them include, but
are not limited to the following:
 Exclusive how-to content
 In-depth product or service advice
 Insider tips and tactics
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE: HUBSPOT ACADEMY
 HubSpot Academy is geared to keeping converted customers engaged, enthused, and in the
pipeline.
 That is, once readers land here, there’s an endless flow of content designed to help them
successfully manage just about any task associated with inbound marketing with HubSpot’s
software.
 In that way, HubSpot Academy has made itself a “sticky” resource marketers will return to
over and over.
 The benefit to the brand is these customers are then less likely to need to stray to the
competition for information on the topics found there.
 And because much of the content created for these converted customers is often evergreen
content, your brand is likely to see long-term traffic to the website without great effort.
 As you can see, each stage of the funnel requires a different approach. Nonetheless, at every
stage, SEO is informing the process.
 For example, the SEO team is supporting content ideation and making certain the blogs,
videos, and other top-of-funnel content is optimized with the right title tags and descriptions,
so that they're more easily found by folks at that stage.
 The team is doing similar work for the other areas of the funnel.
 The key is to discern which stage of the funnel you're creating content for, then figure out in
advance who you're talking to and what they might need from your brand by way of content.

Content Strategy
What is content strategy?
 Content strategy is the ongoing process of developing a comprehensive plan to ideate, design,
create, share, and promote content that aligns with your brand, speaks to your target audience,
and is measured against specific goals.
 Content strategy acts as a glue, tying together numerous elements important for SEO, from
your overarching brand vision to promotional campaigns, all of which we will be addressing
within the following chapters of this resource.
 As SEO has moved past manipulative tactics such as keyword stuffing and link buying,
what’s important is creating content that’s relevant and engaging to your customers, which in
turn strengthens Google’s understanding of your website and its topical authority.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONTENT STRATEGY AND CONTENT
MARKETING?
 While many, many people use the terms "content strategy" and "content marketing"
interchangeably, they are not the same thing, because you can strategize about non-marketing
content.
 For our purposes, though, when we talk about "content strategy," you can assume we're
talking about "content marketing strategy."
Content strategy concerns itself with the vision
 the ins and outs of how and why your content will be created, managed, and eventually
archived or updated.
 It looks at all of the content your customers ever encounter.
 It overlaps with content marketing, which is why you'll see a lot of things in this guide that
look like content strategy, but they are not the same thing (did we say that already?).
Content marketing focuses on the tactics and execution
 the actual creation, curation, and editing of content that's specifically created for the purposes
of marketing.
 This could be anything from blog posts to the confirmation page, and is aimed at building a
trusted connection between a company's products or services and the market that might end
up purchasing them.
 It's about creating content that people not only want to consume, but that will also help them
through the sales funnel.
 For example, a content strategist might find that there's a lack of trust between their company
and their customers, suggesting a number of ways that trust might be built.
 A content marketer might do the work to gain that trust by featuring an interview with the
company's founder. See how these disciplines complement each other?
Vision: Know where you’re going
 Illustration of turn-by-turn directions on a phone maps app.
 Your content strategy is a guiding light when questions like “should we pursue this article
idea?” arise.
 The first element you need to take into consideration for your content strategy is your
company’s vision.
 What do you want your company to be known for? What differentiates your company from
your competitors? What topic is your company already an expert on?
 Focus on what you want your business to be now and in the future, and build your content
strategy on that foundation.
Setting goals
 Once you set the vision for your content strategy, it’s time to set goals for your content to
ensure you can measure your success.
 While your vision for content is qualitative, you’ll want your goals to be quantitative.
 Formulate your goals so that they are meaningful, measurable, time-bound, and are objectives
your content can reasonably accomplish.
 A good place to start is determining how your content strategy will align with and impact
your SEO strategy and goals.
 Consider how much you want your content to contribute to SEO goals, such as organic traffic
and conversions, and create overarching goals accordingly.
 From there, it’s wise to determine how content fits into your marketing funnel, so you’re able
to create specific goals for different types of content.
 What topics should be covered at the top of the funnel tied to awareness?
 What subjects need to be addressed when your audience is close to conversion?
 Once you understand what content aligns with each part of your funnel, review your existing
content to determine where you are lacking the most and start there.
 After you determine what your biggest content needs are, then you can assign relevant
metrics.
 For example, if you need to focus on awareness content, relevant metrics could be social
shares and newsletter signups; whereas for content at the bottom of the funnel, you might, for
example, focus on lead form completions.
 You could also start by coming up with qualitative goals that align with your brand’s vision,
such as wanting to be the authority on coffee (like Blue Bottle).
 From there, distill that objective into tactical goals.
 So, for example, “I think that I can further my authority on coffee by creating preparation
guides for each of the most popular brewing methods.” Then, you can determine relevant
metrics that would determine success and measure the outcomes of your work.
 The Internet is packed with articles about how to set effective goals, which can focus on
everything from getting more leads to increasing brand awareness.
 We advise you to create 3–4 goals for your content marketing strategy.
Defining your audience
The next step in developing your strategy is to figure out who you're talking to (and who you want to
be talking to). It’ll serve you well to have a holistic view of the audience:
 Demographic information (age, gender, location, etc.)
 Where do they hang out on the Internet? (What other websites do they frequent?)
 What channels do they use to communicate? (Is this a Twitter crowd or an Instagram one?)
 Who influences them? (Whose opinions do they trust?)
If you already have persona research, great! You can apply those insights to your content strategy.
 If not, you can start to build personas out.
 Creating a set of archetypal people to represent your target customers can be a very in-depth
process or a basic sketch.
 You can start with basic demographic and behavioral information, but it’s important to
supplement that by understanding what is going through your audience's minds.
Understanding your audience's needs
 To truly get content strategy right, you must not only understand who your customer is, but
also her motivations, pain points, decision criteria, etc.
 You can learn more about your audience by reading industry studies, asking your customer
service team what the most common issues and concerns are, asking the audience about
themselves and their buying journey, and more.
 Knowing who you’re targeting and what goals they have that can be solved via your brand’s
content are keys to a successful content strategy.
 By creating content that addresses your audience’s needs, you’re providing a valuable
experience for them and developing a positive association with your brand.
Align your style with your brand’s personality
 Content strategy not only needs to touch on these strategic decisions, but also tactical
elements that impact all content you publish.
 Style and tone in the context of content are important for your brand to be cohesive across all
messaging, from display ads to major resource guides.
 These guidelines should stem from your brand and reflect its personality accordingly.
 If your brand is light-hearted and playful, guidelines should be written to encourage
playfulness and to add some fun personality into the copy.
 If your brand is corporate and focused on conveying complex, serious information, you’ll
want to create guidelines about having a tone of authoritativeness and being clear and to-the-
point.
 In addition to tone, you should consult your brand guidelines when creating content to ensure
it aligns with the rest of your company’s communication.
Identifying content opportunities
 Moving from the who and the how, we’re now going to touch on the what of content strategy.
 There are many ways to go about content ideation, , start by taking a macro view of where
you stand vs your competitors.
 The goal is to take an inventory of what you already have, then compare it to the competitive
landscape to determine where the biggest opportunities lie.
Content audit
 Start by taking an in-depth look at the content you’ve already created through a content audit.
 While we’ll outline the various steps at a high level below, you may be inclined to want a
more in-depth overview. This Whiteboard Friday from Rand on how to build a content to
keyword map is a great resource.
STEP 1: INVENTORY EXISTING CONTENT
 First, create an inventory of the content you have.
 While you can do this manually if you have a small site, you’re better off using a crawler like
Screaming Frog to pull the full list of URLs from your site.
STEP 2: ORGANIZE AND TAG YOUR CONTENT
 For each content piece on your website, categorize key elements that you will evaluate within
this auditing process.
Several necessary items to include are:
 Step in the funnel: What portion of the marketing funnel is this content targeting?
 Topic: What is the content about? It’s best to set up topic categories ahead of your auditing to
organize yourself.
 You have to strike a balance between being too granular and too broad, so as to make
analyzing where you’re strong and where you have gaps easier.
 Format: What format is the content? Is it a short article or a long resource guide? For this
step, it’s good to predetermine the format options to use when auditing.
 Datedness: Is this content out of date or evergreen?
STEP 3: ADD IN PERFORMANCE METRICS
Once you've got all that mapped out, add success metrics for each post. These will vary based on the
goals you set in your initial strategy, but the following would be a good start:
 Traffic (organic and overall)
 Engagement metrics (time on page, number of pages visited)
 Social shares
 Assisted conversions
 Conversions
 Rankings
 Backlinks
STEP 4: ANALYZE FOR PATTERNS OR GAPS
 Now that you have everything in front of you, begin by seeing what successes you can build
on and where you are lacking.
 What content is performing well? Are there any topics or formats you notice that are doing
better than others? What about ones that perform worse? Are you missing coverage for certain
parts of a user’s journey?
 There are many ways to slice and dice this data to find insights. Pivot tables are a great tool to
use during this analysis.
Competitive gap analysis
 Now that you’ve identified what content your company has and what’s performing well, it’s
time to evaluate the full competitor landscape.
 The process of a competitive gap analysis is to gather data on the keywords and URLs
competitors are ranking for and to analyze this information to determine content gaps.
 Gaps may be obvious, where there is no content on a given subject, or they may be instances
where the existing content isn’t great and there’s an opportunity to create something better.
Here are the main steps. Note that there are several points where it is similar to the content audit
above.
Step 1: Specify the competitors you’ll be looking at for this analysis.
 Competitors don’t have to be direct business competitors, but any website that is ranking for
the content topics that you’re targeting.
Step 2: Pull the keywords and URLs that your competitors are ranking for and combine into
one spreadsheet, which also includes your URLs and keywords.
Step 3: Categorize your competitors' content by stage of the funnel and topic.
Step 4: Analyze this data to discover where coverage is lacking around subjects, as well as to
understand the strengths of your competitors.
Step 5: Use these insights and opportunities to guide your content strategy.
 This is where the fun comes in!
 Detail the competitive landscape, so you can keep an eye on what your competitors are
authoritative about.
 Prioritize content opportunities and begin ideation around what topics to cover, which format
to use, etc.

