SEO

5 Tips To Improve Your Content Strategy

Published

2 years ago

July 29, 2022

Every digital marketing strategy relies on a number of elements to ensure its success.

For a holistic campaign, you’ll need to consider how you’ll approach email marketing, paid search, social media posts, and reputation management, just to name a few.

And while these are all important, there’s one thing that takes precedence over everything else: content.

Regularly posting new, insightful content is a proven way to improve brand awareness, build trust, engage with your audience, and drive action – but just any old content isn’t going to do the trick.

You need high-quality content that serves a purpose. And to do that, you need a strategy.

A content strategy, also known as a content plan, is a collection of tactics used to create, implement, and manage marketing information, materials, and collateral. You can think of it as your marketing battle plan.

And like any good plan, it needs to be detailed and comprehensive, down to what type of content you’ll be posting, when and where you’ll be posting it, and who is responsible for each element.

Here are five things you can use to take your content strategy to the next level.

1. Think Like A Publisher

You know your brand inside and out, which is a good thing, but it also comes with some issues.

For one thing, because you’re so familiar with it, it becomes easy to take certain knowledge for granted, often without even realizing it. Unfortunately, this can easily lead to frustration for your audience.

The simplest way to eliminate that is to think like a publisher. In other words, identify what your audience is looking for and find content to address it. Here are some tips for doing just that:

Build your content team. You have a lot of expertise in your organization already. Use it. Your team could include marketers, product team members, PR specialists, customer support reps, and IT.
Establish roles and responsibilities. Everyone on the editorial team should have a specific role in creating the strategy and delivering content. Make sure everyone knows what is expected of them at each step of the creation and management processes.
Build workflows. Write out exactly how your process works to ensure everything goes through the correct channels for approval. This may include looping in brand specialists, executives, or the legal team.
Gather feedback. Too many businesses neglect social listening, which is a mistake. You should be actively taking part in the conversations customers are having about your brand. It’s also a good idea to keep track of trending topics, which can provide opportunities for your brand.
Unify your digital efforts. General marketing and paid media should work to mutually reinforce one another. Partner with your paid media team to ensure your message is consistent and identify places to amplify effectiveness.
Invest in the right CMS technology. Using a quality content management system (CMS) lets you put the latest technology to work for you. Platforms like WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace can greatly simplify your workflow and help you manage the entire process from conceptualizing to publication. With the right CMS, you can manage your content across channels without needing to write a single line of code.

2. Make Sure Everything Fits Into Your Sales Funnel

Conversions are the name of the game. In most cases, this means sales, but it can also be clicks, newsletter signups, or any other marketing-specific goal you can think of.

There’s a lot more to content marketing than just sharing a viral video from your office, a blog post on the state of your industry, or linking to an infographic you’ve created.

Yes, it is those things, but it’s also about telling a story. It needs to have an emotional hook that helps change a target’s actions, thoughts, or feelings about your brand. And search is just one small piece of that.

All your online and offline marketing needs to align with your brand narrative and correspond to a step in your sales funnel.

That means that all your content – whether it’s a social post, a photo, a new blog, or even a press release – is important. And it all needs to work together to move your targets further along the sales journey.

And successfully accomplishing this means having a rock-solid strategy before you get started.

3. Refine And Document Your Editorial Process

Whether you’re creating all your content yourself, using a team of people, or outsourcing it to freelancers, it’s important that every piece of content goes through the same editorial process.

The first step to this is evaluating your process. Is everything being looked at by multiple sets of eyes for mistakes, typos, and the like? Sometimes it’s difficult for writers to spot their own mistakes.

Refine your process and then document it with detailed step-by-step instructions. There should be absolutely no confusion as to where a piece of content is in the creation process, what’s performed at that step, and what will happen next.

Be sure to always keep your brand in mind. When deciding on content, don’t neglect the fonts, images, and tone your audience has come to expect from you.

If your tone switches from business professional in one piece to casually familiar in the next, it will leave your audience confused.

Additionally, you want to make sure all your content adheres to your narrative. Make sure every content creator is familiar with things like:

Positioning – your brand narrative should include the pillars your content is built upon.
Your values – what issues are important to your brand? (civil rights, ecology, etc.)
Perception – what does the media say about your brand? What about the community?
Audience Interests – what are your customers talking about when they’re not interacting with your brand?
Historical Performance – what type of content has traditionally worked for you? What hasn’t?
Search Behavior – what are your targets searching for? What phrases are they using?
Customer Support – what are the recurring support issues you keep hearing from your customers?

