Killer Content Remains King, Queen and Ace – #smxlondon
Content Marketing

Killer Content Remains King, Queen and Ace – #smxlondon

15th May 2013

The session covered why content remains key. With frequent algorithm updates, how can you keep producing great content and avoid penalties? This session explored the various types of content sites you should be creating, how to re-purpose existing content and slice it up for social media.

Moderator: Elisabeth Osmeloski, Executive Features Editor, Search Engine Land (@elisabethos)

Q&A Coordinator: Grant Simmons, Director, SEO and Social Product, The Search Agency (@simmonet)

Speakers:

Vincent Wehren, Lead Program Manager, Bing Webmaster Tools, Microsoft (@vincentwehren)

Vincent started talking about how Bing sees content. In terms of ranking factors they are mainly associated to content and anchor signals but more recently have incorporated click and social signals. User signals are also increasingly important.

When it comes to being successful in Bing you need to mind the bots. The basics are still important but you need to put people first. Content therefore becomes the most important ranking factor as all the ranking factors are driven by people and how they engage with your content. Search Engines have to use machine learning and therefore have to come up with features that indicate levels of popularity.

In reality people are a lot better than machines at measuring value so you need to put the people first and the signals will follow. Authority is a key area that was covered in the earlier session but remains key in Bing too.

If content is king then let it lead the design. Responsive design remains key to mobile content consumption so make sure the content leads the design. He then shared the msn.com design and how it embraced responsive design.

Canvases are changing and search is evolving with new enhancements like Xbox Kinect. In the present and the future content is king.

 

Chris Bennett, CEO, 97th Floor (@chrisbennett)

Chris started by sharing case studies about great content. When it comes to content strategy there is no silver bullet. Just because you call it an info graphic doesn’t mean it is successful. You can’t be a one hit wonder to deliver great results in content marketing.

Rules to live by

  • Don’t be one dimensional – don’t do it just for links or social shares. You need to tie back to your business KPIs
  • Do not disguise your marketing as research – don’t be the wolf in sheep’s clothing

You need to be mad about creating content. Failing your first test in content marketing is no reason to stop. You can always find an angle. Put the reader at the heart of your strategy.

Repurposing content is really important but don’t do it the spice girls way. When it works you need to beat the dead horse. He then shared a lot of infographics which are available here http://www.slideshare.net/97thfloor/content-is-king-queen-and-ace-smx-london-chris-bennett-97th-floor
Dixon Jones, Director, MajesticSEO (@Dixon_Jones)

Even though the content remains the foundation we need to refine the definition of this content. Function is better than words. It’s better to be unique than to be big. Content has to be useful to a sector of society and deliver engagement. We need to continually feed that content and not force it.

A few principals:

  • If it’s your story you can’t be your own advocate
  • Build marketing towers in advance
  • Create a message plan
  • Give to Caesar what is owed to Caesar. You want engagement, not transience.

Dixon then shared a story about flow metrics where they used cross digital disciplines to amplify the effect of new functionality.

Engage with the connectors

Steps to their success:

  1. Write a great press release and make it easy for the connectors.
  2. Utilise an embargo date
  3. Tell them the go live URL
  4. Give them pictures
  5. Give them an edge

Engage with the ambassadors

  1. Help them to be ahead of the curve
  2. Give them secret beta access
  3. Insider knowledge and feedback
  4. Let the see the go-live text
  5. Give them pictures
  6. Give them an edge

Integrate the email marketing

  1. Create a short article
  2. Send 24 hours after the initial announcement as you want the influencers to influence first

Partner engagement

1)      Shared in confidence months out

2)      Gave partners early access to the API

3)      Trusted partners could test our data and give us feedback

4)      Provides “independent” verification

Post launch

1)      Ran webinars

2)      Infographics

3)      YouTube Videos

4)      Support groups
Jonathan Stewart, SEO Strategy Director, VCCP Content

He started by asking the question as to why we are here? SEO in 2013 is all about good content and there is no reason to think that Google will change tack. SEO is now far more diverse and integrates into digital marketing practices.

If you create content that gets shared constantly the same content will also likely garner a large amount of links too. You need to behave like a publisher. He shared the strategy that they take in that they produce great content and then cycle the links to the deeper money pages. The guardian does a great job at data visualisation to liven up news pieces.

You need to ensure that your site is compliant to ensure you aren’t duplicating content. Also be careful about the volume of content you add to your website at one time. Ultimately you want to build an organic link profile over time.

 

 

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Written By
Louis Venter is the founding director and CEO of MediaVision, a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) company specialising in all areas of search. His particular interests are organic search marketing, paid search marketing, conversion strategy and online PR.
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