Hi, Alex Butzbach here with this week’s Content & Coffee. Today, I’d like to start by talking about something a little off-topic: submarines. But don’t worry, I promise it relates to your content strategy. Click play to watch the full video, or read the text version below.
We talk about content marketing in terms of visibility – the more people see your content, the more awareness they’ll have of your business and brand. However, sight and vision may not be the best metaphors for navigating the web. To me, sound probably paints a better picture of what marketers need to accomplish.
Let’s take our content discussion to the ocean. Submarines spend all their time underwater, in complete darkness. So to navigate, and to track each other, they rely on sound. Engineers listen for the tell-tale noise of another sub’s engine, and navies use sonar to bounce sound waves around in the hopes that they spot the craft they’re looking for.
The websites that make the most noise are the ones with what we call the most “visibility.” They produce engaging content, they’re linked to on other pages and they’re active on social media. In general, they’ve throttled their engines all the way up, and people can follow the sounds they make.
If you’re willing to make the leap that SEO is like being found in the ocean, then you need to create content that makes a splash. It’s no accident that 57 percent of marketers said creating quality content was the most important SEO tactic there is in a recent Ascend2 survey. However, 37 percent said that frequently updating their website was another crucial step. That’s because it’s hard to build ranking signals if you aren’t consistent, and if you make some noise and then shut off your engine, no one’s going to be able to follow you.
So don’t be a stealth submarine, silently running through the deep. When you aren’t sending out any signals, either on social media or through SEO, it’s no wonder you can’t be found. The ocean is full of other submarines blasting engaging content on a regular basis. Most prospects want to find the right information quickly. So be sure to broadcast what’s available with interesting content on a regular basis.
If you have any questions, leave a comment below or tweet @Brafton. Thanks for watching.