Once you’ve identified your brand narrative, it will be a lot easier to craft an effective content strategy and change customer behavior, whether that means closing more sales, repositioning your company, or changing the way customers think about your brand.

Make sure you invest in properly training your team on this new process.

And because there’s always room for improvement, you’ll want to have regular refreshers and continuing education programs built around the latest best practices.

4. Review, Refresh, Replace

Nothing lasts forever, but if you can create the type of content that will have a long shelf life, you’ll be able to generate traffic, clicks, and interaction for months or even years. Other pieces will burn brightly for a short period of time.

It’s up to you to identify what needs to be removed, what should be replaced, and what needs just a minor refresh.

Review your existing content to see what’s still relevant and what needs to go away. If you use stats or link out to other content, make sure you’re verifying these on a regular basis.

Some content, known as evergreen content, will continue to be relevant for a very long time. It’s not something you can set and forget, but it does require considerably less upkeep than trending topics.

How do you figure out what type of videos, blog posts, and how-to guides will stay relevant? With research, of course.

Go through your existing traffic, analyze your competition, and check out industry resources.

What type of topics keeps popping up again and again, regardless of how long ago they were published? Use your keyword research tools to find words and phrases with high search volume over a long period of time.

Either completely avoid news, trends, or technology that could be vulnerable to replacement (that piece on PlayStation 5 might be hot right now, but it’s not going to generate much traffic once PlayStation 6 hits the market) or create it with the understanding that it will have a shorter shelf life.

Choose visuals that are appropriate and less apt to look outdated.

Most of all, make sure it’s useful. If you have a blog post offering a step-by-step guide to riding a unicycle, people searching for information on getting started with a one-wheeler will find it just as relevant in 10 years as they do today (barring some massive change in unicycle technology, that is). Many types of educational content can stay relevant for a long time.

And once you have a good piece of evergreen content posted, keep promoting it. As long as it’s still relevant, it will still generate clicks.

5. Use Your Network

Your content strategy should include more than just your own domain.

Guest blogging is a great way to increase brand awareness and generate backlinks, which will help both your traffic and SEO ranking.

Additionally, if your guest post is on a site your audience trust, it will automatically lend you authority and credibility in their eyes.

Use your connections to find opportunities to cross-promote your brand. Reach out to industry sites and influencers to build a mutually beneficial relationship.

You can use platforms like social media to capitalize on and enhance this, so include this in your content strategy.

Share not just your own content and blog posts, but those from other people in your sphere. You probably don’t want to link to direct competitors, but anyone on the periphery is fine.

Be sure to tag publications, authors, and people mentioned in the article.

Does your industry have popular events, conferences, or trade shows? This is a great place to generate exposure and promote your content.

Run a booth, give a speech, or just have someone on hand to pass out business cards and literature. Not only does this give you a chance to increase exposure, but it also provides opportunities to link back (and therefore generate traffic) to your digital content.

And speaking of digital content, make sure you’re including other relevant and link-worthy sources in your own content. This opens the door for creating reciprocal links.

And if you can get a direct, unique quote from an expert, that’s even better.

Good Content Starts With A Good Strategy

Developing a good content strategy requires a bit of work. It’s not something you’re going to be able to jot down on a scrap of paper in 15 minutes, but instead requires you to do some research.

Generally speaking, the more work you put in upfront, the easier it will be when it’s time to create and implement content.

Remember your targets and consider what they’re looking for. How can you provide them with the most value while simultaneously maximizing your exposure?

Make sure your strategy is built around unique content that you can leverage cross-platforms to promote your social media presence, improve SEO rankings, and build relationships.

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SEO

Best Practices For Keyword Localization

Published

4 hours ago

October 7, 2024

Max

As brands expand into new international markets, the challenge of running successful PPC campaigns becomes increasingly complex.

Navigating the differences in culture, language, consumer behavior, and market dynamics requires a more nuanced approach than simply translating ads.

For PPC marketers using platforms like Google or Microsoft Ads, it’s critical to adapt campaign strategies for these global audiences.

