Hi, I'm Mike. Welcome to our nine-part video series, 76 Proven Tactics to Drive Traffic to Your Website. Today we'll be talking about content marketing.
So you've got your site all set up, but you're unsure how to drive traffic to your website. This video series is devoted to showing you 76 tried and true methods to doing just that. Alicia, MJ, and I are covering topics such as email marketing, SEO, social media, and more.
But before we get too far, remember, subscribe and ring that bell to get notifications for future helpful content, such as videos in this series. And I want you to know that in the description below, we're going to have links to resources that'll dive deeper into some of the topics I'll be presenting today. All right, let's get started.
Content Marketing
As long as you create good and relevant content on your site, you'll have a steady stream of visitors, hopefully arriving at your site from Google. Unsure of what good content looks like? Then check out our content marketing guide and this awesome content marketing hub put together by Brian Dean of Backlinko. Inside you'll find 30 plus resources on everything you need to know about content marketing like promotion, copywriting design, and more.
As you can see, there are plenty of ideas. So let's get started with our tips.
Write Useful Content (aka Create Content That Answers Questions)
Number one, write useful content, aka create content that answers questions. It sounds obvious, but most SEO focused content boils down to this. Answer a question that a lot of people are asking online that isn't being answered well. If you have a question, what's the first thing you are likely to do? You Google it.
It can be literally anything from what is a meme to where is the best place to live and why were cornflakes invented. The point is Google and alternative search engines exist primarily to give people answers to questions. If you can answer questions with content on your website, Google will send traffic to your site.
So how do you find these questions? Well, that's the hard part. Understanding your audience helps. So does using keyword research tools.
More on that in a future video in the series. But one of the simplest ways to find questions to answer is to Google it. Type in a question that your audience may have and go from there.
I guarantee you'll end up down a rabbit hole of potential questions to answer. Once you've got some questions, use a simple framework to approach writing useful content. Do some keyword research to find a popular question.
Write an article that answers this question. Follow SEO best practices for your article. Make sure the word count is long enough to fully answer the question.
Edit your article, hit publish, rinse, and repeat. Just make sure you pick a content topic that isn't going to be dead in a few months.
Write Evergreen Content
Write evergreen content. Some content becomes outdated quickly, whereas evergreen content is content that will continue to be relevant way after it's been published. In fact, it can bring a steady stream of search traffic, leads, and social shares over time.
It will also provide lasting and compounding value, help to educate new customers, clients, and readers. It'll help to build your authority, and it may help to attract links. Evergreen content answers questions people are always going to be asking.
Just make sure that information is up to date.
Publish Long-Form Content
Number three, publish long form content. There is no right or wrong content length. The ideal word count for your content is the one that best covers the topic fully. Having said that, it has been observed that longer content works best. So here are some reasons you should be creating long form content.
Generally, longer content ranks better versus shorter content. The longer the content, the more social shares it gets. Longer content is more topically relevant, which makes it a good Google ranking factor, and it can help to convert readers into customers with things like content upgrades.
Although word count does seem to equal better rankings, there are other factors than just content length to consider.
Publish More List Posts
Number four, publish more list posts. A list post is an article whose headline features a numbered collection of things. There are a lot of list posts floating around the internet. BuzzFeed publishes mainly list posts. When it comes to driving traffic to your website, list posts work because numbers act as a psychological trigger.
Not only are they easy to scan when reading, but they draw the eye. When we see a number in a headline online, we are more likely to click on it because the brain gets activated by something called the click-whir response. So there you go. You're watching this in part because of science.
Create a System
Number five, create a system. Consistency in your content strategy not only keeps you relevant to your audience, but also signals to Google that you are a reliable source of information.
Slowly but steadily publishing blog posts is better than a frenzied and erratic posting schedule. And one of the best ways to manage this is with a content calendar. Somewhere you can store ideas and plan out what you are going to publish and in what order.
You can use an editorial calendar, your project management app of choice like Trello or Asana, or something old school like a spreadsheet or even a pen and paper. It doesn't really matter which you choose. The best format for your content calendar is the format you are most likely to use and to carry on using.
Repurpose Content on Other Channels (And in Other Formats)
Number six, repurpose content on other channels and in other formats. Repurposing content is best described as finding new ways to reuse your existing content. It is useful for reaching new audiences on different mediums, breathing new life into forgotten content, as well as making the most of your content efforts.
RFs does a great job of repurposing their content across their blog and YouTube channel, like with their content audit article and video. And so does GaryVee, who uses a content pyramid approach to get 30 plus pieces of content from one speech.
The point is, get as much value as you can from one piece of content by repurposing it. Here are some content repurposing ideas you can try. Webinars to videos. Old blog posts to downloadable guides.
Interviews to blog posts or ebooks. Images to Pinterest boards. Quora Q&A to blog posts. Slideshow to infographics or blog posts. Statistics to Twitter threads. Blog posts to podcasts.
