How to get maximum value from your content marketing

In content marketing, creating content is only half the battle. The other half is figuring out where to put it.

So you’ve been listening to too much Gary Vaynerchuk and you’ve decided the best way to get ahead in business is to start creating your own content to position yourself as a ‘thought leader’.

Not only is it good for perception, but it’s also good for SEO.

READ: How much should I pay for SEO?

However, one of the first hurdles you need to surmount in your content marketing journey isn’t just the creation of the content but where to put the content to make sure you get the biggest bang for your creative buck.

For the sake of this article we’re focusing on written content, but the principles still apply.

So, where do you put your cracking content?

On your own blog or site

Blogging is the cornerstone of content marketing and SEO.

Punching out anything from 600 words (the minimum Google requires before it takes your page seriously) to 2500 (Google gets super-excited by content of this length) helps attract customers and better Google rankings.

So naturally, this is a good idea.

Especially so if the content is linked directly to something you sell.

For example, are you a plastic surgeon? Then blogging about the “10 Benefits Of A New Nose”, and then linking to a contact form for people to enquire about said new nose is an easy way to generate new sales leads.

So, a fair proportion of the time, it’s a good idea to have your thoughts on your own website.

Behind a gate

Sometimes it’s even better to put your thoughts behind what’s known as a ‘gate’.

This is simply a mechanism to only let people access your content if they sign up.

They arrive at your page, see a form, fill in that form and then they’re sent a link to a PDF download, or a video, or something of value.

Gated content is good for longer and more detailed content – content that you feel has some higher worth and that people should sacrifice currency (in this case their contact details) for.

But remember, if you’re going to ask someone for their details, you have to make sure you do something with it.

Letting it sit on an email list in Mailchimp defeats the purpose.

On someone else’s website

This is also one the backbones of good SEO – having an article published on someone else’s website and linked back to your website is gold.

The downside is that while you’re going to get lots of juicy SEO authority goodness, so will they.

And you can only use that piece once; they won’t take kindly to you reproducing it on your site too.

In this case, it’s worth assessing the benefits for sacrificing seeing your hard work on your own site, in order to use it to drive people indirectly to your website, with an added SEO boost.

READ: More on sales and marketing

With that in mind, you need to gauge the traffic quality and quantity on the third party website. My writing on The Pulse is good example.

However, I’ve also written for Jeweller Magazine and a number of the Fairfax publications too.

Each time I assess each those opportunities as to which will deliver the best traffic based on their readership and the article subject matter.

There’s also the consideration that many third party websites might even pay you for your opinions, especially if they appeal to a broader audience or you have a strong personal brand.

On a ‘ready content’ website

If you’re looking to make some money and aren’t too concerned about the SEO benefits, or you’re writing about something not connected directly to your business, then there are many ‘content ready’ website you can sell your thoughts on.

These sites won’t give you the same sorts of rates you may expect from pitching a freelance article, but it’s a relatively simple way of making some cash on the side.

Constant Content is an example of one of the platforms which has cropped up in recent times to cater to this.

On LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a relatively new vehicle for content distribution.

The platform itself has been about for a long time, but the internal blogging platform has seen more rapid growth in the last few years once it was released to every user.

I like LinkedIn for more ‘controversial’ or ‘discussion’ subjects – the goal being to share with your LinkedIn connections and to get people talking.

That lends itself to second and third degree connections seeing the post and perhaps connecting with someone they feel is an influencer in your space, growing your personal brand in the long term.