Content marketing has come into its own as a companion to search engine optimisation (SEO). Traditional marketing and Public Relations (PR) all play a part in a holistic content marketing strategy, and businesses are ploughing a much higher percentage of their marketing spend into content.

Here are some quick facts that will get you up to speed.

1. Content is king – as long as people are reading it

If Google Panda has passed you by, then you may still be still scratching your head as to why your site now appears on page four of your major keyword search results. If your content is of poor quality, is repetitive and infrequently updated, then you have your answer.

Google rewards authoritative sites and penalises those that don’t seem to care if their pages are strewn with thin content. If you rely too heavily on SEO techniques without considering your content first, then your SEO efforts are going to waste. The key is to find a working balance.

And remember: once the content is there, and the quality is high enough, you need to work hard at finding an audience for it. Unless you’ve already got a huge following, this requires expert help. Which leads us to…

2. Expand your network

It’s a fallacy to assume that outbound links do nothing to help your site and only help the site that you link to.

Outbound links to valuable, reputable and authoritative sources are viewed favourably by web crawlers, and by creating an outbound link, it’s much more likely that you’ll receive a valuable inbound link in return.

3. Reinforce inbound marketing

Robust inbound marketing strategies are crucial to enable you to generate the links that your business requires to keep ahead of your sector rivals in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). They also help to build a credible brand. So your website, your blogs, your articles, your PRs, your newsletters, your social media presence all work together to provide precisely what your customers are looking for.

4. Inspire shares

Person A tells Person B about your site and how great it is. Person C overhears them. The next time Person C needs a product or service your company can deliver, they’ll recall that conversation.

Social signals aren’t as a big a ranking factor as they were last year, according to studies, but they’re still out there influencing your position in SERPs. Work hard on building a social media following that translates to a healthy social signal.

5. Build authority

You want people to understand who you are and what you do. On the internet, everyone’s trying to get noticed. You will need to shout and build your own brand, using content to mark your authority in a relevant topic.

6. Improve your site

People don’t go on the internet to read. The layout of a website, and the signals it gives to the user, should inspire further reading and draw the visitor in.

Imagine your landing page as the cover of a book. A good landing page acts as an enticement to get people to open up and explore whatever is inside.

7. Broaden your horizons

The worse thing any website designer can do is to make sure a site looks fine on a PC or laptop, and then hope it will render OK on a smartphone. Content marketing means ensuring content is accessible on all patforms, and that may mean your website needs tweaks so it’s responsive to the way it’s being viewed.

If the mobile version of your site leads to an unsatisfactory user experience, then you run the risk of alienating at least fifty percent of your potential audience.

Getting started

Content marketing is the most effective way of broadcasting both who you are, and how you can help people who come to you hoping you can provide a solution for them. For support, ideas and topic generation for your blog, contact JJ Solutions now.