You know you need to have content out there for your audience to consume. But coming up with that content can be hard, in this tutorial we will take a look at three basic steps that will start you on the right path to creating awesome content that your customers will love!
Step 1: Need
To create awesome useful content, you will first need to identify the needs of your audience. There is no point to creating content that your audience isn’t interested in. This can be done by looking at data and customer feedback. For instance, if a pet store owner frequently gets questions on social media about potty training a new puppy, it is a good idea to create a “how to” blog post on this topic. Conversely, if data shows that a lot of site visitors view a product page for dog boots but don’t convert, the retailer might want to create content that sheds light on the benefits of this product.
It is also important that you make the content as actionable as possible in order to truly benefit your customers. Doing so will not only have a positive impact on Search Engine Optimization (SEO,) but will also create a happier, more loyal audience.
Step 2: Beyond the Blog
Although blogging is your key component for content generation (you are one one now!) it shouldn’t be your only means of communication. Share your post on social media, create a short video explaining your process. Repurpose your work across as many channels as possible. Having trouble coming up with that next great idea? take someone else’s data and create an infographic on the same topic.
Repurposing blog content into something more visual (like video or infographic) not only helps ease your brainstorming efforts for new content, but can also significantly boost traffic. This is because visual content often performs better than text-based-content – especially when shared on social.
Step 3: Titles
Probably one of the most important pieces of the content puzzle is paying close attention to the title of your content. While it may be tempting to be creative and clever with titles, it is also important that titles end up being a good representation of the content they accompany.
For example, if the aforementioned pet retailer decided to title his potty training blog post something like “Dog Training for You” or “Learning to Love the Crate” audience members may not have a clear idea of what the post is about, which could lead them to not click the post at all or to click the post and then be disappointed by its content. Conversely, if the post has a clear title, such as “3 Potty Training Tips for Puppies,” consumers will know exactly what the post is about and if they want to click on it. This will lead to less page abandonment, which is a good sign for the search engines. Clarity always beats out cleverness. What’s more, the title now includes keywords such as “Potty Training” and “Puppy,” which also helps boost SEO initiatives.
Following these three simple steps will boost your content creation from mundane to awesome in no time flat! Need help coming up with a killer content strategy? We can help!