When customers look online, are they finding your business?
When potential customers are in the research phase of buying, they often search online to educate themselves.
It's your mission to be the source of answers everywhere they look.
Let's say you sell motor scooters. Before they purchase, your customers are probably searching Google with questions such as:
- What are the advantages of electric vs. gas scooters?
- What size engine (or battery) should I get?
- Can I carry two people on a scooter?
- Do I need a driver's license for a scooter?
- How fast does a scooter go?
- Can I use a scooter in a bike lane?
- How long is the typical battery life on an electric scooter?
- How do I recharge an electric scooter?
- Can I take a scooter on the highway?
- Do I have to register and get a license plate for a scooter?
- How do you maintain a scooter?
- What are the pros and cons of brand A vs. brand B?
They're probably searching for answers to dozens of common questions.
You want to be the go-to when they want answers, whether through video or written content.
You can be a top search choice by tightly targeting keywords across different media and platforms and providing substantive content.
No matter where your content appears, you want a mix of review-type content, how-to content, this vs. that content, and educational content.
The content should answer common questions buyers have before purchasing.
Keywords across all content should be a mix of short and long-tail.
The short ones will appear more often but can be more competitive, making it harder for you to rank. The long-tail keywords are less common but easier to rank for.
Use a keyword tool such as Semrush or Google Ads to find good keywords for your niche.
Keywords should appear in your titles, content, summaries, captioning, and snippets.
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Content needs to connect to more content.
Every piece of content that you create should logically connect to 2-4 other pieces of your content.
Videos should have links inside the description that direct viewers to your website.
Embed links throughout the post and add a "read this next" section at the end of your posts.
Topics may or may not overlap within your content, but strong tie-ins should run between your blog, video, and social content.
You may focus on interviews and demonstrations on your video site and long-form educational posts on your blog.
Your social may be short-answer posts that connect to other content. You are creating a spider web of related content that is tightly connected and referencing your content.
Create strong, rich profiles and business pages.
Every social and video platform has a profile or business page where you can add photos, descriptions, and "about us" content.
Fill these out completely. Add as much content as possible. Reference your website and include links.
Creating a well-crafted profile allows you to be an authoritative expert for viewers, readers, and search engines.
Collaborate with complementary businesses.
Find other companies, pages, groups, and influencers who can benefit by collaborating with you.
Think widely.
Can you collaborate with manufacturers, authors, professionals who use the product, or collectors?
What complementary businesses can you work with?
Which businesses are well respected in your market and would shine a positive "authority halo" on you? Teaming up can double your reach.
Unless you pay, social is not "sticky."
While social is excellent (in theory) for visibility, the reality is that most social platforms are pay-to-play.
Organic (read: free) reach can be limited. Your carefully crafted social posts disappear into the black-scrolling hole, never to be seen again.
The other bad news is that most platforms throttle business posts; for example, "organic" reach (meaning not paid ads) on Facebook is about 5% of your followers.
The good news?
You can recycle your social content since most followers don't see it. You can create about 50-75 pieces of content to change up and repost.
Think of it like mix-and-match.
This approach allows you to post more often and consistently, and social platform algorithms reward this behavior with more visibility.
Know the vibe of the social platforms and where your audience hangs out.
Is your audience on a B2B (business-to-business) platform like LinkedIn?
Are they endlessly scrolling through Instagram? Are they fun-loving trend-followers on TikTok?
Where is your audience most likely to go to find out more about what you're selling?
Pick TWO social platforms to start.
Go deep rather than broad. Algorithms reward regular posting.
Once you get regular engagement and have a system in place, add other platforms one at a time.
It is a much better use of your time and resources to post ten times a week on one platform than once a week on ten platforms.
Here's why you need to spin your web:
Searching for something is a strong signal of buyer intent.
Even if they are early in the buying cycle, someone searching for "Do I need a driver's license for a scooter?" is a far more likely buyer than someone checking out a few cute scooters on Instagram.
No matter how they find your content, your goal is to get people to your site.
Any videos, social platform posts, or Q&A posts should direct readers and viewers to your site to read more.
Cross-pollinate your blog content by connecting it to your social posts and videos.
Your number one focus should be your website. Here's what you need for your blog content:
First step: Blog posts
Write and curate a dozen well-crafted blog posts with how-to, review, and educational content.
Find blog article ideas by searching common questions and see what (and who) comes up.
Posts should be 1500-2000 words. That is the sweet spot to rank on Google.
All images should have rich, descriptive alt-text with keywords.
Blog post content and titles should be keyword-rich – both short and long-tail.
Backlink to other authority sites.
Backlinks to authority sites help with your Google page rank. Not only does it help Google better understand your content, but you also get a (small) bump by linking to a site that Google decides is an authority on the subject.
To better capture a prime spot on search rankings, embed a featured snippet (answer box). Make sure to use keywords in the snippet.
Link to your other assets. One blog post could link to two to three other posts and a video.
Second step: Video content
Your second focus should be video content. Here is what you need,
Every video should answer one question.
Show features and demonstrate your products. Comparison, roundup, and review videos are popular search terms.
For additional authority and backlinks, interview experts and product manufacturers.
For social proof, interview happy customers and let them talk about their journey to ownership.
Start with about a dozen well-crafted videos.
Each video should address one thing. Keep them short and to the point.
People will watch six 10-minute videos before they watch a 60-minute video.
It's the same amount of time, but a 10-minute commitment brings much higher engagement.
Use keywords in your video title and description.
Optimize your video title by making it attention-grabbing and descriptive.
Create high-quality videos that are engaging and provide the valuable content you promised.
Use closed-captioning or subtitles.
