Many people are not aware of the fact that Google and the other search engines are shifting away from traditional SEO to focus on quality, authoritative content. Of course it is always essential to stay on top of your relevant keywords and to optimize your meta data. However, these days it’s more important to focus on producing fresh, authoritative content than it is to put all your time and effort toward SEO-related tasks.
Nowadays, due to many changes in Google’s algorithm, content-heavy SEO is not the best way to drive traffic to your site. Anyone who has even dabbled in internet marketing has heard the phrase “Content is king” – which is a statement that is still true today as content is what drives the internet. Because the search engines are now putting much more importance on quality authoritative content, marketing experts are realizing that authority has become more important than SEO.
No Denying the Value of Authoritative Content
In today’s modern marketing environment it is absolutely essential that businesses consistently create relevant, insightful and valuable content that speaks well to the intended audience. In order to effectively market a business’s content, the content must be geared toward the readers so that they are more likely to take the desired action and to share the content.
Authoritative content is well crafted, relevant to the audience and takes an insightful approach that makes the reader think they’re just learning about the idea or concept for the first time. When high quality, authoritative content is shared online, it stands a good chance of going viral which is something every marketer dreams of.
Creating and sharing great content not only helps drive organic traffic to a site but it also helps create trust between the business and its audience. When site visitors read interesting authoritative content a business regularly posts online, those people are able to learn more about the business wherein they will feel as though they are developing a relationship with it. It is also much easier to sell something to someone who trusts you rather than to someone who knows little or nothing about you.
If you’re a recent startup founder who could use some tips regarding how to create authoritative content, here are some helpful suggestions.
Understand Your Topic Well
You cannot produce authoritative content if you don’t know your topic inside out. You also have to be passionate about your topic in order to write well about it. If you’re new to the business world or are selling new products or services you don’t fully understand, take whatever time is necessary to learn about your products by doing some basic research. The time you do spend researching and getting to know your products/services well will pay off in the end as you will be much better at writing about those things.
Make Sure Your Content is Put Together Well
This should go without saying but it is being stated anyway because many businesses are guilty of producing and sharing poorly crafted content. If there is one thing that will send someone scrambling away from your site very quickly, it’s poorly crafted content that causes confusion. Think about your own experiences surfing the web. Surely there have been times you’ve run across sites featuring content that just wasn’t put together well. It’s almost a sure bet that you left that site very quickly and never went back just based on the poor experience you had.
Share Your Content on Social Media Channels
Instead of just writing articles and blog posts for your own purposes, share the content you create with your social media followers. To entice people to click through to your website or blog, use catchy titles or pose questions you know your targeted audience will likely ask. Remember that people online today are looking for solutions to problems they have so craft your content in such a way that people will want to click through to find out more.
Stay Focused
It’s essential to plan out your content strategy carefully which includes doing good research about the topics you’re going to write about. Focus on staying on subject so you keep the attention of your readers. Producing authoritative content requires that you completely and competently cover the topic you’re writing about while providing the reader with fresh insight into the subject matter.
Have Your Content Reviewed and Commented On
It’s important that you are consistently building an audience for your content. Take the time to submit your articles to trade publications and then respond right away to any comments people make. Seek out the leaders in your industry and ask then to review and comment on the articles you post on your site and blog. Nothing can boost your brand better than a few positive words from an important person so it really pays off to ask industry influencers for reviews and comments.
Don’t Forget Who You’re Writing For
Instead of focusing on your topics, always keep your readers in mind. Are you providing them with content they’ll appreciate? Is your content helping to solve problems your audience has? Is your content interesting and insightful? When you consistently deliver great content to your targeted audience you will gradually become thought of as an industry leader which is exactly what you want to happen.
Use the Right Tone
It’s important that the tone of your writing is not dry like how textbooks are written as that type of content bores people to tears. You should use a more conversational tone when you create content as that is what people relate to most. Remember that you want people to know there is a person behind the brand so find your voice and then use it consistently with all the content you create and share.
Present Information in a Way People Can Understand
If you use many words most people are unfamiliar with or overly complex language when creating content, you’ll most likely scare potential customers away rather than draw them in. Nobody wants to sit and read articles or blog posts that are confusing and difficult to digest & understand. It’s important to find the balance between simplicity and depth when creating content. The best content is informative, insightful and descriptive.
Finding Inspiration to Develop Compelling Content
Many business owners who’ve been creating content consistently eventually run into problems finding topics to write about. This should come as no surprise because after all, becoming a round-the-clock content creation machine is not easy! Here are a few unexpected sources of content inspiration that can help you find topics to write about.
Other Business Owners
The most successful business owners are more than happy to share their thoughts and stories with others. Take the time to track down a few successful business owners in your area or online who you’d like to reach out to. Simply tell them that you are looking for some inspiration and ideas to share with your audience.
Business Books
There are all types of business books out there which are great sources for topic ideas. Take a trip to your local library and have a look around. Focus on choosing books that sound the most interesting and then turn the information and insights you read about into different pieces of content for your site and blog.
Twitter Trends
Twitter’s trending topics are rich in great content ideas. If you’re lucky, you’ll be one of the first in your niche to write about a hot new topic you found trending on Twitter. If you don’t find anything the first time around just re-visit the site again until you do find some inspiration you can use.
Create a Google Alert
A convenient way to get a list of topics related to your industry sent directly to your inbox is to create a Google Alert. These email updates consist of the latest relevant Google results based on your choice of topics. To set up an alert, just visit the Google Alert page and then enter phrases relevant to your industry. It’s a good idea to create a separate email account for receiving these updates otherwise your more important messages may get lost in the crowd of incoming alerts.
If you’re a startup founder who is still facing difficulties producing great content for your new business, sign up for your free subscription to Successful Startup 101. By doing so you will receive exclusive business advice that you won’t find anywhere else.
