[Hot] Content Marketing 101: How to Write Relevant Content
A site's functionality is determined by the design and development team, and much of the work of design and development can be optimized with SEO techniques.
Content creation, however, requires different ways of thinking--different strategies, techniques, and inspirations. Perhaps for this reason, the term "content marketing" is often used to describe the "creative" work that many online marketing firms historically attributed to SEO.
Beyond a site's functionality (usability), relevant content is the most important factor in a good online marketing campaign. However, these two online marketing disciplines, SEO and content marketing, support and enhance each other, and for both the purpose of content is clear: to attract a targeted audience.
Do you currently have a content strategy independent of SEO? Does your brand create relevant content? If not, this post will help you build your own content marketing strategy.
Search engines prefer relevant content. In a page warning webmasters about "little or no original content," for example, Google advises "relevant keywords":
"One of the most important steps in improving your site's ranking in Google search results is to ensure that it contains plenty of rich information that includes relevant keywords, used appropriately, that indicate the subject matter of your content."
Relevant content satisfies a browser's keyword search. For each query, Google's goal is to produce relevant results. Yet, of course, relevant content is much more than keywords.
To think of relevant content strictly in terms of keywords--as many SEO firms do--is to limit what the best content can do. Yes, relevant content should "satisfy a browser's query," but the best content also inspires visitors to return for more. As Jayson DeMers notes in his piece on content marketing for Forbes:
"Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing valuable pieces of content, whether they’re for information or entertainment value, for the purposes of growing an audience."
For content marketing, repeat visitors is key. What Demers calls "valuable content" here is what we call "relevant content." In both cases, the best content satisfies a browser's query while also offering a sense of "value," and possibly a "surprise" element that intrigues visitors and inspires them to return for more.
The SEO world offers many guides on creating "relevant content," and many suggest optimizing the technical aspects of your content, such as the meta tags, alt tags, and the heading.
Keyword research is also crucial. Before researching keywords, however, SEO guru Neil Patel suggests discovering your ideal user's "intent": user's goal when performing a query. This goal can be defined, as Patel suggests, in three ways:
After discovering user intent, keyword research is a relatively straightforward process that begins with common sense and ends with strategic thinking.
The point is to position your new content to compete against the current top ranking content. To do so, we suggest starting with a few working keywords, Googling the competition, using a keyword research tool, refining your keywords, and finally, Googling the competition for your new, refined keywords.
For more, read: SEO 101: How to Perform Keyword Research
It is important to match browsers with accurate queries--to give them what they're looking for. Yet, most people in the SEO community are merely focused on satisfying a browser's query.
The true purpose of relevant content is to provide value. Valuable content speaks precisely to a brand's core audience, defining, explaining, or meeting the audience's needs and desires. Valuable content can also compel an action--ideally a conversion.
To create valuable content think about the nature of the content: language, video, or pictures. Think about content that performs several functions at once.Very good content might convey information about a product and make a connection to the reader.
Take a look at this deceptively simply copy from the clothing retailer, Bonobos: "Made with innovative and resilient stretch denim, these jeans always keep their sharp silhouette while keeping you comfortable anywhere you go."
This line tells us something unique about the product (makes us see): it's stretch denim. Yet it also invites the reader to feel a connection to the product: you will feel comfortable anywhere you go.
To create relevant content, then, make sure each and every piece of content serves multiple purposes. This is especially important for websites whose content is perceived as marketing fluff. Do not write marketing copy. Write real content for real people Strive to make a connection.
Relevant content feels necessary--content that stays with the browser after the experience. While being timely, relevant content aims to make an impression. To stand out from a surplus of timely content, offer meaning. Content that stays with people will inspire them to return for more.
However, to inspire repeat visitors, we believe, you must give the browser more then what they're looking for. Delight, like the best comedy, is a surprise. While satisfying, and even delighting, great content can also transcend, or even upend, user's expectations.
You can, obviously, tick all the SEO boxes--the tags and headers and keywords--while also offering an element of surprise. But here's the thing: Surprise should not be some artificial gesture; surprise can come from the content itself. The key is to be one-of-a-kind.
Offer a fresh take on a common theme. Say something new. Or, if you can, say it in a new way. This is the essence of content that will feel truly relevant--and will inspire people to return for more.
Content Marketing with Stepman's SEO
If you're looking for an online marketing company that understands how to effectively promote websites with relevant content, we suggest contacting our sponsor, Stepman's SEO: 215-900-9398.
Stepman's SEO combines traditional marketing methods and organic SEO--with an emphasis on natural website optimization--to design thoughtful, inspiring, and effective content marketing campaigns.