How to document your strategy

Documenting your content strategy is essential for clarity, alignment, and successful execution.
Here's how you can structure and document your strategy:

**Introduction:**
Provide an overview of the content strategy and its purpose. Explain that this phase is about
gathering information, defining starting assumptions, and understanding the brand's current
content situation.

**Contents:**
1. **Brand:**
- Describe how the brand is currently perceived by its audience.
- Identify the brand's specific value propositions.
- Evaluate what is and is not going well with the brand's current content.

2. **Goals:**
- Clearly state the brand's desired objectives and goals.
- Discuss how content can contribute to achieving these goals.
- Acknowledge the limitations of content in achieving certain objectives.

3. **Setting:**
 - Determine whether the brand operates solely online or has physical locations.
- Explain how this affects content opportunities and execution.
- Evaluate the current and potential channels for content distribution.
- Describe the brand's current audience and the target audience it aims to reach.

4. **Competitors:**
- List the competitors that the brand has identified.
- Provide an overview of competitors' content strategies.
- Highlight their strengths and weaknesses in content execution.

**Background Research:**
Explain the research conducted to gain deeper insights into the brand's current situation and
audience. This section can include the following:

1. **Personas:**
- Describe the target audience and their needs, motivations, and pain points.
- If personas don't exist, consider creating them based on research.

2. **Stakeholder Interviews:**
- Summarize the key findings from interviews with stakeholders.
- Include insights about internal processes, customer queries, etc.

3. **Content Inventory:**
- Provide quantitative data on the existing content.
- Include information like URLs, metadata, authors, last update date, target keywords, etc.

4. **Content Audit:**
- Evaluate the quality, relevance, and performance of the content.
- Assess if the content meets audience needs and aligns with the brand's identity.
- Analyze traffic, bounce rate, time on page, social shares, and conversion rates.

5. **Gap Analysis:**
- Identify areas where content is missing or insufficient.
 - Note any content types or topics that should be covered but aren't.

6. **Competitive Analysis:**
- Conduct a similar assessment for the brand's competitors.
- Identify content strengths and weaknesses of competitors.

By documenting your content strategy with these key elements and research findings, you create
a solid foundation for developing an effective and well-informed content strategy for your client.

**Prologue:**

In the prologue, we lay the foundation for our content strategy, setting the stage for a
compelling story that aligns with the brand's goals and resonates with the target audience.

**Core Strategy:**
Our core strategy is to establish the brand as a trusted authority in the industry, providing
valuable and engaging content that addresses the needs and aspirations of our audience.
Through authentic storytelling and expert insights, we aim to build lasting relationships with
our customers and drive meaningful results for the business.

