#074 Content Marketing VIP Newsletter
Brands that do not have a content differentiation strategy can easily be outranked in organic search.
💡 This newsletter is sponsored by Marketing Examined, a newsletter guaranteed to optimize your marketing performance.
5-minute reads that make you a better marketer, scale your startup, and are straight to the point.
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🎯 Actionable Insights
💡 1. Four tips for creating high-quality content
Creating quality is more than just creating a similar article like top-ranking pages. The biggest sign of quality content is that it should solve real problems/challenges of users.
Here are some tips that will help you do this:
Tip 1. Study the intent and purpose of the keyword
The best way to study search intent is by studying the SERP. It will tell you what users might want to see and expect when they type your focus keyword.
Simply put: identifying search intent is about knowing the 'WHY' behind the keyword.
Look at the type of websites (is it a personal blog, generic sites like medium, LinkedIn pulse, etc.)
Check the SERP features (featured snippets, how-to videos, PAAs, site links, etc.)
Map the topic with search intent (transactional, commercial, informational, navigational.)
Tip 2. Find common patterns of top-ranking pages
Looking at the meta tags and content structure of top-ranking pages will help you understand a common pattern (in most cases).
For example, the keyword 'budgeting apps' have the following patterns:
All the top pages are listicles (Best 5, Best 6 budgeting apps, etc.)
Time-sensitive (updated list of applications – e.g. best apps of October, 2022, etc.)
Most of these pages use TOC or anchor links to improve the user experience.
Most sites share an overview of the product (description, price, reviews) and personal experience/review.
By looking at similar data, you can have a better content outline for the topic.
Tip 3. Find problems and related entities associated focus keyword
Knowing real problems associated with the blog topic will help you write helpful content.
Perform your audience research via:
Quora (find the latest questions related to your main topic)
Answerthepublic/ Sistrix keyword tool to find real questions and sub-topics
Likewise, you also need to find related entities for the keyword to make the content topically relevant for Google. Two common ways to do this are:
Check Google auto suggestions, image tabs, and related keywords at the bottom of the SERP.
Extract entities from the top-ranking results using tools like Frase, MarketMuse, etc.
Or, Watch this Youtube tutorial (14 mins) and learn how to extract entities from SERP using NLP.
Step 4. Information gain
So far, we have discussed things based on competitors' data or SERP features. But working only on these areas will make it a 'just another similar content.'
To differentiate, you need information gain (improving the content depth compared to competitors).
Here are some of the ways to increase content depth compared to your competitors:
Going into more content depth by covering all possible subtopics
Ask for opinions and expert insights (be it external or internal) and include them in the content
Answer related questions asked by audience/customers
Share your personal experience
Perform and share the data of the original research
👉 insights from Content Marketing VIP (Get a yearly subscription to VIP club only at $25)
💬 Bite-sized Insights
💡 1. Answer these 7 questions on your landing page for more clarity (by Neal O'Grady)
If you want to create a high-converting landing page, consider answering these seven questions for clarity:
1/ What is the product?
The first thing a user should understand when they visit the landing page is what problems does the product solve? And how?
2/ Is it right for me?
Highlight who's this product for. Make users feel the product is specifically made for them, not everyone.
3/ Is it legit?
Invest in making a genuine-looking landing page design. Don't make it look like a spam website.
4/ Who else is using it?
Add social proofs a lot. Even better if you can get testimonials/reviews from industry experts or influencers in the niche.
For example, Wynter uses popular brand logos and quantitative reviews from its customers:
This builds credibility and trust for the brand – which ultimately affects the conversion rate.
5/ How much?
Make users' jobs easier by not hiding your price behind a button called ‘content us to get a price.’
Yes, some products or services cannot mention a specific price on the page. In that case, you can add a price range that works for you.
Here's an example where the price range is given:
6/ Where can I get help?
Add contact details on the landing page (and make it easy to contact) so users can contact you for queries, feedback, and support.
Offer easy-to-contact options
Add multiple contact points (email, social media, etc.)
7/ What is the call-to-action (CTA)?
Guide users to the next desired step. It could be a lead generation form, product page, etc.
“The only companies that can get away without answering these are ones like Airbnb. Everyone already trusts them and knows what they do.
Until you're massive, answer these seven questions, and your landing page will be better than most of the ones out there.” – Neal O’Grady.
👉 Insights from Neal O'Grady (Co-founder of DemandCurve)
💡 2. Content Marketing Rule For Building an Audience
“If you're trying to build an audience, don't try to create content for multiple channels.
Start with one. Learn how to create great content for that one channel.
Then scale channels.
It's better to create great content for one channel than average content for three channels.”
👉 Insights from Alex Garcia (founder of MarketingExamined)
🗓️ Learning Resources and Tools
💡 1. How Parabol Reached 150K Monthly pageviews With Content Journalism
Parabol, an online meeting tool, reached 150k pageviews (monthly) by creating high-quality content combined with expertise.
In this content marketing case study, you will learn:
What is content journalism
How to use content journalism to drive traffic
Content journalism tips you can implement (interviews, SEO, storytelling, etc.)
👉 Read the full case study here (by Animalz)
📹 On my mind
If I have to share one book to complete this year, I'd recommend Product-led SEO (especially for beginners) by Eli Schwartz.
I read the book last year, and it inspired me to start a new blog as a side project just to try the principles of product-led SEO.