by Jon Henshaw

How to Create a Traffic Machine for Your Content

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“If I write great content,they will come.”

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But if you build a Traffic Machine they will

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Step 1: Focus on UX

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Brand

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Your brand is part of the UX and makesyou unique, memorable and trusted

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Generic themes donot communicate brand

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Brands have an identity

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Brands include authors

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Brands have a unique look and feel

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Layout

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The layout of your content determines pages per session and repeat visits

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How likely are you to come back here?

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I’m definitely coming back here!

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Make the reading experience match the quality of the content

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The reading experience should also be device responsive

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Duo AppTest Responsive Design

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Roots is a perfect starting place for WordPress

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https://webflow.com/

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Navigation

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Navigation helps emphasize the focus of the site to readers and bots

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Example of focused navigation

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Sharing

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Make your content easy to share, unless you don’t want it shared.

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Speed

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Speed up your site for a better user experience (it’s also a ranking factor)

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Also be prepared for the Digg effect

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Use a fast and reliable hosting provider

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Use a CDN for your assets http://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/

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http://gtmetrix.com/

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The Unseen

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Visible performance often comes from what you can’t see

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Open Graph Protocol Provides structured data and enhances

how content is shared socially !

http://ogp.me/

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AuthorshipUsing Authorship and Publisher can

provide more visibility on Google

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Authorship in SERPs Authorship enables Rich Snippets and can easily land you on the 1st page of Google for those inside your G+ circles

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Publisher in SERPs Publisher enhances brand related

results, including control over the logo displayed and recent posts

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Use Schema.org microdata to enhance SERPs

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http://schema.org/Event

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http://schema.org/Recipe

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Doh! Google may steal your traffic!

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Content

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Quality content is no longer good enough

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Turn your content into Epic Content

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Epic Content is bigger content

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Epic Content is repurposed content

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Epic Content uses multiple channels

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Epic Content is interactive

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Epic Content is not MMEH (Massively Multimedia Epic Heave)

*MMEH was coined by Mark Armstrong

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Enhance posts with Google Charts

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Add an Interactive Timeline

http://timeline.knightlab.com/

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Include Interactions

http://interactions.webflow.com/

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http://www.frogdesign.com/techtrends2014/

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http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/21/5307992/inside-the-mind-of-a-fanboy

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https://www.distilled.net/content-guide/

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Repurpose Your Content

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Turn it into a deck and share on Slideshare

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Turn the deck into a video and post on Youtube

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Use your content for podcast topics

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Build a microsite with your content…capture emails

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Make an Infographic Using Cinemagraphs!!!

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Reuse quotes to tell a visual story

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Make it Portable Create an ebook, white paper and use content channels like Snippet.

Include links back to your site.

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Calls to Action

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Include CTAs to increase pages per session and to boost repeat traffic

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Ars Technica Related Articles

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TechCrunch Next Article

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Email is still one of the best sources for site traffic

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Record, measure and report with Google Analytics’ Goals and Events

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Social

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Epic Content + Connections = Traffic

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Don’t be a snob. Connect with as many people as possible that fit your target audience.

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Build up sharing equity

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Be social. That means commenting on posts, and always replying to comments on your own posts.

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Republish your content on sites that will send targeted traffic. Stop worrying about duped content.

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Participate in or create private sharing groups that have common interests and may followers

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Promote and boost your content with social ads

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Analytics

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Study the performance of your content, learn what works, and then rinse and repeat!

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I saw the Traffic Machine in a dream and this is what it looked like…

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@RAVENJON

Jon Henshaw