Guide to Earning Links Through Content Marketing If you’re dedicated to growing your business online then your content strategy must be well defined and thought out in advance. Too often we hear vague phrases, “content is king” or that the key to making something go viral is to just, you know, “write exceptional content” but it’s important to understand the specifics involved in effective content marketing. Business owners are pained by vague metrics, and content analysis can be a frustrating concept for many. The goal of this article is to put some parameters in place to give you an idea of what works in the content marketing world, and what strategies you should apply for real returns.

Google Friendly Content: Search Engine OptimizationIn order to understand content marketing, you first have to wrap your mind around the principles of Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a technique used to increase webpage visibility and traffic, which results in a higher ranking in search engines, and more readers. So creating content with SEO goals in mind means you want the components of that article to communicate with Google that your information is relevant to search queries, and carries the authoritative weight to rank highly for those searches.

Keep in mind you’re writing for two people, the human reader and Google’s web crawler. Strategic placement of phrases or keywords in the text, and the inclusion of hyperlinks to and from external sources will work together to improve your rankings. Key phrases and keywords are registered by Google’s "spiders," which "crawl" across web pages and websites and analyze them for content and quality of content. One of the ways they do this is to register the keywords and key phrases to determine the subject of a page; but they also detect how often each key word or phrase is used, whether a page is grammatically correct, and what types of inbound and outbound hyperlinks there are. Hyperlinks are links to other pages that are somehow relevant to your topic.

SEO requires a meticulous eye, and thorough research, so find a leader in the field who can guide you on implementing the finer points of content optimization.

Content That Wants to be Shared: Social MediaThe goal of content marketing is to create and share valuable information to attract and convert readers into customers, and for those customers to keep coming back. You must incorporate good writing skills in order to make an article interesting and pleasant to read. Compelling and engaging aren’t just some vague ideas, but the value of your content can be measured on how effective it is via your social media platform. Here are some guidelines to catching your reader’s eye and giving them incentive to share it with their community:

Write something that shocks them: These days everyone has an opinion but for the most part they tend to restate what the general consensus determines the right idea to be. If you want to provoke a response, a possible way is to generate discussion is to perhaps play devil’s advocate on something topical, or declare something problematic that was previously widely praised. You don’t want to cross

the line in a way that is offensive or not grounded in some form of truth, but don’t be afraid to go slightly controversial. If you can support your claim, stick to your guns and proceed accordingly, monitoring the responses by your public relations follow-up.

Make something which is visually stunning: Infographics are perfect for communicating almost any idea or concept. Data, research, statistics, and findings work especially well. Infographics get shared more, viewed more, and loved more than most other content types. They are a powerful way to get your information out there in an explosively visual format. In general infographics are liked and shared on social media up to three times more often than other content. The viral potential is there.

Write something that will appeal to die-hard fans: People love engaging within their own communities and sharing information only people familiar with that product would understand. Creating articles customized to target certain niche groups can prove way more effective than commenting on general topics. Again, an important idea behind generating viral content is to provoke debate, so don’t be afraid to take an informed buy contrary opinion. If you can create discussion not only between your brand and your reader, but also between members of your audience and their own circle of friends, then the likelihood of your traffic increase grows exponentially.

Every article should be well written, engaging, and informative. It should present a new angle on a specific topic, provide a good hook in the beginning so people will want to read on, and contain information that is in some way important to your readers. This can mean that it's useful, entertaining, or otherwise valuable. Your content should be engaging enough to get people to hit the share buttons and earn those all-important links.

Content with AuthorityOne of the things content designed for SEO and Social Media have in common is that both fields value trust and authority as key indicators. Therefore, in the interests of your brand and image it’s important your content strategy is designed to show you as a titan in your industry. You have to share the valuable information only you have through your interests and experiences. Seek out ways to showcase your expertise.

Book ReviewA book review is a simple discussion of a book plus your take on it. You recommend good ones, criticize the ones you disagree with, and share the value that you took from what you read. Book reviews are a wonderful wait to establish online authority because they help to establish you as a thought leader.

A book review can be as complicated or as simple as you want. Basically you want to keep these items in mind:

Put the book in context with its subject matter Provide background details on the author Summarize the book’s important themes Share what you agreed with in the book Explain what you didn’t like

Give your thumbs up or down recommendation Provide a call to action that connects with your service

Note that book reviews resonate especially if you’re able to arrange an interview with the author.

List-a-maniaLists have endless appeal and they often surface as irresistible click bait. Buzzfeed has practically built an empire based on its creative use. From the makeup magazine offering 89 tips on beauty all the way back to ancient times and the Ten Commandments, we simply can’t deny their popularity. When people see you have a list of resources mentioned in an article they trust the fact that you are well versed in that field.

Expert Round-upsNo doubt you have contacts within the industry that can provide their own insight into an important topic. My moderating a conversation between them, you’re not only providing valuable insider information, but you’re showing you are connected to other thought leaders within your field. Ask a handful of them a question, collect their responses, write up your post, and more than likely they’ll want to share the interview with their own audience as well, giving you even greater potential reach.

A well-coordinated content strategy can earn you the links you need to increase your rankings and the trust from both Google and your general audience. The content marketing world is a symbiotic environment so consider the big picture, and these tips will help you locate ways to increase your presence online.