Content Strategy 101

For help developing an appropriate content strategy for your organisation, contact us today and we’ll show you some relevant client examples.If your website is an important revenue-generator for your organisation you will need to develop an effective online content strategy. The scope, scale and detail of that strategy will depend on your particular situation. You will need a suitable approach to content that fits your budget, your objectives and any technical or time limitations you may face. But while the details will vary, there are some basic concepts that any organisation – from start-ups and non-profits to big corporates and major online brands – can apply.

Unique and Relevant Content

The most important element for any content strategy is to ensure that your content is unique. The value of unique content has increased considerably in recent months, with Google and other major search engines tweaking their algorithms to give less weight to sites with lots of duplicated or very similar pages. Unique content will be rewarded with better organic search rankings and will also improve the experience of your users.The second big tick should be against relevance. Increasingly sophisticated search algorithms are getting much better at understanding synonyms and related terms, as well as links, social signals and other markers that help to determine how relevant your pages are to a given search term. Search engines are getting much harder to game, which means an honest content strategy that provides original material that will be of interest to your target audience is often the most effective way of earning more traffic and improving on-site conversion.

Static and Dynamic Content

Once your content meets the qualifying criteria – unique to you and relevant to your audience – it will fall into one of two categories: static content and dynamic content. These two broad types of content complement each other, supporting your SEO, conversion optimisation, social media marketing and brand building activities.

Static Content

Static content refers to the pages on your site that have a relatively long shelf-life and can continue to add value for some months after they’re published. They could be product or service descriptions; weighty articles like features or white papers; or dedicated landing pages. Your static content will provide a flat, accessible structure for your site, which should be supported by appropriate internal linking and the prominent placement of relevant calls-to-action.When it comes to producing static content, you can draw up a schedule for creating the pages you need, adding them to your site over time. You’ll also need to go back and refresh old pages from time-to-time, especially if you’ve included stats or other information that can date them. Your static content schedule should be based on your keyword strategy, with relevant pages in place for your priority terms.

Dynamic Content

The second pillar of your content strategy is dynamic content. This might be a company blog, an industry newsfeed or your media releases. You should publish new dynamic content on a daily basis to keep your site fresh and give both the search engines and your target audience a reason to visit on a regular basis.Fresh content will punch above its weight in organic search because Google and other search engines use an algorithm bias to help new pages rank temporarily. Google calls this QDF (query deserves freshness) and it’s the element of the algorithm that gets new material on the first page of results during a breaking news event. As well as tapping into trending topics in your niche, your dynamic content will also grow your site, attract natural links and provide something to share through social bookmarking and social media.

Content Strategy Tips

Whether you hire a content marketing agency or decide to go it alone, here are the basic elements of your content strategy:

• Avoid duplication as only unique content will earn you sustainable organic search rankings
• Keep your content relevant as it will improve both your rankings and the experience of your users
• Create a static content schedule to add substantive, long-life pages to your site
• Invest in dynamic content to keep your site fresh, useful and relevant