Are You Using the Right Content Development Strategy for Your Website?
The type of content you produce influences the popularity and profitability of your website. People will often subscribe to and read blogs that are well-written and informative or entertaining.
Potential customers are much more likely to make purchases when your sales copy succeeds in promising benefits and reducing risk.
If you operate a paid membership website, your content needs to be interactive and educational. Directly fulfilling user informational needs and providing channels for user feedback are important.
Content goes a long way in establishing the value of your website for each visitor.
It determines the amount of repeat visitors you’ll get and transforms your personal and business brand. It is easy for high quality content producers to receive natural citations and recommendations. I’m sure you all know how incredibly valuable word of mouth is for increasing sales and your audience reach.
Having the right content development strategy can make a big difference in how fast your site grows. This article can be summed up in one sentence: Learn how to create and use the right content development strategy as a powerful means to achieve your website or business goals.
Guidelines for a Content Development Strategy
I’ve previously talked how content needs to capture attention, a scarce asset in the today’s accelerated information economy. Your product or service must be relevant to customer needs or desires. Content is similar. If the information you offer is not what they’re looking for, search engine visitors will click away to another website.
Usability expert Jakob Nielsen published an article yesterday comparing the benefits of creating long and short articles. By benching costs (time needed to read an article) against benefits (value obtained from the article), he concluded the following:
People prefer to read short articles. This is also what we’ve found in empirical studies of users’ behavior while reading websites. People tend to be ruthless in abandoning long-winded sites; they mainly want to skim highlights.
If you want many readers, focus on short and scannable content. This is a good strategy for advertising-driven sites or sites that sell impulse buys.If you want people who really need a solution, focus on comprehensive coverage. This is a good strategy if you sell highly targeted solutions to complicated problems.
Nielsen goes to suggest that a content strategy which mixes both long and short articles is the best way to go, because it fulfills the needs of all visitor types. He recommends producing short articles for the majority of users, while supplementing them with in-depth articles for the few who want to know more.
One way of doing this is to create content that is short and within it, include links to more detailed articles and in depth information on other pages.
The more value you offer users each minute they’re on your site, the more likely they are to use your site and the longer they’re likely to stay. This is why it’s so important to optimize your content strategy for your users’ needs.
It might make sense to follow these suggestions for static websites with fixed pages and content that rarely changes. These sites do not evolve beyond their mission statement, tagline or initial purpose. If they are selling vintage posters, they will always be selling vintage posters or variations of them.
But Nielsen’s recommendations do not mesh well with blogs which continuously provide fresh content on an almost daily basis. I brought up Nielsen’s article to show how markers like content length are not really important, as well as to illustrate the actual value of content as a strategic tool to achieve your overall site goals.
Content Development Should Not be Separated from Strategic Planning
Remember what I wrote about strategic blogging? Creating, maintaining and growing your blog with ends in mind ensures that you stay on track to accomplish your goals. These ends involve the tactical development of content.
Content should be considered a part of your overall master-plan and not just an isolated necessity or discipline. You don’t structure your articles simply to please a group of transitory visitors. There are many other larger factors involved.
If you’re trying to generate as much revenue as possible from advertising, it makes sense to write frequent and shorter blog posts. Going for volume will get you more search engine traffic and that sometimes means sacrificing quality for quantity.
But that’s fine because the size of your traffic is more important then the quality or type. You want the masses in and you want to send them out via an ad link. But this strategy doesn’t work if you’re trying to produce content that makes you an expert.
The best channels, the ones worth paying attention to, filter. They are valuable as much for what they DON’T publish as they are for what they do publish. If you have an ad supported business model then information pollution is an effective means to increase profit margins, but if you sell consulting and/or content a different approach is required
When you’re trying to sell personal consultation services, you shouldn’t create short blog posts for the purpose of generating traffic or piquing interest. Your articles should have one ultimate and all important purpose: to demonstrate your knowledge and skills. People want to hire a thought leader, not an follower.
One infallible way of doing that is to write and share articles of in depth information and unique value. Instead of writing a short reference post which links to a detailed article, write that detailed article instead for incoming links and attention. Every citation you get is a positive vote for your abilities and expertise.