**Themes and Messages:**

Our content will revolve around the following central themes and messages:
1. Innovation and Expertise: Showcasing our industry-leading knowledge and innovative
solutions to position ourselves as thought leaders.
2. Customer Empowerment: Empowering our customers with actionable insights and guidance
to achieve their goals.
3. Human Connection: Establishing a strong emotional connection with our audience through
relatable and inspiring stories.
4. Sustainability and Impact: Highlighting our commitment to sustainability and positive social
impact in everything we do.

**Content Plan:**
Our content plan will encompass various channels to reach our target audience effectively. This
includes:
1. Website and Blog: Creating engaging blog posts, articles, and resources that educate, inform,
and entertain our readers.
2. Social Media: Leveraging social platforms to share compelling stories, engage with our
audience, and foster a community.
3. Video and Visual Content: Utilizing videos, infographics, and visual content to convey
complex information and captivate our audience.
4. Email Marketing: Implementing personalized and relevant email campaigns to nurture leads
and build strong relationships.
5. Thought Leadership Initiatives: Collaborating with industry influencers and experts to
contribute to thought-provoking content.

**Major Recommendations:**
In this strategy, we will explore major recommendations to enhance content performance and
effectiveness. This may include:
1. Implementing a new Content Management System (CMS) for improved content organization
and distribution.
2. Streamlining the content workflow to increase efficiency and ensure consistency across
channels.
3. Investing in content analytics tools to measure the impact of our content and optimize
strategies accordingly.

By setting this foundation, we will embark on a content journey that resonates with our
audience, strengthens our brand, and achieves our business objectives. Let's craft a compelling
and impactful story together.

**CONTENT PLAN**

In this content plan, we will focus on integrating the core strategy into the onsite content, blog, and
offsite content, following the 70/20/10 rule for content risk. Additionally, we will develop brand
guidelines, a voice and style guide, streamline the content workflow, and create a content lifecycle.

**A Note About Content and Risk:**

We will follow the 70/20/10 rule to diversify the risk level of content:
- **70% Content:** This will be safe and essential content, such as FAQs, pricing pages, and other
crucial information that your customers need.
- **20% Content:** Moderately risky content, like articles about creativity, that have the potential to
be shared and extend beyond your business model, while still aligning with the core strategy.
- **10% Content:** Highly risky content, such as interactive experiences or innovative campaigns.
This content is designed to push boundaries and, if successful, yield significant rewards.
**Onsite Content:**
Onsite content refers to all the content that lives on your website, including homepage and landing
page text, error messages, button text, FAQs, videos, whitepapers, product descriptions, pricing
information, and contact details. Our approach to onsite content will be as follows:

1. **Content Audit:** We will conduct a thorough audit of your existing onsite content to assess its
effectiveness, relevance, and alignment with the core strategy.

2. **Improvement Recommendations:** Based on the audit findings and your brand's goals, we will
provide recommendations on how to improve existing onsite content. This may involve refining
messaging, optimizing call-to-actions, and enhancing product descriptions.

3. **Voice and Style Guide:** We will develop a voice and style guide that aligns with your core
strategy, ensuring consistent communication and brand representation across all onsite content.

4. **Brand Guidelines:** Building on the core strategy, we will create brand guidelines that define
your brand's personality, values, and tone. These guidelines will serve as a foundation for crafting
compelling onsite content.

5. **Content Streamlining:** To streamline content creation and publishing, we will propose a

content workflow that outlines clear roles, responsibilities, and approval processes.

6. **Content Lifecycle:** We will develop a content lifecycle to ensure that onsite content is
regularly reviewed, updated, and optimized to stay relevant and effective.

**Blog Content:**
Blog content presents unique opportunities and challenges, and we will tailor our approach
accordingly:

1. **Topic Strategy:** We will create a topic strategy for the blog that aligns with the core strategy
and addresses the interests and needs of your target audience.

2. **Editorial Calendar:** Developing an editorial calendar will help us plan and organize blog
content, ensuring a consistent and timely publishing schedule.

3. **SEO Optimization:** All blog content will be optimized for search engines to improve visibility
and attract organic traffic.
4. **Engaging Content:** We will focus on creating engaging and shareable blog posts that resonate
with the audience and encourage social sharing.

**Offsite Content:**
Offsite content includes content published on external platforms, such as guest articles, press releases,
and social media content. Our approach to offsite content will be to:

1. **Guest Articles:** Identify relevant publications and platforms for guest article opportunities to
expand brand visibility and authority.

2. **Press Releases:** Develop compelling press releases that communicate important brand updates
and news.

3. **Social Media Content:** Create engaging and impactful social media content that aligns with the
core strategy and encourages interaction and sharing.

By incorporating these strategies, we aim to optimize your onsite, blog, and offsite content to
strengthen your brand's position, engage your audience, and drive desired outcomes. This content plan
will serve as a roadmap to guide our content efforts and achieve your business objectives.

**When Is Safe Too Safe?**

Safe content has its place, but sometimes being too safe can lead to bland and unremarkable content
that fails to engage the audience. As you embark on the next stage of your content strategy, here are
some areas to consider adding creativity and a touch of risk to capture the attention of your audience:

**Tone:**
Revisit your existing content with the new brand, voice, and style guidelines in mind. Strive to infuse
your content with a more vibrant and engaging tone that aligns with your creative spirit.

**Imagery:**
Take chances with your images and move away from generic stock photos. Consider investing in a
staff member with photography skills to create custom images that reflect your brand's uniqueness.

**Error Messages:**
Don't miss the opportunity to make error messages entertaining and engaging. Instead of generic 404
pages, add some cheeky and playful elements to keep visitors entertained.

**Contact Page:**
Enhance your contact page by providing more information about who visitors are contacting and why.
Introduce specific team members with names and pictures, offering a personalized touch that
resonates with your audience.

**FAQs:**
Expand your FAQs to address a wider range of customer needs. Consider adding business cases
beyond just new customers, catering to both newbies and experienced users.

**Keep Visitors on Page:**

Ensure that your clean design doesn't lead to visitors bouncing too quickly. Surface the blog
prominently in your main navigation, giving visitors an option to delve deeper and get to know your
brand better.

**Expand Content Types:**

Diversify your content formats beyond blog posts. Consider creating podcasts, downloadable PDFs,
videos, and accessible infographics to deliver messages in various ways.

**Remember the Style Guide:**

Use your style guide consistently throughout all content creation. Good content is optimized content,
and following the style guide ensures a cohesive and polished presentation.

