This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by DEV Community
What Is Content Marketing
Content marketing is a type of marketing that consists of strategically creating, publishing, and promoting content (including blog posts, emails, videos and podcasts). Content marketing is typically used to increase brand awareness and engagement, attract visitors or users, generate sales leads, or drive purchases and revenue.
Why Is Content Marketing Important?
Simply put: when done right, content marketing has a great ROI.
And unlike other forms of digital marketing (like PPC or PR), content marketing can continue to deliver for your business over the long-term.
Unlike a Facebook ad or press release, content can continue to drive traffic, brand awareness and leads for years.
Long term ROI from content marketing
Which is why, according to HubSpot, marketers who make blogging a priority are 13x more likely to see positive ROI than those that don’t.
Likelihood to see a positive ROI
I’m living proof that content marketing works.
Since launching my business in 2013, our blog content alone has generated 18,859,737 total visitors to date.
Backlinko traffic 2013-2021
That doesn’t even include the millions of people that have seen our content on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
What Are The Best Content Strategies?
Why Is a Content Strategy Important?
Having a content strategy is important because it helps you plan your site’s content marketing. Without a strategy, many people jump from one tactic to another. One week they write blog posts. The next week they film some YouTube videos.
But with a complete strategy laid out, you can create a detailed plan to execute on.
(That’s not to say that your strategy should be set in stone. You can, and should, modify your strategy based on what’s working for you.)
How to Develop a Content Strategy
Find Audience-Focused Content Topics
A common content marketing mistake is jumping into content creation right away.
Pro content marketers know that finding the right topics is in many ways MORE important than the content itself.
Specifically, you want to focus on topics that your target audience is SUPER interested in.
Here’s how:
Competitor Blogs
Head over to a popular blog in your industry.
And look for posts that tend to get lots of comments and social shares.
Pro Tip: If one of your competitors has a podcast, check out their episode list on iTunes:
Online Communities
Online communities are GREAT for finding burning questions that your customers have.
For example, when I head over to the Paleo subreddit, I notice lots of questions about dessert:
Reddit – Paleo dessert
Why is this important?
Most people ask questions on Reddit because they couldn’t find their answer on Google.
This means there’s a HUGE opportunity for you to swoop in and answer that question with your content.
You can follow this same process using Quora:
Quora – Paleo
If you want to scale this process, check out Answer the Public.
AnswerThePublic – Paleo
It’s a free tool that hands you popular questions that people have around your topic:
AnswerThePublic – Paleo questions
Pro Tip: Check out conference agendas in your industry. People are literally paying (and traveling) to see these talks. So you KNOW these topics are in high demand.
PaleoFX
Your Best Content
Here’s where you double down on what works.
First, login to Google Analytics and go to “Behavior” → “Site Content” → “Landing Pages”:
Analytics – Landing Pages – Menu
This shows you which pages on your site bring in the most traffic.
Analytics – Landing Pages
Then, identify what those pages have in common in terms of:
Format
Topics
Author
Writing style
Finally, outline your next piece of content based on what you find.
For example:
Last year I noticed that definitive guides brought in a ton of traffic.
So I decided to publish more definitive guides.
How To Make Google Trust Our Websites?
You should use good quality templates, which have Build-in Seo Features Which Might Be Good For Google Rankings.
Content Writing
What Is Content Writing?
Content writing is the process of planning, writing and editing web content, typically for digital marketing purposes. It can include writing blog posts and articles, scripts for videos and podcasts, as well as content for specific platforms, such as tweetstorms on Twitter or text posts on Reddit.
Why Is Proper Content Writing Important?
When most people hear “content writing”, they think “writing articles”.
However, writing content isn’t just important for blog posts.
In fact, content writing is important for all types of different content formats, including:
Video scripts
Email newsletters
Keynote speeches
Social media posts
Podcast titles
White papers
Web page copy
Landing pages
YouTube video descriptions
Or put another way:
Writing is the foundation for pretty much any content that you publish.
Best Practices
Create an Outline
Creating an outline is a GREAT first step in the content writing process.
Outlines help your content come out better for two main reasons:
First, outlines force you to put all your thoughts down in an organized way (rather than writing everything off the top of your head). Which really speeds up the writing process.
