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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY1

    The Ultimate Content Strategist

    Playbook No. 4:

     Engaging and Building an Audience

    Copyright © 2015 Contently. All rights reserved. contently.com By Joe Lazauskas

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY2

    I. Introduction  3

    II. The Magical Email Newsletter  6

    III. Organic Social Media  11

    IV. Paid Content Distribution  16

     V. SEO  23

     VI. Conclusion  26

    Table of Contents

    http://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdfhttp://../150202_Ultimate%20Content%20Strategist%20Playbook%201/150202_Playbook.pdf

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY3

    Four years ago, I ound mysel on a plane o

    Zurich, drunk on Air France wine and oblivious o he

    ac ha I was abou o learn a very hard lesson

    in conen markeing.

    I was 23 and excied or he mos badass projec

    o my young career. I was par o a small bu alened

    eam o young wriers and documenary filmmakers

    asked wih creaing a real-ime documenary

    abou five young enrepreneurs fighing or social good

    a a young leadership conerence. From inerviews

    we’d conduced over he previous ew weeks we knew

    hey had plans o rally heir peers and he powerul

    world leaders in atendance. The plan was or our eam

    o capure i all as i unolded, posing updaes across

    social and on a slick sie we’d buil in jus 20 days.

    Things wen beter han we could have ever imagined.

    Our five young proagoniss, all aged 17 o 21, were

    ineciously charismaic; he group’s leader in paricular,

    Sizwe, had he power o make us swoon.

    Sizwe quickly became known as he Souh Arican

    Barack Obama or his uncanny resemblance o

    he presiden and powerul oraory skills. He wased

    no ime making big speeches and rallying he oher

    atendees o spark a global movemen. We capured i

    all via video, blog poss, and wees, polishing

    each piece o conen and pushing i ou as quickly

    as possible. Though our salaries and expenses

    were being paid by he corporae conglomerae bank-

    rolling he conerence, we el like we were working

    or Sizwe’s movemen. Beter ye, we el like we were

    making somehing worh reading and waching. By

    he end o he weekend, we were on a serious work

    high: There were concree plans or a global movemen,

    and a number o powerul leaders had rallied around

    our young sars.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY4

    The projec el like a huge success. There was exci-

    ed alk o keeping he documenary going or years o

    come, and I was pumped a he prospec o helping

    lead he ediorial operaions o a mini-revoluion. Bu

    wihin a week, he whole hing was deemed a colossal

    ailure and shu down. You see, while we had creaed

    a on o grea conen, no

    one had acually seen i.

    I was a deadly misake.

    We’d ailed o build any sor

    o real conen disribuion

    or audience-building

    sraegy, and i cos us a

    huge opporuniy.

    I was a hard-learned lesson—one ha a lo o brands

    and publishers have learned over he pas ew years.

    I you build i, hey probably won’ jus magically come.

    Insead, you need o work your ass off o ge hem

    here and keep hem coming back.

    Edelman Chie Conen Sraegis Seve Rubel goes as

    ar o sugges ha brands should hink abou conen

    disribuion firs, and everyhing else laer.

    “Brands need o pu disribuion hinking ahead o con-

    en developmen, which sounds compleely backward.

    The hisory o he conen indusry is

    make somehing grea—and ha bar’s go-

    ing up by he way—and hen hink abou

    how you disribue ha grea hing,” he

    said. “Wha BuzzFeed and ohers have

    augh us is ha you need o hink abou

    all o he differen pahways ha people

    ake o find grea hings. You need o

    ideniy wha hose brands do, and wha hose conen

    creaors do, o ge heir conen ou here. I should no

    impede your creaiviy, bu i should inorm i.”

    I was a deadly misake. We’d

    failed o build any sor of real

    conen disribuion or

    audience-building sraegy, and

    i cos us a huge opporuniy.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY5

    In our Ulimae Conen Sraegis Playbook series so ar, we’ve

    covered—sep-by-sep—how o evangelize a conen program, creae

    a killer conen sraegy by ideniying an underserved audience,

    and saff and launch your conen program so ha you can publish

    high-qualiy conen quickly and efficienly. Bu he mos imporan

    work—geting people o read, and keep reading, your conen—has

    jus begun.