**Blog:**
Your blog is an excellent platform to showcase your content and engage with your audience. Make
sure to align blog themes with your core strategy and sprinkle in some moderately risky 20% content
to keep readers interested.

**Offsite Content:**
Offsite content includes any content that is not on your website, such as brochures, email newsletters,
or packaging materials. While measuring success may be trickier, don't miss the opportunity to deliver
high-quality content to your customers at the right moments.

Incorporating these creative elements into your content strategy will help you break free from being
too safe and create content that stands out, resonates with your audience, and drives meaningful
results. Remember, no niche is truly boring if you put in the effort and research to find the right angle
for your content.
**Content Creation Ideas: 17 Types of Content That Will Drive More Traffic**

1. **Infographics:**
- A visual presentation of information or data that gets shared and viewed more than most other
content types. Use it to communicate data, research, statistics, and findings in a visually appealing
format.

2. **Memes:**
- Easy to make and viral, memes are humorous content that can be shared on social media
platforms to engage and entertain your audience.

3. **Videos:**
- A versatile content type that can be used for office tours, explainer videos, music videos, and
more. A well-crafted video can deliver your message effectively and persuasively.

4. **Guides:**
- Detailed and long-form content that goes beyond ordinary blog posts. Requires a good writer,
designer, and a valuable idea that your audience wants.

5. **How-to Articles:**
- Highly searchable content with long-tail search potential. Offer solutions to common problems
with step-by-step instructions.

6. **Lists:**
- Endlessly appealing content that presents information in a numbered format. Lists are widely
popular and can cover a wide range of topics.

7. **Link Pages:**
- Posts that provide links to great resources around the web, allowing you to spread link love,
provide SEO signals, and establish thought leadership in your field.

8. **Ebooks:**
- Long content packaged as a downloadable PDF, often offered for free in exchange for joining
a mailing list. Ebooks can strengthen your authority and knowledge-sharing capabilities.
9. **Case Studies:**
- In-depth analyses of specific projects or experiences, demonstrating the effectiveness of your
solutions and building trust with potential customers.

10. **Customer Testimonials:**

- Showcase positive feedback and reviews from satisfied customers to build social proof and
credibility.

11. **Interviews:**
- Conduct interviews with industry experts, influencers, or your own team members to share
valuable insights and perspectives.

12. **Webinars:**
- Live or pre-recorded online seminars that offer valuable content to your audience, providing
an interactive and engaging experience.

13. **Podcasts:**
- Audio content that allows you to share valuable information, interviews, discussions, and
insights with your audience.

14. **User-Generated Content:**

- Encourage your audience to create and share content related to your brand, products, or
services, fostering a sense of community and authenticity.

15. **Behind-the-Scenes Content:**

- Show your audience what goes on behind the scenes of your business or brand, giving them a
glimpse of your company culture and processes.

16. **Interactive Content:**

- Engaging and interactive content like quizzes, polls, and calculators that encourage audience
participation and create a personalized experience.

17. **Whitepapers:**
 - In-depth reports or research papers that provide valuable insights and thought leadership on
specific topics or industry trends.
Remember to tailor your content to your audience's preferences and interests while maintaining
quality and relevance. By diversifying your content types and delivering valuable information,
you can drive more traffic, engage your audience, and achieve your content marketing goals.
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Epic Content That Will Go Viral
What Is Epic Content?

Creating epic content is a powerful strategy to capture attention, build brand loyalty, and establish
authority in your niche. Epic content goes beyond standard blog posts or articles; it's content that
makes people stop, read, share, and link to it. Here's how you can create epic content that stands
out:

1. **Conduct Exclusive Research:** To make your content truly exceptional, invest time and effort in
gathering original and exclusive data. Primary sources of data will set your content apart from others
and provide valuable insights that readers can't find elsewhere. Attend seminars, conferences,
workshops, and webinars to learn more about your topic and collect high-quality information.

2. **Write with Passion:** Passionate writing connects deeply with readers and makes your content
more engaging. When you're enthusiastic about a topic, it's easier to draw life lessons from your
experiences, write catchy titles, share unconventional views, and be transparent with your audience.
Writing with passion helps you create content that resonates with readers and that you can be proud
to promote.

3. **Be Insanely Useful:** Epic content should be incredibly valuable and useful to your audience. It
should provide practical insights, actionable tips, and solutions to their problems. Aim to be a go-to
resource in your industry, addressing topics comprehensively and offering in-depth information.

4. **Inspire and Engage:** Epic content should be inspiring and engaging. Use storytelling, examples,
and case studies to captivate your audience. Make your content visually appealing with images,
videos, and infographics to enhance the reading experience.

5. **Elevate Your Content:** Avoid creating run-of-the-mill content. Instead, aim to elevate your
content by going beyond surface-level discussions. Delve deeper into your topic, explore new angles,
and provide fresh perspectives.

6. **Address Your Audience's Needs:** Understand your audience's pain points and address their
specific needs in your content. Provide solutions to their problems, and show empathy and
understanding throughout your writing.

7. **Promote Your Content Strategically:** Creating epic content is just the first step; you also need
to promote it effectively. Utilize social media, email marketing, influencer outreach, and other
promotional channels to ensure your content reaches a wide audience.

Creating Content That Converts: The Step-by-Step Guide

Creating content that converts requires a strategic approach and attention to various elements.
Here's a step-by-step guide to help you create content that drives results:

**Step #1: Find Content Ideas That Convert**

- Look for proven content ideas from various sources like blog posts, infographics, videos, and online
publications.

- Analyze successful headlines and topics in your niche to model your content after them.

- Use tools like Ubersuggest to gather inspiration and insights from popular blogs in your industry.

**Step #2: Optimize Your Copy Like a Landing Page**

- Apply the LIFT model for conversion optimization to your content.

- Focus on the value proposition to clearly convey the benefits of your content.

- Create a sense of urgency to prompt immediate action from your audience.

- Ensure your content is relevant to your target audience's needs and interests.

- Write with clarity to communicate your message effectively.

- Address any anxieties your audience may have and provide reassurance.

- Eliminate distractions in your content to keep readers focused on the main message.

**Step #3: Craft Attention-Grabbing Headlines**

- Integrate power words and action-oriented language in your headlines.

- Use odd numbers in your headlines to make them more engaging.

- Study viral headlines and model them to create compelling titles for your content.

**Step #4: Write Conversationally**

- Write in a conversational tone to connect with your readers and make your content personal.

