- November 6th 2024
- SEO News,Blog,Content,Content Creation,content marketing,Content Strategy
The no-nonsense guide to planning your SEO content strategy
If there’s one area of SEO content that’s most commonly neglected amongst small businesses, it’s planning (and perhaps moreover, sticking to) your strategy. When so many small businesses are limited in time and resources, it genuinely feels as though it’s prudent to just get content out there whenever you manage to get it done. And sure, that’s totally understandable. However, your content will be so much more valuable to you if it is planned and consistent. So, we’ve drawn together a quick and straightforward guide to getting that elusive plan done.
Thinking time
The time that you spend thinking, and even half thinking, about your content is just as valuable as the time you spend creating it. Even when you have nothing tangible to show for that time, it will repay you in smoother, quicker content creation.
Background understanding
Browse around the data that you have available. This could mean engaging in relevant threads on social media to gauge current topics. Or delving into your website traffic data to see what users are interacting with. Spend time jotting down all the different angles of a topic that you can think of, even if they’re utterly farfetched.
Eating biscuits
OK, you don’t have to eat biscuits, although we’re not sure why you wouldn’t want to! What we’re getting at here is to do whatever helps you to think. For some it’s a cuppa, for others it’s a long walk. You don’t have to be staring at a screen to be planning your content strategy.
Identify your platforms
Even though it’s lovely to have lots of different social icons on your website, most businesses really don’t need them. With realistic profiling of your customer or client base, you can identify the genuinely helpful platforms where you should concentrate your efforts.
Website
Clearly, this is the key location for your SEO content. You should be posting regular, relevant content on your site to underpin its SEO. Here, plan how content topics will run from one to the other, like chapters in a book. Unlike a book, they don’t have to be consecutive, though. For example, you may run a monthly series of case studies that has its own flow, alongside shorter organisational news pieces. Use your content in newsletter form to capture emails and increase direct visitors.
Social media
This is where it tends to get overwhelming. The channels of social media that you choose to represent your business each have their own sets of etiquette that actually make it pretty hard to produce catch-all content that works. Be realistic here. If a channel doesn’t require lots of information, don’t try to fit it all in. Identify the channels that work for you and spend time getting it right. Don’t worry about the rest.
Real world
Let’s not forget about the non-cyber world. How much do you use traditional forms of print marketing and how can they intersect with your online strategy? These things shouldn’t exist in isolation.
Reconfigure your content
Think of your content like a cardboard box to a toddler. It can be a car, a castle, a train, a hiding place, a robot, a pet… The list goes on. Your single blog article or case study can be transformed into an infographic, a meme, a video, a podcast, several different quote images, advice, lists, and whatever else you can think of. While we’re here, let us know what we’ve missed – there’s always something!
Long form
600 words and more, these articles are where you can explore thoughts about your industry and target those customer pain points that naturally flow into traditional keywords. Like this blog post!
Short bursts
It’s OK to post shorter content, too. Whether this is organisational news, a condensed form of longer articles, or something completely out of the box that’s just for fun. They work as rewards for your regular content audience.
Shareable images
Extract a few ideas from a written post that can be condensed into an image and get sharing on your social platforms. They might be concise quotes or infographics. You don’t always have to link to the article or even to your website, just have your brand visible. These pieces of content are used to build general awareness.
Video and audio
You might commission a series of animations, use software to convert text into video, or film self-narrative opinions and thoughts. There are even packages which convert text into audio with your own voice to create basic podcasts. Video content especially is increasingly crucial for SEO. Users love it, and so do search engines.
Logistics
This is where you set out when you’re going to publish your content in all its various locations. Having a structure here will help you to work out and optimise how various pieces of content work together, and how to make them most effective.
Regularity
What works for you and your audience? Monthly blog posts, and weekly socials? Will you drip visual cues on Instagram every few days with longer videos on Youtube every fortnight? There’s no right answer. We know that regularity is key and if you’ve spent time understanding how your users work, you’ll know how often you should schedule content on various platforms.
Links
Most of your content will refer to other topics that you’ve covered. Include links wherever possible to build the web of information that sets your website out as an authority in its field. Google understands this, so it’s good SEO practice as well as creating a content journey which builds a positive user experience.
Journey planning
Ideally, the locations of your content will intersect together to act like a tube map. It should never be too hard (or take too many steps) for your potential clients to arrive at the decision to contact you.
Knowing that a content strategy is a good idea is a given. And as we’ve shown, drawing up a schedule isn’t exactly rocket science. It’s the commitment that’s hard! If you’re on board but time poor, get in touch for our SEO content service packages.
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