| Content & Social Strategy

Do you set goals for your content?

Posted by Lisa Weinberger on Jun 6, 2013 in Content Development

Creating content has become the driving force for many online marketing strategies. With the buzzword of “content marketing”, not only does a business need to create engaging and thorough content for their own site, but they also need to consider the marketing plan way before they ever hit publish.

When speaking to many content creators, and discussing the topics they want to create, more times than not they automatically use the word, story or article. I understand, I spent many years creating content just with words so it took me a few years to retrain my brain into thinking about the different content types.

Infographics
Data-driven surveys
Podcasts
Videos
Slideshows
Interactive charts
Widgets
Social content
Visuals
Screencasts

Till this day you won’t see me on video (unless someone records my presentation), though I have been approached a few times, to get in front of a camera and use video as a content type. Maybe one day in the future, once I get over my fear of being in front of a camera, will I appear on video. But I have reached outside my comfort zone when developing content to use visuals, audios (even led an internet radio show) and being “PearlyWrites” on social media.

To get back to the original question, when starting to brainstorm about a piece of content, do you set goals first?

Since we know that a piece of content can take a few hours to a few weeks to create, you want to get the most use or “legs” from your efforts. Some goals for content can be:

Depending on what the initial goal is will direct which of the above you are going for. If you are strictly going for rankings, then the brainstorming session will start at the keyword and the conversations that are centered around the particular keyword.

If the goal is to earn authority and attribution, then the first question you ask during brainstorming is:

What question are you answering for the user?

Then the second questions are:

Who would be interested in this piece of content and why?

Once these questions are answered, it directs the content creator to drill down even further to reviewing what the competition has done and making the decision of how to approach the topic from adding a different perspective, or using a data set which is unique only to your site. Using unique data sets is a strong approach when wanting to hit a few of the above goals. It allows for not only earning authority in the niche but links and gets the community talking about it.

Have other goals not mentioned here? Share & let’s learn together.

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Directing Users to a Conversion Action

Posted by Lisa Weinberger on Jun 2, 2013 in Organic SEO

How many times have you been on a website and clicked back because there was no direction to the design madness?

A users first action is to search for an answer through Google, many times through mobile, and when the results populate in the SERP’s, the marketing copy seems to answer their inquiry so they click. Once they click, it’s a 50/50 shot that they actually receive the answer they were looking for. Or at least pointed in the direction where the answer may reside within the website.

Grabbing the User

Recently I was searching for a swim team for my daughter (who is quite the fish) so did a search for “swim team in Delray Beach“. In the SERP’s, my question was answered within seconds by the results.

I clicked on the first result since the meta description answered my question, as well as had a local confirmed listing with the local map in the right rail. As a user, I felt this business was legit.

When I arrived at the website, I was happy to find a call to action, above the fold, scrolling module which advertised the latest programs and newest announcements. The site was up to date! There even is an offer of a free week all within seconds of landing on the home page of FLASwim.com.

Accessibility & Trust

Then I stayed on the site to find the information about swim team for my daughter, the days, times and costs all from the top navigation. The site isn’t cluttered or directing me into 20 different places. The mobile version is using the same positive aspects so the consistency between both the desktop and mobile versions brings a trust to the user.

Of course my favorite part I saw, below the fold, are their multiple Twitter streams and Facebook community!

If I was to do a Content and Social Media assessment on this site, I would suggest not directing their Twitter community to their Facebook page, but create content that directs the community to their site and add a G+ page to build up that community. But just my two cents…

Of course the next thing I would complete is a search on the business and reviews from other clients. If all this checks out and looks good, I will be a new client of this business.

It takes a few items to make a user feel trust when wanting to convert them into a client. It starts with:

findability,
answering the users question,
not having too many paths or choices,
directing the user to make a call or sign up.

When the presentation draws the user to stay on the site, it allows for building trust and the visitor to click around. Advertising your business online should be focused on converting the lead to take action. Make the user feel comfortable to transact.

