Am I getting traction, spinning my wheels, or just spinning in circles?

[wreevesc]

My story:

• recently "promoted" to creating our marketing department and efforts despite lack of expertise;
• new to SEO as a daily/weekly task;
• focusing a lot of effort polishing current webpage (redesigned last year);
• Hit most of the low hanging fruit in "Beginners Guide";
• asked enough questions to know that now I need to focus on content at this point.

My conundrum:  There is **so **much information out there about SEO, that keeping focus on the tasks at hand is incredibly difficult.  KPIs, Trends, Research everything I read serves to derail me from what might be my most critical tasks (content creation?)  SEO is like my business (solar), you need to be as site specific in your design and install as possible, but only generalized information is available to the novice.

My questions for you experienced SEOs: how do you keep focus?  How do know that the project you're focusing on is the right one?

Do y'all know of a resource for consultation/advising to look at my initial efforts so someone can help me navigate and gain perspective?  I'm not looking for someone to solve my problems (although that would be nice), but more of a "grade" (ie-less of this, more of that, nice work here, try again over there)

Thanks folks, any and all help is appreciated.

[ColinWhite]

Hi I would be glad to help you in any way I can. The process can be daunting if your not focused. You asked how we know what we are working on the right thing. Well the right things are pretty easy to know we need its the execution of those strategies that separate the pack. If you are looking for some guidance on a strong content marketing plan I can help and no i don't want anything in return, just a chance to grow my network and help someone else. You never know someday I may need a favor. So lets connect and start out by asking me questions and we can go from there.

What about content marketing do you want to know?

[wreevesc]

Mike, Thanks for the quick reply and generosity.  I'm afraid I'm so bamboozled I don't even know where to start with my questions.

My goal is to generate quality leads for my business.  I figure that the best way to do that is to develop a beautiful, and engaging website with lots of accessible information to help educate clients before the reach out to us.  A long term goal would be to develop the reputation as thought leaders in our local market.

So maybe a couple of kick off questions:

1. How do we know that the content we're writing isn't getting lost in the noise of our own webpage, and the world at large?

2. How do we know if the content is actually relevant to our goals (ie clients)?

[danatanseo]

Hi Reeves,

You are right. Staying focused on the right things for your business in terms of SEO can be a challenge because your business is going to be different from someone else's. Personally, the way I make that decision is this: Is what I'm doing going to have an impact on my company's bottom line business goals? In my case, we are an e-commerce site. So for me, everything is about revenue. If I increase traffic, but revenue stays flat or decreases, then my traffic building isn't accomplishing the goal. If I increase conversion rate, but revenue stays flat or declines, then my conversion optimization work isn't contributing...etc. For us it's all about revenue.

It sounds like your website is more about lead generation. I'd say it's even more specifically, about generating super high quality leads.

You asked a couple of great questions:

1. How do we know that the content we're writing isn't getting lost in the noise of our own webpage, and the world at large?

2. How do we know if the content is actually relevant to our goals (ie clients)?

My answer would be: Ask them.

UserTesting.com gives you the ability to watch people, real people specific to your type of business, interact with your website. We try to do 3 user tests every quarter. If you've never done it, grab a copy of Steve Krug's book "Rocket Surgery Made Easy." [The link is to a live Demo on YouTube] You can read it in a couple of hours (no kidding!). He's got a simple guide there on how to set up simple usability tests. Trust me, you do three 20-minute usability tests and not only will your mind be blown, but you'll know the answers to your questions. Now, this isn't just about whether or not your site is technically working, it's also about whether or not the content you've written is having the effect you intended, or if it's doing something you didn't expect (i.e. turning people off, or even being completely ignored).

Trust me, it won't take a lot of time and you'll get answers from the people who matter to you the most...potential leads.

Hope this is helpful!

Dana

[EGOL]

asked enough questions to know that now I need to focus on content at this point

Great!  Spend all of your day working on content.  When you produce that content be sure that your page is going to be one of the very best on the web for your topic.  Then spend five minutes to compose a great title tag.

When you want to take a short break come into Q&A or look at the SEOmoz blog.  No more than an hour out of a day.   Ask questions.   Keep records of what you do and what works and what doesn't.

