IT’S ONLY WORDS?Working with Content Strategy

Charlie Peverett

The story so far

The story so far

SEO

The story so far

SEOUX

designers

The story so far

SEOUX

designers

Editors

The story so far

SEOUX

designers

Editors

Ordinary decent citizens

The story so far

SEOUX

designers

Editors

Ordinary decent citizens

Web2

point Tot0

The story so far

SEOUX

designers

Editors

Ordinary decent citizens

Web2

point Tot0

WTF?

Web 2 Point Toto

I like to pull back

curtains.

When I pull that curtain

back…

EVERYONE WILL SEE!

So I saw this presentation from a white-hat SEO company, and it went like this…

“Three important ways to improve your visibility in search:”

Social sharing buttons ☑

Social sharing buttons ☑

Great content ☑

Social sharing buttons ☑

Great content ☑

[something else] ☑

“We’re going to need a bigger checkbox”

What do we mean by ‘content’?

What do we mean by ‘content’?

• words• pictures• video• audio• tools • data

• [etc]

What do we mean by ‘content’?

• words• pictures• video• audio• tools • data

• [etc]

}

What do we mean by ‘content’?

• words• pictures• video• audio• tools • data

• [etc]

}in short:

What do we mean by ‘content’?

• words• pictures• video• audio• tools • data

• [etc]

}in short:

The

assets with which we communicate with our users

Who creates content online?

Who creates content online?

2001: IT, SEO, early e-commerce

Who creates content online?

2001: IT, SEO, early e-commerce

2006: IT, SEO, e-commerce, customer services

Who creates content online?

2001: IT, SEO, early e-commerce

2006: IT, SEO, e-commerce, customer services2012: IT, SEO, e-commerce, customer services, brand, PR, CSR, the CEO, six different retained agencies, that bloke down the street, your gran, etc.

That means, in 2012:

Content is political

It’s often expected to achieve multiple objectives

‘Great content’ is expensive

Social sharing buttons ☑

Great content ☑

[something else] ☑

Nul

points

“The practice of planning for content creation, delivery, and governance.”- Kristina

Halvorson

Content strategy:

SEO

Pro

duct

Custo

mer

serv

ice

PR

UG

C

Different activities }

Visib

ility

Sale

s

Rete

ntio

n

Aw

are

ness

Engagem

ent}

Different objectives

Visib

ility

Sale

s

Rete

ntio

n

Aw

are

ness

Engagem

ent

[largely manifesting as]

Content

Visib

ility

Sale

s

Rete

ntio

n

Aw

are

ness

Engagem

ent

[all potentially seen by]

Users

Visib

ility

Sale

s

Rete

ntio

n

Aw

are

ness

Engagem

ent

[and therefore increasingly important to]

Brand

Visib

ility

Sale

s

Rete

ntio

n

Aw

are

ness

Engagem

ent

Content strategy

Users

Brand

Tips for working with content strategy

1.) Speak the same language

“Linkbait”

“Linkbait”

“Over-optimisation”

“Linkbait”

“Over-optimisation”

“Using bloggers”

2.) Read *that* book

2.) Read *that* book

And this one.

It’s free!

[/shamelessplug]

3.) Know your value

Search insight is valuable at every stage

Discovery Objectives Strategic planning Program implementation

Evaluation

There are just a lot more voices around the table

Thanks!

Charlie Peverett @cpev

Image creditsSatsuma image licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 License by the Soil-Net Library at Cranfield University http://www.soil-net.com/album/Plants/Fruit_Veg/slides/FruitVeg%20Satsuma.html

Cliché swear box and Lorem Ipsum t-shirt images by @cpev http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpev

Sparrows at table – “Feeding frenzy” by photogramma1, on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/photogramma1/4002693159