Why would you want to improve conversions on your website? Well, I can think of one very good reason… to make more money. Most of us look at increasing traffic to our site as the profit panacea and don’t also look at conversion optimization. These go hand-in-hand. You actually want to do both.

Even for some of us that do look at both increasing website traffic and at conversion optimization, we leave out some important revenue drivers that, with increased traffic and increased conversions could exponentially increase our revenues. For example, with increased traffic and better conversions, a higher average sale and increased purchase frequency can push your sales dramatically.

It’s no longer a one or two trick pony approach, it’s an overall look at as many drivers you can control. Let’s take a look at how these things can really grow your business. (more…)

Mike Huber

As the Director of Client Services at Vertical Measures, Mike Huber is in charge of developing efficient processes in order to improve overall productivity and quality of client services including; link building, social media marketing and content development.

Mike has a wealth of experience in marketing and advertising. Starting out in newspaper advertising, he has seen the transformation of print to digital. For the past 15 years, he has been involved in online marketing, developing extensive PPC programs and organic SEO tactics, resulting in a significant growth, traffic, and revenue for clients.

Mike is an accomplished public speaker and presents frequently on advertising and online marketing topics.

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Many people are using the buzzword phrase “content marketing” these days, but what does it really mean? (more…)

Pel Abbott

As a former small-business owner, advertising agency executive, and marketing manager at a major newspaper, Pel brings a diverse background to the team at Vertical Measures. A solid grounding in marketing and business principles allows her to help clients generate concrete online marketing plans by identifying and capitalizing on their unique advantages over their competitors.

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In my previous post: An Introduction to Content Strategy, I described a content inventory as “your site in an Excel-spreadsheet nutshell: what content is found where, page by page.” Now, I’ll explain how to create this document and what this information can be used for.

I know what you’re thinking – Excel, really? Of course, if you have a more advanced content management system, you can (and should!) use that to intelligently manage your content.  However, many businesses do not have the budget to employ such systems, hence the reason for using Excel.

To complete a content inventory, you will have to go through your site page by page, recording your content findings.  And be aware — content is not limited to website copy!  This inventory should include web copy, photos, videos, forums, infographics, guides… basically any content that is living your site.

Start with the home page. Set up your spreadsheet (or other document) to include the following:

• Unique identification for each piece of content or each page, so you can easily navigate the document later.
• Name, topic or overall theme of the page.  You can usually grab this information quickly from the title tag of your page, or the content heading.
• Link – of course – so you know where to find the page.  You can also use this information to examine URL structure later.
• Type of information on the page—is it a product page, media information or a whitepaper? Be sure to be as specific as possible to make it easier for yourself in the long run.
• Keywords associated with that specific piece of content (Think META keywords, or image tags.)
• Meta description.
• Owner of the content, if you know. Who created the content and who is responsible for updating it? Whoever it is should be known as the content owner.  You may even want to record that person’s contact information in case the content needs to be revised.
• Internal links found on the page, and all of the above information regarding content on those pages.
• Notes on the status of the page addressing revisions or outdated content.  You should also keep track of any broken links or images that don’t load, as well as SEO and usability concerns that need to be addressed.

You can make more columns to cater to your website, though I would recommend recording all of the above information to have a concise and complete inventory. You can create the inventory to include more usability information or more detailed SEO information if you like.

Now What?

Once you have completed your content inventory, there are many ways to utilize this information to improve your site and your content.

Now you have a map of your website content page by page.  This makes it much easier to manage what content needs to be updated and when, as long as you took good notes!  Also, when it is time to update the content, you will know exactly who to contact since you have already recorded it.

A content inventory is a great way to discover outdated or insignificant content that is no longer needed or just flat our wrong.  Also, you can discover if content is missing and content development opportunities.

If you kept track of SEO concerns, an inventory will bring these issues to the forefront that you otherwise might have missed. The inventory will also reveal dead-end pages, poor URL structure and incorrect meta information.  Also, by viewing the internal linking structure page by page you can see what a visitor or customer may experience while on your site.

So, no matter how you format it, a content inventory is a necessary document to organize your website content. But unfortunately, a content inventory is almost never complete.  The second you remove or add new content to your site, you should update the inventory accordingly.

There are many uses for a content inventory, and all are going to improve your website visitors’ experiences on your site. Content is considered the most important component of your website, so keeping it updated and organized is essential.  And though this process is time-consuming, tiring and painstaking, the wealth of information you are left with is well worth the hard work. If you lack the resources needed to complete this task, it is important to understand and consider the benefits. And don’t worry, there are resources, like ourselves, willing to work with you.