This article will cover best practices for optimizing international PPC campaigns, with a specific focus on keyword localization.

We’ll explore four key themes that can drive more successful international PPC results:

Keyword localization.
Geo-specific bid adjustments.
Market-specific creative adaptation.
Leveraging automation tools for international scaling.

1. Keyword Localization: Translating Intent, Not Just Language

Keyword localization is a cornerstone of international PPC success, but it’s often misunderstood as a simple translation exercise.

When translating keywords from one language to another, it’s not a “2+2=4” equation most of the time.

In reality, it’s much more complex.

Keyword localization involves understanding the intent behind searches and adapting keywords to match the local language, cultural context, and user behavior.

Steps To Effective Keyword Localization

Market Research: Before diving into translation, research how consumers in the target country search for products or services. This involves understanding search intent, popular terms, slang, and regional dialects.
Translation with a twist: Work with native speakers or linguists familiar with the market. Tools like Google Translate can give you a starting point, but they won’t capture cultural subtleties. Manual keyword research in local search engines is vital.
Use local search engines: Google may dominate globally, but other regions may favor different search engines. Baidu in China, Yandex in Russia, and Naver in South Korea have distinct algorithms and keyword trends. Tailor your keywords to the dominant platform in each market.
Test and optimize: International markets are fluid. What works in one month might need refinement in the next. Regularly review performance and optimize based on search trends, conversion data, and shifting customer behaviors.

For example, in Spain, the keyword “coches baratos” (cheap cars) may seem like a direct translation of its English counterpart.

However, further research might reveal that “ofertas coches” (car deals) or “vehículos económicos” (affordable vehicles) performs better depending on user intent.

2. Geo-Specific Bid Adjustments: Tailor Bids For Performance By Region

International campaigns are prone to fluctuations in performance, driven by differences in local competition, purchasing power, and user behavior.

Geo-specific bid adjustments allow you to tailor your bidding strategy to the realities of each market, maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS).

Below are some best practices for geo-specific bidding:

Analyze Regional Performance: Use data to assess performance on a country or even city level. Look for patterns like higher conversion rates in certain regions and adjust bids accordingly. This is especially important in diverse markets where sub-regions may perform differently, like the UK or Canada.
Adjust Bids Based on Currency Value and Buying Power: Regions with lower purchasing power or fluctuating currency values may require different bid strategies. In some markets, a lower cost-per-click (CPC) approach could help maintain profitability.
Consider Time Zone Differences: Adjust bids based on peak performance hours in each time zone. A broad international campaign can benefit from time-based adjustments that ensure ads show during peak periods in each country.

For instance, if your campaign targets both New York and Berlin, you may find that your peak performance hours vary drastically, necessitating different bid adjustments to maximize efficiency.

In this instance, it’s likely worth segmenting your campaigns by region to account for maximum return on investment or ROI in each region.

In larger enterprise accounts, most regions have different audience sizes, which require different budgets.

If your brand falls into that category, it may be worth creating a separate Google Ads account per region, which can roll up into one MCC account for easier management.

3. Market-Specific Creative Adaptation: Speak The Local Language Through Ad Copy

One of the most common mistakes in international PPC campaigns is failing to adapt ad creatives to local contexts.

Just as keyword localization requires cultural adaptation, ad creatives must be tuned to resonate with local audiences.

A few approaches to localized creative to think about include:

Ad Copy and Messaging: Localize ad copy to reflect cultural preferences, holidays, humor, and common phrases. Avoid literal translations that may miss the mark. Collaborate with local copywriters who understand the nuances of language and sentiment.
Visual Adaptations: Imagery that works in one region may not resonate in another. If your ad visuals feature people, clothing, or settings, make sure they align with local norms and expectations.
Calls to Action (CTAs): CTAs should be adapted based on local shopping behaviors. In some regions, urgency works well (“Buy Now”), while in others, a softer approach may perform better (“Learn More” or “Discover”).

For example, a successful ad campaign in the US using a humorous tone may need to be entirely rethought for a market like Japan, where subtlety and respect play a bigger role in advertising.

4. Leveraging Automation Tools For International Scaling

Managing international PPC campaigns across multiple markets can quickly become overwhelming.

Automation tools, both native to ad platforms and third-party solutions, can help streamline campaign management while still allowing for localized control.

