Google changes its SEO algorithms thousands of times per year— which breaks down to more than once a day. And while most of these changes are small enough to have no significant bearing on search results, some can have game-changing implications. 

Content marketing teams that write for algorithms rather than readers are doomed to practice in futility. Techniques that are fruitful one day may be completely irrelevant the next, wasting time and money in the process. 

The only verified way to consistently stay in Google’s good graces? Create high-quality, user-oriented content that provides value and information. 

It’s important to keep in mind that search engine algorithms are, first and foremost, designed to connect readers with useful, high-quality content. The contest was never to find out who could cram the silliest phrases into a 1,000-word article.

Modern SEO practices tend to take a “shotgun” approach, indiscriminately seeking attention wherever it can be had. Unfortunately, this approach can be alienating and disinteresting for readers with a sincere interest in the topics being covered.

By focusing on the reader, you’ll not only improve your content, but you can reduce your bounce rate, build links, improve your sharability, and possibly even create recurring revenue by attracting the right kind of readers.

Consider What the Search Engines Want

Those in search of proof that quality wins the day need only to look to the search engines themselves. In particular, Google has not been shy in its recommendation to value quality above all else in content creation. 

Back in 2015, Google published a sizable guide indicating what their algorithms look for in content. Among other things, this guide reports that Google is looking for purpose, authority, and validation—measured in part by link accumulation. 

Not every search engine is so transparent as to publish a 168-page guide detailing their expectations, but one can trust that the standards are more or less the same across the board. 

While algorithms can occasionally be duped by keyword stuffing and similar practices, their ever-changing formulas evolve continually, always with the intention of spotlighting the best content. 

Validation Through Link Building

Search engine algorithms interpret links as a form of validation. The more pages that cite your content as a source of authority, the more the algorithm is able to trust the legitimacy of your writing. 

Naturally, the surest and most legitimate way to accumulate links is to create information-driven content that exudes demonstrative authority on the topic you wish to discuss. When this is the case, other content marketers are far more likely to read what you’ve written and then use it to back-up their own claims.  

Of course, it’s only fair to say there are many ways to accumulate links, not all of which necessitate high-quality reader-based writing. But while the practice of paying for links is likely to continue for the indefinite future, it seems far more sustainable—and certainly more affordable—to simply create quality content that other websites feel compelled to link to. 

As per recent guidelines on platforms like Google and others, you can be penalized or even banned for trying to accumulate links using methodologies that are less than above board. However, even without the threat of punitive consequence, the effort of falsifying backlinks may well be for naught by the time the next algorithm update is rolled out. 

Get Your Content Marketing Efforts Shared

Writing high-quality content also increases the chances of having your work shared through social media, email, etc., further satisfying the search engines’ desire to promote authoritative materials. Of course, there’s no denying that poorly written content sometimes finds its way onto the first page.

It’s very likely you’ve had the experience of immediately exiting an article due to peculiar wording or grammatical errors. However, while this content performs well in theory, it clearly isn’t resonating with readers. The average person probably won’t read much further than the introduction (if that), and they certainly won’t be sharing it with their friends.

Keep in mind social media now outperforms newspapers and other traditional information outlets as a news source. If your content can make a splash on social media, it can substantially improve engagement with your content. In short, you can feed two birds with one seed. You can validate your work in the eyes of the search engine while simultaneously benefitting from significant, free publicity. 

Reduce Your Bounce Rate

Also important is the number of people who read one of your articles and then continue on to another. Not only does page bounce rate factor for search engines—with algorithms assuming that content not leading to engagement may not be relevant—but it’s also a straightforward testament to the overall effectiveness of your content and website. After all, the goal is to keep people engaged and moving deeper into your sales funnel.

No matter what you do, a certain and probably significant number of people will read one article and then move on with their lives. Nevertheless, well-written content that can retain reader attention is more likely to result in sales, revenue, and future web traffic down the line. 

By prioritizing quality and readability, you can significantly reduce your bounce rate and increase your qualified leads.

SEO Best Practices Still Matter

None of this is to say that SEO is completely worthless. Without implementing several practices commonly associated with search engine optimization, even the best content will have a hard time ranking on the first page. 