Second, outlines usually lead to a much better structure for your content. That’s because an outline lets you see your content from a “high level” that’s impossible to see as you’re writing.
Plus, because you have an outline, your final content will hit all of the major points that you set out to before you started writing.
So: how do you actually go about creating an effective outline?
Here are three main strategies that work well:
Use a previous piece of content that did well: For example, we tend to publish quite a few definitive guides here at Backlinko.Backlinko – Guides collage
So when we start working on a new guide, we use a lot of the structure from our existing guides as a base.
Use a template: Most professional content writers work off of proven templates. Here are 5 content templates you can use to create outlines.
Use top-performing content: Check out BuzzSumo to find popular content that you can use as the basis for your outline.
For example, let’s say you’re about to write a guest post about the keto diet.
Well, you’d want to type “keto diet” into BuzzSumo to see what’s already done well.
BuzzSumo – "keto diet" search
Then, read some of the best posts to see exactly what you should cover in your article.
Delish low carb fruits post
Make It Easy to Consume and Share
Content that’s super easy to read and share is of the keys to great content.
You can have a post written by the world’s top copywriter. But if that post is hard for people to consume, no one will read it.
Here are a few tips to help make your content easier to consume, skim and share.
Keep it Snappy, Rich and Entertaining
Whether you’re writing about content creation or cars, your writing needs to grab (and keep) people’s attention.
Otherwise, they’ll click over to something else.
How you grab someone’s attention depends on the format you’re working with.
When I create videos, I use “Family Guy moments” throughout the video. These are little asides that add some humor to and spice to my video content.
And when I write videos, I focus a lot on formatting and layout.
Specifically, I try to keep my paragraphs short:
Backlinko video script
I also sprinkle in visuals and screenshots to mix things up.
Visuals and screenshots in video
And if you’re about to sit down and record some audio, you want your lines to be short and snappy. You also want to avoid parenthetical statements. Content in parenthesis is easy to follow when you’re reading it. But you can easily “lose the thread” if you’re listening to your audio as a podcast.
In short: your final content needs to be super engaging to work. And no matter what format you’re working with, that starts with the content writing process.
Quotable On Social Media
According to a study that we conducted, very few blog posts get shared or linked to.
And to increase the odds that your content ranks in search engines and gets shared on social media, add shareable quotes.
For text-based content, this can be a statement that you highlight in your post.
Post with highlighted statement
And if you’re making a YouTube video, you can pull out a short snippet from that video to share on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn post with video snippet
The important thing here is to have these quotes ready before you publish the post. Then, highlight them in your content.
Choose Interesting Angles
With 2.3 million blog posts going live every day, you can’t just publish something generic and expect a wave of visitors.
Instead, to get traffic to your content, it needs a compelling angle.
An angle is simply the hook that makes your content stand out from all the others on that topic.
Your angle can be a personal story. A bit of controversy. Or something that simply looks better than what’s out there.
The angle you go with depends on your target audience.
For example, when we published our guide to becoming an SEO expert, our 8-bit design helped it stand out.
Backlinko – SEO Expert Guide
Make It Actionable
For most niches, your content can’t just be entertaining.
And it’s not even enough for it to simply be informative.
For your content marketing to work, your content needs to be super useful.
Here’s how:
Include a step-by-step process: Most content out there is just a list of things you compiled from other people’s lists of things. When you organize a set of tips or techniques into steps, your content instantly becomes much easier to take action on.
Our SEO audit post is a great example of this.
Backlinko – SEO site audit
It’s not a collection of random tips. This content is a step-by-step action plan that anyone can follow.
SEO site audit post – Table of content
Use examples: Examples make your content easier to put into practice. Which is why we pack our content with real life examples.Post with real life example
Keep it up-to-date: A single outdated step or example can derail an otherwise great piece. I recommend going back and updating your old content at least once a year.
Make it Trustworthy
For people to share and link to your content, they need to trust it first.
And while design factors in to how much people trust your content, your writing plays a big role too.
Here are a few tips to make your content more trustworthy.
Use proper grammar: If you want to improve your writing skills, a tool like Hemingway Editor or Grammarly can be a huge help.