If you’re a web designer looking for work, produce that lengthy manifesto on best design practices. Write a long how-to guide (example) telling everyone what they need to create a brilliant and usable website. Spread it through social media, let it generate some buzz. Give it a chance to develop your brand and reputation.
It also makes sense with network with other established industry players by citing and linking to them in order to generate goodwill. You want those recommendations and testimonials. Your site should reflect your active participation in the industry.
Clients will start coming in naturally. You’ll get emails inquiring about your rates. All this stems from networking and disseminating strong articles that position you as an expert on topics that are relevant to the services you provide. This is something that pumping out 10 short news articles a day will not achieve.
Understanding the Influence of Content on Visitor Preferences and Actions
In actual reality, there is no singular or definitive reader profile you can use to fit a benefits/cost ratio. When a website consistently receives tens of thousands of new visitors in a single day, you can see how Nielsen’s guidelines are broad generalizations developed from limited empirical evidence.
The profiling of visitors is also futile because their informational needs are constantly shaped and transformed by your content. Every word you write and concept you put out influences minds and creates desires or perceived needs.
It is not as simple as simply producing information that is relevant to your site theme or creating resource pages to fulfill the keywords used by search engine visitors to find your site. Content is more more powerful and it can be used to develop entire breeds of new audiences/customers from the existing crowd.
Take my article on the importance of social media marketing. It is an educational piece I specifically created to demonstrate the efficacy and value of social media channels for your own website or business. This article is written to inform and was also created as a lead-in towards an future series of articles on social media.
Nielsen’s guideline reports are the same. He publishes his findings in the form of guidelines in order to recommend public compliance. His guidelines are designed to re-conceptualize or reformulate industry standards and this positions his brand as a leader, hence making his consultancy service attractive to high profile clients.
My article was written as a means towards an end; To generate interest and demonstrate expertise. By teaching my audience about social media, I am producing future interest for advanced social media marketing tactics. These future articles might be very detailed or they could be short, bite-sized tips.
The length of the articles don’t really matter when you have an audience that is sold on what you’re selling. An audience that has a foundational understanding and an avid interest. And this is the real trick to increasing the benefits of every article you produce for your visitors. Content pre-sells and makes related content valuable.
Word count is a superficial yardstick that is not important for blogs.
Moving Your Visitors Along the Attention Funnel
Content can be strategically developed in many ways. For instance you can write about broad and general topics to accumulate mass interest and get visitors to come into your site. This also includes writing content specifically for social media.
Use the right content hook to get people in the door. After that create similar content to maintain their interest while gradually producing material that builds on what you’ve already written. Distribute their attention by directing them to correlated products or services through your affiliate recommendations.
Once they are subscribed to your email newsletter or RSS feed, the attention of readers can be funneled in so many ways to build your reputation (send them to a mention of you in the press) or generate income (promote J.Vs or relevant products).
Content development is not a perpetual cycle of fulfilling reader needs via archetype profiling. It should really be a strategic process that generates desires and builds on them by offering related material which capitalizes on established visitor interest.
Forget the impossible task of satisfying readers by creating articles of a certain length or type (short or long, brief or detailed). It doesn’t really matter because visitor objectives and preferences are circumstantial factors you cannot predict.
Know that any percentile you’ve calculated from a poll or test will rapidly be adjusted and made inaccurate when more people flow into your website. Focus not on framing visitors in a fixed mold/profile but rather create interconnected layers of information and use content to funnel the audience into the core of your business model.
Content Differentiation Helps You Survive & Succeed in a Crowded Space
Content is a subjective factor because it is irrevocably tied to the creator’s knowledge and experience levels. You might think that your article on viral marketing is superb but someone more experienced and knowledgeable will find it simplistic.
On the other hand, complete beginners with little to no background knowledge will not understand your article and hence, will fail to appreciate its value. Your content is only as good as the degree to which the reader finds it useful/entertaining.
This subjectivity of content consumption is one of the main reasons why I think that content dissemination and distribution channels are sometimes more important than the actual content quality. The more visitors you can get to view your articles, the more they will begin to resonate with the right people and spread on their own.
But one thing remains constant: whatever content you produce will be benchmarked against other content in the same niche. If you are writing about making money online, your content will compared with other blogs which produce the same content. This naturally arises because of attention scarcity on the part of readers.
