By structuring your agency's website content around keywords potential readers are searching for, you can bring in traffic and even new customers. Here are six steps to create a solid content plan.
When it comes to search engine optimization, you may have already taken those first steps by investing a lot of thought and time into the structure of your site and your target keywords.
Using the data from your keyword tools and your competitive analysis, you are ready to start developing your content plan. Here are six steps to help you move forward:
1) Finalize your list of target keywords. Review your prioritized list of keywords. If you haven't already done that, get started now. You likely have them ranked by level of difficulty, based on the strength of current results and how popular each word is. Next, it's important to assess the search intent of each keyword and if you can group any keywords together.
For example, terms like “home insurance first time home buyer" and “when to get home insurance" could be considered an informational search. We can guess that this customer is about to purchase their first home and has never purchased home insurance before. A piece of content explaining home insurance considerations would be very helpful to this consumer.
2) Assess the content you currently have. Once you have grouped your keywords by topic and assessed search intent, take a look at the content you already have.
Consider all your current site pages and any content that may live outside your site. This may include videos, interviews, emails or white papers. Don't forget to also utilize Content To Share from Trusted Choice® to help build on your existing library of videos, graphics, and images.
Decide if any of your existing content can be edited or repurposed to help your site rank for any of your keywords. If not, identify any gaps that will require brand new content. You can also likely use your keyword research tool to see what keywords your current web pages are already ranking for.
3) Decide what content you should create. Once you have identified the gaps in your content strategy, you will need to decide what content you want to create. If your strategy is structured around product lines like “best home insurance in Chicago," you may only require a few updates to your product pages.
However, if you want to speak to specific customers like “home insurance for first time home buyers," you may decide to create a blog for more niche pieces of content.
Each page will require text in order to be read by Google but don't be afraid to add video, audio or graphics to your site to engage potential visitors. Google takes the amount of time a visitor is on your site into account when assessing the value of your page—which determines where you rank in search results. The longer a customer lingers, the better Google will assume your information was.
4) Evaluate your content. When you've created new content, always take a step back and ask the important question: Does my content add value?
Make sure you are speaking to customers online the same way you would in person. It is important to show the customer how you are helping them and not focusing too much on your sales pitch. It may sound obvious, but it can be one of the most common mistakes when creating content.
5) Make sure all your content fits in your navigational structure. We already discussed the importance of a clear navigation structure to help Google find your content. When creating new content, make sure each piece fits neatly into your existing navigational structure so it can be found too.
If it doesn't fit, assess if that piece of content is truly valuable—or if it is worth creating a new section on your website. Don't forget to add links to your new content connecting it to other related pages.
6) Repurpose your new or updated content for other channels. While we're focusing on content creation in light of SEO, most of your content has the potential to be shared on social media, in an email newsletter, or repurposed for video or audio platforms like YouTube or a podcast.
Consider creating visuals or much shorter versions of your content to share on your other channels. These placements can also include links to the content on your site. A strong distribution strategy that drives traffic to your site can also show Google that your content is valuable.
Kelley Smith is director of traffic generation, Trusted Choice®.
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