    Here, in our ourh Ulimae Conen Sraegis Playbook, we’ll dive

    ino a deailed overview o how o build an audience or your brand

    publicaion. You’ll find insighs rom some o he mos successul

    brand publishers on Earh, as well as rom our own experience growing

    our audience enold o over 200,000 readers in he pas year.

     ALON G T HE WAY, WE ’LL COV ER FOU R M AJOR TACTI CS:

    1. Email newsleters

    2. Organic social media

    3. Paid conen disribuion

    4. SEO

    Le’s ge sared.

    http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/03/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-evangelizing-content-and-setting-yourself-up-for-success/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/10/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-no-2-strategy-and-roadmap/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/26/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-no-3-staffing-and-launching-your-content-marketing-program/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/26/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-no-3-staffing-and-launching-your-content-marketing-program/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/10/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-no-2-strategy-and-roadmap/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/03/the-ultimate-content-strategist-playbook-evangelizing-content-and-setting-yourself-up-for-success/

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY6

    2. The Magical Email Newsletter

    The biggest weapon in brand publishers’ arsenal has

    been around since Bill Clinton got his first Hotmailaccount: the email newsletter. It’s given birth to many a

    new media empire, and it remains the most effective

    audience-building tool that you have as a publisher,

    allowing you to drive loyal readers back to your site day

    after day.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY7

    Tomas Kellner has buil GE Repors ino one o

    he hotes ech publicaions around, wih over hal a

    million monhly readers. And hough his conen

    regularly goes viral on Reddi and Tumblr, he really

    perks up when he alks abou email.

    “We love email,” Kellner gushed. “I may sound old-

    school, bu email subscripion is really a hard-

    wired link o your audience. For us, email subscribers

    are an exremely valuable audience ha we wan.

    Every day 15,000 people ge he blas rom GE Repors

    ha a new sory is ou.”

    When Kellner came over o GE Repors rom Forbes,

    building GE Repors’ newsleter was his firs mission.

    “We sared wih zero subscribers, jus like anyone else,”

    he explained. “Wih any brand, really, you sar wih

    employees, and hen you build he lis rom here.”

    For he pas six years, how many email subscribers

    a sory drives has been one o he mos imporan

    merics or GE Repors. Talk o mos successul

    publishers and you’ll hear a similar senimen.

    “Email is huge,” said Neil Pael, a serial enrepreneur

    who’s buil audiences o over 100,000 monhly visiors

    or hree separae blogs: KISSmerics, Quick Sprou,

    and Crazy Egg. “In erms o disribuion, i’s he bigges

    hing you can do.”

    Pael’s blogs are filled wih real esae devoed o

    collecing email addresses; usually, he’s offering

    somehing in reurn, like ree access o his “Advanced

    Guide o SEO.” I pays off. For one o Pael’s blogs,

    email accouns or 28 percen o all raffic—and his

    doesn’ even ake ino accoun he second wave

    o raffic as hose readers who came rom email share

    his poss wih heir ollowers on Facebook, Twiter,

    and LinkedIn.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY8

    This wave o readership is an incredible phenomenon, and i’s one ha

    we experience every day a The Conen Sraegis. Our daily email

    newsleter drives housands o readers o our sie every day. Simply pu,

    he email newsleter is he old-school engine ha could.

    Simply pu, he email newsleter is he old-school

    engine ha could.

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    Here’s a quick look a he effec an email newsleter has on driving readers o your publicaion:

    EMAIL NEWSLETTER

    BLOG TRAFFIC!

    THEY’RE LOVING IT

    EVEN. MORE. BLOG.

    TRAFFIC. GUYS.

    OMG EVEN MORE

    BLOG TRAFFIC!

    THEY LOVE IT TOO!

    TWITTER SHARES

    EVEN MORE

    TWITTER SHARES

    EVEN MORE

    FACEBOOK SHARES

    NEW EMAIL

    SUBSCRIBERS

    EVEN MORE

    LINKEDIN SHARES

    FAC EB OOK SH AR ES L IN KE DI N SH AR ES

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY10

    This may seem incredibly obvious, bu a lo o brand publishers

    ail o develop a dedicaed newsleter or heir conen. I’s one o he

    mos common misakes new brand publishers make.