Differentiating your content from others ensures your website remains necessary, well branded and distinct from the rest of the crowd. When you are the only hot dog vendor stationed at a busy road junction, you automatically capture a market.
The Reason Why I Write Really Long Articles on Dosh Dosh
Content differentiation is usually a natural process for blogs. Your personality, background, opinions and the way you write distinguishes your blog from many others. The manner in which you interact with visitors and network with your peers also affects their overall loyalty and support for your site.
But sometimes that isn’t enough to develop reader interest and repeat visits. That’s when you need to focus a little more on differentiating your content type. This is one reason why I’ve been experimenting with longer articles for the past few weeks.
One thing is for sure: you won’t be seeing articles like the ones here on any other blog within this niche. I’ve noticed that the majority of bloggers covering the same topics like to write shorter blog posts that are easily digestible. Nothing wrong with that at all; I like reading and writing short blog posts myself.
Long articles alongside infrequent posting is an example of a content development strategy I consciously adopted to differentiate Dosh Dosh from other blogs. After blogging like everyone else for 9 months, I thought it was time for something different and so I cut out all the news posts and fluff to focus on unique content.
So far, the results have been great. While I enjoy this content strategy, I do plan to include some short action articles as well because some ideas and initiatives will achieve greater traction when they are published and spread in a simple format.
Note that changes to your content focus/format should be undertaken as part of an overall content development strategy, which can involve the production of content in multiple channels like audio or visual formats (podcasts/videos/user forums) to thicken up your site’s profile and communication reach.
Creating a Content Development Strategy for Blogs
- Decide the most important goal for your blog. For example, you might use blogging as a branding tool or a means to generate direct or indirect revenue.
- Make a list of content types that will achieve your goals. Create a weekly schedule which includes these content types (e.g. expert interviews, industry roundup, mullet baits or resource lists etc.)
- Observe the type of content that other blogs in your niche produce. Find an informational need that is poorly fulfilled by others and create content to plug the gap. Experiment with different content types to attract attention.
- Differentiate your blog by altering the content focus, type and format. Effective differentiation tactics involve creating a authorial persona, writing from experience, sharing your opinions and revealing your personality.
And that’s all there is to it. Pay attention to the content you are currently creating and think of ways they could be interconnected. Examine your content to see if they are fulfilling your overall goals. Create a content development strategy that works.
Consciously and strategically thinking about the content creation process is a good way to position your website against other content providers in the same field. Your site will gradually develop a distinctive value-driven identity, which will eventually lead to greater profitability and popularity.
For more effective content development tips, please subscribe to Dosh Dosh.
I like your existing strategy of spending more time writing higher quality (but longer) posts.
They may take a little longer to read but it definitely serves to differentiate you from the pack as “the place” for high quality and in-depth posts.
Have you given thought to what your next avenue will be to keep things fresh other than just post length variety? Like all products your existing blogging strategy will have a lifecycle of success and eventually reach a point where the effectiveness will begin to trail off…
As an Internet infopreneur and online writer/blogger for many years, I understand deeply the value of having a content development strategy – and this excellent article gives a quick, complete overview of the entire process of strategizing content development, especially tailoring it towards the goals and end points desired.
Excellent article – just as the many others that got me excited about exploring social media marketing (more specifically, StumbleUpon)
I’ve also adopted your long article writing style with a recent 4,300 word marathon blog post on StumbleUpon!
All success
Dr.Mani
I’m sure personality is another point that determines long or short posts. I for one like short post and write them because there’s more quality control and less redundancy. There will be less scanners and more people will read everything through. Also if they can’t get enough they will click on more of your related posts if they have the time.
There are some in-depth topics you can convey through a short article, but not many. In-depth topics require longer articles that need to explain ideas thoroughly in order to provide the reader with complete information. I really appreciate these longer and less frequent articles, Maki.
Since I’m in the consultant space, I’d like to add to what you said about blogging’s purpose “to demonstrate your knowledge and skills.” I think there’s more to it than that. Knowledge and skills aren’t enough. Or rather, the real knowledge and skills necessary go beyond that which is required to fulfill work tasks. I know many people who are knowledgeable, but can’t empathize or communicate with people in order to understand job requirements and deliverables.
When you are consulting or otherwise selling your knowledge and expertise, you want to help your prospective clients paint a picture in their imagination of success. You as the consultant fade into the background. Recounting the previous successes of other clients is a powerful way to do this, because people can more easily see themselves in the place of your previous client.