Automation Tactics To Help Scale International PPC Campaigns

Smart Bidding: Utilize Google or Microsoft’s automated bidding strategies tailored to individual market performance. Smart bidding leverages machine learning to optimize bids for conversions or ROAS, adjusting bids based on real-time data.
Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs): Dynamic Search Ads can help expand your reach by automatically generating ad headlines based on your website’s content. For international campaigns, ensure that your website is properly localized to ensure the DSAs serve relevant, accurate ads.
Automated Rules and Scripts: Set up automated rules or scripts to adjust bids, pause underperforming keywords, or raise budgets during peak times. For example, you might set rules to increase bids during holidays specific to individual regions, like Singles’ Day in China or Diwali in India.

Automation tools should be used to complement your manual efforts, not replace them. While they can help manage large campaigns more efficiently, regular oversight and optimization are still essential.

A Holistic Approach To International PPC Success

Expanding into international PPC campaigns presents both challenges and opportunities.

Success depends on taking a holistic approach that incorporates keyword localization, tailored bidding strategies, localized creatives, and effective use of automation.

By adapting your strategies to each specific market, you’ll be able to tap into the unique search behaviors, cultural nuances, and competitive dynamics of global consumers.

Remember that the global PPC landscape is constantly evolving, and regular monitoring, testing, and optimization will be key to staying ahead of the competition.

Whether you’re managing campaigns in-house or as part of an agency, these best practices will help you optimize your international PPC efforts and drive better performance across borders.

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SEO

Google’s AI Overviews Avoid Political Content, New Data Shows

Published

24 hours ago

October 6, 2024

Max

Google's AI Overviews Avoid Political Content, New Data Shows

Study reveals Google’s cautious approach to AI-generated content in sensitive search results, varying across health, finance, legal, and political topics.

Google shows AI Overviews for 50% of YMYL topics, with legal queries triggering them most often.
Health and finance AI Overviews frequently include disclaimers urging users to consult professionals.
Google avoids generating AI Overviews for sensitive topics like mental health, elections, and specific medications.

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SEO

Executive Director Of WordPress Resigns

Published

2 days ago

October 5, 2024

Max

WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy resigns,

Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director of the WordPress Project, officially announced her resignation, ending a nine-year tenure. This comes just two weeks after Matt Mullenweg launched a controversial campaign against a managed WordPress host, which responded by filing a federal lawsuit against him and Automattic.

She posted an upbeat notice on her personal blog, reaffirming her belief in the open source community as positive economic force as well as the importance of strong opinions that are “loosely held.”

She wrote:

“This week marks my last as the Executive Director of the WordPress project. My time with WordPress has transformed me, both as a leader and an advocate. There’s still more to do in our shared quest to secure a self-sustaining future of the open source project that we all love, and my belief in our global community of contributors remains unchanged.

…I still believe that open source is an idea that can transform generations. I believe in the power of a good-hearted group of people. I believe in the importance of strong opinions, loosely held. And I believe the world will always need the more equitable opportunities that well-maintained open source can provide: access to knowledge and learning, easy-to-join peer and business networks, the amplification of unheard voices, and a chance to tap into economic opportunity for those who weren’t born into it.”

Turmoil At WordPress

The resignation comes amidst the backdrop of a conflict between WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and the managed WordPress web host WP Engine, which has brought unprecedented turmoil within the WordPress community, including a federal lawsuit filed by WP Engine accusing Mullenweg of attempted extortion.

Resignation News Was Leaked

The news about the resignation was leaked on October 2nd by the founder of the WordPress news site WP Tavern (now owned by Matt Mullenweg), who tweeted that he had spoken with Josepha that evening, who announced her resignation.

He posted:

“I spoke with Josepha tonight. I can confirm that she’s no longer at Automattic.

She’s working on a statement for the community. She’s in good spirits despite the turmoil.”

Screenshot Of Deleted Tweet

Josepha tweeted the following response the next day:

“Ok, this is not how I expected that news to come to y’all. I apologize that this is the first many of you heard of it. Please don’t speculate about anything.”

Rocky Period For WordPress

While her resignation was somewhat of an open secret it’s still a significant event because of recent events at WordPress, including the resignations of 8.4% of Automattic employees as a result of an offer of a generous severance package to all employees who no longer wished to work there.

Read the official announcement:

Thank you, WordPress

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