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Interview: SEO and Social Media in TechRepublic

Posted by Lisa Weinberger on Jun 1, 2013 in Organic SEO

In the past few months, I have traveled to both coasts as well as overseas, and in between was asked by Nicole Nash for an interview about what I have been doing for a living since the mid-90′s, digital marketing. I had the pleasure of presenting at SMX West and PubCon NOLA about integrating SEO into your Content and Social Media tactics and strategies which was fun.

Interview at 30,000 Feet

In between all the business trips and flying, the interview was conducted. We spoke on the phone, questions were emailed to me while home for a few days, and after flying to California and back, the interview was finally completed and emailed from high up in the air over the Rockies.

The day I presented at PubCon NOLA, to my surprise, the interview on TechRepublic about my integrated marketing approach was published. Knowing Nicole since 2005, she and I not only grew together as colleagues, but as friends.

My Twitter notifications were blowing up and I wasn’t sure why.

Then when I saw the interview was published, and read what Nicole wrote, I was brought to tears. She was able to paint a picture of the trials and struggles I dealt with as a content business, holding to my high standards, back when clients wanted crap content. No one else but Nicole could have captured and recollected my experience the way she did.

The Past to Present

PearlyWrites started as a freelance writing project, and quickly turned into a full time business where we not only fulfilled content requests from clients but created and executed eLearning curriculum development, SEO, Content and Social Media strategies where still today, we train and support our clients. (As Nicole reminded me in the interview, we would call it “Organic SEO“.) We developed our network of reliable contractors when specific requests were made like building the GoHappyGoHojo(TM) website with a points of interest search function.

We continue to maintain our network today and still love to make connections amongst each other.

Read the full interview on TechRepublic about my SEO and Social Media approach.

A huge thanks to Nicole Nash for allowing me to share some of my knowledge and relive the beginning stages of my business.

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Using Social Media Data to Find Authority Influencers

Posted by Lisa Weinberger on Dec 2, 2012 in Social Media

Source: Marketwire

In my many years of working in the field of Search and Social, the cool thing is our approach has always been focused on creating strategies all centered around research and data. (Check the tag line…)

Research could range from search engine rankings, analytics, content auditing, analyzing the competition, to the actual data research for the development of the content piece.

Prior to writing any content, we always research the targets, the competitors and ranking, the available data sources (free & paid), the authority influencers who can either be a contributor in our content piece OR would be interested in reading the content itself. From there, then we begin reviewing the topics and content types which the competition holds a strong placement for. And finally, once we gather all our background research, is when we decide on the content type we plan to create.

There has been many times we have gotten halfway through our process where we decided it wasn’t worth continuing if we couldn’t offer the user something of substance. If the information wasn’t totally different than what any other site was publishing in our space, I have made the decision to “Stop the Presses!”

Why?

Because when we develop content, we develop content with a purpose. If we don’t hit one to three of our goals, then the content didn’t perform the way we intended it to. When we don’t hit the goal, as a team we examine and analyze what went wrong and take a note so we don’t repeat.

Part of our SEO and content development process is using social media to find authority influencers.

What exactly is an authority influencer (AI)?

Of course the first thing that enters the mind is a celebrity, but the reality is how many people can interview or be in direct contact with a celebrity. So for the regular person who doesn’t have the connections to get a Kardashian’s phone number, where do we turn? Social Media has opened a path to connect with others throughout the world but mining through all the profiles on all the multiple networks can slow down the content creation and promotion process, hence slowing down the influencer courtship.

One suggestion, which we have used is to create a criteria that your influencers must meet. Whether they have over 10,000 followers, converse about a topic a few times a day, has a strong community within their own website niche; these are just a few ideas prior to spending your time researching for your AIs.

This week, I will be presenting at NCDM 2012 Orlando about this very topic with a colleague where we will share more details about the criteria we use when using social media data to find influencers. Incorporating Search, Social and Content Development data is all part of the strategy we created and continue to use as well as internal proprietary tools. Let’s connect!

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Data Driven Content Attract Readers

Posted by Lisa Weinberger on Oct 21, 2012 in Content Development

Doing an evaluation of your site content every few months allows for growth and opportunities.

Ask yourself or team a few questions to get the discussion started:

Does your content attract readers?

Are the readers the type of traffic you want to attract to your website?

Which content type brings in the most engagement?