Creating visions of success, not just demonstrating skill, is important to help answer the question prospective clients have: what’s in it for me? Don’t frame information in terms of what you can do, frame it in terms of how others can do.
This is a great article, and is much broader than what I’m talking about here, but I wanted to contribute and expand upon these ideas with regards to consultants.
I wonder how long you need to craft one of your epic blog posts Maki? I’m amazed at the art of which you manage to come up with interesting information that doesn’t bore people to death.
I do admit that I’m in favor of shorter content too, simply because I am a scanner reader and only if I see that something is of value I stay to read the full post.
You seem to have attained the knack of providing content and entertainment at the same time which equals value.
I too is in favor of shorter post. Although your longer posts are not uninteresting, there are some indigestion afterwards.
How about spliting the post into a few parts, so that I can stop at part 1 and start part 2 after I have digested?
Well, I have to second what bmunch suggests above.
Maybe you could create your one long post and deliver it as two or three articles during the week (for those of us with A.D.D.)?
Although, once again, great stuff!
Great post as usual. I wonder all the days that you don’t post you must be preparing your article as it comes out to be top notch, as usual.
Also personally I prefer short posts as well. But again your posts are long and informatvie and I myself find them great reads. It all depends how much time you have in hand and whether the topic grabs my attention, and when you write Maki, it sure does.
Maki,
You are on a roll this week!
I like these longer posts that you have been writing. The more in-depth content is much more useful to me than the short posts that I see on other sites.
Thanks,
Not John
notjohchow.com
@whydowork
I don’t think the effectiveness of any current strategy will wear off as long as long as you make sure to build on the information you’ve already fed to your audience. Capitalizing on established visitor interest is key. A look at which posts receives the most comments and links gives a simple gauge of what content format/model to pursue in the long run.
As I’ve mentioned in the article several times, I don’t think word count and other superficial markers are really that important. Changing the form is a novelty trick that differentiates you but essentially, the quality and value of your content will get you readers that stay and come back.
And that’s what matters to me, since I’m not pumping out posts for ad revenue here.
In any case, there will always be an audience for your content when you’re fairly established. That’s one benefit of having a semi-popular website.
@ David
Yeah, personality matters. If you inject enough of it into your content, it will differentiate you naturally so you can take a looser attitude towards content types. I feel that long posts can be quality and not redundant. I personally skip a lot of short posts because they are just repetitive junk which doesn’t offer me anything new or useful.
@ Michael Martine
Thanks for sharing your experiences! There are definitely many ways to adjust your content angle to evoke desire from a potential client. What you’ve mentioned about creating visions of success is one method that works.
Personally, I think demonstration of ability is the initial magnet that draws people in. People will care about what they can do or what you can do for them after they realize that what you know or can achieve on your own.
In a way this sorta comes from my personal experience… I have gotten many requests for consultancy work even though I don’t advertise myself as a consultant, don’t have a squeeze page or even mentioned that I was available for hire.
This solely comes from people who read the material I put out on Dosh Dosh, from the expertise I demonstrate.
@Monika
I take quite a long time (sometimes 6 hours ) to write one of these blog posts because I’m trying to make the whole structure flow well. Long articles can be very taxing to read, so I spend a lot of time breaking them up with images, subheadings and text that is clear and connected from one paragraph to the next.
I guess the writing style is quite important as well. You need to pull them right from the headline and introduction… ^_^
@ bmunch and Mark
Indigestion? That’s interesting lol. Nah, I won’t split the post up into several parts. I spent a lot of time making the article interesting by adjusting/re-adjusting the copy and I deliberately used images with lots of color to induce energy into the post. I’m not just writing up a 2000 word article in one continuous chunk of text. I like what I’ve done, honestly.
If you really sit down to read this article, it’ll only take you 10 mins. I post every few days and that gap of time is to give readers a chance to digest it slowly if they have to. By all means, bookmark it and read it over the weekend if you have to. ^_^
There are tons of other blogs in this niche who write short posts and I guess if you really want a short-post fix, there are many other options available. It’s certainly not universal but I find most short posts = low value, at least for me as a reader.