If you are working on a single site, once you have it set up and running then creating content - enough to saturate the SERPs in your niche will keep a steady flow of traffic coming in for new keywords.

As long as you are creating best on the web content (don't bullshit yourself - it gotta be really good) then all you need to do about SEO is to spend five minutes on each title tag and spend no more than an hour a day keeping your ear to the ground.

Your greatest danger is producing pedestrian content that will not draw attention to your site.

[wreevesc]

Dana, thanks for the lead on the book.  I'll take a look at it.

Luckily I do have a long list of questions customers have asked us over the years that I'm using as a guide to start to develop the content.  I also set up a survey to our site users to see why they're visiting us (60-70% reply that they're looking for more information about solar, and the rest to contact us directly).

One of the things I'm struggling with is how to best store this information on our page.  That video is great because Zipcar had a very clear funnel on their front page "4 Easy Steps to Car Freedom"  I should probably develop something similar.

As for the rest of the content, it will be going into a mix of pages and blog posts.  I think the usability tests will be great help to make sure people are able to actually find this information.

Reeves

[ColinWhite]

That's a great start and those are incredibly important questions to ask. Here is what I would say

1. How do we know that the content we're writing isn't getting lost in the noise of our own webpage, and the world at large?

Answer - well for starters when you write content or have content created by a 3rd party you have to answer a few questions such as

• Am I covering the subject in a way that is uniquely valuable and original? This is very important to understand that even if someone rewrites content from someone else and technically has original content, the content will add no value to the reader as the results will show content that essentially says the same thing. You want to be creative, think of every nut and bolt of your business and topics will start tom fly out that you hadn't thought of.
• Is this topic of significant interest to the readership?
• Does my content do this topic justice; providing unique, valuable strategies and action items for the readers, and is it technically accurate?

2. How do we know if the content is actually relevant to our goals (ie clients)?

Answer -  Again the same thing applies here when it comes to client goals. Tear their business apart nut by bolt and see who out there is talking about those pieces of the business that stands out. For instance I have a national client that runs 55+ mobile home communities. Not exactly the most exciting stuff to build a content plan around. But after brainstorming with my team and my client and seeing what was out there we came up with everything from retirement topics and energy savings to mobile home safety, hurricane proofing and even pets and mobile homes.

If you want a good free way to see what is being talked about make a copy of this Google doc of mine its a great way to get ideas and see whats being discussed on the web. Oh and its free. Just type in a keyword and it will populate also you could try Ubersuggest to get some free ideas. Next you need a great editorial calender again you can use one I have built here its pretty comprehensive and you should be able to start organizing you content marketing with that. we use it for over 25 clients at any given time and hundreds of articles.

Next once you have some valuable content and remember valuable content is share-able content. Start sharing on all of your social networks, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook any and everywhere you can tell people about your new posts do it. tell you staff the same thing. Sharing isn't duplicate content as all the sharing will lead back to the original article.

Next we can talk about outreach and how to effectively and safely get your content out there. Remember the ultimate goal is to create an Echo Chamber on the web of mentions, citations,chats,posts,articles and more. So when someone searches for something relating to whatever your goals are Google says "Hey all of these people are talking or mentioning this so lets show that.

Hope that helps so far, ill be on in a few if you want to continue also my email is campolattano@commarketing.com if you need anything off of SEOMOZ.

[wreevesc]

Thanks for the insight and especially the tools.  Anything to keep myself organized is appreciated.

[wreevesc]

Mike,

Super thank you for the tools.  The editorial calendar is a great way to help me keep organized.  I especially like the "Content Type" selection; what a great way to keep focus on a particular piece.

Do you typically have specific channels for content types?  Such as: "Light hearted" always goes on a particular blog or to certain social media?  Or is it just what you feel is appropriate at the time?

[ColinWhite]

It really depends on the client's niche, and who is talking about that particular vertical at the moment. Remember the focus and goal of any successful content plan is to create a vast echo chamber of Citations, Mention, Chats, Forum posts, articles outreach links and so on. So when someone searches for that [articular item or subject, Google notices the action of the echo chamber and directs searchers towards it.