Back in the baby-era of the internet, Bill Gates said, “content is King,” and man was he ever right. From the beginning of url’s and websites, developing content that is new and relevant has been the golden star of achievement.
Then Google came around and flipped everyone on their head. The goal then became to create content Google would find. Which was the beginning of keywords, and even worse, keyword stuffing. Remember back in the day when you would search for “new Nike running shoes” and you’d inevitably come across a blog post with the word “new Nike running shoes” about a thousand times? It was annoying. Google and the other search engines wised up and technology became more intuitive. Now keywords are on the way out and quality content is on its way in. (Praise the Lord!) So, what exactly does it mean to write quality content? And what strategy should you use to boost your business?
Quality over quantity has finally caught up with the internet. The amount of content being created and consumed daily is astounding. Here’s an infographic from Contently showing stats from 2017. Since content is increasing tremendously, the way to be noticed in the crowd is to produce things of value directly to your small niche, or target audience.
What is Quality Content?
Quality content is a piece, usually a blog, that provides well thought-out, well-executed and informative content. In terms of ranking higher in SEO, within the past 3 years, there has been a shift towards longer pieces published less often. So, if your content manager says you need to post 5 times a day to rank higher on Google, tell her 2014 called and wants its strategy back.
When writing to your niche it’s important that you know what their pain points are. Every business or service solves a problem. My business eases the stress of SaaS developers who understand the importance of content marketing. I know writing is the task that makes their hearts palpitate and their brains draw a blank. So, I offer my expertise and services to relieve them of that stress.
When your content focuses on solving your audience’s issues, addressing the pain points, and delivering a solution (your business or service) you will offer quality information that engages with others. Do this in a genuine “I understand where you’re coming from way” and you will successfully build an engaged community that becomes loyal consumers. Do it in an “I need your money” way, and you’ll repel every individual you come in contact with.
This is a time-consuming process. Hubspot just released data on a new survey and found the average business dedicates 3 hours to writing content, but to see the most growth from their blogs business spend more than 6 hours.
Is it worth your time?
So why even bother, right? Well, because it’s effective. Hubspot reported, “What we found here is that blogging when approached and executed with the right tactics and strategy — works. For that reason, it remains a focus of marketing activities and plans. Specifically, blogging was the second-highest-cited top priority identified by marketers, with 53% identifying “blog content creation” as one of the most important areas of inbound marketing for their companies.”
You need the right tactics, the right strategy, and you need to be addressing the right people. If you’re doing those things, you’ll see the benefit.
If you don’t have 3-6 hours to dedicate to writing, or writing makes you want to pound your head on your desk, let’s chat! I’ve got you covered.