- Express your viewpoints and opinions clearly, backed by data and case studies.

- Read and learn from other writers to improve your own writing style.

**Step #5: Include a Call-to-Action When Emotion Is High**

- Always include a clear and compelling call-to-action at the end of your content.

- Prompt readers to take specific actions like subscribing, buying, or learning more.

- Place your call-to-action strategically to maximize conversions.

**Step #6: Format Your Writing for Readability**

- Make your content easy to read and scan by using white space and formatting.

- Break up text with headings, bullet points, and visuals to enhance readability.

- Prioritize good writing, design, and valuable ideas to engage your audience effectively.
5 Steps to Blast Through Fear and Create Epic Content
To create epic content and overcome fear, follow these five steps:
**Step #1: Start with Value, Expand to Authority**
- Combine actionable information with personality, creativity, and empathy to strike a chord with real
people.
- Usefulness x Empathy x Inspiration = Great Content
- Provide value to your audience to increase engagement and attract a wider audience.
**Step #2: Break Out of Your Content Comfort Zone**
- Take more risks with your content creation and distribution.
- Analyze the performance of your best and worst content to improve future efforts.
- Solicit feedback from trusted advisers outside your organization.
**Step #3: Listen, Interact, and Connect**
- Prioritize the needs of your audience over your own business needs.
- Learn from your audience and get them involved in your content.
- Use surveys and customer feedback to shape your content marketing strategy.
**Step #4: Enhance Your Content Calendar with Customer Insights**
- Complement your content calendar with real data and customer insights.
- Identify the tough questions your audience needs answers to at every stage of their journey.
- Evolve your content and communications based on your audience's changing needs.
**Step #5: Keep Pursuing Your Passion**
- Overcome preconceived notions that stymie your content efforts.
- Publish content that you are passionate about, even if you think it's too simplistic.
- Embrace discipline and follow your curiosities to uncover your true passions.

Must-Have Checklist To Creating Valuable Content

What makes content valuable?
Creating valuable content requires following a checklist with five essential benchmarks:
**1. Findable Content**
- Perform keyword research based on your goals and user research.
- Customize metadata (title, keywords, description) based on keyword research.
- Include links to other pages on your site to increase search engine value.
- Use alt tags on images to ensure they appear in image searches.
- Post videos on social channels like YouTube or Facebook for increased visibility.
**2. Readable Content**
- Use inverted pyramid style to put the most important facts at the top.
- Break content into chunks with short paragraphs (rule of three).
- Utilize bullets and numbered lists for easy consumption.
- Maintain consistent language and tone to avoid confusing readers.
**3. Understandable Content**
- Adjust content complexity to match the target audience's understanding.
- Create personas for your audiences to tailor content appropriately.
- Provide context and explanations for basic concepts.
- Apply a standard reading level for each project based on market research.
**4. Actionable Content**
- Include a clear call to action (CTA) to prompt user action.
- Make it easy for users to comment and ask questions.
- Provide links to related content to keep users engaged.
- Put actionable items at the top of lengthy content for quick reference.
**5. Shareable Content**
- Provoke an emotional response to encourage sharing.
- Provide a compelling reason for users to share, such as personal stories.
- Make sharing easy with social media widgets on your content.
- Allow users to personalize their shares to increase engagement.

How to Create Viral Content That Drives Traffic

Creating viral content that drives traffic is a challenging but achievable goal. Here are seven steps to
maximize your chances of running a viral digital marketing campaign:
**1. Start With Research**
- Set a concrete goal for your viral content campaign.
- Understand your audience's preferences and where they engage the most.
- Analyze past examples of viral content from competitors to learn from their success.
**2. Be Different**
- Originality and authenticity are key to viral content.
- Deliver the unexpected to capture your audience's attention.
**3. Hook Your Users**
- Develop a strong concept or unique selling proposition (USP) for your content.
- Create a clear and appealing message that encourages engagement.
- Use catchy headlines, intros, thumbnails, or taglines, depending on the content medium.
**4. Get Visual**
- Visual content is more shareable and easily consumable.
- Use images, graphics, and cool captions to entertain your audience.
**5. Evoke Emotion**
- Emotional content is more likely to be shared.
- Use humor, inspiration, or empathy to connect with your audience.
**6. Optimize for Shareability**
- Make it easy for users to share your content on social media.
- Add social sharing buttons and encourage sharing with a call-to-action.
**7. Promote and Engage**
- Actively promote your content on different platforms.
- Engage with your audience through comments and responses.
Eleven fundamental principles to follow to create a great design
Creating a great design requires following fundamental principles to ensure it is functional, user-
friendly, and visually appealing. Here are the 11 principles to follow:
1. **Purpose:** Define the purpose of the design and align it with the project's goals and target
audience.
2. **Functionality:** Ensure the design is functional and easy to use, with intuitive navigation.
3. **Usability:** Create a design that is easy to use and navigate, with clear labels and calls to action.
4. **Aesthetics:** Focus on aesthetics to create an attractive and visually pleasing design with a
consistent look and feel.
5. **Branding:** Incorporate the brand's visual identity into the design to establish brand
recognition.
6. **Simplicity:** Keep the design simple and minimalistic, with clear and concise messaging.
7. **Flexibility:** Design with flexibility to adapt to different contexts and situations.
8. **Accessibility:** Ensure the design is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
9. **Responsiveness:** Design for responsiveness to adjust to different screen sizes and devices.
10. **User-centered:** Keep the user at the center of the design process, conducting user research
and testing.
11. **Test and Iterate:** Test the design with users and iterate based on their feedback to improve
its functionality and user-friendliness.

How can Accelerate your sales using content marketing?

Accelerating sales through content marketing requires a well-defined strategy and adherence to
fundamental principles.:
1. **Quality Content:** Focus on creating high-quality content that adds value and resonates with
your target audience.
2. **Knowing Your Audience:** Understand your target audience's needs, interests, and preferences
to create content that appeals to them.
3. **Content Strategy:** Develop a comprehensive content strategy that outlines objectives, key
messaging, buyer personas, and other important details.
4. **Keywords and SEO:** Use relevant keywords naturally in your content to improve search
engine rankings and attract potential clients.
5. **Share Your Product's Story:** Share the journey and challenges behind your product's
development to engage customers and create a deeper connection.
6. **Go Beyond Blogging:** Utilize diverse content formats beyond blogs to educate, inform, and
differentiate your brand.
7. **Interact on Social Media:** Engage with customers on social media platforms to build trust
and personalize marketing activities.
8. **Focus on Personalization:** Tailor your content to suit the preferences and needs of your target
audience to establish long-term relationships.
9. **Funnel-Based Content:** Create content tailored to prospects at different stages of the sales
funnel to drive conversions.
10. **Clear CTAs:** Use clear and compelling calls-to-action to encourage customers to take
specific actions, such as downloading resources or signing up for demos.
11. **Build Brand Image:** Be an opinion leader to communicate your brand's values, ideology,
and point of view, building a strong brand image and gaining loyal customers.

