Have you ever wondered why some blogs get better results than others? Is it the title, is the content, what makes some content shine over others?
How are you are writing your content? Are you producing material to meet quantity goals? It’s alright; every company has a strategy to build and market.
For some, the goal is to push out as much content as possible, and while that approach has worked in the past, we ask you to consider taking a different approach. Consider rich content.
Quality is gaining more traction in search results than quantity, which builds authority, demonstrates your expertise, gets more shares, and results in more sales. Keep reading for suggestions to construct a banging content publishing program.
Time-consuming, is the phrase that comes to mind when thinking about high-quality content. It does take time, and it should. With a few tricks up your sleeve, you can move the process along, but first, we’ll explore why comprehension, research, and interviews are important.
Rich Content Outperforms the Quantity Produced
Often you are conducting research and pulling together an informative piece designed for your audience. Do you know enough about the topic to write comprehensively? You will build your knowledge of the concept through research. It turns out that research will also help to eliminate the blank screen obstacle that sometimes happens as the writing process begins. The writing will come easier with the more you know and understand the subject.
Consider:
“How does the content help the audience and make their work easier?”
If you can identify “how” it gives your prospect something tangible, and of value then you’re on the right track.
Some experts say that the length of the blog post does have an impact on performance. Some reports indicate that blogs longer than 2000 words, and have well-researched content have better results, which is why some content marketers are moving to long-form posts.
According to OrbitMedia’s research, over 50% of bloggers report that their posts with more than 2000 words perform better.
Once you’ve established a topic that will solves your customers problems, consider how much time you want to take and an approximate word count that is appropriate for the subject, and the audience.
A word of caution, know your audience. If a longer post is not appropriate, keep it short. You can still have comprehensive content in a short post by being concise and thorough, and always adding value.
Why is Rich Content Important?
Make sure your topics are meaty and contain comprehensive details because audience engagement directly correlates to the comprehensiveness of the content.
According to MEMZY, our attention spans are NOT shorter than a goldfish; instead, if you’re aren’t making your audience THINK right off the bat, then you are likely to lose them, BUT if you are, they’ll stay engaged and find your content more authoritative.
Now, it’s time to dive into your research.
Conducting Research for Blogging
Conducting research is the most laborious part of the process, but it’s worth the effort.
Investigating your customer’s problems and preparing your content gives you an opportunity to explore related keywords, and determine the viability of the topics. If you find it is not practical to pursue, you will know before you do all of the work.
- Keyword research should take some time
- Use different search engines
- Create a spreadsheet of all related search terms
- Evaluate keywords, and phrases
- Collect and read information to support your points
- Save for external links and give credit
Need Help Producing Rich Content? Schedule a Free 30-Minute Consult
3 Valuable Content Research Tools You WANT
Google Trends is a free tool that allows you to compare multiple keywords and Google’s trend for that term in search results, plus it shows related phrases, and regions where the search is most popular.
Evernote has a free version so you can clip web pages and save your relevant information for your research and outline development.
Answer the Public assists in finding the questions searchers are asking on search engines that include your relevant keywords, related terms, and more. It comes out in a unique visual too, as seen here.
During the research phase, you can see how similar topics are ranking for your competitors by merely conducting a search and evaluating the results that come up first. Assess this information by asking:
- What does their information include?
- Can the content provide a more comprehensive discussion?
- What words are they using in their headings and meta?
You may invest in a more comprehensive tool to evaluate your website and your competitor’s keywords and rankings, tools like SEMRush, and MOZ.
Think like a Journalist
- Seek statistics for your industry and market
- Search for scholastic articles and peer-reviewed research
- Use facts within your blog
- Follow ethical guidelines
- Give credit and cite your sources
- Don’t plagiarize
Applying journalistic techniques to your blogging practices promotes the development of high-quality content.
Government agencies regulate some industries, and other sectors have affiliations and member groups that report statistics to the public.
For example, the National Retail Federation has a ton of stats for retailers to review and incorporate into their content.
Peer-reviewed and scholarly articles provide a basis for your research. Buffer says that the more you do it, the faster the process will go
No doubt, you will learn something new about the topic, and you might even find content that juxtaposes your thoughts
Interview Subject Matter Experts for Blogs
Interviewing subject matter experts will improve the comprehensiveness of your blogs
Who Might Be Reliable Subject Matter Experts?
Subject matter experts are individuals who are an expert on the given topic. You are an expert in your field, and that gives you the authority to speak or write about the matter.
- Topic experts at your place of employment; i.e. Nurses, Doctors, Content Marketers, Cashiers, Stockers, Chefs, etc.
- Community experts; i.e. the Mayor, Business Owners, Retailers, Bankers, YOU, etc.
People are so often willing to help, all you have to do is ask.
Combined with research, interviews with subject matter experts will increase the depth of the conversation.
Need Help Producing Rich Content? Schedule a Free 30-Minute Consult
Content Performance Drives Lead Generation
How do you know how well your content is performing? Well, you have to analyze the results, and do so regularly.
Here at Rachael’s Ink, we do this daily. If a particular topic is resonating with our audience, we produce more valuable content related to the subject.
Maybe you’ve heard that the top 1% of content performs the best?
More on the unicorn theory, it’s the idea that only the top 1% of content performs well. Is it true and accurate
We recommend analyzing all of your high performing content and adjust and optimize related pieces to better suit your audience needs.
There is an ongoing debate about content depth and breadth. Some marketers feel that too much writing within a blog does not perform well. Others express that if the information is valuable then over 2000 words for a blog is excellent.
It’s up to you to decide what is best for your company. If you find that shorter 500-1000 word posts perform best then go that route. You’ll only be able to determine the results through testing and analysis.
Keep in mind, the number of words does not declare content depth. A short blog can have as much value and depth as a longer blog.
It is the VALUE of the content that draws your audience in and converts them to leads and sales.
If 10% of your content performs really well, awesome! Analyze it, and figure out exactly why it is outdoing the other 90%, then update, edit, and modify the 90% to increase your content performance.
Attracting More Sales through High-Quality Content
Now, you should have the necessary steps to increase your sales leads by generating rich, informative, and valuable content for your audience.
If you don’t have time to produce your content, but want to boost your online presence and performance, we can help. Click on the link below to book a free 30-minute consultation to review your content marketing practices.