    In ruh, he echnology sack needed o make his all work is ridic-

    ulously simple; i’s more PB&J han Ialian sub. A Conenly, we use

    MailChimp o build and send our newsleters, and Sumo.me’s Lis

    Builder and Scroll Box ools o inelligenly collec email addresses.

    Boh MailChimp and Sumo.me come wih well-designed emplaes ha

    are easy o se up—no coding required. Pael uses Maropos or boh.

    There are a lo o effecive echnologies ou here or building your email

    newsleter, each wih is own advanages and disadvanages.

    The imporan hing is ha you pick one and sar building your lis.

    An email newsleter is he oundaion o your audience-building effors.Wihou i, all he oher audience-building echniques we’re going o

    discuss don’ work nearly as well.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY11

    3. Organic Social Media

    Last year, Adobe Marketing Cloud released a hilarious

    commercial that poignantly captures the way a lot of

    marketers do social. Two dorky marketers are in an

    elevator with a couple of hipsters. “Yo bro, you on Woo

    Woo?” one of the hipsters asks.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY12

    “Are you kidding me, bro? Everyone’s on Woo Woo.”

    The wo markeers go ino a panic, and sorm ino heir

    office barking a heir eam o go all-in on Woo Woo.

    “I wan sponsored Woos! I wan argeed Woos! We

    wan o be all up in your Woo Woo eed!” one orders.

    “We need an ehnically ambiguous Woo Woo masco!”

    he oher declares.

    Meanwhile, he hipsers are back in he elevaor.

    Are hey sill on Woo Woo? “Nah man, my mom’s on

    Woo Woo.”

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY13

    Anyone who’s goten caugh up in he sorm o

    exciemen over flash-in-he-pan social neworks like

    Meerka and Ello know ha his is all oo rue. I’s

    all oo easy o ge caugh up in whaever new plaorm

    is inspiring 1,000 TechCrunch hink pieces on any given

    week. I’s also easy or brands o ge caugh up in social

    media in general and

    lose sigh o he goal

    a hand—in his case,

    driving readers o

    he publicaion you

    jus creaed.

    The simple ruh is ha

    brands ofen inves a

    on o ime and money

    ino social media wih unrealisic expecaions o wha

    resuls hose effors will deliver. They’ll assemble gian

    social media eams and pump big money ino buying

    Facebook ans and Twiter ollowers. They’re assuming

    ha i i you have 100,000 Facebook ans and anoher

    100,000 Twiter ollowers, geting 100,000 readers o

    your blog should be a piece o cake, righ? Wrong.

    Lae las year, Forreser released a ascinaing repor,

    “Social Relaionship Sraegies Tha Work,” which

    showed ha brands were

    reaching only a small

    percenage o heir Facebook

    and Twiter ollowing: less

    han 2 percen o ollowers saw

    an average pos, and less han

    0.1 percen ineraced wih is

    conen. While a newsleter

    sen o 100,000 subscribers can

    easily resul in 10,000 readers

    wihin a ew hours, a Facebook or Twiter updae sen

    o he same ollowing is likely o produce less han 70.

    While a newsleter sen o 100,000

    subscribers can easily resul in10,000 readers wihin a few hours, a

    Facebook or Twiter updae sen o

    he same following is likely o produce

    less han 70.

    http://blogs.forrester.com/nate_elliott/14-11-17-facebook_has_finally_killed_organic_reach_what_should_marketers_do_nexthttp://blogs.forrester.com/nate_elliott/14-11-17-facebook_has_finally_killed_organic_reach_what_should_marketers_do_next

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY14

    Bu paradoxically, social media is an incredibly

    powerul orce on he web, driving over 30 percen oall raffic o conen sies. As Shareaholic noed in

    is end-o-year analysis o over 300,000 websies

    ha reach over 400 million people, Facebook is paricu-

    larly dominan, driving nearly 25 percen o all raffic

    on he Inerne. Tha’s insane.

