What’s a content strategy & why you need one
If you’re about to start your SEO roadmap with us and you’re wondering what this whole “content strategy” thing is, you’re in the right place. Updating your website content isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must for building trust, boosting your domain authority, and keeping those search engines happy. We’re here to break it down for you, as always, no fancy jargon or fluff, just simple and straightforward.
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What's a Content Strategy Anyway?
According to Semrush, “content marketing strategy is your high-level plan for creating and distributing content to grow your audience and reach various business goals”. Simply put, think of content strategy as the roadmap for your website’s performance on the search engines. Like having a plan for everything you’re going to write, create, and share online. And let’s be clear, it’s not just about random blog posts or social media updates; it’s a well-thought-out plan that ties everything together.
Why Does Your Business Need a Content Strategy?
Great question! Creating and promoting content takes time and effort, and let’s face it, it’s not cheap. So, why bother? Well, here’s why it’s important:
More Online Visibility
When you consistently post useful content, you attract more visitors. Imagine you’re helping them find answers to their questions or solutions to their problems. The more you help, the more they notice you.
More Leads
Good content doesn’t just attract eyeballs; it attracts potential customers. Valuable content can turn visitors into leads. Let’s say you own a pet store, and you create a guide on “Choosing the Perfect Pet for Your Family.” People searching for that info are likely interested in getting a pet, and now they know you can help.
More Authority
The more helpful content you share, the more people in your niche will see you as an expert. It’s like becoming the go-to person in your field. Another example, now let’s say you run a fitness equipment store. If you regularly share workout tips, healthy recipes, and reviews of the latest fitness gadgets, people will start to trust your advice and see you as an authority in the fitness world.
More Customer Engagement
Engaging with those who comment or respond to what you share builds a loyal following. Loyal customers often become repeat customers. If someone leaves a comment on your blog asking for more information about a product you’ve reviewed and you respond with helpful details, they’re more likely to trust your recommendations and come back to your site for future advice.
More Budget
If you can prove your marketing success through your content, it’s easier to ask for a bigger marketing budget in the future. Let’s say you’ve been regularly publishing blog posts and tracking their impact. You notice that these blog posts are driving more traffic to your website, resulting in higher sales. With this data, you can confidently approach your boss and request a larger budget for content creation and promotion.
The Four Phases of Content Strategy & Examples
Now, let’s talk about how this content strategy thing works. It goes through four main phases:
- Planning: You decide what topics you want to cover, who your audience is, and what goals you want to achieve. Let’s say you run a travel blog. In the planning phase, you might decide to create content about budget-friendly travel destinations for families. You know your audience is parents looking for affordable vacation options, and your goal is to become a trusted resource for them.
- Creation: Once you have your plan in place, it’s time to start creating content. This is where you put your ideas into action. For our travel blog example, you’d start writing articles, gathering images, and maybe even creating videos about those budget-friendly family vacation spots.
- Maintenance: Content isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s like taking care of a garden. You need to water it regularly to keep it thriving. In the maintenance phase, you’ll keep an eye on your content, making sure it’s still relevant and up-to-date. Let’s say you published an article about the “Top 10 Family-Friendly Beaches” a year ago. In the maintenance phase, you’d review it, check if any of the information has changed, and update it if needed. This keeps your content fresh and useful.
- Unpublishing: Sometimes, content needs to retire – like cleaning out your closet and getting rid of old clothes you don’t wear anymore. If you have blog posts that are no longer relevant or are just taking up space, it’s a good idea to remove them. This keeps your website tidy and ensures visitors only see your best and most helpful content.
Why Keeping Your Website Content Fresh is Essential
Okay, so you’ve got your content strategy in place, and you’re all set to create amazing blog posts, videos, and more. But it doesn’t stop there. You’ve got to keep that content updated regularly. Why, you ask? Well, let’s break it down.
Building Trust with Your Customers
Imagine you’re looking for information about the latest smartphone models, and you stumble upon a tech blog. You start reading a post that seems super helpful, but then you notice it’s from two years ago. Would you trust that information? Probably not. Keeping your content up to date builds trust with your customers. They rely on your website for valuable, current information.
Blogs Improve Your Search Engine Ranking
Studies reveal that 70% of the traffic you get from online searches comes from longtail keywords with four words or more. Blogs help you figure out what other subjects you should write about to get even more visitors through search engines.
