If you’re our existing or prospective client, you’ve probably asked this question as the world seems to have gone wild talking about ChatGPT and all the other popular AI tools. 

In fact, you’re far from alone in asking this question. Orbit Media and QuestionPro asked over 1000 consumers if they would like their service providers to get help from AI.

Interestingly, 40% said they would choose a marketing agency that gets AI to check their work, and 25.5% prefer to work with a company with AI-generated graphics and copy (which is then checked by humans).

Every agency should tackle the question – how much do they use AI

We think every marketing, SEO or content agency that uses AI should be completely transparent about how they incorporate these tools into their work, which is why we’re addressing this topic right now.

If you’re considering working with us, here’s how we use AI in our content marketing process.

Why and how we’re NOT using AI

First, let’s talk about how we’re not using AI.

Yes, you read that right. We don’t use AI software to create your written content.

Instead, we have a team of experts (including myself) who do this. And what you can expect consistently from our team is creative and original writing that isn’t taken from anywhere else on the Internet.

The only place we’ll use AI in the writing process to help us out when we need it. We like to think of it as our personal assistant. So sometimes, when you just can’t think of the right word or want a stellar metaphor, AI can be helpful!

So why did we go down this route and decide not to use AI tools such as Chat GPT to create your content?

Well, glad you asked…

1. Humans feed AI the data. AI can’t create content that’s never been produced before!

When working with clients, we aim to produce content that’s never been written before. Phew, right? The last thing you want is a collection of paragraphs copied and pasted from the Internet and a copyright infringement lawsuit on your hands!

Now in fairness, AI tools don’t copy and paste content, as such. But the ideas, concepts, and information AI puts together come from data that already exists. 

And it’s been fed data by humans. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s A LOT of data. 570 GB to be exact. And in non-geeky terms, that’s 300 billion words from various places such as books, websites, original research etc. So it has a lot to go off. But any content or ideas it creates will originate, in some form, from somewhere else.

What we do is completely different. We create content that only you can produce. 

The topic isn’t necessarily unique, but how you present the topic is. For example, let’s say you want to create “How To” content that shows your audience how to do something (step-by-step). You could do this why using an example of your client, and how you achieved this very thing for them. That type of content teaches your readers something new and showcases your unique knowledge and expertise.

And guess what? No AI tool can do that! Because AI can’t:

• Use personal experiences or lessons learnt.
• Use specific examples of your previous work or client success stories.
• Sprinkle storytelling into your content.
• Talk about how your specific products and services work.
• Use original research.
• Interview others on your behalf for expert input into your content.

A human writer can only do this.

2. AI can’t replicate your exact tone of voice

Another thing that AI tools don’t do very well is replicating your exact tone of voice. They do okay at switching from formal to informal, for example. And the way AI does that is by adding a few exclamation marks here and there and taking out phrases like “yours sincerely”. But that’s not really what we’re after when we talk about content in your tone of voice! There’s a lot more to it than just being formal or informal.

A piece of content that’s written in your tone of voice is simply something that your Mum, Nan, or best friend (or any client who knows you well) could pick up, read, and think: “Wow! This sounds exactly like you! I read it and I can hear your voice in my head“.

So what we aim for when we create content for our clients is to produce something that sounds like them.

To do that, your writing needs to include your typical go-to phrases, expressions, colloquialisms, emotion and sense of humour (if applicable to their brand).

You know those words that you find yourself saying to your customers over and over again? Those things need to appear in your content. And AI tools simply can’t do that. Because they’re not in your brain, and they don’t know you like your Mum, Nan, or your best friend do!

Related article: How to Nail Your Brand Tone of Voice for Your Business [With Examples]

3. Lack of creativity 

The first reason we chose not to use AI tools to create content for our clients (or our own business, for that matter!) is that ChatGPT and other AI tools are trained to create content based on the text it’s provided. There’s no originality there. And that’s simply because software cannot and does not think!

Sure, AI can search for and pull out existing information, text, and data and put it together in a nice and coherent way in a fraction of the time it would take a human. 

And sure, the text won’t be copied – it’ll be unique. But it can’t be creative, and that’s a big difference! It means it can’t make original connections between thoughts like you and I would.

What makes engaging writing is the human ‘thinking’ behind it. This is why we only rely on human writers for content creation for all our clients.

