10 Tried and True SEO Tactics That Will Pull You out of a Traffic Slump

We’ve all faced disappointing traffic numbers and even heart-stopping dives.

It happened to me recently on this website. Two years ago, I was blogging along as usual, when wham, my traffic dropped!

As it turns out, it was a random algorithm update that killed things for a week or two. Several tweaks later, I was back up to even higher numbers than before.

I understand that algorithms can change, audiences can leave, and a website can suffer from penalties.

But I’m also convinced that there’s no reason to settle for low traffic.

How can I be so confident? Because I faced it. I dealt with it. I recovered.

I’ve come up with 10 SEO tactics proven to boost traffic.

If you’re feeling skeptical right about now, I understand. I am sure plenty of SEO snake oil salesmen have tried to convince you that [insert some random weird hack here] could boost your SEO.

I don’t give advice that doesn’t work or hasn’t worked for me and my clients. These tactics actually work.

And here’s a quick comment before you dive into the tactics. I’ve intentionally avoided all the obvious stuff because you’d already have already tried that.

These techniques are relatively advanced. However, with the right skillset and a bit of patience, I know that you can master each technique and enjoy the boost in traffic. 

1. Infiltrate Google’s Knowledge Graph and the global knowledge base

Do you know where Google Knowledge Graph gets its content from?

Wikidata.

Wait, what the heck is Wikidata?

Wikidata is a community-driven initiative that belongs to the Wikimedia organization. They own a bunch of Wiki sites serving information content in a variety of languages.

It’s easy to see that once you get into Wikidata, either as a company or as a reference, your business will benefit in terms of exposure and traffic. Plus, a link from any of the Wiki sites is worth its weight in gold.

Many organizations pull data from the Wiki sites. The most important of them all is Google.

The content that gets featured in the Google Knowledge Graph is from Wikidata.

Do you see now why it’s important?

Getting inside Wikidata seems easy on paper, but it isn’t. Here’s how you can get a free pass:

• The first thing to do is to read and understand the guidelines.
• The next step is to write an authoritative piece based on a primary keyword, organization, or individual in your niche. It must be factual and non-promotional.
• Now create a website, page, or subdomain that defines the concept and contains comprehensive information, including all the pain points related to the keyword.  For example, if you are in the fashion industry, you can talk about fashion in general, the problems faced by manufacturers, the common pitfalls of using some equipment, the secret lives of fashion models, and so on.
• Next, jump into the Wikidata community, and socialize. Don’t create a topic until you have contributed positively to the community and established your own personal vibe. If a new member jumps in and creates a topic, it could be flagged by the editors. You should try to create a topic that doesn’t already exist in the community.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you sell products related to the fashion industry, specifically industrial sewing machines. One of your top sellers is the Brother brand.

Here’s what you should do:

• Use Google to check whether information on Brother sewing machines shows up in the knowledge graph. I checked. It doesn’t. There’s no knowledge graph for Brother sewing machines as of 8 June 2016.
• Write an exhaustive piece on Brother sewing machines on your subdomain or the website you have specifically created for sharing knowledge.
• Create a topic on Wikidata (for example: History, Evolution, Pros and Cons, and Current Status of Brother Sewing Machines) and choose a channel to publish your data on (any one of the Wiki properties; in my case, Wikipedia).
• Write your statements, and link to appropriate references. You must link keywords and brands to public documents (use the documents hosted on Wiki sites), and one of your links or references must be to the site you created.

Your page must be strong and backed by data. Fluffy or thin pages are deleted by the editors.

You can even add social media URLs to the reference pages. It would be a good idea to create a group discussion on LinkedIn related to the topic, and link it as a reference on your Wiki page.

In addition to this, you must go to each Wiki site and edit or contribute to topics that contain your keyword. Don’t forget to write an authoritative piece on your subdomain or website and link to it as a reference. For the example above, the keywords would be fashion, sewing, clothing, models, etc.

2. Get into Google News

News articles get pulled by Google on two SERPs—the traditional SERP you’re used to and the News section.

You may not have thought of Google News as a traffic source, but consider my point. It’s a traffic wellspring!

Check out this screen shot:

To get into Google news requires perseverance, honest reporting, cutting-edge articles, and regular updates.