What Is a Content Hub?

A content hub is a centralized collection of content focused on a specific topic. It typically includes
various types of content, such as articles, images, infographics, videos, and downloadable resources.
The primary purpose of a content hub is to inform and educate the audience rather than focusing on
direct conversion.
Key characteristics of a content hub:
1. **Topic Focus:** A content hub revolves around a single topic or theme, providing comprehensive
and in-depth coverage of that subject.
2. **Content Variety:** Content hubs include diverse content formats to cater to different
preferences and learning styles of the audience.
3. **User-Friendly Organization:** The content is structured and organized in a way that makes it
easy for users to navigate, find the information they need, and take desired actions.
4. **Interlinking Strategy:** Content hubs use internal linking to connect the main pillar page (hub
page) to subpages that offer detailed information related to the central topic.
5. **SEO and Authority:** Well-structured content hubs demonstrate authority and expertise on the
subject matter, improving search engine rankings and driving organic traffic.

Types of Content Hubs:

1. **Hub-and-Spoke Models:** The most common type of content hub, with a central pillar page
linking out to subpages covering specific aspects of the main topic.
2. **Content Library:** A content hub that houses thematically related categories or topics in a
navigation model or index on a landing page.
3. **Topic Gateway:** A more advanced version of a content library that focuses on a specific
primary topic, with in-depth information linked from a static overview page.
4. **Content Database:** Hubs with vast amounts of content use content databases to organize and
sort their marketing assets, allowing users to filter and search through large libraries.
5. **Topic Matrix:** Similar to the hub-and-spoke model but uses a strategic and consistent folder
and URL structure for pillar and subtopic pages.
Benefits of Content Hubs:
1. **Brand Visibility:** Content hubs attract search engines, improve rankings, and increase traffic,
shares, and user engagement, enhancing brand visibility.
2. **User Engagement:** Content hubs encourage users to explore and engage with the site by
providing comprehensive, digestible, and valuable information.
3. **Site Authority:** As subpages rank on search engine results pages (SERPs), authority is passed
up to the main pages, building domain authority.
4. **User Experience:** Content hubs offer a user-friendly interface, making it simple for users to
find answers and solutions.
5. **Brand Awareness and Loyalty:** A content hub showcases thought leadership and expertise,
building brand awareness and loyalty in the industry.
Creating a Content Hub:
1. **Develop a Content Strategy:** Conduct competitive analysis, understand your target audience,
and outline your goals and content themes.
2. **Brainstorm and Create Content:** Fill your content hub with valuable and relevant content,
and consider using content templates for consistency.
3. **Boost Visibility With Distribution:** Promote your content hub through various channels,
including social media, PR, and link building.
4. **Track Hub Performance:** Continually monitor the performance of your content hub and
make updates to improve user experience and search engine visibility.

How To Create an Effective B2B SEO Content Strategy

Creating an effective B2B SEO content strategy requires careful planning and execution. Here are
some best practices and tips to drive organic traffic and conversions in the B2B space:
1. **Perform Audience Research:** Start with audience research to understand the specific needs
and preferences of your target audience in niche B2B industries. Focus on hyper-focused keywords
that resonate with the right audience.
2. **Generate Authority Through Ranking:** Focus on ranking for relevant keywords to establish
authority in the industry. Avoid stretching topics to irrelevant audiences through manual outreach.
3. **Align eBooks to Content Categories:** Organize your content into categories and create
comprehensive eBooks or guides within those categories. Offer eBooks on category pages to
encourage conversions.
4. **Rank Content Strategy Over Technical SEO:** While technical SEO is essential, prioritize a
sound content strategy since B2B websites are typically content-focused. Take care of technical
issues, but focus on content creation and optimization.
5. **Create Two Content Sections:** Invest in both a blog and a learning center. The blog serves
top-funnel content, while the learning center educates users closer to the bottom of the funnel. Use the
blog design to position strategic CTAs.
6. **Commit to a Longer Onboarding Process:** Take the time to understand the product, industry
jargon, and common nomenclature during the onboarding process. Listen to sales calls, review
proposals, and get familiar with the industry.
Additional Tips:
- **Watch Out for Keyword Cannibalization:** Avoid having too many pages targeting the same
keyword. Create cohesive topic clusters and ensure each page serves a specific keyword to a
particular audience.
- **Remember E-E-A-T:** In B2B content, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are crucial due
to the complexity of topics. Add expert quotes, company reviews, and author bylines to boost E-E-A-
T.
- **Be Strategic With CTAs:** Place CTAs strategically within the content, especially in the middle,
on the sidebar, and at the end of a post, targeting users further down the funnel.
- **Beef Up Internal Linking:** Utilize internal linking to help users navigate from blog content to
feature pages and booking demos. Use descriptive anchor text and vary internal links in body copy.
- **Keep Digital PR in Mind:** Consider digital PR opportunities for specific industries. Position
content types like ultimate guides, annual reports, surveys, and interactives for potential features in
industry blogs or news sites.

