Content has become essential on the web, in digital marketing, for businesses, influencers or anyone who wants to succeed on the web. Without creating content on different channels, it is difficult to attract customers and subscribers. But thanks to content marketing and content adapted to our target, we can create a qualified audience for our activity.
Content not only allows us to attract customers or subscribers, but also to strengthen the notoriety of our company, of a brand. Regardless of our sector of activity, whether we are in B2B or B2C, without creating original content, it is difficult to stand out and attract traffic on the web .
But you still need to master content creation . Even if at first glance, content marketing may seem very simple, it is a separate profession that requires creativity, a lot of knowledge in digital marketing , SEO, data analysis, web writing, copywriting , etc.
In this article, we will try to give you the best ideas and thoughts to have in order to implement an effective content strategy .
Note: In this article, we will only talk about content marketing or creating content for a blog or website . Social networks being a little different, we can cover this subject later in another article.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is the set of content strategy techniques that make it possible to attract traffic or prospects thanks to interesting content aimed at your target.
We can differentiate two categories in content marketing, which combines two marketing concepts: inbound marketing and outbound marketing.
- Inbound marketing: potential customers find you thanks to your content. They look for information about a product or a solution on search engines, and land on your content linked to your website.
- Outbound marketing: it is the opposite of inbound marketing. You are the one who makes the link with your target by different means (newsletters, emailing, prospecting, sponsored links, etc.)
To make the most of content marketing in an inbound marketing strategy, you obviously need to master search engine techniques to make your website more visible and position it at the top of search results.
The must-have platform for SEO specialists has shared an interesting video on content strategy.
How to do content marketing?
First of all, you must identify your target and your “buyer personae” (your typical buyer), to understand their problem. This way, it would be easier to offer the solution or product that your target is looking for.
Why is it important to define your target?
Knowing your target will allow you to create content adapted to their needs and meet their different expectations. Once the target and their pain points have been identified, we need to identify the topics and keywords that they will enter on the search engine, this will allow us to find what they are looking for and position your content accordingly.
Marketing tools can help find these keyword ideas and topics to create the appropriate content that will properly target your prospects.
Some examples of tools for finding keywords and topics:
- Keyword Planner: allows you to identify the keywords searched by your target (Google Ads Account)
- Ubersuggest (free): to find keywords and identify topics
- Alsoasked: to identify Internet users’ questions on a subject
To continuously feed your site and your blog, it is necessary to set up a schedule over several months and write articles around the subjects of your expertise.
The various search engine updates have made it “semantic”, which means that it understands the meaning of a phrase, as well as the search intent behind a keyword. It is then more and more relevant in its results.
Consequently, you must also focus on relevance, and be more relevant than your competitors to position yourself ahead of them.
What is good content? How to create attractive content?
When we start creating content, we quickly ask ourselves this question: what is good content?
From your point of view, good content will be content that reaches your target and achieves your objectives. From a search engine point of view, this will be the content that is most relevant and meets the user’s search intent.
Good content will allow a business to:
- Attract and retain customers by providing them with relevant content
- To promote products or services
- To strengthen brand awareness
- To generate leads and/or stimulate sales
Before creating content on a topic, ask yourself these few questions?
- What information do users most often ask about this topic?
- What are the other questions on this topic?
- Does the content contain other concepts related to this concept?
- Can we meet the user’s search intent?
- Does the body of content provide sufficient specialized information?
- Is the author an expert on the subject?
- Does the site have a certain reputation in this area?
- Does the text include secondary search intentions and other related concepts?
- Are there any grammatical errors?
Understanding users well is essential, but you also need to understand how semantic search engines work, Google in most cases, in order to offer texts and blog articles that will be well positioned in search results.
If the keywords, titles and subtitles are well chosen, the subject is original and your page is readable to make the user experience pleasant, your site will be well placed.
We suggest the Semrush visual which could also help you create an SEO-Friendly topic.
Why do content marketing? What are the issues?
The stakes are high for each company. The website is a strategic tool that plays a long-term role. If we don’t create content and update the existing pages and texts on the site, we simply won’t be able to stay positioned.
Your editorial strategy and the quality of your content allow you to develop your visibility and your notoriety. In addition, by publishing in a regular rhythm around a subject, you show your expertise to search engines and you become a reference on one or more themes.
Google is able to know if your content is of good quality or not, thanks to its algorithm. You must take into account Google’s EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthness) guide. This is one of several guidelines Google uses to determine whether content is valuable to readers and should rank well. Following this guide allows you to offer content that meets visitor expectations.
If you manage to reach your target with your high value-added content, you also increase your conversion rate. You will therefore have more and more prospects and customers.
The 5 best blogs to train you in content marketing
It is increasingly easy to find quality resources online for training in digital marketing and content marketing. It is a sector that is constantly evolving, it is important to monitor and follow the trend.
I follow several blogs that I share with you in the list below:
- Hubspot Blog
- Semrush Blog
- Blog ahref
- Grammarly Blog
There are obviously several dozen blogs and platforms that write digital content with high added value. You will definitely find the information you are looking for.
You can also follow our regularly updated blog .
What are you waiting for?
The best way to understand the value of content is to think of it as a key ingredient in your marketing. Consider this: A study by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs found that 78% of businesses reported seeing a positive ROI from their content marketing programs.
If you want customers to find you, view you as an authority, and buy from you, you need content. Content is what allows potential customers to learn about your business, form a connection with your brand, and decide they can trust you enough to make a purchase. It is essential for SEO, it helps establish relationships with customers and it is necessary to retain them.
How to start? Determine what type of content is best for your business and start creating!