4. Better quality content with human writers!

All in all (and for the reasons above), while AI-generated content can be really good, it just can’t beat the quality of writing and depth of thinking you get from a human writer.

And ultimately, that’s why we made the decision not to use AI software when it comes to content creation in our agency – for ourselves and our clients.

And maybe things will change in the future; who knows? But right now, we’re on team Human when it comes to your content writing, but with a little AI to help us when we need it.

Does it mean we’re ignoring AI and not using these tools?

Not quite.

So let’s get into that.

How we are using AI in our content marketing agency

With that all said (and in the interest of full transparency), we are using AI tools to support the content marketing activities we offer our clients. But we’re using AI tools for very specific tasks, which are mainly around repurposing content. 

So, for example, we use ChatGPT to repurpose your written content (i.e. the blog posts we’ve created for you) into:

• Promotional emails. 
• Social media posts to share on platforms such as LinkedIn or Facebook. 
• Scripts for podcast episodes.
• Short-form videos for TikTok or reels. 
• Full video scripts.

Curious as to how this all works?

In a nutshell, we feed the content we’ve created into ChatGPT and ask the tool to repurpose it into different types of content that can be shared on other platforms.

The key difference here is that you’re using your own original content. The tool is just reworking it, so you can do many different things with it. But the piece of software didn’t create the content for you in the first place.

What do we mean by repurposing? 

When we talk about repurposing, we mean that you’ll need to tweak your original piece of content to turn it into other formats.

So when we say that you can repurpose a blog post into one or more social media posts, it’s not just about posting something on Facebook or LinkedIn to say: “Hey! I wrote this blog post. Here’s the link. Go check it out!”.

That’s not what you want to do.

Instead, you want to take that original piece of content (and we always recommend that’s a blog post), break the points down, and reformat the content so it works for the specific platform you want to share it. And yes, you can add a link to your original piece if you like (at least some of the time), but you don’t always have to.

Related content: How to Repurpose a Blog Post (and Save Yourself So Much Time!)

Is repurposing with AI as simple as copying and pasting? 

So when we talk about using AI tools to repurpose your original piece of content into something else (social media posts, a script for a podcast or a video, etc), we’re not simply talking about having the tool copying and pasting your words from the blog post so you (or your VA or Social Media Manager) can then copy and paste them onto your social media channels.

It’s not quite as straightforward as that.

This is why we’ve just hired an awesome Content Marketing Expert who is experienced in ChatGPT to repurpose the content we create for our clients into various different formats.

The tool is good, but it does need some help from a human to do a couple of things…

1. ChatGPT needs to be given a lot of direction!

For the tool to do precisely what you want it to do (and do an excellent job of it), you need to give it a lot of direction.

Writing prompts that give you the output you want isn’t as easy as it may sound, so you have to constantly tweak what you ask the tool to do for it to deliver exactly what you’re asking for.

For example, if you want the tool to repurpose a blog post into a promotional email, you have to tell it to first summarise the blog post into key bullet points and then add a good hook at the start and a compelling call-to-action at the end.

Unfortunately, if you want a good-quality email to send to your list, it’s not as simple as saying, “Turn this blog post into an email”.

There’s more work required than that, which is precisely why we’ve hired someone who knows how to write. Because they know the hooks, persuasive language, and writing formulas to follow to get the best out of the tool and your content.

As we’ve said, the tool can only do so much. But combining the tool with a professional, experienced writer is a winner! 

2. Output content needs editing

Once ChatGPT gives you a piece of content, you can’t just copy and paste it. You’ll need to review it and edit it to make sure it all makes sense, and the quality is good enough to share.

It’s not just a matter of asking the tool to do something for you and being able to use it without double-checking it and potentially having to make some changes to position the ideas in a way that makes sense to your audience on social media, for example.

So what does this mean to our clients?

Using ChatGPT to repurpose content rather than creating original pieces means that when hiring us, our clients receive original content written and edited by humans and humans!

But…

We also get the help of AI tools to do the things they do best (when given the right input), and right now, that’s repurposing the original content we’ve created for you into different pieces of content that you can share elsewhere (social media, email, etc.).

Sounds like you’re getting the best of both worlds, right?

Probably!

And that’s because you are!

Want some help creating epic SEO content? 

If all this sounds interesting and you want some help to create content that helps you stand out in a crowd filled with AI-generated content, we’ve got your back! We’ll write content for you that turns you into the go-to company in your industry, drives more traffic to your website, and generates more sales for your business.