But you can “write for people” while still making moderate efforts to appease the algorithms. For example:

• Use keywords (sensibly): Engines still look for search terms within titles, meta descriptions, and the content itself to make sure content reflects what the reader is looking for. Naturally, inserting these keywords—and the occasional variant—several times throughout your content does still pay off, so make sure you perform adequate keyword research. 
• Cite your sources: Just like your professors in college, search engines want to see you substantiate your claims. Outbound links to other authority sites validate the content and demonstrate you’ve put the time into your work. And, of course, your readers are likely to feel the same way.
• Use a byline: Anonymous content, though not a dealbreaker, doesn’t always sit well with readers or search engines. On the human level, you can reasonably assume readers will be interested in the credentials that make you an authority on the topics you cover. Meanwhile, algorithms interpret your byline as another sign of credibility.
• Edit thoroughly: Typographical errors are a big red flag for search engines. Perhaps more importantly, though, readers are sure to question the veracity of work that is riddled with errors. 

What do these “SEO” standards have in common? With rare exceptions, most of them align well with the expectations any reader will have for their content. 

Quality Content Counts

Google—the most successful website of all time—is an engine that handles trillions of searches each year, and it won’t be fooled in the long term by content that uses the right words but fails to resonate on a human level. As in most areas of importance, quality is what has staying power. 

Remember, search engines work for the reader, and therefore, so do you. Content that’s well-written won’t just rank well, but it will also be read to completion, shared, and linked to. Rather than relying on clicks that occur by little more than happenstance, your website can become a relied-upon resource for people coming to you with the expectation of finding good content. 

Search engines make their revenue from engagement. Therefore, it’s in their best interest to promote high-quality content, and it’s in your best interest to create it.

Author Bio

Daniella is the Content Marketing Lead at Fusebill and a former journalist with a specialized background in business and finance topics. Fusebill is a cloud-based automated subscription billing platform that gives companies the freedom to grow by reducing revenue leakage, speeding up collections, simplifying revenue recognition, and offering the flexibility to capitalize on new pricing and product opportunities and the agility to maintain a competitive edge.

For a lot of us, writing goes hand-in-hand with marketing. From blog content to social media and PPCs ads, writing is simply part and parcel of most marketing strategies — and that can be difficult for anyone who doesn’t consider themselves a skilled or natural writer.

The good news is that writing doesn’t have to come naturally for you to produce impactful marketing materials. There are plenty of tricks of the trade that can help you put together compelling and engaging pieces of content, and they’re quite easy to adopt once you know what you’re trying to do.

Below, we’ve gathered some of the top writing tips that you should consider as a marketer, all of which can help you become a more productive — and more confident — writer.

1. Put Together a Quick Outline

The first step of the writing and content creation process is having something to say. The second step is figuring out how you’re going to say it. An outline can help you organize your thoughts before you start and while you write, and it doesn’t have to be overly long and detailed to be useful. Jot down some of the key points that you want to make as well as any keywords that you want to be sure to include. Taking just a few minutes to do this before you get to work can save you a ton of time during the writing process itself, and it serves as a great tool to check against once your article or other content project is completed. 

2. Avoid Overused Words

Marketing is an industry of buzzwords. But seeing the same terms over and over again tends to render them meaningless. Think of how many times (especially lately) you’ve seen marketing content with phrases like “these unprecedented times” or “we’re in this together.” While they may be accurate and their intention well-meaning, they’re unlikely to get much more than an eye-roll from their readers.

Every word you write doesn’t have to be completely original but make a point of steering clear of the words and phrases that everyone else is using, and you’ll have a much better chance of keeping your reader’s attention. You’ll also increase the likelihood that your content is original and refreshing, which will always be in style with content marketing. 

3. Just Say “No” To Fluff

Wilson Follett, an American linguist and author, once said, “Whenever we can make 25 words do the work of 50, we halve the area in which looseness and disorganization can flourish.” While we might argue that Follett himself could have shortened his phrase to make his point, the gist of his argument still stands.

Fluff words (a.k.a filler words) waste your reader’s time, and they get in the way of offering legitimate education and insight. 

If you find yourself stuffing your articles with fluff just to make them longer or to sound more legitimate, then you have a larger issue at hand. You should consider going back to the first step of the writing process to determine if what you’re choosing to write is actually within your wheelhouse or if it’s worth exploring. If you don’t have anything valuable to bring to the table, then maybe you should move on to the next idea. 

4. Be Concise

In the same vein as above, don’t beat around the bush with your writing. Say what you mean and be direct, and never leave your reader wondering what you’re trying to get at. This is true in all writing, but especially in marketing, where you often only have a short period of time to make your point. Getting overly convoluted with your copy is just going to confuse your readers. It also buries your CTA.

Most people prefer content that is easy to understand, simple, and straightforward. That doesn’t mean that you have to dumb anything down, necessarily. Rather, focus on writing in a way that is more like a conversation, and remember that you only have a certain amount of time before your readers move on to the next headline. 

