If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ve heard a lot about putting great, fresh, frequently-updated content on your website. And if you’ve heard us talk about content, then you know we think it’s really important. Like, morning-coffee-important.
But what is great content marketing? What constitutes something that’s fresh in the world of Internet content overload? And just how frequently should your “frequently-updated” content be updated?
Let’s take a look at how to avoid being the dry, mass-produced airplane food of content, and instead, become the well-respected gourmet restaurant who provides high-quality content with delightful texture in the perfect portions.
#1: Update Frequently (But Not Too Frequently)
Have you ever tasted airplane food? It comes in little trays covered in plastic that just scream mass-produced. And while the occasional passenger might enjoy it, the rest of us force it down just to keep ourselves alive until we can get off the plane and chow down on some real food.
When you produce as many blog posts as possible — posting about whatever tickles your fancy and publishing those posts on a whim — you’re probably producing some pretty flavorless content. Chances are, it’s not always relevant to your business or important to your clients. It’s probably not well-edited and it may even be something you’ve blogged about before. You can’t remember. All these hamburger steaks are starting to look alike.
It’s best to focus on one or two blog posts per week (or fewer, if that number sounds intimidating) that contain content your customers are interested in. Will you win the award for Most Blog Posts of the Year? No. But you will increase your potential consumer base, and you’ll gain respect from the community as an expert in your field.
#2: Stay Fresh
While some topics are always relevant to your business, it’s good to keep an eye out for new, exciting, never-before-talked-about topics, too.
Take some time each day to scan social media and news sites to see what’s trending. If you see something that looks interesting, do some research on it to make sure it’s legitimate (not a step to be skipped!) and then create a blog post about it.
Usually, when something is very new, it’s okay to speculate about what it might mean for your business or industry — but make sure your content is factually accurate and that you restrict speculation to your own opinions.
When you blog about new ideas or innovations in your field, your excitement will rub off on your potential customers, and it’ll smell just as good as a perfectly-grilled steak.
#3: Produce Great Content
The key word here is focus. While there’s always room for creative license (said the girl who’s currently comparing airplane food to content writing), your blog posts must relate to your business and they must revolve around topics that matter to your clients.
If you work in dog-breeding, for example, then you should not write content about how much you love your cat — even if you love that cat like you love breathing. The people who follow your blog are interested in dogs, and your experience with breeding dogs, and everything that goes along with owning dogs (feeding, housebreaking, bathing, etc.).
Now, if you really must work that cat into a blog post, you can! It just has to be relevant to your audience. You could write about the relationships dogs have with cats, or how to introduce your new dog to the cat you already have at home. But however you do it, your topic must be interesting to your audience, and your content must be well-written and well-edited.
#4: Still Asking “What Is Great Content?” — Contact Uptick Today!
Even with all these tips for writing high-quality content, you may feel overwhelmed and unable to produce the kind of content you want. That’s okay! Uptick Marketing is here for all your content marketing needs. Not only do we have some exceptional writers on our staff, we’ve got one heck of an editor, too. (Ahem. *flips hair*)
Get in touch with us today for more details on how we can make your business burst with flavor by adding fresh, frequent, relevant content!
