What’s Working NowJune 2016

Your Content Marketing

Strategy

What is Content Marketing?• It is NOT just about blogging …

• It IS about blogging, but with a purpose and a plan

• When writing content, think about who will read it

and what the end result will be

• The end result should ALWAYS have some call to

action:

• Join our email list

• Buy this product

• Join our program

• Read this article next

Should Your Content Be Like This?

What NOT to do …

• Throw new articles on your site, hoping something

sticks (like spaghetti)

• Create new content because you simply want to

keep your blog fresh

• Have no plan on why you are publishing articles

except that you need new content

A Quick Note …

Content is not just text, but can be …

Video

An interactive map

Web-based software

Images

Anything on a web page!

We’ll give an example later of content that is not

text or video …

Plan Your Content

• In your original keyword

research for your niche,

you will know what key

phrases come up most …

example for “baby

carriers”:

Plan Your Content

Plan Your Content

Keywords people search for include:

Best baby carrier

Baby wrap

baby carrier reviews

Baby Bjorn carrier

Ergonomic baby carrier

Baby wearing

Best baby carrier for newborn

470 more

Plan Your Content

More research, using Google – type in “best baby carrier for

newborns”:

Know Your Audience

Who is looking for baby carriers?

New parents

Parents with infants and toddlers

Age 18-35

Mainly middle class to upper class

Dads too!

Check Facebook as Well

What Problems Do They Need

Solving?

• What is the best baby carrier for my newborn?

• Are baby carriers safe?

• Is a baby carrier healthy for my baby?

• Is a baby carrier or a stroller better?

• Can I use my baby carrier on an airplane?

• What are the types of baby carriers?

Segment Your Audience

When researching solutions to problems people

search for, segment your audience as well:

New Dads: “A Dad’s Guide to Baby Carriers”

Parents with Twins: “Babywearing with Twins”

Parents with Newborns: “Best Baby Carrier for

Newborns”

Different Segments = Different

Offers

When thinking of your audience and the content,

always think of the end result …

New Dads -> Offer for a Baby Bjorn or Ergo Carrier

Twins -> Offer for the Weego Baby Carrier

Newborns -> Offer for the Maya Wrap

Your Content Funnel

When you are thinking of a visitor’s problem, your

solution, and a custom offer for different audiences …

… You are actually thinking of a sales funnel. When

writing new content, always keep the funnel process in

mind:

• Who am I writing for, and will they be satisfied

with my content?

• Will they then take my call to action?

Your Content Funnel

Examples of OffersOnce your customer consumes your content, what’s next?

Join your mailing list

Download your free guide

Buy the product

Join your membership service

Read this article next

Watch this video

This reduces bounce rate, as you give your visitor a clear direction on what to do next (otherwise, they will just click the back button)

Going Down the Funnel

It’s amazing how many big companies get this wrong, even in 2016! They offer a piece of content, but go no further with it.

If you are producing content for a large organization, make sure there is always a way to continue down the funnel using a clear, easy call to action

For instance, say you have a problem where your kitchen looks drab … so, you do a Google search on ideas, and realize you would like to paint your kitchen …

Blocking the FunnelSo, now you need to know what color to paint your kitchen.

Here’s the WRONG way a major company is approaching this,

even in late June 2016…

Where’s the Call to Action? I clicked the color … now what?

Not Intuitive …

It took a while to realize I have to click the paint

for options to appear … not very intriguing

options, either …

More Hoops …

Okay, save to Project List … getting tired of this …

clicking the back button now … I just want paint!!

The Right Way …

Choose a color …

DONE!

Immediate call to action … Buy Now … DONE! The

content funnel works and is clear and effective

Great Content Funnel

Behr’s color picker is a great example of a non-text

content funnel. Recap:

1. Color picker page is found in the search results for

painting-related queries

2. Customer researches a solution in the form of

picking a color

3. Customer buys paint through a clear Call to Action

button

How to Rank Your Content?

We covered the mindset on how to create a

content strategy for your website. The bigger

question is, how do you rank your content?

It has to do with this content strategy, but on

OVERDRIVE!

