It's a task every web owner has to consider if they want their site to have any chance of ranking competitively. Link building and content optimisation isn't enough on it's own. There is more focus on content creation than ever before, especially after the ongoing Panda and Penguin updates.
But where do we start? Even if you're in the most exciting industry, there will be days when you're stumped as to what to write about. So let's look at the different ways we can create content for your site.
Google is your friend
We've all done it. Google is the first port of call when doing your research and this is no exception when creating content. Trawling through the lists of results can be tedious, so why not make Google work for you?
We could use the search filter on the left of the results to define what kind of sites we want to look at, whether it's the news, blogs or videos, but we could take this further.
Creating a news alert will mean you don't need to keep going through the search process and you'll get the latest content right to your inbox. This gives you the top results from the news, blogs and web.
It's usually a good idea to keep the subject broad so you don't filter too many articles out. I avoid using modifiers such as inurl: or intitle: for this because I don't want anything to fly under the radar.
Set the frequency of updates to weekly and you will receive a latest gossip about what's going on in your industry. This is a good starting point for researching your content.
Socialise a little
Some real Internet gems won't get the attention of Google news, so it's up to you to find them yourself, but it's easy if you know where to look. Sumbleupon is a good place to find interesting sites, but won't show you content hot off the press.
If there is one place that finds brilliant content on the web before it has even trended it's Reddit. There is a subreddit for just about anything with people submitting content relating to your interests. Drop every week or so and find out what's new before it's even new.
Twitter isn't just for tweeting
This is perhaps an easier strategy for people who have established themselves on Twitter. With the recent acquisition of Followerwonk by SEOMoz, we can expect nifty things from this tool in the future. For now it's a great way to not only find potential followers, but also related blog content.
I always used to do this manually by trawling through my followers list and clicking on their url links. Now FollowerWonk allows me to do this at a glance.
Checking into twitter for the latest gossip in your industry should be a daily occurrence, but it's important that the profiles you follow are people who are writing the latest news, otherwise you will be sifting through what the average joe bought at the supermarket.
You're not done yet!
Sourcing content for ideas isn't a strategy in itself. This is only the start. You need to get enough ideas to set out your plan for the next month at least. Remember to include your keyword research and a bit of internal link building...after all this is why we're creating content in the first place!
We'll be looking at content submission best practice in the next few weeks, covering optimization, analytics and link baiting, so watch this space!
About The Author: Article by Richard Skidmore. Richard is a member of the One Result team. You can connect with Richard on Google+
Did you find this article helpful? Please let Richard and myself know by leaving us your valued comments below.
If you found this or any of my other posts helpful, don't forget to +1 or share the posts to your favourite networks using the toolbar below or by using the "+1" and "Share" buttons located at the bottom of each post.
As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on NetworkedBlogs, via Email (maximum of one email per day), on Facebook and Google+ or by subscribing to our blog feed at:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/DereksHomeAndBusinessBlog
You can also follow me on Twitter @djones1509, Google+ and on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/djones1509
https://plus.google.com/104849975941505117776
Until my next post on Friday, enjoy the rest of the week!
But where do we start? Even if you're in the most exciting industry, there will be days when you're stumped as to what to write about. So let's look at the different ways we can create content for your site.
Google is your friend
We've all done it. Google is the first port of call when doing your research and this is no exception when creating content. Trawling through the lists of results can be tedious, so why not make Google work for you?
We could use the search filter on the left of the results to define what kind of sites we want to look at, whether it's the news, blogs or videos, but we could take this further.
Creating a news alert will mean you don't need to keep going through the search process and you'll get the latest content right to your inbox. This gives you the top results from the news, blogs and web.
It's usually a good idea to keep the subject broad so you don't filter too many articles out. I avoid using modifiers such as inurl: or intitle: for this because I don't want anything to fly under the radar.
Set the frequency of updates to weekly and you will receive a latest gossip about what's going on in your industry. This is a good starting point for researching your content.
Socialise a little
Some real Internet gems won't get the attention of Google news, so it's up to you to find them yourself, but it's easy if you know where to look. Sumbleupon is a good place to find interesting sites, but won't show you content hot off the press.
If there is one place that finds brilliant content on the web before it has even trended it's Reddit. There is a subreddit for just about anything with people submitting content relating to your interests. Drop every week or so and find out what's new before it's even new.
Twitter isn't just for tweeting
This is perhaps an easier strategy for people who have established themselves on Twitter. With the recent acquisition of Followerwonk by SEOMoz, we can expect nifty things from this tool in the future. For now it's a great way to not only find potential followers, but also related blog content.
I always used to do this manually by trawling through my followers list and clicking on their url links. Now FollowerWonk allows me to do this at a glance.
Checking into twitter for the latest gossip in your industry should be a daily occurrence, but it's important that the profiles you follow are people who are writing the latest news, otherwise you will be sifting through what the average joe bought at the supermarket.
You're not done yet!
Sourcing content for ideas isn't a strategy in itself. This is only the start. You need to get enough ideas to set out your plan for the next month at least. Remember to include your keyword research and a bit of internal link building...after all this is why we're creating content in the first place!
We'll be looking at content submission best practice in the next few weeks, covering optimization, analytics and link baiting, so watch this space!
About The Author: Article by Richard Skidmore. Richard is a member of the One Result team. You can connect with Richard on Google+
Did you find this article helpful? Please let Richard and myself know by leaving us your valued comments below.
If you found this or any of my other posts helpful, don't forget to +1 or share the posts to your favourite networks using the toolbar below or by using the "+1" and "Share" buttons located at the bottom of each post.
As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on NetworkedBlogs, via Email (maximum of one email per day), on Facebook and Google+ or by subscribing to our blog feed at:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/DereksHomeAndBusinessBlog
You can also follow me on Twitter @djones1509, Google+ and on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/djones1509
https://plus.google.com/104849975941505117776
Until my next post on Friday, enjoy the rest of the week!