Create Content That Appeals to Influencers
Number seven, create content that appeals to influencers. Most industries have influencers, individuals with large followings who seem to get loads of likes, shares, and links to their content. Wouldn't it be great to leverage their authority for your own content? If you want influential people to share your content, you need to create content that appeals directly to them.
First, you'll need to find influencers in your industry with influencer research tools, or do a quick search to find their direct email address. And then use this simple process for creating content they'll want to see. Analyze what they're talking about.
Look for a common theme. Create content about this theme. Get your content in front of the influencer.
Write Eye-Catching Headlines (Using Headline Analyzers)
Number eight, write eye-catching headlines. Headlines are one of the most important parts of your content. They are likely to be one of the first things people see in Google search results, but without a compelling headline, even the most comprehensive blog post may go unread.
To help you craft eye-catching headlines, you can use a headline analyzer like Sumo's Headline Generator. Writing good headlines is an art form, but don't worry, it can be learned and improved with practice.
If you have to start from scratch, follow these tips. Research your customers. Take a look at your competitors' headlines. Use words your audience may use, but avoid jargon.
Use numbers at the beginning if you can. Use powerful words like secret, untold, and hidden. A.B. test your headlines if you can, and measure your click-through rate and tweak accordingly.
Improve Old Blog Posts
Number nine, improve old blog posts. The solution to increasing traffic to your website is probably something simple that you already have, old blog posts. If you've been blogging for a while, you probably have tons of sitting in your archives in need of some love to bring them back to life and get them generating search traffic.
Look for pages that are hovering at the bottom of page one or the top of page two of Google search results. These pages are perfect examples to improve, but how do you improve them? Well, we have a few quick tips to do just that.
First, update any outdated information. Add more images, screenshots, videos, etc. Improve your introduction to make people want to read on.
Increase word count if it makes sense to do so. Add links to and from related posts. Improve readability with shorter paragraphs and bullet points. Republish them and promote them again as new.
Sometimes, though, instead of updating old posts, you're better off just merging them, which brings us to tactic number 10.
Merge Similar Articles (+ Redirect Them)
Merge similar articles and redirect them. If you have a backlog of similar articles covering the same topic and keywords, it may be worth merging them into a single post. By consolidating similar posts into one page, it is likely to perform better in Google as well as cleaning up your site architecture.
Why? Because you aren't spreading the authority across multiple articles. Instead, you have one focused and strong post. You'll also have one longer post that goes deeper into a topic leading to more traffic.
Here's how to merge similar articles into one. Decide which URL to keep, and which ones to remove and redirect. Copy all the content you want to keep from the old articles and paste it into the one that's staying.
Now format, edit, and double-check the new article. Then set up a 301 redirect to the new page. And finally, delete your old pages.
Use the Skyscraper Technique
Number 11. Use the skyscraper technique. The skyscraper technique is a marketing term coined by Brian Dean of Backlinko. Basically, it is a system for turning content into high-quality backlinks.
Here's how it works. Step 1. Find existing content with lots of backlinks. Use tools like RRef's content, Explore, or BuzzSumo to find URLs with a lot of social shares and links.
Step 2. Now go and create something way better. Now you need to figure out how you can improve upon it. Can you add more up-to-date information? Maybe you can improve the or expand it to include more points.
Step 3. Promote your skyscraper content. Go to the sites linking to the original content and ask for links to your superior content.
Here's an outreach template you can use. Hey, insert the name here. I was reading your post about, insert your topic here, and noticed you linked to this page. Insert the link.
Just wanted to let you know that I just published an updated, more in-depth version of this page. Here it is. Insert skyscraper link. Might make a nice addition to the page.
And then insert your name. The skyscraper technique sounds simple enough, but in practice, it can be tricky. In the description below, we have posted some resources to help.
Create an Expert Roundup Post
Number 12. Create an expert roundup post. Expert roundup posts are blog posts that collect quotes from experts and then use them in the article.
Here's an example from DataBox about the best free SEO tools according to experts. Roundups are great for getting links and shares from the people you have included, and they generally work well because they feature subject matter experts who will likely share your piece of content to their audience. They follow the structure of listicles, which we know perform well, and they attract many visitors and novices because they collect quotes and tips from well-known professionals.
Take some of the tactics from this series and apply them to your site, and you'll be well on your way of increasing traffic. Try them out, see what effect they have on your site traffic, and if one doesn't work for you, try another one. And if it does, double down and do more.
Which tactics have you tried? Where have you seen success in driving traffic to your site? Let us know in the comments below. Kinsta's WordPress hosting can speed up your website by up to 200%, and you'll get 24-7 support from our expert WordPress engineers. Let us show you the Kinsta difference.
Try a free demo of our MyKinsta dashboard at demo.kinsta.com. Thank you for watching, and don't forget to subscribe to get notifications for the remaining videos in this series and, of course, other tutorials, explainers, and helpful content like this.