19 content marketing tips

Here are the next set of tips to skyrocket growth with content marketing:
**1. Know Your Audience:** Before writing SEO content, ensure you have a strong understanding
of your target audience. Know what matters to them, what content they expect from your brand, and
the specific terms they search for related to your industry.
**2. Prioritize Efforts by ROI Frameworks:** Understand the cost of creating content and getting
links. Use frameworks like content creation ratio, cost per link, and keyword opposition to benefit
analysis to prioritize content marketing strategies with higher ROI.
**3. Leverage Keyword Frameworks:** Focus on creating content that targets how people really
search, even if it means going against what keyword research tools suggest. Use keyword frameworks
that drive traffic and leads, especially long-tail keywords.
**4. Create a Passive Link Engine:** Utilize proprietary data to create content with passive links.
Target keywords like "statistics," "data," "roundup," and "trends" to get your internal data in front of
readers, leading to more links and better brand awareness.
**5. Focus on Low Time to Value:** Prioritize content that offers high value with low effort. Create
interactive content, subheaders above the fold, and posts targeting keywords with high passive link
intent to boost user experience.
**6. Make Thumbnails Varied:** Diversify your blog thumbnails with illustrations, branded
overlays, color blocking, or GIFs to make your content stand out visually and capture reader attention.
**7. Evaluate for Freshness Distance:** Keep your content fresh by evaluating the freshness
distance, the time between the most recently updated and the oldest post on a given SERP. Update
older content regularly to stay relevant.
**8. Build Up Your Blog Index: ** Include at least 15 posts on the first page of your blog index to
improve user experience and reduce click depth, indicating content importance to search engines.
**9. Use the PPB Formula:** Structure your content with the Preview, Proof, and Benefit formula
to increase credibility and time on-page. Give a preview of the content, provide proof of your
expertise, and clearly explain the benefits to readers.
**10. Focus on Long-Tail Keywords:** Target long-tail keywords that are easier to rank for while
still attracting relevant traffic. By focusing on long-tail keywords, you can capture your target
audience more effectively.
**11. Put CTAs on an Island:** Place call-to-actions (CTAs) in prominent places within your
content to draw reader attention and encourage clicks.
**12. Multiple Posts in the Same Category:** Demonstrate your expertise in a category by creating
several pieces of content within that category, each targeting short-tail and long-tail keywords related
to the topic.
**13. Remove Unused Sharing Buttons:** Include only relevant social media sharing buttons based
on your audience's preferences and traffic sources. Optimize sharing options to direct readers to
platforms where conversations are happening.
**14. Use Hybrid Titles For a High CTR:** Create title tags that balance keyword placement with
attention-grabbing copy. Put the user first, use adjectives strategically, and consider user intent for
better click-through rates (CTR).
**15. Create Evergreen Content:** Produce evergreen content that remains relevant and useful to
readers for a long time. Evergreen content provides steady, long-term traffic and requires less frequent
updates compared to topical content.
**16. Think Outside the Blog:** Repurpose content into different forms, such as infographics,
podcasts, or social media threads, to extend its reach and cater to different types of learners.
**17. Make Content That Solves Problems:** Focus on creating content that informs or solves
problems for your target audience. Address their main pain points and questions to build trust and
move them closer to the buying stage.
**18. Promote, Promote, Promote:** After creating great content, promote it internally through
internal linking, social media, email lists, webinars, and newsletters. For external promotion, use
manual outreach, guest posts, and broken link building to expand your reach.
**19. Make Sure Your Content is Accessible:** Ensure your content is accessible by using large
and highly contrasted copy, descriptive alternative text for images, proper content hierarchy, captions
or transcriptions for videos, and a blog with excellent user experience.

The Ultimate Content Checklist to Take Your Content Strategy to the Next Level

1. Create Buyer Personas: Understand your target audience's needs and preferences to
create content that resonates with them.

2. Define Clear Goals: Establish specific goals to ensure all efforts align towards achieving
them.
3. Measure Metrics: Measure success with relevant metrics to track progress and
identify areas for improvement.

4. Assemble and Define Team Roles: Assemble a dedicated team and define roles
and responsibilities to ensure smooth execution.

5. Use the Right Tools: Identify and use appropriate tools for content creation,
scheduling, distribution, and analytics.

6. Plan Content with an Editorial Calendar: Create an editorial calendar to

consistently publish quality content and stay on track.

7. Promote and Distribute Content: Use various channels such as social media,
email marketing, and paid advertising to reach the right audience.

8. Optimize for SEO: Research relevant keywords and optimize content for search
engines to increase visibility.

9. Focus on Quality Content: Create valuable, engaging, and well-researched

content that aligns with your brand messaging.

10. Constantly Improve: Continuously track performance and make adjustments as

needed to improve the content strategy.

TYPES OF CONTENT TO ESTABLISH

1. Long-Form Content: This strategy is ideal for B2B, B2C, and SaaS companies.
Creating long-form guides allows you to thoroughly explain a topic, cover multiple
long-tail keywords, and build authority. Focus on providing real value, breaking up
the text with headings and lists, and including engaging images and strategic CTAs.

2. Interactive Content: Suited for industries like fintech, interactive content includes
calculators, quizzes, surveys, and more. This type of content increases engagement,
attracts passive links, and differentiates you from competitors by providing a unique
user experience.

3. Topic Clusters: This strategy involves creating a pillar page that covers a broad
topic and linking it to related cluster pages. The pillar page serves as a comprehensive
guide, while the cluster pages provide detailed information on specific subtopics. This
approach improves SEO and helps users find all relevant information in one place.

4. Guest Blogging: Collaborating with influencers and other brands by offering guest
posts on their platforms can expand your reach and build authority. Ensure the content
is valuable and aligns with the host's audience.
 5. User-Generated Content: Encourage customers to create content related to your
brand and share it on social media. User-generated content builds trust, increases
engagement, and creates a sense of community around your brand.

6. Video Content: Incorporating video content into your strategy can increase
engagement and reach a wider audience. Create educational, entertaining, or
informative videos that align with your brand's messaging.

7. Podcasting: Starting a podcast can be an effective way to connect with your

audience, demonstrate expertise, and reach a new demographic. Focus on providing
valuable content and engaging discussions.

8. Case Studies and Testimonials: Showcase successful customer stories and

testimonials to build credibility and trust. These pieces of content can help potential
customers understand the benefits of your product or service.

9. Content Repurposing: Repurpose existing content into different formats, such as

infographics, slideshows, or ebooks, to reach different audiences and increase
visibility.

10. Trend Analysis and Newsjacking: Stay up-to-date with industry trends and
current events to create timely and relevant content that resonates with your audience.

Best Landing Page Examples and Tips

Building effective landing pages is crucial for inspiring people to buy your products or join
your audience. A landing page is like a landing pad that allows you to focus on a specific
short-term goal, such as growing your audience or selling a product.

Here are some tips and best landing page examples to help you create compelling landing
pages:

1. Determine Your Goal: Decide on the goal of your landing page, whether it's to grow your
audience or sell a product. Make sure the design and content align with your objective.

2. Consider Your Audience: Create landing pages tailored to specific segments of your
audience to increase relevance and improve conversion rates.

3. Pick a Landing Page Type: Choose from successful landing page types, such as signup
pages or product pages, that have been proven to work for good landing page optimization.