    This presens a paradox or brand

    publishers: Barely anyone sees updaes

    rom brand accouns, ye social media

    is an incredibly imporan source o raffic

    or publishers o all kinds. So how can

    brand publishers inves in social media in

    a way ha helps heir brand publishing

    effors?

    I’s prety simple. The secre is ha he majoriy o

    your social media raffic will come when oherpeople—such as your email subscribers or influencers

    you inerview—share your conen, no when you

    share your own conen. Your number one social media

    prioriy should be creaing conen ha people can’

    help bu share.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY15

    A Conenly, or insance, 37.6 percen o our readers his year have

    come o our conen direcly rom social media. Tha’s no because wepos incredibly viral social updaes—i’s because we inves our ime

    and resources in creaing compelling conen ha’s shared over

    600 imes on average. Tha doesn’ mean you should abandon your

    own social updaes. Wihou a doub, you should be acive on he

    plaorms where your readers are sharing and alking abou your con-

    en. For us—as or mos markeing pubs—ha’s Facebook, Twiter,

    and LinkedIn. For your brand, i migh be a differen combinaion o

    social neworks. Jus don’ le hose effors ge in he way o creaing

    conen ha people wan o share.

    The secre is ha he majoriy of your social

    media raffic will come when oher people—

    such as your email subscribers or influencers

    you inerview—share your conen, no whenyou share your own conen.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY16

    4. Paid Content Distribution

    It’s time for the obvious question: What do you do whenyou’re investing money in creating great content, but

    your email list is still small and your social channels are

    only driving a small amount of readers?

    The answer: You invest in paid content distribution.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY17

    For brand publishers spending $400 on an aricle, spending an exra

    $50 o ensure ha wice as many people see ha aricle jus makessense. And righ now, here are a plehora o companies popping up o

    help brands acquire an audience cheaply and effecively.

    In ruh, every publisher is always hungry o grow heir audience.

    I know we are a Conenly. We have 200,000 monhly readers oday,

    bu we wan a million. And ha means

    we have o go o where hose poenial

    readers hang ou online.

    “Ulimaely you’ve go o reach people

    in he venues where hey’re choosing

    o spend ime,” said renowned conen

    markeing exper Jay Baer. “I everybody’s spending ime on Facebook,

    you have o reach hem here. The key is, whaever you’re doing on

    Facebook, use ha o ge hem over o your own world, o ge hem o

    subscribe o your email or somehing else ha’s a litle bi more reliable

    in erms o your messaging.”

    A Conenly, ha’s exacly he approach we ake.

    For brand publishers spending $400

    on an aricle, spending an exra $50

    o ensure ha wice as many people

    see ha aricle jus makes sense.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY18

    We have 15,000 ans on Facebook, bu our organic

    reach sucks due o Facebook’s penalizaion o compa-nies. We’re lucky i our Facebook poss reach 500

    people organically and generaes a ew dozen clicks.

    However, as I deailed in a recen pos and will plagia-

    rize here, we’ve figured ou how o use Facebook in

    a powerul way ha’s made i a hugely valuable pla-

    orm or our conen eam.

    We es ou mos o he sories we pos on Facebook

    wih an unpublished Facebook dark pos. Basically,

    we pay $5 o $10 o deliver each sory o a arge audi-

    ence o markeers and see how i perorms. And i

    i perorms really well—like our recen inerview wih

    Seh Godin—we pu more money behind i. (We have

    a relaively small budge or his kind o hing, so we

    spend i careully.)

    The CPC or hese poss ypically ranges rom $0.15

    o $0.20, which acually undersells heir cos effecive-ness, since he numbers doesn’ accoun or he organic

    reach and clicks ha occur when readers share your

    sponsored Facebook pos. Our Facebook sponsored

    pos or our Seh Godin inerview, or insance, was

    shared 449 imes, which resuled in 800 addiional

    clicks and an organic reach o over 18,000.

    Bu we’re no jus buying clicks; we’re also invesing

    in our long-erm audience. The new readers we’re

    driving o he sie sick around, spending nearly hree

    minues engaging wih our sories on average—and

    per Charbea’s daa, readers who spend hree engaged

    minues wih a sory are more han 50 percen likely

    o reurn wihin a week. Addiionally, we ry o make

    sure hese readers reurn by promping hem o sign up

    or our daily newsleter, and nearly 5 percen do.