Google can crawl all the content and improve search results if you add captioning and subtitles.
You want your videos to be easily found by search engines.
Using keywords related to your blog adds to your authority – and your videos will rank higher.
Optimize your video size so that it loads quickly and plays smoothly. Remember that many of your visitors will be watching on mobile devices.
Use a video-hosting platform
Don't host your own videos. Using platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, or Wistia to improve performance and give you a wider audience.
Monitor your video's performance.
Pay attention to what's working and double down on that content.
Create a channel to group your videos and make it easier for viewers to watch all your content.
Create playlists to give viewers a total immersion in your related content.
Remind viewers to subscribe to your channel to keep up with new content.
Connect every video to at least one blog post on your website.
Engage with your audience. Respond to comments.
Social platforms should be your third area of focus.
Here is what you need.
Social can give you broad exposure but is much lower on "buyer intent" than blog posts or videos.
The traffic you get from social sites will almost certainly be cold traffic, so you must nurture these leads with a longer course of get-to-know-you content.
But for general name-building, social should be on your radar as long as you always remember that your goal is to get them off social and onto your turf.
Here's what you need for your social content:
Create 50-75 social content pieces.
These pieces can be mixed, matched, and reposted. With minor updates, this content should last you at least a year, perhaps more. You aim to get people to read or view the shorter pieces and then click on a link for more content on your website.
15-25 original 300-500 word articles that answer a single question. Link readers to related longer content.
15-25 excerpts of a longer blog post (about 200-400 words). Link readers to the rest of the post.
15-25 video clips. Link back to watch the whole video. Size them for all platforms where they will be posted.
Create ten hashtags. These hashtags should tie into your keywords. Use these hashtags on all your social posts across all platforms.
While you may add a few trending hashtags, your main focus is creating trackable tags.
Create 50-75 eye-catching, scroll-stopping images with a provocative statement or question that links to a fact-based blog post, social excerpt, or video. These images can be mixed and matched with your other content.
While the image should be engaging, you can amp up the interaction through an embedded headline or an engaging question.
You can easily create all these images on Canva or hire a freelancer on a site such as Fiverr or Upwork.
Know the optimum sizes for each social platform and resize the images as needed. If you post on four different social platforms, you may end up with four variations of an image.
Be consistent with colors and branding so your images become recognizable.
Use the unique features of the social platform.
Facebook loves FB Live and will show them to a broader audience than your standard posts. FB Live is a great way to reach more people than organic posts. Facebook loves polls and content that gets shared. Their algorithm rewards the interaction.
Instagram has Reels and Stories. There are pros and cons to both. Experiment to see whether the short-form, TikTok-like Reels pull in more of an audience or if your audience prefers Stories' fleeting, behind-the-scenes vibe.
Pinterest lets you create Boards to group related content. You can use Boards and Group Boards strategically to reach new audiences. You can also enable Rich Pins to provide more information about your pin.
TikTok is about humor, surprise, and discoveries. You can up your engagement by joining TikTok challenges, using trending music and sounds, and strategically using popular hashtags.
LinkedIn lets you publish articles that get shown to a broader audience than your posts. Your profile on LinkedIn also tends to get more views than profiles on other social platforms.
Quora is a Q&A (question and answer) site with written answers to user-posed questions. Quora values high-quality answers that are detailed and informative. Other uses signal their approval by "upvoting" and commenting on your answer.
Find larger or niche-related groups on social platforms.
Look for ways to connect with a larger audience. Be helpful and offer content that is valuable and not promotional.
Facebook has millions of interest-driven groups. Join the groups and become part of the conversation.
Instagram has influencers. Find and follow people in your niche. See who and what they promote and follow them as well.
Pinterest has gone big with videos on Pinterest TV and short video clips. But they're still best known for their pins and group boards.
TikTok is all about short videos. Use your most outrageous, fun, and provocative video clips to attract attention.
LinkedIn is the place where entrepreneurs and businesses connect. LinkedIn has groups and allows the publication of articles that are more widely shared by the algorithm. Winning an audience on LinkedIn means focusing on business-related topics and professional groups.
Quora has Quora Spaces, which allows you to create communities and collections of curated content. Spaces work a bit like Facebook Groups, where you can own the Space, post content, and allow selected individuals to add content to the Space.
Track everything.
Figure out where you're getting engagement. What types of posts are gaining traction? What videos are people watching, and where are they leaving comments?
Once you figure out what is working, double down on that platform or content type.
Caution: Don't hop from one strategy to the next. Doing that will not build your engagement. Be aware that it takes time for the social algorithms to start noticing you and your engagement.
Mix and re-mix.
Take a half-hour a week to create new content or repurpose existing content.
Target a different keyword or question. Learn a little about search optimization so you can include popular keywords and tags. Use a content scheduler to pre-schedule all your posts.
Create polls and ask provocative questions.
People love giving their opinions and voting on silly (and serious) things. Polls and provocative questions can create great engagement.
While it may not directly relate to your product or service, social algorithms pay attention to audience interaction with you and your brand.
If you're selling scooters, post pictures of a few classics and ask people to vote on their favorite.
Show images of scooters in movies and TV and ask people to add their favorite.
Spinning your content web takes time.
You must actively engage with readers, viewers, and followers. You need great written and video content and the discipline to post and schedule on your blog and social sites.
If you follow these suggestions about creating and distributing content, you can rank for your chosen keywords and start driving lots of traffic.
It's a lot of upfront work, but once your web of content is built, it's pretty easy to maintain.
Take Action: Download the worksheet: Spin a Web of Content.
Taken from: Profit-ize Your Business Book Four: SEO and Business Development
Like this post? It was taken from the Profitize Your Business series