Sounds good? Check out our Blog Management Service here.

Lyndsay Cambridge

Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.

jammydigital.com

The post How We’re Using AI in Our Content Marketing Agency appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.

We like to do research, and this research can be a little messy.

The time between researching a product or service and buying said product or service could take a few minutes or years!

That’s because we all go to the Internet with different intent. We might be looking for information, wanting clarification, or we may be ready to buy something. 

So if you want to get in front of your potential customers, you need to make sure you create different content that answers the different types of search queries your potential customer will type into Google.

AND you need to optimise that content, ensuring you maximise your chances of ranking.

But how the heck do you do all of that?

Let’s break it down and simplify it all before this whole idea makes you break out in hives. 

(Honestly, this isn’t as scary as it sounds!)

First things first, what is a search query?

A search query is simply the words or phrases you put into Google to find something you’re looking for.

When you’re trying to figure out where you’ve seen that actor before on TV, what do you do? You Google it! That’s a search query.

All you need to know is there are three different types of search queries, and your customers will use these to find you and potentially buy from you.

Don’t believe us? According to a study, 81% of people research online before buying.

We all do it. We can’t even buy a toaster without a bit of research!

So yes, you will need to create content if you want to get in front of people researching. Because if you don’t, your competition will!

What are the 3 types of search queries?

When you search for anything on Google, it normally falls into three categories:

• Informational.
• Transactional.
• Navigational.

Different search queries lead to different results, i.e. different types of content.

So let’s look at each type individually and understand why you should produce (and optimise) content that falls under each category to help more of your prospective clients find you and to make more sales.

1. Informational queries and the content you can create

What is an informational query?

An Informational query is what it says on the tin. It’s the kind of stuff people look for when they need information on how to do something or find out what something is.

For example, you might type into Google: “How to make pumpkin pie”, “How to fix a broken zipper“, or “What does stoozing mean?“

How can you create content for informational queries?

A lot of this is by answering ‘how’ or ‘what’ based questions; you can easily use this in your business too.

To get in front of our audience who are using informational queries, we use content like:

• How to use humour in your marketing so people fall in love with your business (+11 prompts to help you!)
• What is an SEO content writing service? And how does it all work?
• Or How to Make Content Part of Your Sales Process (so you get more sales, faster!)

Why is informational content good for you?

The benefit of publishing content for informational search queries on your website is that it helps you attract website traffic and rankings.

What does this mean?

When prospective customers are looking for “How to” content, they can find your informational content.

Many of us use informational search queries. So if you can help your audience by answering their questions about the information they’re looking for, you could rank in search engines and get those people on your email list. Or even buy!

Of course, it takes time and effort to get website traffic and rankings from content that answers informational search queries. You need to think about keyword research, content writing and optimising the content, etc., but you get the gist. And if you need help with that, our SEO checklist for blog posts should help!

All sounds perfect so far, right?

But let’s play devil’s advocate.

Are there any drawbacks to publishing informational content?

We 100% recommend that you publish content that answers informational search queries (we certainly do!), but if you only focus on this type of content, you may be shooting yourself in the foot. Because while you’re attracting lots of people (yay!) they might not be looking to buy from you (oh dear!)

Remember that at this stage, people are looking for information. They want to find out how to get something done. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re considering buying anything at this particular moment.

The idea is to get a lot of traffic using that content, and SOME of that traffic will eventually buy. But most won’t.

The good news is that you can (and should) publish other types of content, too – types of content that get people to buy…

2. Commerical/Transactional queries and the content you can create 

What is a commercial/transactional query?

A commercial/transactional query is what someone types into Google when they know what they want to buy, but they don’t know what company or person they want to buy it from.

Commerical/transactional queries are specifically about products/services/companies. For example, let’s say you’re looking for project management software. You can imagine typing into Google, ‘monday.com reviews‘. Or even ‘monday.com discount code‘. These queries show buying intent.

Commercial/transactional content is what pops up when someone is searching for your products or services specifically.

How can you create content for commercial/transactional queries?

If you look on our website, you’ll find blog posts like:

• 11 Reasons our SEO content writing service is not right for you
• Why is our SEO content writing & blog management service so expensive?
• Or What’s Our Black Friday Offer 2022 All About Then? 

We have many more examples as we create A TON of transactional content.

