Consistency is key to building a successful business. 60% of marketers create at least one piece of content each day, according to eMarketer.

Content is King

In 1996, Microsoft founder Bill Gates wrote an essay describing the internet as a marketplace for information. This led to his statement that content is king to stand out from the rest. But the question is, does it still have value over 20 years later? The answer is a resounding yes.

Search platform algorithms make high-quality content a priority when ranking a website, and content that displays a high level of expertise inspires trustworthiness and authority. With that in mind, producing such high-caliber content takes time, energy, and a plan of action.

#1 — Write for your Audience, Not at them

What happens when a vacuum salesman comes to your door and immediately starts telling you why you should buy their vacuum? You would say, "No, thank you," and shut the door in their face before they could get far into their pitch.

Now, what if someone stopped by your house and offered to vacuum your home with the same vacuum but with no sales pitch? You'd be more likely to agree, and the salesman would still be letting you see the vacuum in action.

Write useful, helpful content and answers a question for your target market.

Not all posts need to be about your product or service, but they all should be industry-related. Build a reputation as an expert or a helpful resource in your marketplace. Your content should always add value to the subject, not more noise.

#2 — Ask the Correct Questions

Now that we have identified why we are writing the content let's figure out what. What should we write about that could be helpful, informative, and allows us to begin a relationship with our audience?

• What are the top 3 problems my audience is facing right now?
• How does my audience try to solve these problems now?
• What helpful information can we provide that helps our audience
• Which keywords are associated with these problems?

When we ask the right questions, we can identify the content that will be most useful to our audience.

#3 — Getting Your Content Ranked

Google still controls the majority of search queries worldwide, so we are at the mercy of their algorithms. But this can also be a positive as we can see which keywords are famous for the #1 search platform.

Let's say you identified your audience's problem and create content that will help them. The next step is to see how they find a solution to their problem, which usually means they Google it. But what keywords or phrases are they using to find the content?

If you are in the website building industry and your audience is looking for a landing page, then they will Google for the keywords "landing page builder."

Keyword mapping is an important step that involves assigning target keywords to certain pages and posts.

Using tools like Google's keyword planner helps identify these keywords. The goal is to increase the probability of your content appearing at the top of the search engine listings. Keyword tools like these help you achieve this goal.

#4 — Make Content That is Digestible

Let's say you have a very specialized topic that needs to go into great detail.

• You can choose to create one blog post or article that takes 20–30 minutes to read.
• You can break down the topic into a few related articles, with each a 6–7 minute read.

The latter allows you to increase the time your audience dwells on your website. Most people don't have time or the attention span to read an article longer than 20 minutes. So why not break it down and have related articles appear on your website?

Your audience may be only looking for a summary or quick review. Giving them a choice to investigate a topic further with a link to a related article with more details will keep your audience engaged.

Also, the structure of your writing should fit your audience and how you present your content.

• Do they prefer lists over paragraphs of text?
• Are images a better medium that appeals to your audience?
• Is the topic a serious and professional one or personal and funny

#5 — Be Natural

One rule I follow is to create content that sounds like me. Meaning if I was giving a speech, could I see myself talking with the same style and words? If it's a no, then I need to start over.

Your audience will connect with the content creator and decide for themselves if they can relate. So you might as well let them connect with who you naturally are.

If you are creating videos, then this is even more important. Some creators can be whimsical on camera and shy off of it, but your natural self will shine at the end of the day.

#6 — Make Use of Multi-Channel Marketing

There is no rule saying you can only write blog posts or use pictures on Instagram. When deciding what content to create, you can reuse the same content for a different platform. For example, if you have a couple of blog posts covering a related topic, then see how you can use them as a script for discussing in a video or podcast.

People have different preferences in how they consume information. Some people read printed books, while others read on their tablets or phone. Others prefer to listen to audiobooks while driving. Now imagine if you are creating content for an audience interested in exercise.

If you are a fitness trainer, then online videos and images will most likely be better to connect with your audience than podcasts. Different platforms allow you to grow your audience, but the key is understanding how your audience consumes your content.

#7 — Just Do It

Like Nike says, do it. If you spend too much time researching, reading, and analyzing, you won't have much time or energy creating content. You need to put pen to paper, type words on the screen or hit record for your video.

Find a suitable place for you to give your full attention to creating your content. This could be at the library, coffee shop, or a quiet corner of your home. Finding a place where you can concentrate is important to making content that provides value.

Also, set a time to create content and focus only on that. Whether you use a calendar or egg timer, as long as you take action, in the end, the more you focus on your content, the better it will be in the long run. And the more your audience will appreciate the time you took to help them solve their problem.