4. Create Engaging Headlines: Craft sharp and compelling headlines that grab the attention
of your visitors and communicate value succinctly.
5. Write Compelling Copy: Use concise, informative, and on-brand copy that conveys your
message clearly and includes a strong call-to-action (CTA).

6. Use Beautiful Images: Include visually appealing images that showcase your products or
services and add context to your offerings.

7. Incorporate Product Information: Provide detailed product information, including

descriptions and specs, to help customers make informed purchase decisions.

8. Build Trust with Reviews: Feature customer testimonials and reviews to build trust and
credibility for your products or services.

9. Include Promo Codes or Discounts: Offer unique coupon codes or discounts to

incentivize signups and purchases.

10. Create an Offer: Consider offering free samples or bonuses to entice potential customers
and add a sense of urgency or time sensitivity to encourage action.

11. Share Your Page: Promote your landing page through various marketing channels to
drive traffic and reach your goals.

12. Have a Plan for New Customers and Subscribers: Implement marketing automation
and segmentation tools to keep new customers engaged and informed.

Landing Page Examples:

- Netflix: Provides a simple and direct value proposition, making it easy for visitors to find
content they want to watch.

- Goby: Uses pastel colors and dental imagery to convey cleanliness and dental care.

- Doordash: Focuses on both food delivery and delivery driver opportunities, with a clear and
cncise value proposition.

-Amazon: Offers a simple layout with categories of products front and center for easy
navigation.

A Mega Guide To Creating Evergreen Content

What is evergreen content? 🌲

Evergreen content is content that stands the test of time. It’s usually highly informative,
instantly actionable, or extremely relatable.

Most content is relevant for a short period of time.

Even some articles that gain significant attention soon after they are published can see that
interest decline quickly.

Unlike reactive content – which is led by changing news, trends, and seasons – evergreen
topics will always resonate with readers.

As a result, they tend to be shared, ranked, and referenced consistently over time.

How do you measure evergreen content?

To stay relevant, content needs to be widely loved and consistently distributed.

Ongoing shares keep content relevant in the eyes of social media algorithms, so this content
is more likely to be boosted and discovered.

Gaining links over time is like someone consistently vouching for your content.

These doorways help people to stumble across your post long after it's publish date (at

BuzzSumo, many of our older studies are still regularly referenced today 💁‍♀️)

And we all know that ranking well in Google helps your content get found consistently.

So, in short, you need to be measuring links, shares, and rankings.

What KPIs do you use for evergreen marketing?

As we just covered, the success of evergreen content is hinged on the holy trinity of KPIs:

 Shares
 Links
 Rankings

A piece of content that scores top marks in all three areas for its focus topic, is what we refer
to as “zenith content”.

This content type was inspired by Brian Dean's Skyscraper Technique and Rand Fishkin's
10X content theory.
Evergreen content has big potential to become "zenith content", so keep an eye on these
KPIs.

Zenith content is content that is so good, it blows all other articles out of the water.

And it does so through:

 Rich formats
 Neat designs
 Subject matter expert input
 Solving problems and answering real audience questions
 Easy to read content
 Unique theories
 Timeless ideas
 Ongoing distribution

Beyond links, shares, and rankings, other evergreen content KPIs include:

 Dwell time
 Bounce rate
 Goal conversions

Why is evergreen content important?

1. Evergreen content drives traffic

Whether it’s through higher rankings, or increased ownership of keywords, the main benefit
of content designed to be evergreen is that it delivers a consistent stream of traffic to your site
over time.

Evergreen posts stand out in your Google analytics or site traffic statistics. They are the posts
that consistently bring visitors and conversions to your site month after month.

2. Evergreen posts are backlink magnets

These posts are super beneficial to your SEO strategy as they not only drive traffic, they also
gain links consistently over time.

Backlinks function as a vote of confidence for search engines. When Google or another
search engine wants to know if a piece of content is valuable, its bots will look for links from
other authoritative sources.

3. Evergreen blog posts offer great value for money

Because evergreen blog posts retain their relevance and keep working for your brand, they
offer a cost-effective answer to increase the ROI of your content and evergreen marketing.

Think of evergreen content as a one-time investment that’s going to bring in big returns.

When you produce new content all the time, you lose time, traction, and relevance.

Investing in evergreen content is like investing in a high-quality pair of shoes. You’ll spend
more at the beginning, but save $$ over time.

4. You can distribute evergreen content forever

Again, evergreen content doesn’t lose relevance. If you update it as needed, you can keep
sharing it because you know that your audience will continue finding value in the piece.

On the other hand, if you’re constantly producing new posts, you’re forced to take part in the
attention and relevance rat race.

You can only share fleeting pieces so many times before your audience gets tired.

With evergreen content, your customers keep finding new value.

5. Evergreen content allows time for smarter reporting

If you’re constantly producing and promoting new content, you won’t have time to analyze
success.

When you’re promoting something consistently over time, you can monitor results,
continuously optimize, and experiment with distribution tactics.

For example, you might discover a specific message variation performs exceptionally well on
Reddit vs Twitter, and tailor your distribution strategy accordingly.

Or you might experiment with lead magnets and different CTAs within your content to
optimize the middle of the funnel.

When you have more time to test, experiment, and analyze a piece of content, your insights
get more sophisticated.

What are the different types of evergreen content trends?

We (the BuzzSumo team*) have put our heads together and come up with a rather poetic way
to categorize evergreen content trends.

(*available for birthdays, weddings, and bar mitzvahs)

Evergreen

Topics that maintain audience interest year after year.

Although the overarching topic of "marketing" experiences the odd dip around Christmas it's,
for the most part, extremely popular every year.

Nevergreen

Otherwise known as reactive content (ie. Newsjacking). This type of content can give you a
big initial boost, but is susceptible to near-instant decline.

An example of a nevergreen trend is the drop-in audio network Clubhouse.

After big growth and billions in investment, interest around the brand has nosedived, and
doesn't look to be returning.

To avoid nevergreen content, steer clear of social media fads, memes, or pop culture
references in your content.

Instead think classic and timeless ideas.

Severgreen

A topic that was once evergreen – ie. popular year-on-year – but is now in decline. Facebook
is a great example of this.

Fairweathergreen

These are content topics that will earn you traffic repeatedly, but not consistently.

Examples include seasonal or holiday based content around Black Friday, Christmas,
and Halloween.

This can also extend to yearly trends prediction content such as "trend of the year" guides.