And as you probably know, if you’ve come across our content before, we are big fans of the teachings from They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan. The key here is to focus on what your ideal customers ask you (face-to-face during meetings or sales calls, over the phone, or by email) and take the time to answer those questions in detail through your content.

Ideas for transactional/commercial content YOU can create

If you think you have nothing to write transactional content about, think again because the minute you start looking at your customers’ questions, the idea floodgates will open. But if you’re sitting there scratching your head and wondering how this might work in your world, here are some more examples.

• Content that answers cost-related questions. For example, “How much does a Dyson cost?”
• Case studies and success stories from previous clients.
• “The best” type of content. Examples of this could be “The best website builders for beginners” or “Manchester’s best co-working and freelancing spots.”
• Myth-busing content, that tells people (nicely!) what they get wrong about your products or services 
• Jargon-busting content, like “What depreciation means to you and how our accountants can help.”
• Original research you made in a specific area of your industry.
• Or objection-led content. This is content that you create specifically in answer to the objections (explicit or implicit) you hear from your customers repeatedly. Things like, “I don’t have time to…” or “This won’t work for me because…”, or “I can’t afford this right now because…” This is where you tip the argument and explain why these objections aren’t valid. Acknowledge that you see and understand your prospective clients’ worries, but take the time to break them down and show them how they will get results from working with you.

Why is transactional/commercial content good for you?

You’ll want to publish transactional content on your website because it helps you attract more of your ideal customers and convert leads into sales.

Because ultimately, you want to sell, right?

The people who are likely to come across this type of content are already thinking about buying your products or services. 

They might not have decided to buy from you just yet, but this type of content is designed to sway them in the right direction! 

Why?

First of all, you’d be surprised, but many business owners don’t create transactional content (all the more reasons why you shouldn’t stop at informational content!) So this makes you stand out from your competitors.

But also, transactional content helps you showcase your services and explain how you work and what you offer. By creating content of this type, you’re pre-empting many of the questions, objections, worries, and doubts your prospective clients have around making that final decision to buy (or buy from you).

Think about producing transactional content as providing a service – helping prospective customers make a more informed decision. You’re making it easier for them to buy. And as a consumer, yourself, don’t you just love it when that happens?

Are there any drawbacks to publishing transactional content?

There aren’t that many drawbacks to publishing transactional content. The only thing that slightly plays against it is the fact that it’s sometimes not the best type of traffic-generating content.

This means it won’t necessarily attract tons of traffic to your website from search engines (it depends on what type of content you create). But the traffic it does attract is more primed to buy. 

3. Navigational content

And finally, navigational content is the type of content people land on when they’re looking to find a specific website or page. So when someone is typing in the name of your company or brand into a search engine, they’re performing a navigational search.

Of course, this means they already know you. They know your brand name and the products or services you sell, they’re probably interested in buying, and they want to find the correct website or physical location (like a specific product or service page) to get what they’re after.

Like transactional content, navigational content comes in handy when people are already in your world – they know your brand or business name. But it’s still important to optimise the correct pages on your website to ensure your customers find what they’re looking for.

For example, on our website, you’ll find the page Blog Writing & SEO for time-poor businesses, and that’s optimised for “content writing packages” “SEO content writer” or ‘SEO content writing”. So if someone were to type that in, they’d be directed to this page and find all the information they need.

We also link back to our service pages from other pages on our website or from our blog posts (just like we did above), and that helps our prospective customers find what they’re after.

Why is navigational content good for you?

In a nutshell, it helps you sell!

Take our service page for Blog Writing & SEO as an example again. It has all the information that someone needs to make a decision:

• We open with a short video where you can see us (and see we are real people in the flesh and not robots!) and where we introduce the service.
• It talks about the problems that our ideal customers are experiencing and want to solve.
• It shows them what life could be like – what they would get if they invested in our service.
• Then it explains the service – step by step.
• It spells out how much time (and therefore money) our clients could save with our help.
• And finally, it outlines the simple steps someone needs to take to get the ball rolling with us.

It breaks it all down for our ideal clients, so the only thing left to do for them is get in touch with us! That’s how brilliantly navigational content can work for you.

Are there any drawbacks to publishing navigational content?

Navigational content is an essential component of your website. Just like you need a Home page, you need product or service pages. Otherwise, how will your prospective customers know what they can buy from you and how?

But navigational content alone isn’t enough.