Do your homework: Research and references show that you know what you’re talking about.
For example, whenever we write a guide, we add lots of stats and references.
Post with stats and references
First-hand experience: Report on things you have personal experience with. Why? Content written by subject matter experts is super rare. Unfortunately, most people hire random freelance writers on Upwork. And it shows. But when you write content that shows off your actual experience, your content is much easier for a random visitor to trust.
Here’s an example from our blog.
First hand experience example on Backlinko
Give it a Magnetic Headline and Introduction
Most visitors only spend 15 seconds reading an article before leaving.
With such a short window of time, your headline and introduction are incredibly important.
Here’s how to create headlines and intros that work:
Headlines between 14-17 words do best in terms of getting shares, as discovered in a study of 900 million articles.Long headlines are correlated with increased social sharing
Add some emotions to your titles. This free tool gives you an “Emotional Marketing Value” score that you can use to benchmark the emotional impact of your copy.Advanced Marketing Institute – Headline analyzer
Use short introductions (approximately 4-8 total sentences). In other words: don’t be like recipe sites that ramble on and on before getting to the actual recipe.Don't be like recipe sites
Preview your content. For some of my intros, I just list out bullet points of what they’re about to learn.Video marketing guide post – Intro
Note how these bullet points aren’t topics. They’re benefits that someone will get out of reading and implementing what’s in the guide.
Creating a Content Calendar
What Is a Content Calendar?
A content calendar (also known as an “editorial calendar”) is a written schedule of when and where you plan to publish upcoming content. Content calendars typically include upcoming pieces, status updates, planned promotional activity, partnerships, and updates to existing content.
Why Are Content Calendars Important?
If your blog is a hobby that you use to publish an occasional post, then you probably don’t need a content calendar.
But if you’re using content marketing to grow your online business, then staying organized is key.
Here are three ways that content calendars help your content marketing strategy:
First, a content calendar ensures that all of your content-related tasks are actually happening.
If you’re disorganized with your content production schedule, you’ll forget things.
Or publish less often.
Or neglect to update old articles.
Put another way: a calendar ensures that nothing falls between the cracks.
Second, a calendar makes it easier to collaborate with your team (and outside partners).
If you’re a single-person blog, you may not even need a content calendar in the first place.
But if employees and contractors contribute to your content, then you need something that keeps everyone on the same page.
Today, our content calendar is more of a project management than an actual calendar (we use Notion).
Backlinko – Notion workspace
Third, a content calendar gives you a big picture overview of your upcoming stuff.
As an example, we use our calendar to make sure that we don’t publish a bunch of case studies all at once. Or two guides that cover the same topic. That way, we can see our entire marketing strategy for the next few months on a single screen.
Pretty cool.
Best Practices
Understand the Key Elements of a Content Calendar
Yes, there are content calendar tools out there. And I’ll cover them later in this guide.
But the fact is: content calendars don’t have to be complicated.
After all, their job is to make things easier for you and your team.
This means you can start off with a simple content calendar using Google Sheets.
Here are the four items that every content calendar needs to have:
Editorial
The most important piece of your content calendar is Editorial. These are the pieces of content you’ll be publishing, whether on your own blog, on a podcast, or on social media.
Editorial calendar items
The main goal of your content calendar is to get your editorial pieces scheduled well in advance. That way, you can stay organized and consistent with your publishing schedule.
Some companies have planned out their editorial content a full year in advance. Some independent bloggers might not know what they’re publishing next week.
There’s no perfect amount of time that you need to have your content planned out in advance.
I try to schedule things 6 months ahead. But I leave some room for flexibility since things can change quickly in the digital marketing world.
As long as you have a single place that shows you what’s coming up, you’re good.
Platform
The platform is where your content calendar is hosted.
Solo content creators have the most flexibility in choosing a tool, from pen and paper to Google Calendar to a simple spreadsheet. The most important thing is that it works for you.
In fact, when I was a solo blogger, my editorial calendar was a simple Google Sheet with notes that only I could understand.
Old editorial calendar
But it’s a different story for content marketing teams.
When you create content with a team, you can have 5, 10 or even 20 people that touch a piece of content before it goes live. So it’s critical that everyone can see the status of each post.