If you are up to it and want your website to show up on the Google News SERP, here’s what you should do:

1. Start a “News” section on your blog/site.
   Update it regularly (1-2 newsy posts a day is a good practice).
2. Publish authoritative, unique, original, and newsworthy content. For research, set up a Google Alert for keywords in your niche.
3. Informational articles such as how-tos and guides do not qualify. Every post must be newsy.
4. Do not publish aggregated content.
5. Every news article you write must be authoritative.
6. The byline of each post must be linked to the author’s profile, which should contain their contact information and links to their social media profiles.
7. Follow the Google quality guidelines before starting your news section.
8. You need to subscribe to a paid Google account to become a Google News Partner because you can’t get in with a free account. The best thing is to sign up for a Google Apps email account, available for as low as $5 per month (http://ift.tt/1YdgnK7).
9. Finally, start publishing, and enroll as a Google News Partner after building up sizeable content (at least 50 pages).

Yeah, it reads like a slow process, but it’s worth millions!

3. Register with Google Posts

Heard of Google Posts?

Let me rephrase.

Have you ever seen a carousel on Google SERPs? Something like the image below. Notice the section outlined in red:

The posts contained in such carousels are Google Posts.

Google Posts isn’t commercially launched yet. There’s a waitlist, and you must get on the waitlist.

Google Posts allows verified and prominent individuals and organizations to create content (text, images, videos) on the fly and publish instantly. Once the posts are published, they will be visible on Google SERPs when a user searches for topics and keywords within that niche.

The hassle, of course, is that you can’t start using Google Posts immediately. If you are an established organization or a prominent individual, you should sign up and reap the benefits when it goes live.

4. Use Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) HTML/JS

AMP is a new coding standard, and the way it is shaping up, it seems that it will go on to become a global HTML coding best practice.

I highly recommend you research it and implement what you can.

Think of AMP HTML as regular HTML with some restrictions that reduce clunkiness and help generate reliability.

AMP HTML (and JS) increases the loading speed of your web pages, which is an extremely important factor. This protocol is on its way to become a huge ranking factor.

Google has already included it in its Search Console, and many web developers around the world are quickly adopting it.

Remember the time when Google made mobile-friendly design a ranking factor?

Developers were slow to pick up on it, and when their site rankings dropped, there was panic.

That’s why I encourage you to get started on AMP right away and to keep your site AMP-ready. Moreover, AMP will make your pages load faster, which will help you rank higher and attract more traffic.

5. Use the Skyscraper Technique

Did you know it was Brian Dean of Backlinko who coined the term Skyscraper Technique?

Although it’s simple when you think of it, it requires some pretty intense work.

Does it work? Yes, it does. Sites with traditionally low traffic or in traffic slumps have experienced an uptick in traffic after using the technique.

Here’s how you should exploit it:

First, simply research the top-shared content in your niche. You can use BuzzSumo or EpicBeat.

Next, you should:

• Select 2-3 top posts in your niche. These will serve as the basis for your research.
• Write a better and more in-depth article (with a new title). You can do this by picking up the phone and interviewing appropriate experts, reading industry white papers, or checking out research reports. There are plenty of ways to improve upon what currently exists.
• Market your article. Try to market it on the same channels and groups as the original article. I have no doubt that your article will be picked up and talked about.

Result: Traffic, shares, and more traffic.

6. Create an FAQ page in your niche

There are three things you must be aware of:

1. Personal assistants, such as Siri, and voice search tools, such as Google Voice search, are getting smarter by the day. Google also recently unveiled the Google Assistant, an AI like Siri, at its I/O Conference.
2. The number of people using their personal assistants to help them with their online search or scheduling tasks as well as the number of voice searchers are growing each day.
3. Most voice searches or requests typically start with a question word (what, when, how, where, which, etc.).

One of the key takeaways from the Google I/O developer conference notes was that over 20% of the searches on the Google app on Android in the US were performed by voice.

I don’t have the stats for Siri, but if you put two and two together, it’s easy to infer that your SEO must be ready for voice search/voice assistants because its use will keep increasing over time.

How will you get your website ready for voice search?

By developing an FAQ page in your niche.

An FAQ page can easily leverage both the question word and the keyword/correlated keywords.