As I’ve mentioned in the article, I do plan to do some shorter posts but they’ll be a little different from other sites… still thinking about the best to frame and produce them.
@Ritu
I actually don’t prepare my articles on the days I don’t post. I take a break and do something else… I’ll write a little more about the way I create content in some future articles. And thanks for the liking the long posts, not many do.
@Everyone else
Thanks for your comments!
Maki…another fantastic and valuable post! Your blog is one of the best on the net! Your information is much appreciated. I look forward to your posts and print them out and file them for future readin
I like writing shorts posts beause they get more users and reasers. You need readers to become an expert maybe later i will right longer articles but right now i’m doing fine without them.
I love your posts not to long no to short I think you getting it spot on mate
I am using one of your adsense optimized sites for my blog and its working a dream check it out justlaughs.co.uk
cheers lee
Here is a question for those SEO experts out there. What does better in terms of traffic from search engines, one long article or several short ones. My guess would be long articles bring in more traffic, but I am not an expert. Anyone?
Great post, Maki. I always want to print your stuff out and really study it. Which is not, to tell you the truth, something I feel inclined to do very often with the content I typically find online.
Sorry Maki, but I’ve really got to put my 2 cents in here:
Alex, I’m not an SEO expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m pretty decent at search; I also subscribe to the values of SEO 2.0.
Search engines couldn’t care less how long your article is, neither will most visitors.
What search engines and visitors will care about is quality, usefulness, and relevance.
What I can’t understand is although this sentence is regurgitated all over the Web, why don’t people believe it? (Has anyone else noticed this…) Because it does work!
So before you go all out SEOing and potentially get yourself banned by search engines, take the time to read posts on the subject at Search Engine Land, SEO 2.0, Copyblogger, Problogger, and of course here
Hello Maki:
This is a top quality article because it 1. addresses a topic that is important to me right now 2. is well reasoned and well written. I’ve read it over twice and made some notes. I often write article series in order to explore topics in depth whilst not weighing down those who want a quick read. It also gives them the option to explore an issue at the depth that they prefer without overwhelming them. Keep up the great work.
One thing I think you do well in your long articles (that Jakob didn’t touch on) is to break them up so that they’re scannable. If I’m in a hurry, I can easily skim through what you write, looking for bits of interest.
Content dev strategy. not really exiting or fun but you tackled it well maki. you gotta be the go to guy for your niche. Like my mommy always says, be great at one thing as opposed to being average across the board
@Maki – I still appreciate your articles. They are extremely well written, so I will definitely continue to subscribe to your blog.
@Sonia Simone – That’s a great idea; printing out Maki’s articles for reading. Provides more reading fodder on my toilet trips.
bmunch, that is more information than we needed.
Thanks for the wonderful advice! I started a blog about 3 months ago and I discovered your site last month. I apprecaite you helping reach more people. Your blog is well written and interesting.
This is definitely the most information heavy blog I have ever visited. If you ever turn the contents of your blog into a book, I would definitely buy it. Great post.
Excellent post Maki. I think that “content differentiation” is key. I think that is one of the keys to the success you have had. You do a great job of writing long, informative posts. There are only a few other blogs in this niche that you see that on a regular basis.
If you start to write short posts to go along with your long posts, do you think that you will lose readers or gain readers or both (lose some readers – gain some readers)?
you all make valid points-which one is the best-im not sure
please tell me – and enjoy this website: blog.fredwinchar.com
I enjoy the long posts, because you delve into subjects that require depth. I appreciate the fact that they are not padded, it’s simply that you are presenting more information and the form requires it.
I wrote a book, discovered publishers want me to bring an audience too, and then started the blog to promote my ideas. It’s a revelation to me how my posts (long by blog standards, perhaps, but rather short chapters by book standards) have clarified my writing process. It’s very freeing to zero in on a single concept and cover it in a post. I hopefully leave my reader wanting more… and then they will come back.
For those like me, selling value for a purpose in which ads are peripheral, it’s not about how many eyeballs I can get, it’s how many interested eyeballs that will want to come back.
Your tips on building an audience have been invaluable. Keep those long posts coming!
Thank you for the long post, Maki. This is one of the best posts on Dosh Dosh.
Wow! This is a great post. I have been mulling over a few of these ideas myself lately. You really put it all together in a nice package.
I really have to think about the content and direction that works best for me.
