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4 Ways to Take Your Content Planning to the Next Level

Do you want to create high-quality content that establishes you as a go-to source for answers and information? You should, because it’s the best way to become a leader in your field. You may have your social media strategy, links, and user metrics down to a science, but if your content is mediocre, you’ll fail to attract the attention and following you need to succeed.

There’s No Faking Authority

If you’ve already started a blog and are producing videos and podcasts – kudos! Are you happy, though, with the results you’re seeing? If not, it’s time to take your content planning to the next level. Here are four ways to do it.

Focus on Quality Over Quantity

Read enough articles about inbound marketing and you’ll be advised to “produce consistent content” hundreds of times. But that doesn’t mean churning out an unlimited supply of content. It means making sure the content you do turn out is consistently good and valuable. Make the decision now to stop worrying about overloading your content with keywords and, instead, focus on creating relevant, quality content that matches users’ queries.

There’s no point in creating content for content’s sake. Don’t be led astray by people who try to tell you there is one proven formula that guarantees increased traffic and conversions. Some businesses thrive with multiple blog posts per week. You may get by with two a month. What matters most is your ability to provide your audience with informative content that keeps them coming back for more. That may mean fewer, longer pieces as opposed to a multitude of short posts. Find the release schedule that works best for you.

Content is More than Blogging

If you want fresh traffic, better SEO, and higher conversion rates, now’s the time to move beyond the simple blog post. While planning your content, think about how you can you use your research to produce multiple pieces that reach a wider range of potential leads. For example, you can start with an eBook that can be used to generate separate infographics, unique landing pages, whitepapers, email campaigns, videos, and guest blog posts.

Add Video to Your Content Strategy

According to a report by Demand Metric 95% of companies surveyed reported that video is becoming a fairly or far more important key form of marketing and sales content. Brands are finding that even the simplest of videos can make a significant difference in their marketing campaigns.

Video is expected to account for nearly 80% of all global traffic by the year 2018. That’s a big jump from the 66% it represented in 2014, and it’s a trend you can’t afford to miss out on. Any content planning should now include video as a main component. Think with Google recommends that you create a content plan that ensures your content meets your brands goals and engages your intended audience.

Plan Content that Uses Keywords Intelligently

Google’s Knowledge Graph enables users to search for people, places, or things that Google knows about, including cities, landmarks, works of art, sports teams, etc. It has changed the nature of search by tapping into the collective intelligence of the web and using the information found there more like people do in real life – basically a form of artificial intelligence.

What does this mean for your content planning? It’s time to start using keywords in an intelligent way. Misconceptions abound about how keywords should be used. Yes, search algorithms have changed, but there are still keyword research best practices you should follow.

  • Create your keyword list using diverse sources, including online blogs, company and product reviews, Google searches, and even an online thesaurus.
  • Cast your keyword search net widely and include anything and everything on your list.
  • Create in-house keyword lists generated from press releases, your website, etc.
  • Use interviews, surveys, focus groups, and discussions with support or sales personnel to find out which keywords your customers are using.

Avoid focusing on keyword density and plan now to build your content pieces around high-level keywords that are both natural and relevant.

The bottom line is that creating content is not enough. You need to plan how the content you create will help distinguish you in a crowded market. Careful planning will ensure that you reach audiences who appreciate what you have to say and offer, and will inspire and move your customers to action.

Topics: content planning

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