How will you collect data for your FAQ page? Here are some ideas:

• Learn about the pain points faced by consumers in your niche. You can learn about these online (forums or social media) and by conducting a customer survey.
• Visit government and non-profit websites where people complain about products and marketing tactics.
• Check out Amazon and eBay for product complaints/nasty reviews (in your niche).
• Buy an e-book that talks about the pros and cons of your niche.
• Make a list of the questions that a lot of customers have in common.

Finally, take all this research and create a giant FAQ page that is neatly divided into categories.

Make each question shareable, and write detailed and helpful answers. Do this, and you’ll quickly get some traffic to your site.

7. Become an expert in your niche

Sounds like a tall order, right?

But it’s not as difficult as you think.

You can increase your website’s traffic by growing your personal brand. I spent about a decade cultivating my personal brand. I then used that personal brand to boost traffic and generate high-converting leads, creating several multi-million dollar businesses.

You can do the same. Here is how.

Start sharing your knowledge tactfully and helping others without giving away your business secrets.

First, register at Q&A sites such as Quora, Yahoo Answers, and WikiHow. Join LinkedIn groups, and reach out to other sites in your niche that could benefit from your guest authorship or input.

Start answering questions and helping users. Do not promote your business or link to your website.

If your answers are helpful, users will start requesting your help. When you see help requests coming in, it’s time to strike (in a good way, of course).

From this point on, help people, but link back to your article or site when you do so.

Followers and browsers will follow your link, and your site traffic will multiply like crazy.

Yahoo Answers, LinkedIn, and Quora are liberal with links, but WikiHow has a tough backlinking policy, so be careful. Whatever you do, be polite, and write factual helpful information.

8. Don’t spread yourself too thin

Many website owners do all the right things and still wonder why their traffic volume is static (or decreasing).

The answer could be that you may be doing too many of the right things.

There are tons of SEO and content marketing tips available on the web, and while reading as much as possible is a good thing, trying to do everything may prove to be counterproductive.

Content marketing is performed on social media and blogs, which are user-driven. Viewers expect the writer or poster to interact with them and follow up on their articles.

If you’re into excessive content marketing, you won’t have time to interact. You’ll also feel burnt out doing too many things at the same time.

My advice is to stick to three or four social media channels (Facebook and YouTube are important). Once your traffic and sales increase, you can consider hiring someone to handle other social channels.

9. Influencing the influencers

You may have heard that influencer marketing is dead, but I can guarantee you that if any influencer links to your post, a swarm of traffic will follow.

Now, you cannot overtly approach an influencer and request that person to promote your content. Why? Because the minute the influencer reads your first line, they’ll understand what you want. Honestly, it’s a turnoff.

Influencers receive hundreds of content promotion requests every month. They can spot one from a distance.

Here’s what you can do instead. Influence and motivate the influencer to share your content.

I’ll show you how you can attempt that with an example.

Let’s say I am targeting “men’s fashion” as my keyword phrase. I Googled “top blogs on men’s fashion.” There are plenty of meaty results:

I visited one top blog, Off The Cuff, and found it was founded and owned by Christopher Hogan.

Next, I visited Christopher Hogan’s Twitter page. It looks like he tweets often, and some of his tweets are about formal fashion in different seasons (he has 3,300 followers. It’s a bit low, but there’s a twist in the tale).

That gave me an idea—a content strategy that can be endorsed by many influencers (with a gazillion followers).

Here’s what I’d do next:

• Check around the other top blogs. Figure out which bloggers have thousands of followers on Twitter or Facebook.
• Read their posts/tweets. Search for their interviews online to figure out what motivates them.
• Create an article (or video or infographic) based on my research. If I wanted to influence Christopher Hogan, I would create an infographic or write an article based on formal fashion for men for summer. I would stock the items that feature my content in my online store. I could perhaps title it “Men’s Formal Fashion for The Summer Inspired by Christopher Hogan Designs” (or some other designer).
• I would then tweet it to him or post on his FB page. If it appeals to him (and it should because I would have spent a whole lot of time and love making it), he will share it. That would get me targeted traffic that has the potential to convert.
• Even if he doesn’t retweet, I know I’m sitting on killer content bound to get noticed by guys who strut around in formals during the summer.

