As all marketers, website owners, and other professionals with a website know, CONTENT IS KING. However, I’d like to edit that saying, because it’s not just about the amount of content you produce. Instead, it’s more of QUALITY CONTENT IS KING, as when you base it on recent algorithm updates, a search engine is telling us to focus on quality over quantity.
So what does this mean? It means that producing hugely valuable assets is better than having a ton of low-quality ones. Content marketers need to focus on giving readers value in whatever is written and published on their website. And this would sometimes mean you recognize the irrelevant content you’re writing.
But what are the things you should watch out for? Here are the seven warning signs that show you need to change up your content marketing strategies:
If ever you noticed or have experienced any of these warning signs, it’s time to look into your strategies. Meaning, it’s time for a huge change and to look into the quality of what you offer to your readers!
Minimal Organic Traffic and Negative Rates
This is an obvious warning sign, because if no one’s searching about the topic you write about, then there won’t be traffic at all. It may show that people aren’t interested in how you show the content, or that they don’t find the topic valuable at all.
If you want to create relevant and valuable content (of course), then you should know what your target audience is looking for. Spend time following your audience and seeing what they like, from what they do in a day, their responsibilities, as well as what they want and need. Research on audiences will all help with keyword research and knowing what kind of content that catches their interest.
You Don’t Focus on Keyword Research
If your main focus is to simply post content without focusing on keyword placement or even adding any, then chances are you won’t have as much traffic. Without keywords, people won’t be able to find your webpage and content from the search results page, which depends on keyword usage.
Make sure you understand what’s being searched for, the topics that offer engagement in the industry, and queries people post online. This gives you a guide on what’s most searched, giving you an idea on what to write about to reach the right audience.
You’re Not Updated With Relevant News At All
When writing content, it’s crucial to always have the new and fresh perspective that’s both interesting and relevant. But how will you be able to come up with new topics and ideas if you aren’t updated with the world and your industry?
If you don’t stay updated with latest news and trends around your topic, then chances are you aren’t making enough enticing content people want to read.
With that being said, make sure that you start reading up. You can do this by subscribing to publications, installing Google Alerts focused on your keywords, as well as reading news and participating in forums.
Content Experience Is Inconsistent and/or Declining
If you notice that the webpages that have positive traffic start to decline, then it’s time to start wondering why. With that being said, look into the content that’s declining and ask yourself why it’s losing visibility wand what you can do to improve its information to align it with the top search results.
Furthermore, if the content experience is inconsistent and strays away to various random topics, then it will just confuse users. User experience is an important aspect to get them to stay, so your content needs to be within the industry to keep your target audience interested in what you post.
Your Content Lacks Engagement
You’ll know if your content is doing well (or not) based on the social media shares and interactions made to it. If your content isn’t being shared enough on social media, then chances are that your content isn’t interesting bough to be shared at all.
With that being said, it’s crucial to look into the type of content that isn’t getting enough shares or likes and find the root cause. Or, you can create new content strategies centering around pieces that would be “clickable,” with websites like BuzzSumo giving you more ideas.
You Always Need to Promote Something
The 80/20 rule applies to a lot of topics and strategies, including content marketing. It’s no secret for success, though this unspoken rule is a great foundation.
80/20 suggests that 80% of the content is informational, while the remaining 20% is promoting anything your website offers. This is because if you continually pitch your services or products in what you write, you’re most likely losing interested readers.
Rather than create content based on lists of products features, solve your audience’s challenges itself. This helps gain trust and lessens the irritation of audiences skimming through promoted stuff.
There’s No Unique Information Shown
Curating content is very valuable but only if you offer the readers unique, may it be new information, perspectives, your opinions or advice. But if you’re just sharing something that’s been published elsewhere, you just contribute to content flooding, not giving your readers much value.
Even if you plan to write something popular and trending, add a new take or twist to it, using your own findings and evidence to back it up!
Wrapping It Up
Content marketing is ever-evolving but one thing’s for certain: High-quality will forever be important. While you can hire companies like Australia SEO Joel House to help you with your strategies, it’s also crucial for you to understand these technicalities to further improve with or without a team!
Hopefully, these warning signs of content marketing helped you identify if something’s going wrong. So start looking into your engagement and assess your current content to improve now.
Do you have any questions or want to share your experiences with content marketing? Do comment below, I would love to hear what you have to think!
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