    Crucially, hese new subscribers end o be more

    engaged han our lis as a whole.

    http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/04/yes-facebooks-organic-reach-is-terrible-but-youre-crazy-if-you-delete-your-page/http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2014/08/26/facebook-dark-posts/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/06/you-need-editors-not-brand-managers-marketing-legend-seth-godin-on-the-future-of-branded-content/http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2014/08/26/facebook-dark-posts/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/04/yes-facebooks-organic-reach-is-terrible-but-youre-crazy-if-you-delete-your-page/

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    Here’s wha he whole hing looks like:

    FACEBOOK

    SPONSORED POST

    ORGANIC

    REACH

    CONTENTLY

    NEWSLETTER

    CONTENTLY

    PRODUCT PAGES

     ADD ITI ONA L

    SHARES ON TWITTER,

    LINKEDIN, ETC.

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY20

    So hrough Facebook ads, we're geting engaged readers who are likely

    o reurn. We're geting email subscribers who will probably comeback. We're bringing ons o new people o our sie who migh op o

    find ou more abou Conenly's services. In ha ligh, he $0.15 CPC

    invesmen sars o look like a seal. And we haven' even considered

    he ac ha hose new readers end o share our sories like crazy

    on Twiter and LinkedIn, who will in urn drive even more readers and

    email subscribers o our sie.

    Bu Facebook sponsored poss aren' he bes venue or everyone. Many

    Conenly cliens use Oubrain's disribuion services hrough Conenly,

    and ypically see a CPC under $0.25. Twiter—while significanly

    more expensive per click han Facebook or Oubrain in our experience—

    may provide superior resuls or some in he media, markeing, and

    ech indusries. And while LinkedIn has CPCs approaching $4, he abiliy

    o arge based on job ile and company makes i an invaluable

    plaorm or hose looking o arge a small bu significan audience.

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    No mater wha plaorm(s) you use or paid conen disribuion, you can supercharge your audience

    growh i you use hem correcly:

    PAID CONTENT

    DISTRIBUTION

    READS

     AWES OME CON TEN T

    ON OWNED SITE

    EVEN MORE

    TCS TRAFFIC &

    NEW READERS

    SIGNS UP

    FOR NEWSLETTER

    SHARES ON

    SOCIAL NETWORKS

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY22

    As always, i’s worh keeping in mind ha his only works i your conen

    is so good ha people wan o subscribe o your newsleter and share iwih heir nework. Bu i i is, he effecs can be magical.

    For sep-by-sep insrucions and ricks on how o be incredibly effecive

    on each plaorm, check ou our recen e-book, “Paid Conen Disribu-

    ion 101: The Beginner’s Guide o Geting More Eyeballs on Your Sories .”

    http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/03/31/the-beginners-guide-to-paid-content-distribution/

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY23

    5. SEO

    Despite all the trend reports declaring search dead

    in the age of social, that’s far from the case. According toShareaholic’s last search traffic report, search still

    drives about a third of all traffic to publishers’ sites (a bit

    more than social, although it’s likely social has caught

    up by now). No matter how you cut it, search remains an

    important part of any successful content strategy —a channel that, like social, will drive readers and new

    email subscribers.

    https://blog.shareaholic.com/search-visit-value-06-2014/https://blog.shareaholic.com/search-visit-value-06-2014/

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    ULTIMATE CONTENT STRATEGIST PLAYBOOK

    CONTENTLY24

    I you haven’ rehough SEO his decade, well, i’s

    probably ime o dich any preconcepions. A lo

    o people sill hink ha good SEO means aggressive

    keyword suffing, bu ha’s been compleely unrue

    since he release o Google’s Panda algorihm in 2011.

    Insead, SEO in 2015 is abou one big hing: qualiy.