What I have given you is just an example. And it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential of this technique.

Use your creativity to devise even more advanced and informative content within your niche.

You can use other tools, such as Followerwonk or Buzzsumo, to find influencers and apply the same technique.

10. Research e-commerce keywords

There are so many articles floating around on keyword research that I wasn’t sure whether I should include this tip.

I decided to include it.

E-commerce is a serious business. If you know what customers are exactly searching for, it could be rock-and-roll time for your sales and traffic.

Shoppers who have finished their research typically head to retail sites such as Amazon to buy stuff. As I’m sure you’re aware, Amazon is the world’s largest e-tailer.

Researching keywords on Amazon and including them in your content can be a rewarding SEO task.

To research keywords on Amazon, you need to subscribe to a paid keyword research service.

But I’ll show you how to research for free. Here’s the technique:

First, choose your product on Amazon.com (it’s “men’s fashion” in this example):

Next, select “men’s fashion” in “All Departments.”

Then, now check the results page. Notice the filters and categories in the column on the far left.

Finally, expand each category, and copy the keywords that drop down.

These are the keywords that real shoppers with ready-to-swipe credit cards search for (on Amazon). Use these very keywords in your content.

Conclusion

If your traffic has dropped because of slow loading pages, lousy server, clunky coding, malware, unfriendly UI, etc., no amount of SEO, SMM, or PPC can help you. Plus, you’ll end up wasting a ton of money.

Fix the basic issues first, and then move on to marketing and SEO.

The tactics I have recommended will help you attract traffic that has the potential to convert.

It’s worked for me. I’m confident it will work for you too.

Tell me how it goes! And let me know about both your successes and your challenges. I want to help.

from Quick Sprout http://ift.tt/28YEd6L

7 Psychological Insights That Will Help You Develop a Powerful Facebook Strategy for Business

What is the most powerful tool in your marketing arsenal?

Is it keyword research? Copywriting? Beautifully designed ad campaigns? Maybe….

But the driving force behind all of these things?

Psychology.

You see, sales and marketing are really about understanding consumer psychology.

Why do people buy? What makes them click on your Facebook ad? What sort of stimuli do most people respond to?

I’ve been interested in consumer psychology for quite a while. It started innocently enough. I was curious. What makes customers interested in a product, service, person, or brand? Why do people click on headlines? What makes 100%-refund-guarantees so assuring? How will this influence conversion rates or customer loyalty?

Asking these kinds of questions helped me develop a deeper understanding of my customers.

And then I figured out something more. Consumer psychology applies to just about everything in business.

Even social media.

What did I do? I started using my knowledge of psychology to improve my Facebook strategy.

And guess what?

It worked.

It wasn’t just my personal brand that started growing by leaps and bounds. My clients got the benefits too!

I’m not going to keep these techniques a secret.

I wanted to share with you the psychological insights I learned so you can dramatically improve your game by leveraging Facebook marketing more effectively.

So, what are the most important psychological “hacks” you can start using today to improve your social media marketing?

1. Kick rational advertising out the window

Most people are emotional creatures, not rational.

Many of us analytical types tend to think that everyone else sees the world in terms of ones and zeros like we do. But this is simply not the case.

Most people act emotionally, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It just is.

One of the most effective things you can do to improve your Facebook strategy is to quit relying on rational thinking as your main driver and start relying on customer’s emotions to take the wheel.

Great…But how do you do this?

One of the most effective methods is to convey emotion through facial expression. Try using ads that have someone’s face on them, whether it’s a real photograph or a drawing.

I do this often, simply by adding an image of a face to my posts. It’s simple. It’s quick. It’s effective.

Seeing a face is way more appealing than seeing some inanimate object.

It works not only on posts, like the ones above, but on sidebar ads too.

People are already browsing through Facebook, looking at pictures of friends and family. Using headshots or other shots that include facial expression is a natural way to enter into your customer’s newsfeed unobtrusively.

Facial expression is the only universally understood language, and the human brain is wired to process facial cues far more easily than written word.

In fact, according to a study from Caltech, people may have specific neurons in their brains that respond to individual people!

