Content Marketing

There has been quite a buzz over content marketing in recent weeks. Google announced a crackdown on spam a few weeks ago. Specifically against “content farms”. The crackdown involves an extension that can be downloaded to prevent a perceived content spammer from showing up in your search results. Once Google has accumulated enough data it will be used as a potential ranking signal which means a site that has been flagged by enough users could be identified as spam. Content farms are ubiquitous on the net and write articles like “How to Determine the Weight of an Oscar”, or “How to know What Leaves are Mad Of”. The purpose is SEO link building. Churn out as much content as possible in documents that contain relevant keywords but have little relevant value in terms of actual information. The problem for for the searching public is filtering through the spam to find the answer for which they were actually searching. Content farms are not all spammers. For example Demand Media’s ehow.com offers legitimate content that answers generally asked questions like “How to Start a Small Business”, or “What Are the Most Popular E-Businesses”. Using content to build back links is a legitimate SEO strategy. The key is the quality of the content. Cogent articles that provide answers can be used to build trust, reputation, and links. It’s only when the concept is abused and articles that are barely comprehensible and are littered with key words and submitted as content that it creates a spam issue.

Giving away content is an excellent way to begin a relationship  with prospective clients. It is the start of the “know, like, trust” triangle that provides you with a method of proving that you are an expert in your given field. We recently posted our “Telemarketing Starter Kit” and a “Social Media Marketing Video” at Neilsonmarketing.com/freeofferto build relationships with insurance professionals who want to learn how to create an in-house telemarketing effort and, or who want to incorporate social media as part of their overall marketing strategy. Five years ago giving this information away for Free was unthinkable. Today it has to be part of our strategy if we want to compete. Once I complete this blog it will update Twitter and LinkedIn instantly exposing the information to hundreds of potential clients some of whom will learn something about content marketing and who may click on my link for the FREE OFFER. The reader wins because they get the information and I win because I get to start a potential relationship with a prospective client. It’s a “give it away to keep it” concept that really works.

Another way to employ a content marketing strategy is to write relevant content or hire someone to write content and then submit that content to legitimate content aggregators, like e-zine.com,  in order to build back links and increase your chances of appearing in more than one spot on the search engine results page. Create a blog and blog as often as you can updating your social media pages as you blog. Let people know what you know and some of them will become your clients. It really works. Hope this helps. Let me know how you are using content marketing in your business.

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