Plus, it tends to be static, meaning that (unless your services change every other month) this type of content isn’t likely to change very often. And if you don’t publish anything new regularly, Google and the other search engines can’t see that you have anything relevant or useful to share and are less likely to rank you high in the search results.

If you only have navigational content on your website with no other content whatsoever, it will be really hard for new prospects (i.e. people who don’t already know you and your business) to find you.

So if you want new customers to find you and your fantastic business, you need to publish fresh and helpful content (both informational and transactional).

Would you like our SEO blog agency to help you?

Your website needs a clean structure with the right type of content (i.e. an active blog with useful, in-depth, optimised articles) and optimised pages for your products and services so that more of your ideal customers can find you via the search engine results and buy from you. That means you need to plan for different types of content, set time aside for keyword research, and then create all that content.

And yes, we know this takes time! That’s exactly why we can create that content for you so you don’t need to worry about a thing.

We create:

• Content that helps you rank on Google and delivers you traffic.
• High-ranking content that helps your potential customers.
• Content that pre-qualifies your customers and helps you attract those who are right for you.
• And content that helps you make more sales.

And, of course, we do all the keyword research for you. Want to find out more? Get in touch and let’s have a chat!

Martin & Lyndsay

The post What are the three different types of search query? And what content can you create for each type? appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.

But did you know that you can become a thought leader yourself?

You can then integrate this into your content strategy, to help attract customers and grow your business.

In this blog, we’re looking at the difference between SEO content and thought-leadership content to help you decide which is best for your business.

What is SEO content?

At Jammy Digital, we spent years designing functional and beautiful websites. And everyone always thinks that’s enough for the business to come flooding in.

But the truth is, it’s difficult for your website to rank without a stream of in-depth, informative, and educational content. Google isn’t too bothered about how ‘pretty’ your website is (just that it works!)

It’s estimated that the number one listing on Google accounts for 27.6% of all click-throughs. And only 0.63% of all Google searchers continue through to the second page of results.

So it’s not only crucial that you create content, but that you create content that ranks on search engines. Otherwise, your potential customers will struggle to find you online.

SEO content is well-written, engaging, and informative content, with a primary focus on getting your website to rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). It’s all about creating content your customers are searching for, so you show up higher in rankings.

SEO content harnesses the knowledge of SEO and keywords, optimising content for search engines, so the right people find it.

Related content: SEO content writer vs SEO agency: which one is best for your business?

What is thought leadership content?

First things first, let’s define thought leadership by itself, before going onto the content.

Thought leadership is the delivery of content that uses expertise, insight, and experience to help you become the go-to source of information in your industry.

Thought leadership isn’t so much a type of content, but rather an approach to content creation, created by tapping into the expertise, insight, and experience within your business and the wider community.

People often think that thought leadership content has to include controversial or outspoken opinions, and it can, but it doesn’t have to.

What it does need to be is authentically and recognisably you, with a strong brand voice. No sitting on the sidelines; it’s about letting people know what you think.

Thought leader content can include:

• Stong and/or controversial opinions
• Expertise
• Experience
• Authenticity
• A desire to share their knowledge

This type of content helps businesses and individuals build credibility and be seen as an expert.

The different types of thought-leadership content marketing

I like to split thought-leadership content into different categories including:

• Original research content…
• Business decisions content…
• Expert interview content…
• Customer client stories content…

Examples of thought-leadership content

1. Original research content

This could be via surveys or analysis, for example, reviewing websites and reporting your findings.

If you do this right, you can become the ‘original source’ for a particular topic, meaning lots of others will link back to your article, which can skyrocket your rankings.

An example is from Backlinko, which analysed 3.6 billion pieces of content to better understand evergreen content.

2. Business decisions & strategies content

Want to stand out as an expert?

Give a little insight into your business and the decisions and strategies that you have implemented.

You can detail why you made those decisions and whether or not they worked. If not, you can let people know what went wrong – and what you learned from it.

In this example, Orbit Media shares its 15-year-old content strategy, detailing what worked and what didn’t. It’s a great way to showcase their expertise in SEO and content strategy – the service that they offer.

3. Expert interview content

As much as you would like to be, you probably aren’t an expert in everything.

So, why not capitalise on the expertise of others and bring that knowledge to your audience?

This can be done via guest blogs, but a great medium for this type of content is podcasts.

A great example is Steven Bartlett, Diary of a CEO podcast – where Steven interviews different leaders and CEO, bringing you their top tips, learnings, and insights from their careers.