This means that when you see my face, Tony Robbin’s face, Donald Trump’s face, or Brad Pitt’s face, you have a neuron in your brain dedicated to only them!

Pretty cool, huh?

Take a look at some of the ads below.

Notice how the headshot of Noah Kagan smiling instantly changes your mood and instills trust.

This ad from AdEspresso offers almost no rational reason for clicking on it, but the positive emotion instilled by the cartoon and the eye-catching red (more on that later) makes me want to click on it.

Notice how Tim’s confident (or smug?) facial expression communicates confidence about the method he is teaching without any extra information.

The face is enough to build my trust and encourage me to interact with the Facebook ad.

Do you see how powerful conveying emotion through facial expression is? Use it in all your Facebook ads, regardless of the topic.

2. Use color to catch attention and convey your message

Something that many marketers are aware of but rarely utilize is the power of color.

The human brain evolved to see red colors more vividly. This was a huge advantage to hunter-gatherers who could now spot ripe red fruits out of green leafy trees as well as potential dangers like venomous snakes and fish.

(That snake could kill you.)

This is a huge advantage to marketers.

Red in your ads will catch users’ attention much more effectively than any other color.

However, the combination of red and blue is even more powerful as blue is more calming and relaxing.

For example, let’s reexamine the AdEspresso ad.

Notice how the ad uses red to grab your attention and direct you to the “Try it now” button but combines it with some blue text to give the ad a more calming and friendly tone.

This is an easy psychological trick you can use to your advantage in your next campaign.

Colors are powerful. They’re a language unto themselves.

It’s time to start speaking this language with your customers. Why? Because it’s a language that is neurologically innate. We’ve learned the language of color through nature and through the complex development of our species.

Color has a way of communicating that doesn’t depend on effective ad copy or even a smiling picture of a model. Choosing the right color can drive up your engagement and improve your Facebook marketing.

3. Slash the price (by just one cent!)

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find something in a supermarket that costs exactly $1 or exactly $5?

That’s because, once again, the human brain has evolved to discern the difference between prices based on the left-most digit.

That’s the power of pricing.

For example, the reduction of one cent—from $100.00 to $99.99—is perceived as more significant than the reduction of 40 cents—from $99.99 to $99.59.

While the brain may suck at math, this is an incredibly easy-to-implement tactic that can increase your Facebook ad conversions almost instantly.

This doesn’t work every time or in every situation. However, I have learned that odd styles of pricing are far more effective at luring customers in than flat, round numbers.

Give it a try. Run a split test with differing price points, and see which one wins.

4. Use now as a trigger word

Our brains are not wired for our modern technological era.

It sounds odd, I know. After all, most of us run around virtually tethered to some electronic device—wearing it, talking to it, and interacting with it.

But the brain is still trying to adapt to these devices, no matter how marvelous they are.

Our brains are still way back in the day when we were living on plains, hunting and gathering for survival. This means our brains are still wired for one of two basic responses: fight or flight.

You’ve heard of fight or flight, haven’t you? The idea is simple: fight or flight is “the instinctive physiological response to a threatening situation, which readies one either to resist forcibly or to run away.”

The fight or flight response takes its toll on the entire body in various ways. Some of these effects are obvious—like sweating. Other effects are subtle—like digestion slowing down.

Either way, our bodies respond.

Here’s how one science website describes it:

In response to acute stress, the body’s sympathetic nervous system is activated due to the sudden release of hormones. The sympathetic nervous systems stimulate the adrenal glands triggering the release of catecholamines, which include adrenaline and noradrenaline. This results in an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. After the threat is gone, it takes between 20 to 60 minutes for the body to return to its pre-arousal levels….In the face of something frightening, your heart beat quickened, you begin breathing faster, and your entire body become tense and ready to take action. This response can happen in the face of an imminent physical danger (such as encountering a growling dog during your morning jog) or as a result of a more psychological threat (such as preparing to give a big presentation at school or work).

In other words, our brains are wired to make impulse decisions.

Using the word now is a great way to capitalize on the brain’s propensity for impulsivity and get your customers to click on your Facebook ad.

Here’s how one Inc. writer describes the word now:

Immediacy is what everyone wants: Get what you want now. Make a change now. You can start now. Tomorrow is too late, yesterday is over, and now is exactly the right moment to start.