5. Don’t Be Elitist

There is a time and a place to display your impressive vocabulary and marketing content isn’t it. Avoid jargon and words that are hard for most people to understand, and always look to make your copy as accessible as possible. Using fancy words doesn’t show how much you know — it just makes it harder for your audience to connect with you. Keep it simple, and you have a much better chance of making an impact.

Your audience is reading your content because they believe they have something to learn from it. They want content that provides value and education. If you load your content with confusing jargon, they’ll have to cut time between reading your article and looking up definitions. It won’t sit well with them, and you’ll most likely push them away from reading any future content for fear that it will be over their heads. 

6. Use Data To Back Up Your Claims

Wishing something were true for the sake of your content isn’t the same as it actually being true. It’s important to use real data to substantiate your claims and make readers feel confident in your content. Since your end goal with marketing copy is usually to persuade in some way, making false or otherwise unsupported claims just takes away from your authority as a writer — and from your argument itself. You don’t need to have a footnote for every single statement that you make, but if you put forth a direct claim, make sure you’ve got the proof to back it up.

7. Edit and Proofread

The difference between good writing and great writing? Editing! Having a second set of eyes on your content (or better yet, a professional editor) is a huge help. And if you don’t have someone to edit your work, you can still use grammar tools like Grammarly to ensure there are no glaring errors. Read your work out loud, too, to get a feel for its cadence and identify any issues that might not be apparent when you’re reading through it in your head.

Practice makes perfect. The more you write, the better your writing will get, so embrace your writing tasks instead of shying away from them. Eventually, the tips above will just be second nature.  

Every successful small business has to start somewhere. Turning an idea for a product or service into something more requires that you get your brand recognized — which, for many small business owners, is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. Whether you’re just trying to get off the ground or are on the path to becoming a household name, brand awareness is central to making it happen. And content creation is one of the most cost-effective and scalable ways to do it.

It takes an average of five to seven impressions for someone to remember your brand, and the quality of those impressions matters just as much as the quantity. Among consumers, 70 percent say they would rather learn about a company through original content instead of an advertisement. Dollar per dollar, content marketing has been shown to generate three times as many leads as traditional marketing. It certainly doesn’t hurt either that content marketing costs companies 63 percent less than other forms of advertising.

Content is a great way to show off your voice and foster likeability and trustworthiness — all of which lead to more customers. Below, we’ll discuss how to create content that leads to brand awareness so you can get off the ground running with your content efforts. 

The 4 Necessities of Successful Branded Content

Effective content doesn’t happen by accident. Here are four essentials that will help guide you to content that converts.

1. Create a Documented Content Strategy

Before you can begin to craft content, you need to know who you’re writing it for and what you’re hoping to achieve with it. Outlining your strategy is integral to this process and will help you stay on track and meet your business’s unique goals.

The first step of a content strategy is establishing your audience personas. Define who your customers are, what their wants and needs are, what their interests are, and what their pain points are. All of these will dictate your content topics.

Next, come up with specific brand awareness goals. The more detailed you can be, the better. While “more customers” is an obvious objective, it’s more useful to aim for things like a certain amount of monthly traffic on your site or a certain amount of content-generated leads. The more specific you are, the more insight you’ll have on whether your content strategy is working.

Finally, list out the types of content you want to focus on, and again, try to be specific. For the purposes of brand awareness, blog content, emails, and guest posts on other publications your audience reads will be integral, as will press mentions. By having a strategy that includes guest posting and having influencers mention your company in their content, you’ll get third-party credibility for your brand and put it in front of people who you normally might not reach.

2. Start a Branded Blog

Make sure you start consistently posting content on a company blog. This helps give site visitors important things to read when they come back to your site from your other brand awareness efforts. It also gives third-party publications a place to pull your expertise from and link back to.

Your blog will be your go-to place for not only sharing brand awareness content but for flexing your knowledge and credibility within your industry. From there, you can use it to fuel other channels like social media and email campaigns. As you grow, so will the wealth of content that you offer — meaning even more expertise, plus more opportunities for prospects to discover you.

3. Start a Company Newsletter

Central to your email marketing strategy should be a company newsletter, which will keep loyal site visitors engaged and help generate new leads. Use your newsletter to send out valuable content, product information, and promos. Segment your subscribers so that you’re sending the right content to the right people depending on where they are in the buyer’s journey.

