Effective Content Marketing Five Rules to Follow

Content Marketing, the foundation of search engine optimization strategies, will thrive even after The Google Penguin and Panda updates.  The clear long term goal of Google is for search results to reveal the most authoritative websites concerning search queries.  This makes it essential for all websites to continue to provide valuable textual information in order to continue to rank high search results.  Here are 5 proven tips to publishing effective content.

Know Your Target Audience - Understanding the needs of your audience takes time and research. Even the well-written content will not draw the desired traffic if it is not relevant to the needs of that audience.   Determining those needs is the key factor.  One way to discover them is to read the blog posts and view the videos related to your niche and determine what content is being shared most often.  Look at your previous content and learn what generated the most comments and “likes”.  Use that information to define what you publish in the future.

Invest time and money into developing your content - Good content is the result of a well-executed content marketing strategy that includes a dedication of both time and money.  If you have a talent for writing and intend to provide your own content, then block off time in your schedule to get this done.  If not, then there is a vast array of freelance services that will generate desired content for you.  This is a good idea even if you are a good writer.   These services cost money, but they are an excellent way to leverage your time and publish a much larger amount of content then you could on your own. 

Set high standards for content and stick to them - The new search engine algorithms value quality over quantity.  One of the ways they determine quality is by how much time visitors spend on your site engaged in your content.  Low quality content is easily recognizable because visitors do not stick around to read it all.  Do not settle for publishing anything less than superior content.  Your content marketing strategy must remain focused on quality.  Otherwise, it can cost you visitors and sales, and damage the reputation of your website. 

Maintain a presence on social networks - An integral part of the success of content marketing is having it shared throughout the community.  Staying involved in the social media channels makes it more likely that your content will be shared.  To do this effectively, you need to either invest a certain amount of time daily to interacting with your social network or assign the task to a subordinate.  Start off with highly informative and natural posts, and then steadily include the best of your content whenever it appears to provide the greatest benefit to your visitors. 

Stay consistent with your plan - Don’t get discouraged every time your content does not go viral.  Even the best pop musicians are never really sure which of their singles will be a hit and which will not until they hit the market.  Just because you spent time and money on content doesn’t mean that it will resonate with your audience and generate more sales for your business.  Publishing regular content increases the chances that it will go viral.  Letting yourself become frustrated and backing away from your set strategy guarantees you less of a chance of going viral.   

Establishing a reputation as an authority in your niche is very important for content marketing success.  Your name will pop up regularly during search queries, increasing the number of visitor and further improving your search engine rankings.

Category: Writer