Effective Content Marketing Archives - Local Advertising Journal

Many think that writing is the easy part when it comes to creating a blog or any other website, but they couldn’t be more wrong, especially when you have to take Content Marketing into account. This is where I ask you, do you have it in mind? Do you know who should be addressed?

Writing for people or search engines, that is the question. Discover in this article how to solve one of the biggest and recurring dilemmas of Content Marketing to learn how to delight users and search engines alike.

When Digital Marketing experts repeat over and over again that “CONTENT IS KING”, they don’t lie or exaggerate. It is through content in text, image or video that users solve their doubts, educate and entertain.

Without content, the Internet as we know it simply would not exist. Therefore, the work of content creators and producers, such as SEO copywriters, is increasingly required and better paid for projects and companies in all sectors.

However, creating content becomes a thorny task for new SEO copywriters who must face one of the great questions of Content Marketing … Whom should it be written for people or for search engines?

If you had this doubt when creating your content, you have reached the right place. In this article, you will discover the solution to this concern with the intention that you learn to write better materials for companies that hire your copywriting services.

We start!

Whom do you write for? People or Search Engines

Before getting into the matter, let’s briefly review the main aspects of Content Marketing.

In simple terms, Content Marketing seeks to attract, convert and enchant Internet users through the generation of valuable content with the intention of closing a sale, creating lasting relationships of trust between users and brands.

Well, the matter is a bit complicated because, as you can see, Content Marketing must respond to the business objectives of a company while addressing an audience – person buyer – that searches for relevant content in the oceans of content that we call search engines.

So, here comes the great mystery of all content products: should it be written for people or search engines? The great answer is… You must write for people and optimize for search engines!

What does that mean? When creating quality material, a web content products should keep in mind that …

An article must first enchant users and then conquer Google, in that order.
The main purpose of an article will always be to solve the specific concern of a buyer person rather than to position without purpose.
The article should be optimized to position in the search engines to increase the probability of being found organically by new users.

Why SEO copywriters should be clear who is going to read the contents?

If the idea of Content Marketing is to create articles that help buyer people, for an SEO editor it is impossible to write them without knowing who they are and what their pain points are.

Knowing the buyer people is crucial to execute a successful content strategy, since they are the ones who will help you determine …

The tone and voice of communication
The topics that will be addressed in each article
The channels through which they will be distributed

Put yourself in your user’s shoes. If you do a Google search, what kind of result do you expect to find? Keeping that thought in your mind at the time of writing will make you create materials that will be useful for your users, with objectivity and quality.

Remember that the ultimate goal of a Content Marketing strategy is to create relationships of trust between users and the company through content that addresses their concerns.

If it is you or the company you work for who create this content, users will rely on it to make a purchase before anyone else. Do you understand now why the work of the content editor is so important and well paid?

Why is this skill a competitive advantage for content marketing?

Believe it or not! Many copywriters simply implement all kinds of SEO techniques to improve their search engine rankings without considering that the content is to connect with people.

Obsolete practices such as Keyword Stuffing, where the keyword is repeated over and over throughout the text, often meaningless, are preferred by some of these editors.

However, when you understand the importance of resolving a user’s doubts and writing content intended for a specific buyer, it is when you create valuable content that will engage your users and retain them with your company.

To stand out from the ocean of information available on the web is only possible with quality content and to produce content of this type it is necessary the work of editors who are clear that the content is to be consumed by people, not by robots.

How to enchant users and search engines with your content?

1. Know your buyer person

Being the semi-fictional representations of your ideal client, as an editor you should concentrate all your efforts on enchanting them with your content.

By knowing their concerns and challenges, you can create useful content that will help them solve them, eventually improving the relationships between them and your business. Remember the main objective is not to please Google but to deliver value to your users.

2. Consider your person’s search intent

There are three types of search …

Navigational search: The user wants to reach a specific website.
Informational search: The user wants to find information to clarify a doubt.
Transactional search: The user wants to buy a product or pay for a service online.

Taking into account the search intention will help you to better direct your content, because you will be able to understand in what type of search your materials may appear and what type of information they should contain to meet the expectations of your users.

3. Choose the keywords well

Keywords are what unites user content. These are the ones that trigger the appearance of your articles in the SERP.

Using them correctly will make all the difference. Avoid Keyword Stuffing, use its natural variations and only add it if it is consistent with the structure of the text.

4. Write quality content

Needless to say, right? Once you know your buyer people, you understand their problems and what their search intentions might be, you should create the best possible content to solve your concern.

Remember that you must meet the expectations of the users, not yours.

Look for quality references, learn about the subject and write a complete and original content. Rather than worrying about the number of words required to position, worry about solving your user’s doubt.

5. Transmit ideas clearly and concisely

Web content is characterized by offering direct responses to the point.

It is essential to have an excellent command of the language and its grammatical norms, as well as to have knowledge of the subject on which it is written to correctly convey the message to the reader.

In addition, you can use persuasive writing techniques to convince your users and keep their curiosity to the fullest while they read your article.

6. Create SEO titles that grab your attention and enchant Google

The function of an SEO title is to attract users to your material and briefly describe its content to search engines.

Among the best practices are to include the keyword, create a sense of urgency and keep it short, between 50 and 55 characters.

7. Learn a lot about SEO

Search engine optimization is crucial in the production of web content. You must dedicate a lot of study to know and apply all the positioning factors On Page and Off Page.

However, if you are just starting in web writing, the main thing is not to neglect factors such as SEO title, intertitles or heading tags, friendly URL, alt attributes of images, meta description and backlinks.