Otherwise, you’re going to get overloaded with emails from people asking: “What’s that status on this video?” or “Are the visuals finished for this Facebook post yet?”.
In fact, our last calendar in Google Sheets was designed specifically for collaboration.
Collaboration content calendar
And this kind of thing isn’t just helpful for content marketing and SEO departments. It’s also a way to send new content that you’re working on to other people in your organization.
And if you’re an agency or freelancer, you can link to your content calendar from Basecamp, Asana and Trello so that clients can keep tabs on what you’re working on.
Promotional
The next most important piece of your content calendar is Promotional.
Promotional items are what they sound like: how you plan to promote your content. When will you be sharing it on Facebook? Do you have an upcoming podcast interview or Reddit AMA? Are you going to send a newsletter to your email subscribers? Those would be promotional activities for your content calendar.
Promotional activities don’t necessarily need to be in a completely separate calendar from your editorial items.
But it’s a good idea to title them differently or color-code them so you can easily tell them apart.
Multiple activities on the same calendar
Future Ideas
This is a list of future content ideas that you’re not actively working on yet. For example, this could be a random topic that you thought of on your drive to work. Or something that came up during a brainstorming session.
These ideas don’t usually show up in the calendar itself because they’re not scheduled yet.
But you do need to do a “brain dump” of these ideas so you don’t lose them (or let them distract you from content that’s almost ready to go).
Use a Content Calendar Tool
There are tools out there that exist specifically for creating, managing, and collaborating on your content calendar.
Depending on how much content you publish and how big your team is, you may want to invest in content calendar software.
Here are some great options to try.
Notion:the all-in-one workspace for your notes, tasks, wikis, and databases.
Google Sheets: probably the most popular option for most individuals and small teams. Free and good for collaboration, but takes work to setup.
Microsoft Excel: Microsoft has made their spreadsheets more collaboration-friendly than before.
Google Calendar: if you’re a one-person operation, Google Calendar alone might be enough for you.
Coschedule: plans range from an editorial calendar with 1-person access to a fully featured marketing suite for large enterprises. Recommended.
Loomly: includes interactive guides for creating blog posts, automated social media posts, and more.
Editorial Calendar plugin for WordPress: simple, drag-and-drop, and free. However, relies on when you have posts actually scheduled in WordPress — which may not be right for everyone.
Basecamp, Trello, Slack, and Asana: designed as project management and communication tools rather than for content calendars, any of these three can be used either for task-management purposes. And with a little creativity, you can also use them as content calendars.
Add Items to Your Calendar
This is where the rubber meets the road.
Actually creating a content calendar may seem daunting if you’ve never done it before.
But once you have things organized for the first time, you’ll see just how helpful an editorial calendar can be.
Here’s how to create a content calendar on any platform:
Step #1: Make a list of your content ideas. If you write about a variety of topics, it may help to categorize them as you go. But you can just list them out.
Step #2: Decide on a publication frequency. This frequency depends on your specific content strategy. If you’re creating more of a social media calendar, you might publish multiple posts per day. But if it’s for a blog, you may only publish 3-4 posts per month.
(If you’re using a spreadsheet, you can have different levels of detail on different tabs for “monthly vs weekly” or “blog vs. LinkedIn”)
Step #3: Use your list of content ideas to fill in your dates, according to the frequency you just established.
Here’s a content calendar template you can refer to and use.
Schedule Every Part of the Creation Process
Most content calendars only include the title of the post and the date that it’s going live.
Which is fine for simple content pieces (like case studies).
But you publish larger or more complex projects, you might want to schedule out all of the steps of the content creation process in your calendar.
In other words, instead of a calendar that looks like this:
Basic calendar
It will look more like this:
Detailed calendar
For example, we’ve been publishing more and more research-focused content on our blog lately.
Backlinko – Research focused content
And unlike a list post, research-based content requires a lot of work from lots of people. And in some cases, the work needs to be done in “assembly-line style”. In other words: one element can’t start until the previous one is 100% complete.
To give you an example, we design lots of visuals and charts for our research posts.
Chart and visuals collage
We obviously can’t make these charts until the data comes in. So “data collection and analysis” needs to be scheduled before design.