Thanks.
Great Article. I have been trying to get this challenge going with my team. To post more quality and lengthy articles. I may share this article if you don’t mind. It really hits home what I have been telling them. Hearing it from someone else may hit it home. Thanks for taking the time to read it
MEGAN VAILLANCOURT
http://www.PassportMentors.com
Really good article. It might have been shortened to this: make a summary of the article – followed by a more in-depth article…
well,it really depends on individual preferences.But what I really like about Maki’s blog Dosh Dosh is because of the length of the post.It is precise,the right length (in my opinion) and every post is for publishing in a book.
Thanks for another insightful post. We don’t really mind reading your extra long articles. This is the place we go when we want to learn something.
@George
Nice to see you around here! Haven’t talked to you in a while…
I definitely think that you’ll gain readers if you write short posts alongside long ones. The long ones set you apart from the rest and the short ones can feed the attention of those who crave more from your website. Short posts can be valuable as well, its just important not to repeat the same generalizations or topics that have already been beaten to death.
For example, lessons from personal experience will do really well for shorter posts.
@ Lidija
I agree with your points and thanks for offering your opinion to Alex.
@ Alex
If your website is well linked and has a lot of trust with search engines, pumping out many smaller posts will get you more overall search traffic since you’re getting more pages indexed and ranking for more longtail terms.
Or you can create one long post and target a popular keyword/phrase. The citation links you receive will help it to rank for it, which will bring in more targeted traffic. This is a more strategic maneuver.
@ WereBear
I feel that way about long posts too. They are fun to write and you get to attack a topic from all angles… in some occasions you can take the reader through your thought-processes as well… as if they were thinking alongside you as you write.
I’ve read this type of articles on certain blogs and always found them to be quite a thrill. It’s a ride to follow and read each sentence, especially if the topic covered fascinates you.
I’ll keep the long posts coming
@Everyone else
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Maki,
Glad to be back.
I have had a hard time keeping up with everything I would like to. I have been meaning to getting in touch with you… Your blog looks great, same great content. Keep it up.
On the long-short article thing, one time I wrote a really long article on my blog and since people weren’t used to it I got a few comments like:
“Wow that made me tired reading it…”
I think once your readers expect your posts to be short, some of them may not be happy to see a long post. On the other hand, I have found long posts to be great link magnets.
Keep in touch,
George
I will start using this for my own sites
. Thanks for the tip.
Excellent post, quality content will get noticed by search engines and increase readers. That has been my focus at my blog and clearly you are pushing the envelope with a well written post like I just read. Bravo!
Thank you for such a well-thought out and well-presented strategic approach of content development.
It really is about finding a way to create enticing value for your web visitor.
Again…Thanks.
i ask myself why i only read about your posts lately. your posts are something that i need to get restarted in blogging the right way.
thank you for your wonderful post!
I think you have demonstrated exactly what you mean in the writing of the article itself. Layout is good and easy on the eye, content is thorough and professionally written. Now actually doing this for oneself…..that is a real challenge.
Your strategic approach is on point and very well received.
Content differentiation and the development of your own voice and style is what separate the long-term bloggers from the rest of the pack.
Your “blog with a strategic end in mind” approach also gives way to creating content that gives your targeted web-visitor solid value.
Thanks for sharing your insight!
I think my site has excellent content. Thank you for your tips. I have learned a lot.
Jef
Hello, how can I get the tools to create a site like flickr, but no for show pictures, it will be a tool too, but not the core
thanks
Congratulations on reaching 10K subscribers. Your (relatively) long post about ways to use twitter got me hooked. It’s nice to know there will be more where that came from. Ten thousands others seem to agree.
Great post! I’ve given much this same advice to consulting clients in the past. Focus and intent. Know what it is you are trying to accomplish.
Regarding building a reputation as a thought leader, I also recommend long posts – but using them in combination with a series of posts that function as stand-alone articles that are also part of a larger topic. This combination has proven successful in getting readers to subscribe to future posts – the long posts convince them that you really are an expert and have valuable advice, then the shorter series posts encourage sigh up and subscriptions. Thanks again for the well-thought-out post
I really like your last point. I am going to actually get pen and paper and write my priorities and aims down.
I think this post is really one which I was looking for as I have to start my new business blog!
Thanks again!
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