4. Client stories content

You can tell your potential clients how great you are, but it’s much more believable if it comes from someone else.

So, why not let your clients do the talking?

This blog from Buffer puts one of their clients at the forefront and lets her write her own case study on how she used the scheduling tool.

It’s common for people to write blogs on product and service features, but this type of blog talks about them in a way that actually teaches potential clients something. It’s a powerful way to show the impact that your product or service could have on a business.

SEO content vs Thought leadership content: what results do they get your business?

Results! Let’s face it, most of us aren’t creating content (thought-leadership, SEO, or otherwise) just for fun. As exciting as creating content can be, I’d personally rather be eating chips on the beach or reading a good book (or both).

Content is all part of a wider marketing effort to increase traffic, leads, and ultimately sales. If your content is not getting you results, then it’s a waste of time and energy – two things you don’t have to spare running a business.

So, in order to compare the two, we need to understand the results that you can get from each.

What does SEO content help you achieve?

When creating SEO content, it’s all about getting your website to rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). The goal is to discover exactly what your potential customers are searching for and create content to answer those questions.

As the stats show, if you don’t rank your website within the first couple of search results, then it’s unlikely people will click on your website.

So, great SEO content should help you to:

• Increase your search engine rankings for a variety of keywords
• Increase your website traffic
• Increase your backlinks from high-authority websites

Plus, there are the intangible benefits of SEO content, that enable you to attract the right customers and have better quality conversations.

But ultimately, the primary goal of SEO content is creating content that helps you rank highly and get found online.

Related content: How to 10x your website traffic

The results of thought leadership content

Unlike SEO content, thought-leadership content is not about what people search for. It’s about building authority and positioning yourself as a subject matter expert.

However, while the content is not focussed on ranking, it does still have some pretty incredible results when it comes to traffic and conversions. According to SEM rush, 81.4% of thought leadership content results in organic traffic. And if that’s not enough, 47.6% generates the all-important leads and sales.

Why?

It’s partly down to the fact that by the very nature of thought-leadership content. It’s WAY more likely to get you backlinks from other content creators.

For example, let’s relook at “original research” content – one of the types of thought-leadership content previously mentioned. This is a style of content that Brian Dean at Backlino has absolutely nailed. He carries out in-depth research on relevant topics and creates content with details and specificity that no one else has covered.

Thought leadership is not necessarily an SEO strategy. However, it increases the likelihood of backlinks (we’ve even used some in this article), establishes expertise, and optimises the website for rankings. Therefore it does benefit SEO, although it’s not targeting that.

The mechanisms that enable thought-leadership content to drive your business include

• Brand credibility and authority
• Generates backlinks, shares, and mentions
• Attract potential customers

SEO content vs thought-leadership content: when should you use it?

Content is sold as the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to growing your business. But the truth is, there is no one size fits all, and not everyone will need to implement the same content strategy.

But which one is right for you?

When should you use SEO content?

Relying on referrals to grow your business?

Struggling to bring in leads?

SEO content is all about utilisng and capturing the existing search traffic within your market in order to drive revenue and grow your business. And it’s extremely valuable at helping you rank and convert when correctly implemented.

This is why we recommend that all businesses implement an SEO content strategy, assuming you have the following in place:

1️⃣ An up-to-date website (that wasn’t designed in the 90s)

2️⃣ A website that’s easy-peasy to navigate (no use getting loads of traffic to your website if all those people end up getting lost and then leaving.)

3️⃣ Decent and clear website copy

4️⃣ Products or services that sell right now (great content will not make up for a bad product/service)

5️⃣ Access to your actual website and blog (ie. your web design company isn’t holding it hostage)

Assuming you have these things, you can get started on creating a successful SEO content strategy that helps you will all the benefits we’ve already discussed. Start by thinking about what your potential customers are searching for and create content around that (or hire us to do it for you).

Related content: Why referrals are bad for business (and what to do instead)

When should you use thought leadership content?

As we now know, the point of thought-leadership content is not to rank, but to influence and gain authority.

The challenge is, that without an existing audience it’s hard to gain traction with thought-leadership content.

This is why thought-leadership can be seen as a more advanced form of content, that builds upon an existing content base. Think of SEO content as your BA honors, and the thought-leadership as your Master’s course. You need the foundations of the SEO content and the audience that comes along with it in order to really make an impact with thought-leadership content.