Content creation, however, requires different ways of thinking--different strategies, techniques, and inspirations. Perhaps for this reason, the term "content marketing" is often used to describe the "creative" work that many online marketing firms historically attributed to SEO.
Beyond a site's functionality (usability), relevant content is the most important factor in a good online marketing campaign. However, these two online marketing disciplines, SEO and content marketing, support and enhance each other, and for both the purpose of content is clear: to attract a targeted audience.
Related
Do you currently have a content strategy independent of SEO? Does your brand create relevant content? If not, this post will help you build your own content marketing strategy.
What is Relevant Content?
Search engines prefer relevant content. In a page warning webmasters about "little or no original content," for example, Google advises "relevant keywords":
Relevant content satisfies a browser's keyword search. For each query, Google's goal is to produce relevant results. Yet, of course, relevant content is much more than keywords.
To think of relevant content strictly in terms of keywords--as many SEO firms do--is to limit what the best content can do. Yes, relevant content should "satisfy a browser's query," but the best content also inspires visitors to return for more. As Jayson DeMers notes in his piece on content marketing for Forbes:
"Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing valuable pieces of content, whether they’re for information or entertainment value, for the purposes of growing an audience."
For content marketing, repeat visitors is key. What Demers calls "valuable content" here is what we call "relevant content." In both cases, the best content satisfies a browser's query while also offering a sense of "value," and possibly a "surprise" element that intrigues visitors and inspires them to return for more.
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| This graphic strikes to the core of relevant content, which must provide true value to a browser |
How to Write Relevant Content
Satisfy a Browser's Query
Keyword research is also crucial. Before researching keywords, however, SEO guru Neil Patel suggests discovering your ideal user's "intent": user's goal when performing a query. This goal can be defined, as Patel suggests, in three ways:
- Do something – commercial queries: “Buy a lawn mower online”
- Know something – informational queries: “2015 gas lawnmower customer reviews”
- Go somewhere – navigational queries: “Craftsman website”
After discovering user intent, keyword research is a relatively straightforward process that begins with common sense and ends with strategic thinking.
The point is to position your new content to compete against the current top ranking content. To do so, we suggest starting with a few working keywords, Googling the competition, using a keyword research tool, refining your keywords, and finally, Googling the competition for your new, refined keywords.
For more, read: SEO 101: How to Perform Keyword Research
Provide True Value
It is important to match browsers with accurate queries--to give them what they're looking for. Yet, most people in the SEO community are merely focused on satisfying a browser's query.
The true purpose of relevant content is to provide value. Valuable content speaks precisely to a brand's core audience, defining, explaining, or meeting the audience's needs and desires. Valuable content can also compel an action--ideally a conversion.
To create valuable content think about the nature of the content: language, video, or pictures. Think about content that performs several functions at once.Very good content might convey information about a product and make a connection to the reader.
Take a look at this deceptively simply copy from the clothing retailer, Bonobos: "Made with innovative and resilient stretch denim, these jeans always keep their sharp silhouette while keeping you comfortable anywhere you go."
This line tells us something unique about the product (makes us see): it's stretch denim. Yet it also invites the reader to feel a connection to the product: you will feel comfortable anywhere you go.
To create relevant content, then, make sure each and every piece of content serves multiple purposes. This is especially important for websites whose content is perceived as marketing fluff. Do not write marketing copy. Write real content for real people Strive to make a connection.
The Element of Surprise
Relevant content feels necessary--content that stays with the browser after the experience. While being timely, relevant content aims to make an impression. To stand out from a surplus of timely content, offer meaning. Content that stays with people will inspire them to return for more.
However, to inspire repeat visitors, we believe, you must give the browser more then what they're looking for. Delight, like the best comedy, is a surprise. While satisfying, and even delighting, great content can also transcend, or even upend, user's expectations.
You can, obviously, tick all the SEO boxes--the tags and headers and keywords--while also offering an element of surprise. But here's the thing: Surprise should not be some artificial gesture; surprise can come from the content itself. The key is to be one-of-a-kind.
Offer a fresh take on a common theme. Say something new. Or, if you can, say it in a new way. This is the essence of content that will feel truly relevant--and will inspire people to return for more.
Content Marketing with Stepman's SEO
If you're looking for an online marketing company that understands how to effectively promote websites with relevant content, we suggest contacting our sponsor, Stepman's SEO: 215-900-9398.
Stepman's SEO combines traditional marketing methods and organic SEO--with an emphasis on natural website optimization--to design thoughtful, inspiring, and effective content marketing campaigns.