This is especially important if you’re working with a team. With a team, you have different people responsible for different parts of a single piece of content. Scheduling out the important dates for each step in advance can help you stay on track.
Here’s how to do it:
Step #1: Write down a list of every type of content you publish. Most of the time you might publish short opinion articles, but when you publish larger case studies the workflow might be completely different. If you dabble in different formats (like video and podcasts) I recommend jotting that down too.
Step #2: Break out each of those content types into the steps it takes to create it. For example, my typical blog post creation process consists of four steps: keyword research, outlining, writing the content itself, and design.
While for my videos, the process is: find a topic, write a script, film the video, edit the content and add graphics.
Step #3: Add each step to your calendar. If you have a team, include the name of the person who is responsible for completing it next to each step.
Include More than Just New Blog Posts
Content calendars can be used for much more than just scheduling different types of content.
Here are a few things you should include in your content calendar to make it more robust and useful:
Content updates. It’s important to keep your content fresh. So for pieces that are easy to edit (like blog posts) you should include future updates in your calendar.
Site-wide content audits. Sometimes older content can do more harm than good. Britney Muller found that de-indexing 75% of Moz’s content actually increased their overall search traffic.
Schedule and promote your off-site work, too. Whenever you do a guest post, podcast interview, live talk, or any other kind of off-site promo, include that in your content calendar too.
Blog Design
What Is Blog Design?
Blog Design is the practice of optimizing a blog’s look, feel, branding, readability and functionality in order to maximize visitors, readership and conversions.
Why Is Blog Design Important?
According to the latest numbers from WordPress, 70 million blog posts are published every month.
WordPress – Number of posts published every month
So for your content to get noticed, yes, you need to publish high-quality content.
But that content also needs to LOOK really good.
In fact, according to NN/g, website design has a dramatic impact on a site’s trustworthiness and credibility.
NN Group – Article about trustworthiness
I’ve seen the impact that blog design can have on a blog’s success firsthand. When I first launched my blog, I was a new player in the highly competitive digital marketing space.
And I knew that design would help me stand out from the big blogs in my space.
So I put a lot of time and effort into my initial blog design.
Backlinko – Early blog design
I also invested heavily in visual content, like infographics.
On-page SEO infographics
And this focus on design helped my blog get noticed in the early days.
Even though my blog has grown exponentially since then, my entire team and I still make design a high priority for the blog.
Not only do we do the extra mile with custom screenshots:
Custom design screenshots
But we work with web designers to create custom-designed guides.
Custom design – Post
In fact, we get comments on a weekly basis from people complimenting us on our design.
Comment on Backlinko about post design
And I can confidently report that design is one of the main reasons that our blog brings in 522,981 monthly visits.
Backlinko monhtly traffic – July 2021
The one caveat here is that custom-designed pages can be expensive. You essentially need to have someone design a webpage from scratch. Then, have the page coded up and integrated into WordPress.
So if you don’t have a huge content marketing budget, focus on cheaper design elements, like blog post banners and visuals.
Now that you’ve seen exactly why blog design matters, it’s time to make sure that your blog is designed the right way.
Best Practices
Focus On High Readability
When most people hear “blog design”, they think about things like colors, illustrations, branding and UX.
And yes, those things are important for a blog’s design.
But they’re not nearly as important as your typography.
After all, a blog is a place people go to read text content. And if that text content is hard to read, the blog won’t succeed.
(No matter how amazing that content happens to be.)
Fortunately, making your blog content easy to read isn’t rocket science.
The most important thing is that you use font that’s between 15px-18px.
In fact, a study out of Carnegie Mellon University found that larger font is easier to read and understand.
Carnegie Mellon University – Study on font size
This is something I’ve noticed from my own experience. If I land on a blog with a small font, I usually click away.
But if I wind up on a blog with a highly readable font I’ll usually give the content a chance.
Medium.com is the king of readable font.
They use 21px font. And it’s big, bold and insanely easy to consume.
Medium – Body copy font size
Other than font size, you also want your blog’s design to include plenty of white space around the text.
For example, here’s a blog with text that’s all squished together.
Blog with squished text
That’s super hard to read.