Just like how teachers are taught to create lessons using Bloom’s Taxonomy, which attempts to hit all learners: the auditory, tactical or visual learner; the same approach should be used when creating content. There are a variety of users visiting your website and the population demographic may not just be in your city or even country!

Bloom’s Taxonomy
Source: @jepilgreenss

Data used in content doesn’t just have to be written. Try a few different approaches with the data you collect.

Example: The site is a provider of gluten-free products and considered an authority source of information about Celiac Disease and living with gluten intolerance. After reviewing the site analytics your team sees that traffic is strongest on Monday and Tuesday between the hours of 9:00am EST and 12:00pm EST. It shows traffic coming directly from search the first hour and then from the social promotion campaigns. Twitter is driving the most eyes so with all this information, the first indication is to create a piece of content for Monday morning which is focused on what your site is known for which is gluten free information.

Next steps:

See where your site is positioned to make sure you do not create content which either your site already has ranking for or that a competitor already has strong placements.
Research to find any new studies that were published in the past 6 months to a year where your team can use the data; but not use all the information from just one study but research 2 or 3 studies and decide on the unique attributes to overlay and present.
Places to research for data could be the Journal of Medicine, Newswise or the Department of Health.
In reality, you are creating your own survey to continue being the authority source on the subject.

What brings readers to your site and share with others are unique data points.

Once these data points are decided, then the content type brainstorming sessions can begin. This is where the fun begins. Since the analytics indicated the high traffic days and times, consider creating a few pieces of content, presenting different data points in a variety of ways, to publish on the different days between the hours when eyes are on your site.

Be creative and optimize for all uses…Happy Publishing!

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Chosen as an SMX East Presenter: Authorship to Authority

Posted by Lisa Weinberger on Sep 24, 2012 in Content Promotion

It has been a wild year in search with Panda and Penguin being tossed out by the big “G” but what an exciting year in search and social it has been.

My big deal moment came a few weeks ago when I was chosen as a presenter to speak at SMX East on the Authorship to Authority panel on October 3 at 3:30 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC! I am joined by many other greats in the industry and very lucky to have the opportunity to share my 15 years of content development, SEO and Social knowledge with a ballroom of interested attendees.

Below is the official description for the panel.

From Authorship To Authority: Why Claiming Your Identity Matters (#smx #23C)
With all of the recent focus on “content is king,” many marketers overlook that there’s a much broader process involved in establishing and maintaining the all-important factor of “authority.” This comprehensive session considers the entire process of “claiming your identity,” starting with brainstorming sessions with SEO, social and content development teams, to content promotion tactics for gaining authority links. Both enterprise SEO teams as well as outside consultants will benefit from this session.

Moderator: Elisabeth Osmeloski, Managing Editor, Search Engine Land (@elisabethos)

Q&A Moderator: Carrie Hill, Director of Online Marketing Services, KeyRelevance, LLC (@CarrieHill)

Speakers:

Mike Arnesen, Senior SEO Analyst, SwellPath (@mike_arnesen)
Brahm Booth, Director of Marketing and Ecommerce, WowWee (@brahmbooth)
Bill Slawski, Senior SEO Consultant, Webimax (@bill_slawski)
Lisa Weinberger, Director, Content Promotion, Bankrate, Inc. (@PearlyWrites)

After 3 years of not speaking at industry conferences, a few colleagues gave me the push to send out proposals to get myself out from behind the computer screen and be seen in person. My first industry presentation was at Simon Leung’s (aka Coolsi) first conference in 2007 in San Jose and prior to that experience, thanks to my education background, I taught in college classrooms since 2003. If you can keep hung over college student’s interested at 8:00am, presenting to 75 – 400 attendees doesn’t seem too difficult.

My presentation will focus on “Content Development with Purpose.” If you have been following my twitter stream the past few weeks, I’ve been posting some small tidbits of information about this topic which incorporates all three focuses of search, social and content strategy. How all teams working together can produce not only amazing content, but content which is informative, interesting, engaging and visitors want to SHARE and READ. BUT does all content have to be read?

Can’t wait to meet you at SMX East and answer this and many other questions.

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