8. Format your texts

Give your articles a simple structure to understand for both people and search engines.

Create an introduction that catches the reader.
Use the heading tags – which go from title H1 to title H6 – to organize the ideas of the text in hierarchical order.
Keep the paragraphs short but relevant, that is, do not leave an idea in the middle.
Keep blank spaces, that is, look for an “F” shape in the structure of your articles.
Use bold only when necessary.

Conclusion

The demand for SEO copywriters is on the rise thanks to the success of content strategies.

To become an attractive SEO editor for the market you must be dedicated, practice and study tirelessly about Digital Marketing and Content Marketing.

The good news is that, little by little, reading and applying articles like this, you will learn to create valuable materials for your customers that, in the end, will be reflected in good payments for you.

Freelance copywriting can become a source of substantial income if you know how to deliver quality content written for people and optimized for search engines.

“Content is the king!” Bill Gates once said. Let me paraphrase the great computer genius: effective content marketing can make you the king of the Internet audience.

What do you have in mind?

“We are a serious company, we are engaged in the supply of goods, we provide services, and we have no time to take care of the content.”

Quite just reasoning. But your company has a website, right? You have taken care of the creation of the site, because you understand how many opportunities for business gives you the Internet. But you do not use half of these features, if you are not at all involved in creating high-quality content.

Traditional methods of search promotion are a thing of the past. The algorithms of Google and Bing, forming search results, increasingly focus on behavioral factors: the time spent by the visitor on the site, the number of pages viewed, the size of the permanent audience of the site. Users are becoming more selective, even capricious – they ignore advertising appeals and do not read useless articles. For those who want to settle in the leaders, the only way out is to attract and retain people, creating high quality, popular content.

WHAT IS “CONTENT”?

Contrary to the prevailing opinion, “content” is not equal to “text on the site.” The term “content” refers to the entire body of information in the text, visual, video and audio format that you broadcast to your audience using the site, e-mail, corporate accounts in social networks and other Internet channels.

Text content is an indispensable basis, but do not limit yourself to articles on the site. Look at companies that successfully distribute their viral videos, draw infographics, create presentations and record audio-lectures-podcast. Regardless of the field of activity, they are “overgrown” by potential buyers on the Internet, using all possible formats for presenting information. And this is quite possible for you too!

WHAT IS “GOOD CONTENT”?

The surrounding media world daily throws tons of commercial offers on our heads. Advertising of all kinds and sorts at times hinders to find necessary, to choose the necessary, and even simply to have a rest and have fun. Against this background, unobtrusive, but high quality and useful content looks the most profitable way.

The task of a good article or an interesting presentation is to find and entice someone who seeks answers to questions or problems, but not the seller of a product or service. Help persons do what they needs, do it for free – and they will remember you, do it again – and they will stay with you forever.

HOW TO CREATE GOOD CONTENT?

There are several signs of effective content marketing that can lead to you a huge number of real and potential customers …

High relevance
Learning Aspect
Ease of learning
Visual appeal
Invitation to dialogue
Lack of advertising!

The most important property of good content is its usefulness. Explore your customer; find out what he cares about, what information will be valuable and relevant to him. Then write about this article, conduct an interview with a specialist, shoot a video or a series of photos, make a review or organize your own research. What’s next? Repeat first, and do it regularly.

Do not forget about the form of information. Easiness of mastering is achieved by simple and understandable formulations. To read long, complex, abounding with participial turns, enumerations and commas, which involve several sentences at once, is painful, is not it? Whether it’s short sentences! They are easy to read and remember.

WHAT IS “effective CONTENT MARKETING”?

The whole set of methods for achieving business goals through the creation and dissemination of quality content was called “content marketing.” This is a fundamentally new approach to the promotion of goods and services on the Internet, which places the satisfaction of the client’s information needs first.

Effective content marketing involves an in-depth analysis of the target audience and regular publications at various venues, both internal (company website, corporate blog, groups in social networks), and external (media, partner sites, etc.). In addition, it is expected that readers will actively engage in a dialogue with the authors of the content, collecting opinions, conducting surveys and competitions. Thus, you establish strong trust relationships with a large number of potential consumers of your products or services.

HOW effective CONTENT MARKETING WORKS?

Regardless of which of the levels of the sales funnel is your potential buyer, the effecrive content marketing can gently push it to the desired action. Usually the process of involvement occurs in 3 steps …

Step 1 – Engage the audience: The site, which is regularly replenished with high-quality text materials, is doomed to high positions in search engines Google and Bing. In addition, I want to share useful and interesting content: send a link to a friend, “like” or “tweet” in social networks. So the news spreads about you among a wide range of users. By the way, studies have shown that 70% of people prefer to learn about the company from articles of non-advertising nature.

Step 2 – Increase the popularity and trust in the brand: At the moment when the visitor receives from you really valuable information (instead of the usual advertising promises), you are transformed from an impersonal service provider into an ally. Good content is a measure of sincere customer care, which prevails over taking care of your own financial result. Would you yourself be indifferent?

Step 3 – Increase the level of sales: After you inspire confidence, it’s time to move on to conversion actions. Publish information that reveals your values and real benefits. Place customer testimonials and convincing evidence that your proposal is better than others. Your loyal audience will receive the signal and will probably contact you as soon as there is a need – and possibly without it.

PS

“Many thinks that nobody reads the texts on the Internet. Will not all our efforts go to waste?”

The myth of lazy readers is born and supported by lazy copywriters. Each of us, being really interested in something, carefully studies all sources of useful information about the subject of interest. If your resource does not have enough reader attention, this means only one thing: it’s time to work on the content.