CMWorld 2017: Content Marketing Tools and Technical Tips to Optimize Results

The following post is a recap from Content Marketing World 2017. To view the full presentation, click here.

Ian Cleary, Founder of RazorSocial, shared insight at Content Marketing World 2017 on content marketing tools and technical tips to optimize results.

Don’t forget about what you have already

First, ask yourself, are you able to use any pre-existing materials before you generate new content? You’ll want to promote and optimize your content, titles, and descriptions, with tools that help you find missing SEO titles, images and broken links.

Cleary suggested looking at ScreamingFrog, a website crawler that scrapes data on websites’ links, images and more. This tool is great for finding duplicate pages and can collect everything from external and internal linking to images with URLs.

Cleary also suggested looking at SEMRush, which he described as “one of the most useful tools for a content marketer.” SEMRush is a competitor research tool focusing on keyword strategy. This tool can be used to see how you’re ranking against competitors for specific keywords. This will ultimately allow for you to create authority for your niche and build a loyal following.

“Did you know that 20% of your articles will produce 80% of your traffic?,” Cleary asked. With this in mind, consider republishing old content to get more links and shares.

When re-publishing, it’s important to choose an article that is still receiving traffic, or in other words, is still relevant. It’s also important to remember not to change the URL. In doing so, you may lose the original backlinks for the article. You can also consider refreshing images and adding new content to the article.

Build More Links

Cleary questioned the audience, “We often link new content to old content, but are we doing the reverse?” Blog content becomes more valuable when other websites link to it. The greater the page authority you have, the more likelihood of your new content being viewed.

Moz, a collection of SEO tools, has a feature called “Open Site Explorer,” which helps you determine what your page and domain authority is and the number of backlinks you’re receiving. Moz is great for those getting started with SEO efforts, or those looking to track specific keywords.

There’s great importance in having both internal and external linking to your website. Cleary asked the group, “Do you track when websites mention your brand name but don’t?” Buzzsomo is a tool that tracks each time you’re mentioned, even if it wasn’t through a direct link. Additional linking can also be acquired by having guest writers or building “link friendly” content, with one area being research content, according to Cleary. Some content naturally attracts more links than others.

Promoting content

Old or new, you have to promote your content. “Content promotion is like water to a seed,” Cleary explained.

A good way to begin promotion is by installing a social sharing plugin. Social sharing plugins are a convenient way for users to share content all in one place. If your website is on WordPress, Cleary suggested taking a look at Warfare Plugins. It allows you to set custom images and text for each of the social networks.

Another way of promoting content is pre-promotion. Reach out to influencers, get their opinion on a piece of content and quote them when you do publish it. Once it’s published, reach out to them again so they can share it.

Lastly, you want to reshare your own content regularly. Most people won’t see it the first time you share it, so you’ll want to share it a few times. Since you might not be able to post at every time of the day, there are tools that allow you to schedule posts. Some tools that can help you with scheduling are Hootsuite, Hubspot, Sprout Social, and Agorapulse.

When looking to optimize results for your content or website, it’s important to reconsider any pre-existing materials, to more build links and drive promotion. With tools like ScreamingFrog and Moz, you’re able to take a look at what you’re optimizing a bit deeper and have data to reflect on for future practices.

Ian Cleary is the Founder of RazorSocial, a consultancy group assisting organizations with content and influencer marketing, based in Ireland. Cleary has spoken at Content Marketing World for four years.