When it comes to content marketing, more isn’t always better. More is often just… more. The production of regular content has become a key pillar in the search visibility strategy for every website. That means that if your website doesn’t have a blog you’re missing out on one of the vital ways to make it easier for your site to rank in search.
However, before you start typing, it’s important to keep in mind that the days of writing quick, spammy content to stuff your website with keywords are long over, and Google is prioritizing quality content that keeps readers engaged over click-bait headlines that direct you to junk content sites. So how do you ensure you’re posting quality content without breaking your marketing budget?
You can achieve this in a couple of ways, all of which involve a little planning up front that can pay off big down the line:
- Create short but valuable posts targeted to members of your customer and prospect base each week. You can make these a mix of posts about events of interest, how-to’s, tips and tricks, or short case studies with customers once a month. Be sure to create a content calendar that informs your strategy. This ensures that you do the heavy lifting of coming up with ideas before you’re staring down the deadline of a week without content.
- Create longer content pieces all at once and break them up into a series. This is especially useful if you only have a few hours a month to put toward creating content. Pick three or four topics of interest to your customers and organize those articles into three-part or four-part series that can be posted twice a week to your blog over a couple of weeks. This is more work up front, but it’s a one-and-done approach that allows you to write and schedule weeks of content all in one go.
- Create one large piece of quarterly content such as an ebook or whitepaper. Then carve it up into digestible chunks of information that you can share via your blog and social channels throughout the quarter. If you need some fun filler, consider making quizzes, GIFs, short videos, and other shareable content to go with your meat-and-potatoes stuff. Again: more work up front, but you’d have all the work done for the quarter.
Most importantly, be sure that the content you create is valuable to your audience. Too often in marketing spaces – but especially with content marketing – brands want to talk about themselves. The truth is that consumers aren’t interested in your company. They are interested in what your company can do for them. They want to know what kind of value you provide. If you become their go-to source for fashion tips, banking and finance strategies, or health advice, they will share content for you.
