Content Marketing Made Simple

5 Steps For Creating An Effective Content Plan

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In her book, Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web Content, Colleen Jones writes, “The way to get results online is clout—influence or pull. On the web, clout allows you to attract the right people and, at the right time, change what they think or do. Achieving clout demands new thinking and a new focus on web content.”

The best way to ensure your content has clout is to develop a content plan. It doesn’t have to be complicated or as time consuming as you might imagine. Here is a five-step content plan to market your business online.

1.  Say Something Worth Repeating

Organic growth should be the goal of every internet marketing campaign. Back linking, SEO, and many other strategies are important but there is no substitute for solid content that provides real information and answers common questions for your target audience.

It’s better to post a 300 word article on your blog that offers something useful than 1000 words of space filler. In fact, the average web visitor isn’t going to read anywhere near all of those thousand words anyway. When visitors learn you consistently have content worth reading they not only become regulars but also become social media evangelists, sharing your content with people you never thought of.

2. Make It Sizzle

Tom Warthen of ProSite Web Design observes that, “Web users skim and prefer easily digestible bits of content. Endless paragraphs of text will only make their eyes glaze over.” The first two or three sentences of your content are basically the whole ball game! If you don’t capture visitors there the rest of your fabulous content is simply wasted space. Put something of value at the beginning and then use tactics like bullet points, text graphic quotes and graphics to keep them reading more.

Break your articles up into short sections. This makes it easier to read and gives the added benefit of making your content more search engine friendly. Shorter sections with keyword rich headings and subheadings are a definite plus in making Google stand up and take notice of your content.

3.  NEVER Forget SEO

Once you have strong content in a format that makes it readable and available it’s time to make sure it is Search Engine Optimized. Google’s Keyword Tool is simple to use and will ensure you are using words in your content most searched for by your target audience.

When possible, include a strong keyword in the title of your content. Everything in your content plan, including images and videos, should use relevant keywords to ensure people find you.

4. Implement and Maintain a Backlinking Strategy

The more backlinks that refer back to your content, the more significance search engines will assign to it. One of the simplest ways to increase backlinks to your content is by leaving comments at other blogs, forums and professional sites that include your URL in your profile. Be sure your comments add value to the conversation or they will be viewed as spam, and rightfully so.

5. Have a Content Calendar

There is a direct correlation between the regularity of your posts and the expansion of loyal readership.  Consistency in posting content is important because:

• Irregular posting lead to frustrated visitors and that leads to infrequent readers.
• Regular postings keep you at the forefront of readers’ minds.
• More posts equals additional pages for search engines to index. Every new post is one more search engine gateway to your content.

Establishing a rhythm for your content is most important.  If you can only post new content on Wednesdays then post every Wednesday.  Sure, studies indicate that Wednesday isn't the best day to post but consistency will win over loyal readers. If your readers learn they can expect a good post every Wednesday, make sure to keep on giving them just that.

Successful content marketers have learned to set aside some time once a month to plan ahead. If you take a few hours to lay out a content plan that you can maintain, and consistently work the plan, your efforts will provide the benefits you want and deserve.