Are you serious about getting more traffic to your blog and making more money? Then take a good look at your content marketing strategy.
If you are writing content that doesn’t get results, you need a better plan.
With a new year comes new opportunity to build on what worked and identify areas for improvement.
To increase website traffic, boost your leads and increase your revenue in 2018, carefully planning your blog content is a must.
In today’s post, I’m going to show you techniques that almost guarantee you get a positive return on every piece of content you publish.
Why is Content Marketing Valuable?
Consumers have changed over the years. Serving up ads used to be the best way to turn a profit online. That simply isn’t the case anymore.
People want and expect more value from their online experience. Content marketing creates the value that you deliver to your target audience.
Every piece of content you write should be focused on building relationships with your audience and providing them with the best information to answer their search queries.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, “After reading recommendations on a blog, 61% of U.S. online consumers made a purchase.”
Your content creation and value delivered is how people get to know, like and trust you, a MUST in today’s competitive online market.
Video: Creating a Content Marketing Plan
How to Create a Content Marketing Plan [The Right Way]
According to a report by Content Marketing Institute, 83 percent of marketers consider a content strategy very effective in increasing revenue.
If you don’t want to increase revenue in 2018, do not read any further.
BUT, if you do, I have 3 solid strategies for content marketing to turn your blog vision into reality.
1 – The Best Way to Plan and Prioritize Blog Content for Powerful Results
A Content marketing strategy is about understanding which content will get you the greatest results.
Most of the time, bloggers just write whatever they feel like writing, without any thought to how that content will convert to more leads and sales.
And then, complain when they don’t get any.
Don’t be that person!
Content marketing is about getting more leads and sales for your business. That’s it.
Create a content plan that helps your audience make decisions to purchase. Some of your posts may be aimed at generating traffic but that traffic may not convert to sales or leads.
Here are 3 steps that you can use now to prioritize the content you publish:
1. Know your audience
Your target audience definition is always your first step. Without knowing who you are writing for, how would you know what to write?
Having a clear focus on your target market will make it easier to write content that is aimed at helping your audience in some way. To learn more, read my article about How to Find the Right Niche for Your Blog.
2. Do keyword research
People are constantly searching for information on Google search and in social media. If your blog content is a good match for any search query, then you’ll get more traffic to your site.
The only way to find out what people are searching for is to do keyword research and understand the user intent behind it.
When you use keywords correctly in your blog posts, you can understand your target audience better. In turn, you can focus your content on their wants and needs.
To learn more, read my article about Keyword Research.
3. Plan out your blog content topics
Once you know your audience and understand what they might be searching for, your next step is to make a list of blog content topics that you will write over the next few weeks.
After you have your list, go through and rate each topic to prioritize the order in which you will publish it.
Remember, you can get a ton of traffic to your blog without converting a single person to a sale or lead.
Your content strategy is focused on conversions, but only if you want to make money.
For example if a blog title represents an article that is designed to convert your audience into a buyer or lead, then put it at the top of your list.
If that topic is relevant to your audience but not necessarily for a person who is seriously considering a purchase, then move it down your list of priorities.
When you complete this process, you’ll have prioritized your future content that will drive conversions to leads and sales.
2 – Boost Conversions by Updating Old Blog Posts
If you’ve been blogging for a while, you have lots of old blog posts on your site. This is a great opportunity for you to go through those posts and upgrade them.
Even if an older post has great content, it may no longer be relevant in today’s world
Here are 2 steps to take to transform old blog content into higher conversions.
1. Find old content that gets traffic but not results
If you have blog posts that get tons of traffic but no conversions, it’s an ideal candidate for an upgrade.
Add new information to the post that provides even more value to your audience.
For example, if you have a post about weight loss, add information about new products or new tools that have been released since you originally published it. People are looking for solutions and you can provide them instead of just information.
2. Make old content more relevant for Google organic search results and people
Have you ever searched in Google, clicked a results only to find it’s outdated? Don’t let that be you!
Everything changes at a fast pace these days so make sure your content is accurate. Go through your old posts and evaluate every element to figure out what you should modify.
Here’s what to do:
- Modify or remove any content that is no longer relevant.
- Replaced any statistical data with updated information.
- Replace screenshots, especially if the procedure or information changed.
- Review any hot tips and replace as needed.
- Review internal and external links to make sure they are still relevant. Make changes if needed.
- Create a new call to action (CTA). If you are not getting conversions it could be because your old CTA is stale or no longer applicable.
Be sure to keep your URL and publish date the same so any links coming into your post stay intact.
After you complete updating any old blog post, use Google Webmaster Tools to resubmit the content for re-indexing by Google. In the Dashboard, go to Crawl > Fetch as Google.
After I update old posts, a person can easily see because I include “Last Updated” date meta data as well as the published date. It’s helpful to my audience to know if the information is new, especially if the original publish date is very old.
3 – Define a Goal for Every New Piece of Content You Publish
If you’re serious about generating a profit through your blog, you need to be goal oriented with how you create your content.
Let’s go back to the problem of writing whatever you feel like writing. That is not a plan and won’t get you results.
The most important part of your content plan is to have a goal for each piece of content.
If your goal is to convert readers into buyers of a product, then that content will highlight and provide information aimed at people who are ready to make a purchase.
If your content marketing goal is to convert readers into subscribers, then your post will be persuasive as to why a person should opt-in to your offer. You may have an irresistible offer for a free download or giveaway.
But, your blog content should be congruent with whatever you offer is.
For example, if you write about dogs you wouldn’t have a free download about cats or an affiliate link to a cat product.
Before you write that piece of content, decide what your goal is. What do you want your audience to do next? What should they take action on.
Only you can decide that, through your content creation and calls to action.
Be purposeful in every piece of content you write.
Final Thoughts
Having a content marketing plan in place seems easy until you have to do it. The more time you spend on your plan, the easier it will be in time for you to create profitable, converting blog content.
By using these content plan tips, you can grow your audience and profit with purposeful content that your audience will love.
Do you have a content marketing in place? If not, when?
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