The “Super Article” Page

If you have a brand new site, there is a strategy

to get your website ranking fast, and with few

backlinks and no cost

• When we mean “fast”, remember, this is

organic SEO … “fast” means a few months

• This method is designed to be done FROM

SCRATCH on a brand new site

• Not your home page (though it could be), but

definitely needs a link from the home page

1. Set Your Website Up as Normal

Read the Affiliate Cheatsheet on how to set up a site, choosing a brandable domain name, and setting up your product page and initial articles

One change: A product page will have a “Super Article” … a 3000+ word piece of content!

We’ve done this, and it works … it also works on established pages that have declined in rankings

2. Create Your Super Article

• Write (or outsource to a capable writer) an

incredibly detailed piece of content … include

lots of images, video and maybe some

infographics and comparison tables

• For a new site, link out to about 20 or more

authority websites

Back to our baby carrier example …

Babygearlab.com

Baby Carrier “Super Article”

This page ranks near the top and often #1 for several

baby carrier-related search terms … and with only

backlinks from TEN unique websites and less than

100 total backlinks!

How They Did It

• Page has 3,800 words

• 48 images

• Over 20 links to within their website

• Links go to other very high quality content

pages on their website

• About 3-5 links to external authority websites

• Only 5 direct affiliate links

How To Start

• Think of a top-level topic in your niche. If you want to rank for “canning”, your article can be on “85 Awesome Canning Recipes”

• You don’t need to write content for all 85 canning recipes, but have a great header, image (and/or video), and paragraph for each of the 55 recipes

• Then a link to that recipe … you will start with links to other authority websites

• Photos and videos are fantastic for this!

Your Content Strategy

• Once your super article is finished, begin to

slowly replace these 85 links from going to an

external site to going to an article on your

website … eventually you will have 85+ canning

recipes on your website

• Your new, replacement article will also be high

quality (800+ words) with images, videos, etc

• Don’t forget the content funnel rules … each

article have a call to action (sign up for our list,

view more content, etc)

The Theory …

• For a brand new site, Google will not see you as an authority, and will rank your website low

• Because of the huge, super quality of your article with the dense content, people who do find you will stay and not bounce away

• Google will begin to notice these high quality clicks, and begin to rank you higher, and for better keywords

• Things will begin snowballing

• Do some basic linkbuilding to get things going faster

Great Technical Stats …

• In the beginning, you will link out to other websites using the “_blank” link type (the link will open in a new tab)

• Because you have 84 other canning recipes, your visitor will leave that other site and return back to yours

• Google will see the low bounce rate and high time on site, and rightfully think “Visitors keep coming back to this site … it must be quite valuable and should rank higher.”

After a Few Months …

• Google will begin to notice this super article

and the positive technical factors like bounce

rate and time on site. You will begin to rank

• Because of the length and huge amount of

useful information, you will naturally begin to

gain links and shares, boosting your authority

• It took us 9 months to rank a super article #1

for a term similar to “baby carriers”, beating

out Youtube videos and Amazon

After a Year…

• Your super article will rank high in the search

results, as well as some posts linking to it

• Google will see you as an authority, with low

bounce rate and high time on site

• When you publish new content, Google will

immediately catapult that post high in the

search engine rankings

• As long as technical factors remain great,

you will stay at or near the top

The Result

• Thousands of visitors a month in free, stable

traffic

• Low bounce rate and high time on site,

because visitors click links to other articles

• Hundreds of natural links from Pinterest,

Facebook, etc due to the useful information

Traffic in the last 12 hours …

Ranking An Older Site

• This technique works on an older site as well.

• Create a Super Article and link it off the home

page

• Link to other articles on your site (make sure

they are high quality!), and link out to other

authority sites

• Rebuild your website with new content based

on this super article. Delete or rewrite weaker

articles

Combing a Super Article with Your

Content Strategy

• Plan your content with dozens of problems

and questions through research

• List all these questions as a super article

• Grow your website by answering all these

questions, keeping the Content Funnel in

mind

Real-world examplehttp://pioneersettler.com/homesteading-skills-every-

homesteader-should-know/

#2 for “homesteading”

Real-world examplehttp://www.babygearlab.com/Best-Baby-Carrier

#3 for “baby carriers”

Q&A