Humans are wired to want now. It’s just the way we are.

Cater to that desire in your ads or social campaigns, and you’re sure to improve your scores, conversions, and engagement.

5. Focus on the images, not the words

According to most modern studies, the brain processes images much faster than text.

This means that when you are designing your Facebook or other social media campaigns, you should focus more of your time and energy on the images you are using than the text you include.

Social media today is a visually driven world. The more visual content you have and the better it is, the more successful your social media campaigns will be.

6. Create scarcity

We’ve established that the brain is wired for impulse decisions and fight or flight. Thus, ads featuring products with (perceived) scarcity instill a sense of urgency, influencing a customer’s desire to purchase.

Notice how the “Only 24 Hours Left” warning creates a sense of urgency to buy.

You want it more because it’s scarcer.

It’s called the scarcity principle, and it will work wonders for your social media strategy!

7. Use odd numbers for opt-ins

I was just about to write the conclusion to this article when I realized…

I can’t end on an even number!

Why? Because odd numbers are, for whatever reason, more psychologically appealing. Odd numbers improve engagement, increase click-throughs, and attract more eyeballs.

The simple takeaway?

• If you are running a Facebook ad with a giveaway to increase email opt-ins, use an odd number to help increase conversions.
• If you are posting an update about a listicle, use an odd-numbered headline.
• If you are using a number in any place in your Facebook updates, use an odd number.

For example, the giveaway “9 Powerful Hacks to Massively Increase Facebook Ad Conversions” would convert much better than “10 Amazing Ways to Improve Your Conversion Rate” (according to science).

Conductor’s research showed that odd-numbered headlines have 36% more clicks and a 20% higher CTR than non-numbered or even-numbered headlines.

The same principle holds true for Facebook ads, Facebook articles, and Facebook opt-ins.

Odd numbers just work.

Researchers have discovered that the mind considers odd numbers to be more natural. A list-driven article like this one, therefore, has a more trustworthy neurological connection due to its odd-numbered status.

Conclusion

More often than not, I find that most Facebook ads fail to utilize any of the above tools, and that is a shame because using human psychology is one of the most proven and consistent ways to increase your sales and conversions.

And the thing is none of these psychological insights are hard to implement!

That’s the power of consumer psychology. Knowing a few insights can be powerful and can positively impact your marketing efforts!

If you want to see any of the above advice in action, simply run an A/B split test, utilizing the power of color, facial expression, and trigger words. You’ll be AMAZED at the results.

Like with everything, however, don’t take my word for it. Go out there, and do it for yourself: test, test, test, and see what gets you the results.

I’m still curious. What kinds of psychological hacks are you testing and trying in order to improve your Facebook strategy?

from Quick Sprout http://ift.tt/28S1dFj

11 Methods That Will Make Your Content Marketing Campaign Go Viral

Have you ever wondered how some bloggers and online entrepreneurs manage to crank out tons and tons of useful and exciting new content on a daily basis, and others…

…well, others can’t even crank out one useful piece of content a month!

And don’t even get me started on marketing it.

There are a number of bloggers who actually can write AMAZING content, but they are clueless marketers and can’t get any of it to go viral.

If you have struggled with any of the issues mentioned above, it’s okay: you are not alone, and there is nothing wrong with you. Every writer, digital strategist, or content marketer has struggled with the same thing!

What you need to do is learn the necessary skills to not only write killer content but also market it like a pro.

That changes today.

To make this super-organized and logical, I’ve divided it into two major sections.

1. First, you have to plan and write awesome content.
2. Second, you have to market it.

You must do both, and I’ll show you exactly how to do both with step-by-step instructions.

Some people think all they have to do is write content and the world will come knocking at their doors, linking to their content, and sharing their articles.

Write an article. Hit publish. Sit back and make money, right?

Nope. It doesn’t work that way.

In order to succeed at content marketing, you have to do both: the writing and the promoting of your content.

Remember this:

1. Content never written won’t be promoted.
2. And content not promoted might as well not have been written in the first place.

No matter how awesome your content is, if you’re not marketing it, sharing it, and promoting the heck out of it, nobody will read it.

With this straightforward guide, you’ll learn the process I use to make my content go viral.

