Content Marketing Essentials

Content marketing is a complicated business that is mistakenly separated from the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) component of your online marketing strategy, which is a big mistake.  

Content marketing is a division of your SEO

 

Once you realise that Content Marketing is one of the primary components of your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and take this very seriously, then you are onto the right track and will begin to understand the essential components of content marketing.  The biggest issue is to define your intended target market audience, and determine how best to write for this group in a manner that best suits your intended purpose of the content that you wish to put in front of their eyes.

Those who tell you that content marketing is not a sub division of your SEO need to be treated with caution.

Many SEO experts will try to convince you that content marketing does not fall under the management umbrella of your Search Engine Optimisation manager, but these people are very mistaken, and in my personal opinion need to be shown the way to your back door, then asked to leave very quietly, and told to never set foot in your office again.  Take a minute or two and think about content marketing and the purpose that you as an individual  would want to do any content marketing.  Next do the same for SEO and write down (document these issues clearly)  the similarities and differences.  compare this then evaluate your decision to separate SEO and Content marketing or keep them connected.

Usually the purpose of content marketing is to ensure that your content gets better traction with your target audience, but every business will have a slightly different perspective of the purpose of content marketing.  With out a clear well defined purpose for your content marketing you have no way of understanding the potential impacts of content marketing, or even  the intended aims and objectives of your content marketing.

Content marketing is not an add on issue, but is something that needs to be considered early in the content design stages. 

 

When defining the purpose of your content marketing you should be using the following documents as guide lines and references.

1. the purpose of your online marketing
2. the aims and objectives of your  online marketing plan
3. the aims and objectives of you web site if you have one
4. the aims and objectives of your blog if you have one
5. the aims and objectives of your social media policy if you have one
6. the purpose, aims and objectives  of the specific content that you will be marketing

These documents along with the documentation supplied discussing the intended target market groups, as well as related marketing campaigns that have already been run and those that are either currently being run or planned for the near future will dictate the way forward within any specific content marketing campaign.

Your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)  has the same identical target audience but is mostly focused on ensuring that

1) your content is located within the SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages)
2) your target audience will select your link in the SERP's
3) those who clicked on your result in the SERP's actually clicks on a CTA (Call To Action) within the page that they chose to open.  (note that links in your navigation structure are also considered as CTA's)

If your content marketing was poorly done, then step (2) and (3) in the above list of essential steps may perhaps  not  be completed, as your viewers may be expecting different information or not be pleased at what they are exposed to within the page, because they have been mislead by your content marketing.  It thus follows that content marketing is a very essential and critical part of the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) process, and that your content marketing needs to be aligned with, and integrated into your SEO process.

Failure here will lead to many interconnected and related issues that impact on your over all success within your online marketing efforts. Things like BOUNCE RATES, conversion rates,  market share retention,  customer satisfaction as well as many others are at stake.  This means that CONTENT MARKETING is a very big issue and that you need to pay careful attention to detail during this process.

The essential elements that need to be considered when doing content marketing are

1. target market research and understanding the various target market groups needs, desires and aspirations as well as cultural and language  issues
2. product / service research
3.  platform research
4. key word and general information management
5. content management issues specific to platform
6. co-operation with other marketing divisions including but not limited to:

• SEO team
• copy writing team
• image development team
• blogging team
• web site design team
• print media team
• digital media team
• social media teams for each platform
• public relations team

Content marketing can not be done in isolation as many content marketing folks are currently trying to do, purely because they do not understand that content marketing is subservient to SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).  Once one takes the #FUFISM (Functional User Friendly Integrated Social Media) approach to online marketing then the many different #SEOVI  ( Search Engine Optimisation Value Indicators) that need to be considered will be included within the content marketing stages of preparing your online content.

FUFISM or Functional User Friendly Integrated Social Media is a new marketing philosophy where the social media forms the core communication element that binds all your marketing both online and off line into one single well balance marketing effort.

This article was written after reading articles by    +Ryan Hanley     
see   1) http://www.ryanhanley.com/7-ways-to-fail-at-content-marketing/  
2) http://www.ryanhanley.com/does-content-marketing-work/

These articles did not stress that content marketing is subservient to your SEO but I am sure that Ryan understands this, as he is very involved within the SEO industry.  Ryan is one of the few guys that is upfront and blunt when he describes what it is that you need to know, and why he believes that this is important.

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FUFISM INFOGRAPHIC discussing impact on SERP's

This infographic discusses how #FUFISM impacts on your SERP's and shows some of the many different aspects of SEO that need to work together  in a collaborative effort to generate meaningful Search Engine results pages for your intended target market audience.

FUFISM is a marketing philosophy where the social media is the core communication tool that allows the different sections of your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) team to collaborate and share information,  in a manner that binds all your marketing, both online and off line into one single super marketing campaign.

It should be remembered that the purpose of SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is to ensure that your intended target market complete the call to action statements embedded in your online content after discovering your online content through using a search engine.

See  (http://4ubrand.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html) for a definition of SEO
See (http://4ubrand.blogspot.com/p/fufism-functional-user-firendly.html) for a definition of #FUFISM

what is the value of colour in terms of SEO

The value of colour in terms of SEOV (Search Engine Optimisation Value) is underestimated because it is not seen as a ranking factor for search engines within the marketing world.

This is a big mistake, and is caused by the misunderstanding of SEO (search Engine Optimisation) in general marketing terms. In the past SEO technical staff were the only ones involved in SEO. This has changed drastically over the last year  where SM (social Media) has become the newest buzz word and is now considered to be a prime factor in the SEO industry.

Read this article on the issue of colour and its value to your web site also read the comments which are insightful as well.

You really do need to consider your target market with their social values and  cultural values as well as group preferences when considering colours for your web site or a section of your web site. Once this has been evaluated by the marketing team you need to do a small test run on a subsection of your pages and get user feed back.

Look carefully at what they have to say, as all the search engines have done this and are currently using user appreciation and user functionality as part of their SEOV (Search Engine Optimisation Value) system, where individual pages get scored for a variety of factors which are all entered into the SEA (Search Engine Algorithm) which determine your pages SERP's (Search Engine Results Page Positions)

If the SE's (Search Engines) like your colour scheme and think you pages are user friendly you will do a lot better in the SERP's. Remember things like readability and site aesthetics are determined by your colour scheme. So take your time on this one and do a few small tests on some sub domains to see the results before rushing off and making any changes to your colour scheme