There are also undoubtedly industries that lend themselves to thought-leadership content more easily (such as business and marketing), as there is no one right way to do things. Although this creates huge potential in more traditional industries, as no one else is creating this type of content.

So, if you are already creating content, and driving organic traffic via search, then I’d recommend starting on a thought-leadership content plant too.

Thought leadership content vs SEO content: can you outsource it?

As a business owner, you wear a hundred different hats every day, and content is just one more thing to think about.

But can you successfully outsource content that sounds authentically you?

Or, is it something that you have to keep in-house?

Can you outsource SEO content?

A good SEO content marketing strategy requires a near constant supply of high-quality, search-engine optimised content – and that takes time to create ⏰.

In fact, we estimate that it takes around 10-16 hours in total per blog to create high-quality content, which includes:

6-8 hours: to write, edit & proofread your content
3-4 hours: of content design & formatting
1-2 hours: optimising each of your blog posts

Yes, you can pump content out at a much faster rate, but if you want to create in-depth and engaging content that ranks, then you’ll need to spend a little longer on it. This is why a large part of the reason why over half of businesses outsource their content marketing.

In addition, most owners know their business inside out, but that doesn’t mean they can write about it in a way that’s going to rank. SEO content writers are experts in writing engaging content that speaks to potential customers AND the Google algorithm.

While some argue that you can’t outsource SEO content writing, we definitely think that you can.

In fact, not only do we believe that you CAN, we think that it’s a positive step for your business. That’s why we’ve built our SEO & blog management service around outsourcing your content.

Yes, the content still needs to be informed by a subject matter expert in your business, but partnering with a talented SEO writer to outsource content can be a brilliant business decision.

Outsourcing to SEO content writers helps fill a skills gap in your team while saving you time and making you money.

Related content: Why is our SEO and blog management service so expensive?

Can you outsource thought leadership content?

You might think that thought-leadership content is harder to outsource. After all, it’s so dependent on your voice and expertise that surely it’s impossible to replicate via an outsourced writer.

And we agree, it is harder…but not impossible.

In fact, you might be surprised to find out that 48.7% of businesses outsource thought-leadership content.

However, it’s not something that an ad-hoc freelance writer will be able to achieve.

To successfully outsource thought-leadership content, you will need to develop an ongoing relationship with a writer or content marketing agency. But once you have a writer that you trust and that understands you, it’s possible to create high-performing thought-leadership content.

Again, it’s important to work with an experienced writer or agency that is able to translate your expert knowledge into influential content. But assuming you have a way to communicate that knowledge, there is no reason that you cannot successfully outsource thought-leadership content.

This is part of the reason that we don’t offer ad-hoc writing but, instead, a full SEO and blog management service. It allows us to form a relationship with our clients, understand their business, and convert their expertise into clear, informative thought-leadership content.

Can you have thought leadership content that also ranks?

Ranking on search engines is not the primary aim when it comes to thought leadership content, but it’s certainly not impossible.

As mentioned previously, the nature of thought-leadership content means that you are more likely to get backlinks from other relevant content creators. These backlinks are essentially votes from other websites, alerting Google to the fact that you have created helpful and relevant content.

The latest update from Google “the helpful content update” is an effort to ensure that searchers are seeing more “original, helpful content, written by people for people”.

So, while ranking is not the priority for thought-leadership content, it’s certainly possible. Originality leads to backlinks, which in turn build domain authority and ultimately boost SEO.

Plus, it’s certainly still possible to ensure that any content created is optimised for search engines (whether it’s the main aim or not) to make sure it’s positively viewed via algorithms.

Are there agencies that do both SEO and thought-leadership content?

While SEO content and thought leadership are separate, they are not two entirely distinct strategies. And while the results and means differ slightly, ultimately, both are aiming to increase revenue.

In our opinion, thought leadership content should be a part of a wider content strategy. You can’t become a thought leader without creating consistent content, it does not exist in isolation. However, it’s a brilliant way to set yourself apart from the increasingly noisy marketplace – and all the millions of blogs being published daily.

SEO content serves customers who are currently searching for what you offer and driving consistent organic traffic, while thought leadership content allows you to position yourself as an industry expert.

Lyndsay Cambridge

Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.

jammydigital.com

The post SEO Content vs Thought Leadership Content: which should you create for your business? appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.