Content is Currency: Developing Powerful Content for Web and Mobile

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 6
INTRODUCTION......Page 14
Optimized Content Works Harder......Page 15
What Will You Learn in Content Is Currency?......Page 16
Who Is This Book For?......Page 20
The Purpose of Content......Page 21
Why Am I Qualified to Teach Content?......Page 25
A Few Extra Bonuses for Your Investment......Page 27
PART I: Content: It’s the Currency......Page 30
CHAPTER 1 What Is Content Marketing, Why Do You Need It, and How Do You Maximize Its Effectiveness?......Page 32
Marketing in the Pre-Internet Days......Page 33
Maximizing Its Effectiveness—The Content Marketing Machine......Page 35
We All Hunger to Connect......Page 41
Your Content Marketing Goals......Page 43
Places to Find Content Ideas......Page 46
Current Trends in Content Marketing......Page 48
Current Research on B2B Content Marketing......Page 52
Summing It Up......Page 53
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing Your Current Web Content and Mobile Presence......Page 56
There’s a Lot of Bad Content Out There......Page 57
Overall Quality of the Copy......Page 58
Putting It All Together—Harmonizing Your Content......Page 66
Formatting and Usability......Page 67
How Content Relates to Design......Page 69
Usability Analysis......Page 70
The Essential Practice of Keyword Research......Page 74
What Words Are Potential Customers Using to Search for You?......Page 75
Keyword Strategizing and Brainstorming......Page 80
Optimize for Long Tail Keyword Phrases......Page 83
Establish New Phrases That No One Is Using Yet......Page 84
Keyword Nuances—Some Other Important Considerations......Page 85
Keyword Relevant Content for e-Commerce......Page 86
Competitive Research......Page 87
CHAPTER 4 Optimizing Your Web Content......Page 92
Search Engine Ranking Factors—SEOmoz Study......Page 94
Writing for the Search Engines and for People......Page 96
Factors That Help Your Page Rank Well......Page 98
The Query Ranking Factor......Page 99
The Process for Page Optimization......Page 100
Metadata......Page 104
Snippet Content......Page 106
Alt Text and Text Hidden in Images......Page 107
SEO Best Practices: A Review......Page 108
PART II: Content for the Web......Page 110
CHAPTER 5 Website Content—Including Case Studies, E-Books, White Papers, and Articles......Page 112
Think of Your Website in Terms of Content Modules......Page 114
The Philosophy Behind Great Website Content......Page 115
Important Site Pages......Page 116
Places to Expand Content......Page 123
Customer (Service) Friendly Content......Page 124
Other Considerations......Page 126
E-Commerce Website Content......Page 127
Landing Pages—Getting That Magic Conversion......Page 129
User-Generated and Crowdsourced Content......Page 132
Lead-Generation Content for Your Site......Page 133
Build Content Through Licensing......Page 137
Getting the Word Out......Page 140
The Numbers Don’t Lie......Page 141
Your Game Plan—Putting Together a Press Release SEO Strategy......Page 142
Writing a Release......Page 143
Press Release Distribution......Page 147
Track the Page Views and Pickups......Page 149
The Social Media News Release......Page 150
A Forward-Thinking Wire Service: PitchEngine......Page 152
The Social Media “Newsroom”......Page 153
Summary......Page 154
PART III: Content for Community and Mobile......Page 156
CHAPTER 7 Content for Social Media......Page 158
Social Media Optimization......Page 159
Social Media Is Expanding Like Crazy......Page 161
Gathering in Groups......Page 162
Types of Social Media Content......Page 163
Making an Impact with Social Media Content......Page 164
Profiles of Important Social Media Sites......Page 170
Using Incentives for Influence......Page 174
Mine Social Media for Keyword Research......Page 175
Social Aggregators......Page 177
Final Notes......Page 179
Summary......Page 180
CHAPTER 8 Blogging to Connect with Prospects and Customers......Page 182
Blog Titles—It All Starts Here......Page 183
Start with a Great Opening......Page 184
Blogging Content—Best Practices......Page 185
Managing a Large Blog with Multiple Contributors......Page 188
Creating Link-Friendly Blog Content......Page 189
Link-Building Experts Speak . . .......Page 190
Guest Writing on Other Blogs......Page 191
Seth Godin Might Have Said It Best . . .......Page 193
CHAPTER 9 The Relationship-Building Power of E-Mail Content, Auto-Responders, Newsletters, and More......Page 194
E-Mail As a Content Marketing Medium......Page 196
The Benefits of Using E-Mail to Connect......Page 197
Establishing Your Voice......Page 198
The Subject Line......Page 199
Best Practices in E-Mail Content Development......Page 200
Event-Triggered and Behaviorally Targeted E-Mail (Autoresponders)......Page 201
E-Mail Newsletters—A Few More Important Details......Page 204
Different Customer Groups Need Different E-Mails......Page 205
Common Mistakes with E-Mails......Page 206
Getting Inside Their Head......Page 207
CHAPTER 10 Video Content......Page 210
Powerful Statistics......Page 211
Trends in the Web Video Space......Page 213
Getting Your “Studio” Set Up—The Basics......Page 214
Putting Together a Video Content Plan Strategy......Page 216
Capturing Your Story in Moving Images......Page 217
Storyboarding and Scripting......Page 218
Production: Shooting the Video Content......Page 220
Postproduction: Editing the Video Content......Page 221
Optimizing Video for the Web and Mobile......Page 222
Distributing Video Content and Maximizing the Marketing Effort......Page 224
Creating a Mass of Video Content......Page 225
Using an Outside Vendor for Video Production......Page 227
A Final Word on Web Videos......Page 229
CHAPTER 11 Audio Content—Podcasts, Webinars, and More......Page 230
Podcasting......Page 231
Creating a Simple Podcast......Page 232
Best Practices for Podcasting......Page 233
Developing a Strong Bond with Your Audience......Page 235
Webinars......Page 236
Best Practices for Webinars......Page 237
Webinar Platform: GoToMeeting (Citrix) or WebEx (Cisco)?......Page 239
Summary......Page 240
CHAPTER 12 Content for Mobile......Page 242
Additional Benefits of Mobile Content......Page 244
Mobile Content Features Are Just as Compelling......Page 245
A Mobile Content Strategy......Page 246
Making Your Website Content Mobile Friendly......Page 249
Writing Content for Mobile......Page 250
Mobile Applications......Page 253
Mobile Advertising Content......Page 254
Location-Based Mobile Marketing Content......Page 257
Mobile SEO......Page 258
Integrating Mobile with Your Total Content Marketing Program......Page 259
Next Steps......Page 260
CHAPTER 13 Putting It All Together: Unleashing Your Content Marketing Machine......Page 262
Your Stage with the Content Curriculum......Page 263
The Content Marketing Machine......Page 265
Content Planning and Strategy......Page 266
Content Creation......Page 268
Develop a Content Publishing Schedule......Page 269
Need Content Ideas?......Page 271
Content Marketing and Distribution......Page 274
Content Management......Page 275
Current Trends in Content Marketing......Page 276
Content Marketing Best Practices......Page 277
Some Final Thoughts......Page 279
That’s a Wrap!......Page 280
B......Page 282
C......Page 283
E......Page 284
K......Page 285
M......Page 286
P......Page 287
S......Page 288
V......Page 290
W......Page 291
Y......Page 293