Your email marketing is one of your most valuable assets. Your lists consist of people who have indicated they want to hear more from you. They’re engaged, and it’s your job to keep them engaged. By consistently reaching out to them via a monthly or weekly newsletter, you’re staying at the tops of their minds, keeping them constantly aware of your brand. Make sure you keep them fresh by constantly thinking of ways to bring new life to your newsletter emails. 

4. Don’t Forget About SEO

Stellar content won’t do much for your brand awareness efforts if nobody can find it in the first place. SEO is integral to getting more eyes on your content and should be based on a strategy that includes keyword research, internal link-building, and acquiring backlinks. 

Use keywords to link to your valuable content (like pillar posts and tactical blog posts) and get that valuable content linked in credible outside sites and publications. Doing so repeatedly in your blog and guest content will help you rank higher in search results over time. Seventy-five percent of searchers never scroll past the first page of results, so it pays to have a dedicated SEO strategy driven toward getting you to the top.

For many small businesses, content marketing is the most effective means of building brand awareness and generating more leads. That it’s super affordable to produce and share is just a bonus. Get started on your strategy, and measure the performance of your content so that you can see what’s working and what’s not. Every piece you create has the potential to bring new leads to your door, which is as good of an incentive as any to get going right away.

Your company blog is great for pushing your own content marketing agenda and for providing endless resources to your leads and site visitors. But have you ever considered taking it a step further?  

There’s a lot of value in building your brand’s thought leadership by thinking beyond your customer. Turning your blog from just a piece within your content strategy to a full-fledged go-to industry resource can be extremely beneficial, particularly as it pertains to increasing your brand’s authority among your peers. And while many marketers solely think of thought leadership in terms of guest content and what they can publish elsewhere, sometimes the best place to start is right on your own site.

So, let’s dive into the specifics needed to take your blog from an essential component of your small business marketing plan to a reliable, go-to resource for others within your industry.

1. Designate a Team

You’ll need reliable hands on deck to spearhead these efforts, and if you don’t already have a marketing team, it’s time to assemble one. A successful, consistent company blog takes work, coordination, and oversight, along with a regular stream of relevant, high-quality content. There are a few team members I recommend considering:

• Project Manager – This role serves as the point person for driving each blog post, ensuring that the company blog is consistent in terms of post quality and frequency and meeting the informational needs of your industry and audience. 
• Writer and/or Editor – You’ll want someone with strong writing and editing abilities to craft your articles. It’s helpful if this person has a background in writing and has worked within the marketing industry for at least a year. 
• Distributor/Social Media Manager – Did you know that when you publish your article, its life cycle has only just begun? You want people to actually see the content you’re publishing, so it’s helpful to have someone dedicated to sharing this content out with the right people. 

I know marketing budgets are tight, especially right now. If you don’t have the resources to hire new team members, then consider delegating these tasks to one person (preferably someone who isn’t also performing other roles within your company). But, whether you are able to hire a team or not, it’s crucial that these roles are covered by someone so you can keep your strategy focused and your content creation process seamless. 

2. Hold Regular Brainstorming Sessions

When it comes to content development, the more places you source ideas from. the better. Use brainstorming sessions to give everyone a voice about what topics you should be covering on your company blog, with a focus on diversifying input so that you cover as many bases as possible. This means bringing in not just your marketing team but your sales team and other core teams to figure out what conversations are taking place in your selling process and what your prospects and your peers are looking to learn more about.

It’s wise to hold brainstorming sessions at least once a quarter, but depending on your needs and publishing frequency, you may want to consider monthly brainstorms. Make sure you also have an agenda and that everyone comes to the meeting ready to share their ideas. Time is money, and it’s important that you stay on course and come away with great ideas to tackle. 

3. Create a Strategy Document

As you structure your company blog strategy, be sure to document it so that your team is always on the same page. A strategy document will help align everyone on purpose and objectives and ensure that you’re creating the content you need. Here are a few things that you’ll want your documented content strategy to include:

• Marketing team breakdown – List the roles on your team and their functions
• Audience personas – Make sure you know exactly who your target audience is, and if that includes industry peers, create personas for them as well. 
• Goals – You may think you know your intent with your blog content, but it never hurts to clearly identify it in your documented strategy. Make sure you include this, so everyone understands what you need to achieve. 
• Content creation process – Outline how you plan to create each piece of blog content, so everyone is on the same page from start to finish.
• Editorial calendar – When will you be publishing your blog content? What content will you publish, and when? Having an editorial calendar keeps everyone aligned on deadlines and overall strategy.
• Distribution plan – How will you share each piece of published content out, so the right people see it? Make sure you include tactics for getting it seen by industry peers and how your sales team should use it in their drip campaigns and other communications. 

