InfoGraphics: The Content Creation Cycle
A blog is published and no one reads it. Does it make a sound? The answer, most certainly is no. It does nothing for your SEO, less for your creative content marketing strategy.
We could even say that it doesn't really exist, except for the brutal fact that it does in the form of wasted time and wasted money.
Whether you're an SEO content creator, an SEO content strategist, a marketing professional or a business leader buying content for your blog, you need to know how creative content writers design compelling content.
What goes into the creative process of an SEO content writer?
How does an SEO content creator create content that will drive traffic?
How does an SEO content creator create content people will actually read / view?
Regardless of whether you're the one handing the creative content writing or not, not knowing the answers to these questions yourself could lead to more wasted time and money on the wrong content.
In this article, we'll discuss the content creation cycle so that you'll understand what makes compelling content.
LISTEN
As with any cycle, there is no clear beginning or end. Each phase leads into the next. But since we must begin somewhere, we'll begin here and we will also end here as we move into out next cycle.
Why do we listen?
We listen because:
We need to create SEO content that our target customers actually want
We need to know who our SEO content writers are writing for/to
We need to develop a creative content marketing strategy that will actually work
We need to meet our content marketing objectives
We need to be better than the competition
And if we're in it for the right reasons, because we want to help people with our product or service
How do we listen?
We listen by:
Creating a customer avatar so we are clear on who we are targeting with our compelling content
Identifying what our target customer wants/needs that we, as creative content writers, can provide in the from of compelling content
Researching keywords to better understand how these customers find us and our SEO content
Knowing what's going on in our industry that will be of interest to our customers
Identifying what's trending in our industry
Finding out what our competition's SEO content writers are doing or not doing
Determining what our creative content writers are already doing right and what these SEO content creators needs to do more of
Gathering numerical data like bounce rate, traffic, pathways, demographics, etc.
PONDER
In the pondering phase, consider the data that you collected in the listening phase. This is where you begin to make connections. What's the data telling you?
Based upon your existing strategy and any new data obtained by listening,
What types of content are needed?
What topics will an SEO content writer cover?
How will you go about creating that content?
What timelines must you adhere to?
How will this new content fit into your overall content marketing strategy?
What objectives are set for this compelling content?
ADAPT
Adapting is an incredibly important part of the content creation cycle. You may not adapt with each and every piece, but as you move into your next round of SEO content creation you need determine what your data is telling you and consider what adjustments must be made moving forward.
Do you stick with your previous strategy or make changes in approach, development, lay out and so on?
CREATE
Wow. We finally made it to content creation. Content creation is done in 11 easy steps.
1. Determine what sub-topics you want to cover within your content. These sub-topics will likely become your headings.
2. Research each sub-topic. What authority sources will you use as an SEO content creator to support your compelling content? What stats or facts might you use to convey the importance of reading your article to learn more about that topic. Don't take the reader for granted. They read the creative content that an SEO content writer writes because they're give a reason to do so.
3. Determine your hook. Many SEO content writers find it helpful to do this toward the beginning so that they can weave it through their content. Others may choose to do it at the end of the creation phase. Regardless of your strategy, make it good. You might have the most creative and compelling content on the web, but if you can't draw the reader in, they'll never know.
4. Be clear in your opening what the article will cover.
5. Thoroughly cover each sub-topic. Avoid fluff. Readers are coming to you for substance. They will not keep reading if you're not giving them what they're looking for. Each line should flow into the next and keep the reader reading.
6. Effectively apply your creative content marketing strategy throughout the SEO content creation
7. Link to authority sources to support your points. Link to your own articles where it makes sense.
8. Expertly craft your conclusion or call to action. What do you want the reader to do next?
9. Give a magical title that people can't help but click.
10. Write your compelling meta title and meta description
11. Add a visually stimulating, yet relevant image, graph, gif or other visual content every 250-300 words.
REFLECT
Now it's time to get really honest with yourself as you take your beloved creation through editing process.
1. Read through the whole piece without stopping. Does each paragraph flow into the next? Does each section do the same? Do any statements seem to stray from the main points? Does any information need to be reordered?
2. Read through the whole piece aloud. Did you stumble on any phrases?
3. Do you use passive voice or extra words that slow the piece down.
IMPROVE
Based upon what you discovered about the piece during reflection, it's time to revise. Make your creative content even better. After completing the editing process, proofread.
Never, ever edit and proofread at the same time. You'll undoubtedly end up with verbs that don't agree or extra words because you didn't reread the whole sentence or paragraph as a whole.
Inspire & Convert
You're ready to publish your content and do what SEO content writing is designed to do.
Meet the customer where he/she is in the buyer's journey.
Inspire and convert traffic into leads and loyal customers.
An SEO content creator has put in the work, so now it's time to put the content to work for you.
As part of a greater overall creative content marketing strategy, compelling content will pay for itself by generating traffic and improving your website's ranking over time.
LISTEN
And so we end where we began with listening. Listen to the piece that you or your SEO content creator created.
How are customers and potential customers responding to it?
View its traffic, bounce rate, and pathways in Google Analytics. If it's a unicorn (very high-performing content, your top 3%), how can you use it to drive more traffic to your site within your greater creative content marketing strategy. What did your SEO content writer do so right that needs to be emulated in future SEO content writing? And so the content creation cycle continues.
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