On the other hand, on our blog, we use a ton of white space around the content.
White-space example on Backlinko
Last up, use a blog layout that’s easy to read… and skim.
This means using wide margins, like this:
Wide margins on Backlinko
And creating bold subheaders that break long-form content down into smaller chunks.
Big headers in post
Use a Consistent Design
Like any website design, consistency for your blog’s design is HUGE.
A consistent design makes it easier for people to remember your blog. Which, considering how many blogs are out there, is super important.
For example, at Backlinko, we use “Backlinko Green” across our whole site.
Backlinko – Colors
And at AngelList, they use custom-illustrated blog post banners that all have the same look and feel.
AngelList – Blog header design
The NerdWallet blog uses non-cheesy stock photos at the top of every post.
NerdWallet – Blog header stock photo example
If they used a stock photo for one post and an illustration for another, their blog design would look all over the place. But this consistency helps their blog look super professional.
In fact, if you stripped out the text from each blog, you’d still be able to tell which blog you were on based on design alone.
Blogs without text
That’s the power of consistent design.
Design to Stand Out
Your blog should be easy to read. And use consistent design elements.
But if your blog looks like every other blog in your niche, it’s going to blend in.
This is why at least some of your blog design should be dedicated to standing out.
That’s not to say that you need to reinvent the wheel. But your blog should do something that makes it look different than competing blogs.
Here are a few examples of things you can tweak to make your blog design look unique:
Your blog feed
Your banner images
Your WordPress theme
Font and typography
Illustrations
Comments section
Site navigation
Footer
To give you some design inspiration, let’s look at a few examples of blogs that do a great job of standing out.
Intercom has a really unique layout for their blog feed.
Intercom blog layout
Most blog feeds are vertical with a single column. But Intercom features their latest post at the top of the feed…
Intercom blog – Latest news on top
…and has a list of their older content in a 3×3 grid.
Intercom blog – 3x3 grid layout
Whether this makes Intercom’s content easier find it another story. But there’s no denying that their design really stands out.
The Drift blog is another great example of stand-out blog design.
All of their posts use a massive, bold font, emojis and other design elements that look really different from most other B2B blogs.
Drift – Blog post example
And if you’re a personal brand, I highly recommend checking out Marie Forleo’s blog.
Marie Forleo – Blog
Marie’s layout, typography and style are 100% unique to her.
Marie Forleo – About page
Feature Your Best Content
Most blog feeds look something like this:
Normal blog feed
You have their latest post at the top. And their older posts underneath.
Now:
There’s nothing WRONG with this layout.
(In fact, that’s what we use here at Backlinko.)
But there is one big downside with using the chronological approach: it’s hard to find your blog’s best stuff.
For example, let’s say you published an amazing guide 2 years ago. Well, someone that lands on your blog for the first time has no way of easily finding that guide. It’s probably buried on page 10 of your feed.
That’s why more and more blogs are using a “library approach” to their blog feed.
With this approach, you highlight your best stuff… not the content you published most recently.
For example, a while ago, the Lattice blog feed wasn’t really a feed at all. It was a curated list of their most popular content.
Lattice library
In fact, you had to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see their recent posts.
This approach isn’t for everybody. If your blog covers industry news and trends, then you probably do want to use a traditional blog feed.
But if you publish lots of evergreen content, then a library approach might make sense for you.
If you’re married to the blog feed format, you can show off some of your best content in your blog feed sidebar, like we used to do.
Backlinko – Blog sidebar
Add Visuals and Images
Blog design isn’t just about the design of your page.
Your content’s format, layout and even the copy itself can impact design.
And to give your content that little bit of extra pop, I recommend adding visuals and images throughout your post.
For example, take a look at this blog post made up of 100% text.
Blog post made only with text
On the other hand, check out this section from one of our posts.
Image-rich post section
These screenshots and images make our content look more interesting. But we don’t use images just to make our posts look pretty. Our images break up the content, which makes it easier to read.
That’s not to say you should add images just for the sake of adding images. But when you CAN use an image, you SHOULD use an image.
Create Custom Pages for “Big Content”
For lists posts, case studies and other run-of-the-mill posts, your standard blog layout will work just fine.
But what about when you publish something HUGE?