Part I: Planning and Writing Viral-Worthy Content

This is where things start—planning and writing.

Most people know this much. You have to plan an editorial calendar, get your butt in a chair, and write the articles.

That’s good as a start, but it’s not quite good enough. I have six points that will help you not just create content—but create viral content.

It starts with the early stages of content ideation and planning. Here’s what you need to know.

1. Define the objective of your content

The first and most important thing you can do before your pen ever touches paper or your fingers touch the keys is to define the objective of your content.

As the old quote goes,

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

If you do not have a definite goal for your content, not only will you likely write an incoherent piece, but you will also likely have difficulty marketing it in the proper channels.

As I detail in my Advanced Guide to Content Marketing, there are several goals you need to define before you start churning out content.

• Decide how you will use this content to grow your business. (Is it to generate leads, improve sales, boost your marketing, or create a community? There is no wrong answer—it’s up to you.)
• Decide on a specific goal for the content once you have determined how it will be used.
• Develop the core message that will be congruent through all your content.
• Identify your competition and analyze them.

A content marketing Excel sheet like the ones pictured below can be a huge help.

You can find samples and templates for these spreadsheets online.

Here’s one from the Content Marketing Institute. (Careful. That link will download the spreadsheet automatically.)

Econsultancy lists a variety of these free templates. Hubspot offers a few as well. I recommend you check these out before you spend hours creating and formatting your own.

A good calendar will include not just dates but the topic, the content, and the keyword focus of the article.

The level of detail is up to you. Some campaigns are pretty simple and maybe only need a date and a title. Other campaigns can be advanced and may include details such as keyword focus, persona target, author, geotargeting, product focus, seasonal push, etc.

Keep things as simple as possible, and you’re more likely to succeed.

2. Focus on the headlines

Which would you be more likely to click on?

“How to Totally Shred Pounds of Fat and Uncover Your Dream Body in Only ONE Month!”

Or

“Burn Fat with This Program!”

The answer is obvious.

No matter whether you are creating videos, articles, or podcasts, the headline is one of the most important aspects of successfully getting your content in front of your target audience.

Make your headlines juicy and enticing, and your conversion rates will skyrocket. Bottom line: your business will grow.

Make your headlines boring and generic, and the most you’ll get is maybe hundreds of views (if that).

You’ve seen the juicy and tantalizing headlines all over the web. Even something as mundane as a pipeline can seem exciting when pitched the right way.

You don’t need to be sensational to craft a great headline. Instead, you need to be hyper-focused on what your readers want and make a promise that earns their click.

In fact, you use a simple formula to make the process easier. Try this one, from Buffer.

3. Don’t B.S. your readers

In your quest to create epic content, you have to realize that your reputation online is everything. It takes hard work to maintain your reputation, and it can be destroyed in a matter of minutes. Lost reputation can take years to rebuild.

EVERYTHING you publish should be well-researched and fact-checked (or have a decent train of logical thought if the concept you are trying to explain is more philosophical in nature).

If you start creating clickbait content that makes promises you cannot deliver on, your reputation will be tarnished and will be nearly impossible to recover.

However, even if you are putting out less content than the others in your industry, your content will still outperform your competitors’ if it is grounded in hard data. Telling the truth through your content, even when it’s ugly, will earn you a sterling reputation and the trust of your customers.

4. Make your content super actionable

Have you ever noticed that I strive to offer advice you can take action on immediately?

There is a reason why.

When people read articles, especially informative articles, they don’t want theory or conjecture. They want concrete steps they can act on right away—actionable steps.

I’ve learned what my audience wants, and I try as hard as I can to deliver it.

Whether you include an “Action Step” at the end of each of your articles or simply write in a style that carries actionable information throughout an article, it’s up to you. But you have to make sure whatever you put out there, people can act on it and act fast.

The model I use for making my content actionable looks like this:

• Create value and fix pain: The headline I created for my article promises a solution to your pain and an offer of value. Heck, it’s free for you to read this article, and you get plenty of great advice, right?
• Build relationship: I’ve pulled you in. Now, I want to build a relationship with you. If you’ve been a reader for a while, or simply know about my success, you may already have a relationship with me. If not, you can check out my ugly mug on the sidebar or even email me.
• Earn trust: In my article, I’m proving the fact that you deserve my trust. How? By providing solid researched and experience-based information.
• Take action: You, the reader, can totally take action on this. In fact, based on these four bullets, you can develop your own plan of attack for an actionable content strategy.

