Content marketing is nothing new, but it’s more relevant than ever in 2020.
Strong content can drive organic traffic to your site through search, earn valuable backlinks that build your rep, and turn casual readers into lifelong customers if done properly.
Today we’re examining 20 rules for high-quality content that you must follow to squeeze the most out of your content marketing budget and get real results. Let’s check it out!
1. Plan Ahead and Stick to the Script
Every marketing department has at least one content calendar floating around on the shared cloud, but how many people take it seriously and follow through on every plan?
Unfortunately, most content calendars end up collecting digital dust, and marketing teams don’t seem to care that their strategies get swept under the rug time and time again.
If this sounds like you and your team, make a point this quarter to map out a clear, comprehensive content calendar and stick to it, even if that means slowing down production.
Having a roadmap that everyone follows and honors will improve cohesion and make future strategies easier to execute.
2. Make Room for Random
If you’ve already mastered the content calendar, you can loosen things up a bit and include some random content that may be more experimental or topical.
This is important for businesses that work in fast-moving fields, like finance and medicine, because relevant news is released all the time.
Plus, you never know what inspiration could strike and you may have the next viral video.
3. Keep an Eye on the Competition
Feeling lost at sea about your content strategy? Sometimes your competition can provide some much-needed inspiration, and browsing their sites and social media is all it takes.
Plus, you are competing directly for position in the SERPs, so you must match them stride-for-stride on all the relevant topics in your niche.
Plagiarism is strictly forbidden, of course, but don’t shy away from a little friendly spying.
4. Switch Up Your Style
As creators, we tend to get locked into a groove with the same voice, the same tone, the same messaging. It’s inevitable for even the sharpest marketing minds.
Avoid getting stuck in this trap and mix up your style to appeal to different audiences and connect on new levels.
5. Focus on Relevance
An infographic from Smart Blogger suggested you follow the rule of the four U’s to make sure your content checks all the boxes for relevance.
- Useful
- Urgent
- Ultra-Specific
- Unique
If you can accomplish those four things with a piece of content (of any type), you likely have a hit on your hands.
These criteria can’t be faked, and educated viewers will know (and share) quality content when they see it.
6. Don’t Forget Quantity
If you’re pumping out quality content, the main complaint you’ll hear from your audience is that there is never enough!
At bare minimum aim to release a new piece of quality content at least three times per week, and ramp up production if your industry is in the midst of a busy news cycle.
7. Try Out Fresh Formats
The written word dominates content marketing at the moment, but that’s changing fast.
Images, videos, infographics, and interactive media assets are gaining steam, and you should invest in these formats if you want to entertain and inform the next generation of users.
8. Take Feedback Seriously
If you’ve ever browsed the comment section on a blog post or YouTube video, you’ll know that the internet audience pulls no punches when it comes to honest feedback.
Instead of writing them off as haters (which is always tempting), it’s smarter to take the feedback seriously and make the appropriate tweaks for future content.
9. Prioritize Backlinks
Google has made it clear over the years that heavy preference is placed on pages that have lots of quality links from other sites across the web.
Perform a thorough analysis of your backlink catalog and see which pages have the most “votes” from authoritative, relevant sites.
Try to identify the winning formula, then replicate those strategies in the future to build a bigger Rolodex of strong links that will improve your rank.
10. Brace for Mobile Browsing
Now that more than half of searches take place on mobile devices, you can’t ignore the smartphone crowd any longer.
Optimize your new content for accessibility and speed on mobile devices, and adopt technologies like Google Accelerated Mobile Pages for an extra boost in the SERPs.
11. Learn to Repurpose
Just because a piece of content was published last year, doesn’t mean it’s outdated. Evergreen content can be recycled and updated to include new data points and address recent questions.
Treat your content library like a greatest hits album and always look for ways to remaster the classics.
12. Give Long Content a Shot
Are you publishing formulaic 500-word blog posts every day like it’s 2009? Don’t do the same thing over and over, expecting different results!
An article from Search Engine Journal revealed that long-form blog posts (over 2000 words) perform extremely well in the ranks, especially if they offer clear “how-to” style advice.
Dive deeper into some more complex and research-heavy topics to reap greater rewards.
13. Stay Engaged on Social
Have a new blog post fresh off the presses but not sure how to get the word out? Social media is your friend, so don’t hesitate to roll out your new material to the masses.
All you need is a short post explaining the purpose of the article, image, or video, then link the content and let it speak for itself.
14. Track Industry Trends
There’s no better way to appear out of touch than by ignoring the latest trends in your industry. Even if you don’t have a strong opinion on a news topic, your brand needs to make a statement.
Treat every trend like an opportunity to put your business in the spotlight and connect with users in real-time with relevant content.
15. Leverage Your Audience
The world’s greatest brands inspire their customers to be walking billboards and actively promote their products via social media.
Your company may not be on that level quite yet, but you can hold promotions and competitions that will result in some awesome user-generated content. Try out some basic contests and see what you get!
16. Connect with Influencers
Every niche has a collection of online influencers whose word can make or break a brand. Get on the good side of these blog and social media personalities to make sure you benefit.
You can reach out in person to make new connections or outsource your efforts to an agency that knows the ropes and will deliver quality spots.
17. Lock In Those Keywords
Keyword strategy is an old SEO staple, but the game is changing as technology evolves.
Moz tells us that long-tail keywords are where the action is since voice search users tend to speak in longer, conversational patterns to make their inquiries.
18. Don’t Underestimate Authority
Major media sites and news aggregators can be a major ally to brands that can leverage guest posting and platforms like Help-a-Reporter-Out.
Sharpen up your networking skills to connect with these high-authority sites and earn your brand a valuable guest post that will pay dividends for years.
19. Forget the Fluff
If you are about to publish something that has already been said 1000 times before and brings nothing new to the table, don’t hesitate to scrap it.
At the very least, add some original data points or grab some quotes from influencers in your circle to make sure there’s a fresh coat of paint.
20. Always Be Brainstorming
The content game is never-ending! Don’t take your foot off the gas in the creative process, and always be researching new topics to cover.
Potential customers are constantly raising new questions and concerns, so listen up and keep brainstorming.
Conclusion
Even if you checked off 90% of the boxes above, you’re still missing at least two crucial components of a complete content strategy.
Check the ego at the door and never quit on your quest to improve.
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