Well, that’s where you might want to consider a custom page design.
For example, most of our posts use the same exact layout.
Backlinko – Improve your SEO post
But every now and again we publish a piece of “big content”, like an industry study or report.
When we do, we use a custom design to let people know that this content is a big deal.
For example, when we published the results from a survey, we created a custom header just for that post.
Backlinko – SEO services statistics
Because the rest of the post was exactly the same, this custom design was pretty easy to pull off.
But you can also go crazy and create an entirely new page just for one post.
In fact, that’s what FYI did with their “Why Everyone Loves Remote Work” post.
FYI – Custom post type
This post is a completely custom-designed page with hundreds of custom images, graphs and design elements.
Create a Blog “Homepage”
For most people, their blog’s “homepage” is their blog feed.
Normal blog "homepage"
The upside is that this layout makes it really easy to find your content.
But it’s HORRIBLE for conversions.
Instead, I recommend testing out a blog homepage that’s designed solely to build your email list.
Then, put your blog feed on a /blog URL.
For example, our blog’s homepage used to be a normal feed.
Old Backlinko homepage
But a few years ago, we moved the feed to /blog. And launched a homepage that was optimized for list building.
Backlinko homepage
And because that homepage was designed to collect emails, it converted 8x better than our old blog homepage.
Use a Byline
Ever land on a blog and wonder: “Who the heck wrote this?”.
It’s human nature: we want to know who’s behind the content we’re consuming.
This is why you want to use a clear byline at the top of every post. Preferably with a headshot of the person that wrote it.
For example, the Buffer Blog features the blog post author right underneath the blog post title.
Buffer blog – Author section
And even though Backlinko is a single-author blog, we still have a byline on every post.
Backlinko – Author section
Add Social Sharing Buttons
If you want more people to share your content on social media, you need to make it SUPER easy for them.
This is why I recommend incorporating social sharing buttons into your design.
In our case, we use floating buttons that follow you down the page.
But you can also just add static buttons to the top or bottom of your post.
Pro Tip: Pick the 2-3 social media sites that your audience spends the most time on. And ONLY feature those networks there.
Not only does a long list of buttons look super ugly…
Long list of social buttons
…but it makes it less likely that they’ll use ANY of your buttons.
(Option overload.)
For example, most of our audience shares content on Facebook and Twitter. So we only use Facebook and Twitter buttons.
Get YouTube views post – Social shares
But if your audience is all about Pinterest, then you’d want to use that.
Evergreen Content
What Is Evergreen Content?
Evergreen Content is content designed to be relevant and beneficial over the long term. This is in contrast to most news articles and blog posts that both tend to have a short shelf life.
For example, this list of SEO copywriting tips is a classic piece of evergreen content.
Like any content, it got a spike when I first published it:
SEO copywriting post – Launch spike
But unlike most content, it’s still bringing in significant amounts of traffic 3 years later:
SEO copywriting post – Traffic
Contrast my evergreen blog post with content formats with an expiration date, like:
News articles
Seasonal content (like content about Christmas presents)
Newsjacking
Content on trending topics
Product reviews (like “iPhone X review”)
These formats tend to get traffic for a few days or weeks… then drop off to almost zero.
Content with an expiration date
Why Does Evergreen Content Work?
There are three main reasons that evergreen content is the cornerstone of most people’s content marketing strategy:
Long-Term Value: When you publish a piece of successful evergreen content, it can bring you traffic for YEARS. That way, you don’t need to keep your foot on the gas and pump out new content 24/7.
Backlinks: Evergreen content is awesome Link Bait. An evergreen article can get backlinks years after it first goes live. And because they’re link magnets, evergreen posts tend to rank well in search engines.
Great for SEO: Evergreen content is super SEO friendly. That is, as long as you keep your content up-to-date (more on that later). In fact, my #1 most visited blog post was first published back in 2013:Keep content up-to-date
With that, here’s exactly how to publish Evergreen Content.
Best Practices
Optimize Around Stable Or Trending Keywords
Remember:
The goal of evergreen content is to drive traffic to your site for YEARS.
That’s why your first step is to choose a keyword that’s stable or trending up.
For example, in 2018. I published a detailed SEO audit process.