Boosting Domain Authority
Ever heard of domain authority? It’s like your website’s reputation score in the eyes of search engines. The more trustworthy and up-to-date your content is, the higher your domain authority becomes. Think of it as earning brownie points with Google and other search engines. They’re more likely to recommend your website to users when they see you’re a reliable source of fresh, relevant content.
The SEO Connection
Now, let’s talk about the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) aspect. Updated content is like a magnet for search engines. When your website regularly publishes fresh content, search engines crawl it more often. Think of this as search engines checking out your website to see if there’s anything new. When they find updated content, they re-index it, and this can lead to other pages on your site getting re-indexed too. Translation: improved SEO for your entire website.
How Often Should You Update?
The short answer is: always. Seriously, you should never stop keeping an eye on your website and making updates. Technical SEO, which is all about optimizing your website for both search engines and visitors, is an ongoing process. It’s like giving your car regular tune-ups to keep it running smoothly. Your website needs those regular check-ups to perform at its best.
Our Simple Content Strategy Process
Step 1: Define Objectives - Design Your Content Funnel
Before we even start creating content, we think about why we’re doing it. What’s the goal of each piece of content? Your audience will be at different stages, and your content should reflect that. For example, if you run a fitness blog, your goals might include getting new visitors, encouraging sign-ups for a fitness challenge, and eventually converting participants into paid subscribers. We also conduct thorough keyword research to understand what your audience is searching for and incorporate those keywords into your content to improve search engine visibility.
Curious about why keyword research is a crucial part of our SEO roadmap?
If your website isn't delivering the results you expect or if your potential customers can't find you for the products or services you offer, it's high time to rethink your keyword strategy. Read our blog to find out more.
Step 2: Know Your Audience - Audit
We dive deep into who your audience is. What are their interests, what are their problems, and how can your content help them? If you have that travel website we mentioned above, you want to know if your audience prefers luxury vacations, budget travel tips, or adventure trips. Understanding their preferences guides your content creation. Additionally, we conduct a comprehensive website audit to identify areas where your content can be improved to enhance user experience and SEO performance.
Step 3: Develop Your Voice - Brand and Competitors
Every brand has a unique voice. We help you find yours and make sure it stands out from the crowd. If you’re a tech company, your voice might be informative and professional. But if you’re a travel agency targeting millennials, your voice could be more relaxed and adventurous.
Step 4: Roadmap Creation
Ah, another roadmap. For you and for us. Here, we plan everything out. What content do you need, who’s responsible for creating it, and how long will it take? Like making a content calendar. Imagine you’re preparing for a big holiday season sale. You plan out when to release promotional blog posts, email campaigns, and social media updates. Having a roadmap ensures you’re organised and ready for the content journey ahead.
Step 5: Promote Your Content
We figure out where your audience hangs out and make sure your content reaches them, whether it’s on your website, social media, or other channels. Let’s say you’re a fashion brand targeting young adults. You’d focus on platforms like Instagram and TikTok because that’s where your audience spends their time.
Step 6: Measure and Optimize - We Audit and Send You Reports
We keep an eye on how your content is performing. If something’s not working, we tweak it until it does. And we provide you with regular reports so you can see the results. If you’re running an online store, we check your website traffic and sales regularly. If a particular product page isn’t getting much traffic, you might optimize it by adding more appealing images and descriptions.
Step 7: Keep It Fresh - Content Optimization
SEO basics, frontend & backend optimization, like keywords, readability, and good structure are crucial. We also repurpose content to reach new readers in different formats, saving you time and maximising results. For example, if you have a blog post about “Healthy Breakfast Ideas,” we might turn that into a visually appealing infographic to share on social media. This repurposing extends the life of your content and reaches a broader audience.
Step 8: Add New Optimized Content
To keep your digital presence vibrant and engaging, we continuously inject fresh and optimized content into your strategy. This includes crafting informative blog posts, answering frequently asked questions (FAQs), building new landing pages, and refining service and product descriptions. Our focus is on optimizing every piece of content, making it user-friendly, and aligning it with the keywords that matter most to your business. This approach ensures that your website remains a valuable resource for both search engines and your target audience, helping you steadily climb the search rankings and stay relevant in your industry.
Still not sure why a good content plan and keeping your website content fresh matter?
No worries! Just reach out to us, and we’ll create a personalized content report just for you. We’ll check how your website is doing, analyze your competitors, look at your keywords, and help you improve your online presence, step by step. Click here to get yours.