What are your experiences with completing a content inventory?  What have you used your content inventory for? Let us know in the comments below!

Abby Gilmore

Abby Gilmore is a content strategist at Vertical Measures. When she is not creating, tweaking and developing strategies for online content, she creates her own offline content as a freelance print journalist.

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Content strategy is defined a number of different ways, mostly because it encompasses a number of different pieces of the overall Internet marketing puzzle. In the simplest definition, content strategy is the process of creating and developing a plan that includes content creation, distribution and governance.  It answers the “why am I creating this content?” question, along with “where should this content go?” while also tackling the “who is this content for?” debacle. The process includes a look at content from a user perspective to ensure that web content is useful, flows logically and can be effectively navigated, as well as makes certain the content plan aligns with company objectives and goals.

Content strategy can be broken down into a few (okay, more than a few) different parts.  These parts include:

Content audit. This audit includes a content inventory that is basically your site in an Excel-spreadsheet nutshell: what content is found where, page by page.  A content inventory is useful in that it shows the structure of your site and allows you to see not only where individual pieces of content are located, but what other destinations those pieces point to. (Think, where would a user go after this page?) The inventory can also divulge what content is outdated or flat out incorrect, as well as dig up content that you may not even know you had. (And if you didn’t know you had it, should you use it? Probably not.) The qualitative part of your audit can divulge insights such as if the content is appropriate for the audience. Does it answer questions your audience needs the answers to? And of course, much, much more.

Web content creation. Writing and creating for the web is a harder task than it may seem, as there is so much to take into consideration including user needs, company objectives and style. Not only does this include website copy, it also regards other content development including blog writing, slideshows, webinars, videos and photos.  Content strategists are faced with the questions: Does the content make sense to a user? Do internal links point to the correct places? And of course, what about those search engines…will they find this data useful?

Editorial strategy. An editorial strategy includes the tone and voice of your content and ensures content produced follows a certain style. The editorial strategy also includes developing and creating an editorial calendar, which depicts when and where certain content will be published. The strategy also defines who owns the content that is published and how long that content will be up to date for, also known as the content lifecycle.

Listening to your audience and your competitors. What exactly does your audience need to know about your product or service in order to make a decision or complete a call to action? This information can be found by listening to what your customers are saying.  Also, investigating your competitors content can show you what your visitors will end up reading/watching/seeing if they aren’t on your website.

Content distribution. There are a number of different channels content can be distributed to, but which makes the most sense? Distribution channels include your website, blog, social media platforms, e-mail marketing and more.

Seems like a lot to take in, right? Perhaps it is.  But content strategy is something that all websites publishers should take into account if they want to be successful in pleasing their visitors.  Ever heard the phrase, “content is king?” It’s true. Quality content is what drives us to visit websites and spend our time and money online. It is what keeps us coming back for more and is the reason why we trust the people and brands that we do. If we don’t have great content and a plan to back it up, then what do we have?

Though content strategy may seem like a challenging project to take on, it doesn’t make it any less important.  By listening to our visitors and asking ourselves “why” content should be created and what it is meant to accomplish, we are giving our visitors what they need to be successful and have a positive online experience with our brand.

Do you have content strategy in place? Tell us about your experience in the comment section!

Abby Gilmore

Abby Gilmore is a content strategist at Vertical Measures. When she is not creating, tweaking and developing strategies for online content, she creates her own offline content as a freelance print journalist.

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This week, just before our monthly webinar “Winning Tactics for Content Creation and Marketing” on October 14 at 11:30 a.m. EST, I had the pleasure to sit down (virtually) with Alison Driscoll, an interactive copywriter and social media strategist with a background in advertising and marketing. She has worked with a wide variety of clients ranging from small, local businesses to international brands and is the co-author of the forthcoming “Facebook Marketing Book” from O’Reilly. She currently works as an interactive copywriter and community manager at Zipcar in Boston while running her own social media consultancy.

Elise Redlin-Cook: I hear the phrase “content strategy” used in different contexts and ways. How would you define content strategy?

Alison Driscoll: A content strategy is a well-thought out plan for writing and publishing content to the web. With more and more avenues to choose from, there is the opportunity to post more content than ever before. But you should not post whatever and whenever you feel like it. Each piece of content should work towards achieving one or more goals.

Publishing content is also faster than ever before, thanks to one-click posting on sites like Facebook and Twitter. This makes it even more important for marketers and brands to think before they speak.

While it is not advisable to copy and paste email content into a landing page, Twitter post and Facebook update, current content should work together and support each other. I’m a huge fan of creating patterns or topics for days of content and tweaking slightly for each channel, without reinventing the wheel with each piece.

