How to Create Content People Actually Search For. What I see, more often than not, is a title and content that are totally going to fail (unless you have a promotion budget, but more on that later) because people are not searching for what you’ve created. Learn how to create content people are searching for. The study also found that consumers spend an average of 79 days learning their options through research before committing to a major purchase. To match your content with what people are searching for, it’s essential to do your own research, using keyword tools and social sites to learn more about your customers. Ditch methods that lead to an organic search abyss One of the easiest ways you can penalize yourself in search engines is to create a headline (and content) that is: Missing relevant keywords that relate to the content … keywords people are searching for. Based on a sample of more than 3.3 million paid link headlines by marketing platform Outbrain, here’s what can make your next headline more clickable: Add a descriptive bracket: Headlines that included a bracket summarizing the content type (e.g., [infographic] or [slideshow]) performed 38% better. Unless you are lucky enough to have a viral piece of content on social media, there are really only two ways for people to find your content: organically in search results or via paid promotion. Please note: All tools included in our blog posts are suggested by authors, not the CMI editorial team. Feel free to include additional tools in the comments (from your company or ones that you have used).
It doesn’t matter what your content team has fallen in love with, what you think is the next hot topic, or what products you want people to know about: If your target customers aren’t looking for the type of content you’re producing, you’re already losing the organic search game.
I’ve noticed content marketing success has nothing to do with how exciting your industry is, the skill of your writing, or how many keywords you fit in the content. Content marketing success depends more on thoughtful content ideation, as well as framing the content’s headline, meta description, and tags to be attractive to search engines based on existing or even future queries.
Our team at Vertical Measures is almost tired of hearing me say, “Double-check your title and make sure people are looking for that in search engines.” Google and Bing won’t recognize your brilliant colloquialisms or groundbreaking data that you believe is so vital for content consumers to see. Instead, search engines are designed to match results based on relevancy, which makes creating content with search top of mind a top priority.
What I see, more often than not, is a title and content that are totally going to fail (unless you have a promotion budget, but more on that later) because people are not searching for what you’ve created. Don’t let the hours of work you’ve done go to waste. Learn how to create content people are searching for.
Use content ideation to give customers what they want
You know content marketing plays a significant role in influencing buyer decision because it lends credibility to your brand, increases brand awareness, and can generate more leads or sales. Synchrony Financial, formerly GE Capital Retail Bank, conducts an annual Major Purchase Shopper Study and found that 80% of shoppers aiming to buy something in excess of $500 begin their research online – a 20% increase from the year prior.
The study also found that consumers spend an average of 79 days learning their options through research before committing to a major purchase. Your content should be in front of them during their extensive information-gathering. By using content to offer valuable information, you can get consumers to begin to trust your brand, and when it comes time for them to make a purchase decision, your company will be top of mind.
To match your content with what people are searching for, it’s essential to do your own research, using keyword tools and social sites to learn more about your customers. Content ideation should be paired with methods such as:
- Keyword research, using search engine tools like Google AdWords, Bing’s Keyword Research Tool, io, AnswerThePublic.com, and Ubersuggest.io,
- Search of question-and-answer sites such as Quora and Yahoo! Answers to see what people are asking regarding your industry
- Moz’s Open Site Explorer tool to see what kinds of successful content your competitors are creating based on other sites that link to them
You also can go beyond online-based research to identify topics your customers want to read. Besides combing through social media profiles to see what your customers are curious about and using search tools to gauge popular topics, use the wealth of knowledge from your employees to spur ideation.
- Ask your staff what questions they get asked every day. Include anyone who talks to prospects or clients – from customer support members to sales reps.
- Have a chat with your market research analyst to dig through company studies and surveys, identifying what your customers are most concerned about.
- Look through the data from a chat feature on your website; it may be an information gold mine.
- Talk with those who worked your booth at your…
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