Content strategy isn’t a new concept, but it is often overlooked in many organizations, especially small to medium sized businesses. In our rush to get information, any information, out to our customers we often overlook the importance of WHAT we are putting out there. This isn’t just a matter of peppering the ‘net with as much information as possible, or using the shotgun method to make sure you’re name is out there in as many places as you can get it. Content strategy is just that: a strategy.
Here are some links so that you can use to learn about the ins and outs of content strategy. Have some info that you’d like to share? Please let us know in the comments section.
What is Content Strategy?
Content strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content, whether it is text, graphics, audio or video. As Rachel Lovinger puts it, “The main goal of content strategy is to use words and data to create unambiguous content that supports meaningful, interactive experiences.”
It’s the “unambiguous content” and the “meaningful, interactive experiences” that most of us may be lacking.
How Can Content Strategy Help Your Business?
It’s all well and good to care about your content, but proper content management is a lot of work. So, what do you get out of it? Here are a few things.
Helps you produce higher quality content: If you know what your overall strategy is, you will be able to create content that fits into that supports your plan.
Better content: By knowing what topics are interesting to your customers you will be able to provide more value to them.
Improves your SEO: Good content gets shared, which increases your page rank among search engines.
Helps you identify what works and what doesn’t: With a well-defined strategy you can see what you have published, analyze how well it did, and know if it’s worth repeating…or avoiding.
Identify things that make re-purposing sense: If you have a great collection of information on one subject, you can use it for other websites, or publish it in a collective, or even create a new niche for your business.
Leads to consistency of brand: It is much easier to keep things inline with your particular brand when everyone is on the same page.
Fewer revisions: With everything being consistent you are less likely to have to re-do things. You will be much more efficient, having everything inline at the beginning.
Knol
Knol gives an amazing amount of information on content strategy. This includes Rahel Bailie’s aspects of content lifestyle that discusses the analysis, collection, management and publishing of information.
Six Revisions
Six Revisions has their own reasons you should consider utilizing content strategy. Maybe you can think of others. If so, let us know in the comment section.
Blueglass Content Marketing [Infographic]
This infographic gives a lot of information in a great, easy to read layout. It will explain the whys and hows of content management
HubSpot Blog
HubSpot’s blog specializes in online marketing, and is a great place to find information on content-based marketing topics.
3. SES Toronto
