Less is More: Learning to Create More Purposeful Content

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It doesn’t matter whether a company is B2B, B2C, local or global—they often fall prey to similar assumptions about content creation. Most organizations believe they need to have a blog where they constantly churn out articles in order to be successful. This mentality is understandable. Blogs have become incredibly popular in the last decade. And between conferences and conversations with other marketers, we’re inundated with reminders that everyone—brands, friends, celebrities—has a blog. But this saturation also makes it challenging to be found in the SERPs and stand apart from your competition. Instead of relying on quantity-focused blog posts, you need to shift your thinking to the type of content that’s best for your users. Below are few tactics to help you create strategic, purposeful content that can live in many places throughout your website. Conduct User Research Having a deep understanding of your users is a vital part of creating an effective content strategy.

And if you haven’t already, set aside time to do user research. Many people have the misconception that user research is expensive and time-consuming. It certainly can be, but that’s not always the case. I am a big proponent of getting on the phone with customers, giving them gift cards for participating in surveys, or visiting with them in-person. This is a great way to get to know your target demographic and learn Timeshare Owners Email List first-hand what they think of your brand. Discern what kind of content users prefer, what they dislike, and then make those insights part of your strategy moving forward. Remember, user expectations change with time. Maybe your mobile app failed to include content important to your users. And ultimately, that aesthetically pleasing design everyone was proud of didn’t result in more conversions. You won’t know what users want if you don’t ask. Help Users Find Your Content: SEO Value Another key factor in developing a blog or an overall content strategy is SEO. Purposeful content or otherwise, your customers need to be able to find it. And without at least a basic understanding of Google algorithms, you won’t be able to help them.



I often work with clients who publish a lot of broad, generic content on their blogs and expect it to rank among top-tier websites automatically. And when it doesn’t, they’re confused and frustrated. So I encourage them to dive more deeply into their industry and figure out which niche topics have low keyword volume and low difficulty. Even though these topics see less coverage, it doesn’t mean they’re less relevant. Rather than trying to be a catchall, aim to be the place where consumers know they’ll find specific answers addressing real questions. It’s important to take Google updates into account when creating content. Google now makes quality content available to searchers without requiring them to leave the search engine. Brands that best answer user questions and incorporate relevant keywords in rich, unique content are rewarded with featured snippets. And the more general topics are lost among larger competitors. Now, with the growing popularity of Alexa, Siri, and similar household assistants, voice recognition technology is advancing to a degree which allows it to replace online search altogether. A customer may ask Alexa a question while they’re cooking dinner or doing other tasks.