4. Prioritize Educational Content

When it comes to thought leadership, education outweighs promotion. Certainly, brand awareness is one goal of your company blog (and of thought leadership in general), but if your blog’s sole purpose is to talk about your company and your product, you’re not going to keep people engaged. Instead, cover broad industry topics and need-to-know information that’s relevant to your company but not entirely centered around it.

When you incorporate more educational content into the fold, you’re showing readers that you have a wealth of knowledge to share. You’re providing consistent value that they’ll appreciate time and time again. It builds trust and credibility with your audience, which is the foundation of authentic thought leadership. This point is extremely important, as educational content is essential to building a blog that’s an industry go-to. 

5. Research What Other Industry Brands Are Talking About

More often than not, you’re going to be adding to a conversation instead of being the one to introduce it. By paying close attention to the dialogues going on throughout your industry, you can pick up on un-explored threads and add more value to your voice. This helps keep your blog up to date and competitive and is also imperative to creating a company blog that others rely on for industry news.

Start subscribing to other blogs and publications that cover topics in your industry. Carve out some time every day or once a week to read articles that can share more insight with you and your team. Don’t just stick to articles you agree with, either. Some of the most interesting and thought-provoking pieces are ones that immediately contradict theories or strategies you may be used to relying on. And, every time a new industry report is released, download it. There are tons of data and insights to be gleaned from these pieces of content, and they serve as great inspiration for future topics. 

6. Enrich Your Posts With Data

Data always has a role to play in marketing, and that’s as true for your company blog as it is for things like lead generation. Back up your insights with compelling data from other trusted industry experts, or, better yet, create your own data. This shows readers that there’s real legitimacy behind your claims and increases your likelihood of getting links and references back to your site.

A great way to create your own data is to survey your customers. You can ask them things about their marketing practices, what they love about your product or their biggest business concern. Entice them to participate by offering them gift cards or discounts on your product or service. The results of these surveys not only help inform your blog content but they provide you with valuable insights into your audience so you can improve your customer service and product offerings. 

7. Publish Consistently

Don’t publish one blog post one week and then go on radio silence for a full month. Use the editorial calendar you included in your strategy document so you can keep your team accountable and the content flowing.

The biggest question mark surrounding your editorial calendar is how often you should decide to publish your content. Every publication differs, but the answer to this relies mostly on your team’s capabilities, goals, and how much content you can create while still maintaining quality. At BenchmarkONE, we publish three blog posts a week, but that could change tomorrow if it means getting higher engagement. Start with a low frequency, maybe one or two blog posts a week. See how that goes for a while and measure engagement through various blog metrics. Then, if you feel like you should increase or decrease, just make sure you’re doing so for the right reasons. 

8. Have a Distribution Plan

I’ve mentioned the importance of distribution a few times in this article, but let’s discuss what an effective distribution plan looks like so you can get your content seen. After all, growing the relevance of your company blog relies on whether or not people find it. Make sure you share your content on various platforms and avenues, such as:

• Social media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. 
• Email marketing – Drip and nurture campaigns and your company newsletters
• Sales outreach – Aside from your email marketing outreach, you want to make sure your sales team is aware of specific articles you’ve published so they can use any that relate to one-on-one conversations they’re having. Either share these articles with them in by email or Slack, or create a knowledge base for them to find these pieces easily. 

It’s also not a bad idea to join certain LinkedIn and Facebook groups so you can share your articles there. These may not elicit a ton of engagement, but it’s a great way to reach a group of people based on their particular interests.

9. Bring In Guest Contributors

Your company blog is a publication just like any other, and there are advantages to bringing in additional perspectives and ideas. Create a way for outside contributors to pitch content by designating an email for pitches. Or, create a page dedicated to soliciting and vetting outside contributions so you can manage these efforts and keep interest strong. Not only will this help you bulk up the amount of content you have available, but it can potentially bring a new audience to the page when your contributor shares the published piece with their networks. 

However you go about bringing in guest contributors, make sure you have established blog guidelines clearly outline your expectations for each pitch. These guidelines will save you when you receive content that isn’t up to snuff or has clearly been shopped around to other publications and isn’t a fit for your blog. 

Approach your company blog the same way you’d approach any other blog, with a focus on the high-interest topics that aren’t just interesting but that have real-world tips, advice, and actions others can take away from them. It’ll still be the place where you share news and updates about your business, but it will also be so much more.