    “I hink here’s sill a lo o [misguided] belie around

    quaniy over qualiy,” said Rand Fishkin, co-ounder o

    Moz. “The vas, vas majoriy o links and shares and

    amplificaion signals o

    all kinds are going o only

    he op 5 or 10 percen o

    conen ha ges pu ou. There’s no a whole lo o val-

    ue in wriing a decen blog pos anymore. [There’s no a

    lo o value] unless you can be prety exraordinary.”

    The good news is ha i you’ve ollowed he seps

    laid ou in our firs hree playbooks and developed

    a sraegy o creae original, high-qualiy conen

    in a high-ineres area relevan o your brand ha’s

    currenly being underserved, you have a very good

    sho a being in ha op 5 o 10 percen o conen

    ha’s ou here.

    “Insead o ocusing on keywords, ocus on conen,”

    Ambar Shrivasava, a veeran developer who is now VP

    o produc managemen

    or Tuor.com and he

    Princeton Review, old The

    Conenly Sraegis. “Really ry o map ou conen o

    your arge audience. You wan o hink abou

    your audience and wha’s imporan o hem insead

    o creaing pages buil or keywords.”

    SEO in 2015 is abou one big hing: qualiy.

    http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/http://contently.com/strategist/2015/02/24/seo-isnt-dead-its-just-different/

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    Essenially, i you’re creaing conen ha’s unique, generaing

    value or he reader, and earning links rom people who find i ascina-

    ing, you’re in grea shape. “SEO is a process—he way hings earn

    atenion, how hey are amplified, who amplifies hem, how hey earn

    links, wheher hey’re argeed a hings ha people acually search

    or,” Fishkin explained. “Wheher hey solve hose search queries is

    he user experience you provide.”

    According o Cyrus Shepard, Moz’s direcor o conen and SEO, Google

    is beginning o esimae ime on sie, which means ha sories ha

    capure a user’s atenion or longer will ge a boos in Google’s rankings.

    Google is also opimizing or sies ha load quickly and are opimized

    or mobile. Like wih everyhing else we’ve discussed, SEO comes down

    o puting your audience firs and elling grea sories.

    “Saring wih audience firs and finding where i resonaes” is wha will

    work in 2015 and beyond, said Shepard.

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    O all he seps you ake as a new publisher, audience-

    building is probably he mos challenging—bu i

    also migh be he mos un. I’s he poin when you

    ruly sar connecing wih people and begin o see

    he angible reurns o your conen markeing effors.

    Bu i’s also a challenging ime because even wih

    he mos aggressive effors, i can ake monhs or even

    years beore you sar

    o build he audience o

    your dreams.

    “Wha you have o undersand is ha he companion o

    conen markeing,” said Baer, “is elongaing your ime

    horizon or success.”

    In oher words, building a conen brand akes ime, bu

    he rewards are huge.

    Conclusion

    By his poin in our Ulimae Conen Sraegis

    Playbook series, we’ve learned how o evangelize con-

    en, build a conen sraegy and roadmap, saff

    and launch our publicaions, and build an audience.

    Bu one big piece o he puzzle remains: measure-

    men. Tracking he success o each acic you use and

    opimizing accordingly is crucial. In doing so, you’ll

    creae a sysem ha ensures he

    coninual improvemen o your

    conen markeing effors.

    In our nex and final Ulimae Conen Sraegis Play-

    book, we’ll cover everyhing you need o know abou

    conen measuremen and opimizaion. By he end,

    you’ll be sure o one hing: There’s no limi o how big

    and powerul your new brand publicaion can grow.

    Building a conen brand akes ime,

    bu he rewards are huge.

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    Want more insights into the

    state of content marketing?

    For daily insights, subscribe to our online magazine,

    The Content Strategist.

    And if you’d like to talk to someone about Contently’s services,

    please reach out to us at [email protected] 

    or visit contently.com.

    contently.com

    http://contently.com/strategist/http://../Library/Caches/Adobe%20InDesign/Version%2010.0/en_US/InDesign%20ClipboardScrap1.pdfhttp://contently.com/http://www.contently.com/http://www.contently.com/http://contently.com/http://../Library/Caches/Adobe%20InDesign/Version%2010.0/en_US/InDesign%20ClipboardScrap1.pdfhttp://contently.com/strategist/