5. Create engaging and original content

The Internet is full of crap, and if you want to succeed, you have to be the shiny diamond in the rough. One of my favorite examples of content that stands out is Craig Clemens’ article on “How to 10x Your Income Over the Next Four Years”.

Where most articles begin with something bland and generic about how you should wake up earlier, skip the Starbucks latte, and invest your pennies in some mutual fund, Craig comes out with a bang, offering the highly controversial, engaging, and original thought: the first step should be to cut out porn.

This is engaging. Why? Because most people have a visceral response to something like porn.

The content is also original because Craig is willing to say something that not many people can say.

Originality is engaging, so don’t be afraid to stick your neck out there. It’s worth it.

6. Always include videos and pictures

A picture is worth a thousand words.

So, what is a 3,000-word article with 6 photos worth to someone?

While I will leave the math to you, it is important to realize humans are visual creatures and we process images much faster than text. If you want to increase the amount of user response and the number of social media shares, adding images and videos can be one of the best ways to do this.

I try to include as many relevant images as possible in my articles.

It’s hard work finding those pictures and adding them into WordPress, but I’m willing to do it. Why? Because if this 2,000+ word article had zero images, you probably wouldn’t read it.

Part II: Marketing

Now, your article is written. You’re ready to level up to marketing.

I use the word marketing, but you can also think of it as promotion. You’re leveraging tactics to get your content in front of your audience.

Here’s exactly how to do it.

7. Get an awesome quote from an industry leader

We all know the power of social proof. This power is doubled when you can get it from an industry leader.

If you have created some epic content and already have built a solid platform to share it on (though this can work even if you are a total beginner), reaching out to an industry leader for their thoughts on your work is a great way to improve your content marketing through social proof and get your name associated with A+ players.

The process for reaching out to them is pretty straightforward as well.

Send them an email or message, and boom. Instant credibility.

8. Reach out to people you see sharing similar content

If you ever see people who are constantly sharing content related to your niche and who are your Facebook friends, reach out to them and ask for a friendly share.

More often than not, if your content is good, people will be more than happy to do this, and it will likely win you a regular “share buddy” you can go to whenever you create some pretty exceptional content (which, if you remember points 3-5, should be pretty much always).

Besides, a lot of social media people and content creators are always looking for high-value stuff to share. You’re doing them a favor by letting them know about your content!

9. Turn your content into a video or podcast to broaden its scope

Some people prefer to learn through watching or listening, and some through reading. If you limit your content to the written word, you are massively short-selling yourself and your audience. You are cutting out a whole portion of your audience who might love your work but might not prefer its format.

The same is true if you are a YouTuber, reading this guide. Get on Fiverr, and pay someone to transcribe notes from your informational videos so that people with different learning styles can also have access to that information.

10. Email the sources you quote in your articles

If you are writing articles that require you to cite lots of sources, you have yet another great way to improve your content marketing!

Contact the most cited sources with the article, letting them know how important their work was to you, and ask if they would be willing to share it along their various channels of influence.

Say please, ask nicely, and you’re likely to get a positive response.

Again, this can be a great way to boost your credibility and get your content out there!

11. Create content worth marketing

Sure, this point may seem a little redundant, but it is worth repeating.

If your content sucks, why are you even trying to market it? What you are creating needs to offer value to the world, and even if it isn’t 100% original, it should offer insights and present the information in a way that the audience isn’t used to seeing.

You need to create great content before you can be great at marketing it.

Conclusion

Content marketing can be overwhelming.

There are so many different channels to market your content on that you may feel you can’t even choose which one(s) to pursue.

But relax, content marketing shouldn’t be this scary.

What’s most important is to create good content and do what you can to share it. Once you have mastered the basics, you can worry about the hard stuff.

Until then, enjoy and start creating outstanding content today.

In your experience, what kind of content goes viral? What did you do to make it happen? Let me know about your viral content experiences! I always love a good success story.

from Quick Sprout http://ift.tt/28NDu8w