Elise: I take a very similar approach. So, let me ask you…What are the best ways that you’ve found to organize or prioritize your content creation and curation tasks?

Alison: Like I said, topics and patterns can be a huge help, both for you the creator, and your audience. As you write new content, having set topics for each day will help you get the ideas flowing and trim down a daunting task.

For example, if you have a website and corresponding social channels about shoes, there are hundreds of topics and styles to talk about. But if you’ve designated Monday as high-heel day, you just gave yourself a place to focus.

This also helps your audience get to know you better and tune in on their favorite days. A sneaker fan might not always want to read about high-heels on Monday, but they always check in for Tuesday’s talk about running shoes.

Elise: Would you like to talk about any specific tools that you’ve found useful in creation of content strategies? How about specific tools that you’ve found useful in measuring and reporting the success of your content?

Alison:Listening is the most important thing you can do to keep a content strategy going. For me, this means subscribing to email lists and newsletters in my industry, and staying on top of trends and topics with an RSS reader and, admittedly, somewhat of an addiction to Twitter.

For tools, I love Google Reader to keep blogs and sites organized. As for Twitter, I personally still like to spend some time scrolling through Twitter.com, but I’ve found using Tweetdeck search columns and Twitter lists to be more effective from a content standpoint. Creating lists and search of keywords and topics in your industry gives you a great place to pull ideas from, as well as people to talk to about your content once it’s published.

Elise: What are the primary elements or pieces of a complete content strategy?

Alison: For me, a complete content strategy spans across multiple channels and plays to each one’s own specific strengths and areas of interest. This might be a website or blog, a Facebook page, Twitter account and newsletter or email list.

One general content idea can be used across all four channels, but in different ways. The main piece of content will live on the website or blog. The email can summarize it, to varying lengths or degrees, and drive people to the full article. The Facebook status update should be a quick snippet that’s easy to share, like or comment on, and may link to the full article on the site or through a Facebook application like Notes or Social RSS. And finally, the Tweet, which is the shortest of all and should get right to the point or headline, with a link to the full article.

The content strategy doesn’t stop there of course. On the social channels, you also want to foster discussion by asking questions.  (As well as answering or commenting on responses.) You also may want to repost the link to your article later in the day, with a different hook, to hit all time zones effectively.

Elise: I’ve been finding out that many content strategists come from very different parts of the industry with very diverse backgrounds. How did you find yourself in this specialization?

Alison: From a very young age, I wanted to go into advertising. I’m talking age 7, I was writing jingles. This led me to enter the Communications department at Boston University, where I concentrated in copywriting. The focus there was still on print advertising, but I learned a lot. I also joined Facebook the first year it spread outside of Harvard, which had a lot to do with how my career progressed.

After school, I started working at a small SEO and web development shop. It was there that I learned the value of balancing search engine optimization with content clarity. I also started working on social media marketing projects, before Facebook pages even existed. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Overall, I would say my love of the written word guides me through all types of content creation. I don’t believe in sacrificing clarity for more keywords, or punctuation and proper grammar for brevity on Twitter.

Elise: Where would you say that Content Strategy is going now? Do you see any big changes on the horizon?

Alison: Social Media is playing a larger and larger role in content creation and promotion. These platforms are quick and easy to update and are becoming an integral part of search results. My advice is to always cross-promote your content, from website or blog to email, Facebook, Twitter and any other channels you have found that work for you or your audience.

People use these sites differently, so you may need to experiment with what type of content, phrasing or timing works best. Often, you are using Facebook or Twitter to promote external content on your site. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t give each setup post its own unique spin. Every sentence you post, no matter how short, is important. It’s all content, and it all drives back to your site and represents your brand. Put as much thought into a Tweet as you do a headline.

This extends to answering questions and engaging in discussions on these sites. Your response is content, too, and should be treated with care.

Elise: Are you inspired by anything in particular outside of your Content Strategy field?

Alison: I always look to fashion brands as inspiration for new content ideas. There are only so many things that can be said about a shirt, but they are some of the most active content producers, particularly in social media. They break outside of their specific product and talk about how to use it, care for it, and style for different occasions. When you can do a whole blog post on the versatility of one sweater or bag, you’ll never have a problem with scrambling to find content ideas.

Elise Redlin-Cook

Elise is the Content & Marketing Manager at Vertical Measures, an internet marketing company in sunny Arizona providing services ranging from content marketing, to social media marketing, link building, and advanced SEO. She’s fully immersed herself into the world of content marketing and content strategy and is the managing editor of this blog.

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