Backlinko – SEO site audit
Why did I choose that topic (and keyword)?
Well, when I put “SEO Audit” into Google Trends, I could see that search volume was pretty stable over the last year or so:
Google Trends
Which told me that this was an evergreen topic.
You can also focus your keyword research on terms that are growing in popularity.
The one downside is that it’s risky. If interest suddenly drops off, you just wrote a piece of content that people don’t care about anymore.
But if interest in that topic continues to rise, you can get even MORE traffic as time goes on.
For example, some time ago I saw a surge in interest in mobile optimization (and the keyword “Mobile SEO”).
Mobile optimization
So I quickly put together an evergreen guide to mobile SEO.
Backlinko – Mobile SEO guide
And because I picked a trending topic, my guide still gets over 1k unique visitors per month:
Unique visitors
Choose an Evergreen Content Format
Just about any piece of content can be evergreen. But here are a few content types that work REALLY well as evergreen content.
Ultimate Guides
As long as your guide is on a trending or stable or trending topic, it’s hard for a well-written ultimate guide to get out of date.
That’s because your guide covers THE most important elements of that topic… which aren’t likely to change overnight.
For example, my guide to backlinks needs tweaking now and again.
Backlinko – SEO Hub – Backlinks
But for the most part, the content remains as relevant as when I first published it.
List Posts
Unless you list out things that aren’t going to matter in a few months (like “Top iPhone apps this month”), a list post can continue to provide value without much editing or updating.
For example, take this list of SEO tips from my blog.
Backlinko – Actionable SEO tips post
Sure, it has a few tips that I might need to change within the next year or so.
But for the most part, the tips are going to work as long as Google is around.
Actionable SEO tips – Evergreen content
Case Studies
Case studies document something that happened. So as long as your case study is on a topic people care about, you’re set.
For example, take this SEO case study.
Backlinko – Skyscraper Technique 2.0 post
This case study is all about optimizing your content for User Intent.
Skyscraper technique 2.0 – User intent
So as long as Google’s goal is to serve up content that matches what a searcher wants, my case study will help people.
Videos
Many people don’t consider video “evergreen”.
But it’s actually one of the BEST forms of evergreen content out there.
In fact, lots of YouTube videos continue to rack up views 5 or 10 years after they first went live.
The only downside of video is that (at least on YouTube) you can’t edit your video after you publish it.
So if you want your videos to get views over the long-term, you need to carefully plan and outline what you’re going to cover.
For example, here’s a video from my channel that I published few years ago:
I knew that I wouldn’t be able to edit out irrelevant stuff from my video.
So I stuck to tips and techniques that would still work years later:
Tips and Techniques
Checklists
Checklists might be the ultimate evergreen content format.
(In fact, sites like eHow have built their entire business on evergreen checklists.)
For example, check out this SEO checklist from my blog.
Backlinko – SEO Checklist
I focused 100% on tips that aren’t going to change anytime soon:
SEO checklist – Evergreen tips
Plus, if something does change, I can easily delete or replace that item on my checklist.
How-to Guides
Just like with ultimate guides, how-to posts rarely get outdated.
For example, my post “How to Get High Quality Backlinks (7 New Strategies)” is made up of tested strategies that will probably never stop working.
High quality backlinks – Tested strategies
Regularly Update Your Content
This is a biggie.
No matter how evergreen your content is when you first publish it, stuff WILL get out of date.
That’s why you want to regularly review and update your content.
I audit every post on my blog at least once or twice per year. And I’ll give high-priority posts a small update every quarter.
For example, I first published The Definitive Guide to Guest Blogging in 2013:
Guest Blogging Guide (Old)
And I’ve updated it 25+ times since.
To be clear:
Guest posting doesn’t change that much from year to year.
But I’ve found that there’s always something that you can update… or at least improve.
For example, one of the strategies in the original post was to use a service that no longer exists:
My guest blog
So I obviously took that out.
Also, even though the strategies were still sound, some of the screenshots were dated-looking:
Dated images
So I swapped those out with new versions:
The definitive guide to guest blogging – New screenshots
And I realized that my post was tricky to navigate (it’s 4k+ words). So I added a table of contents to the top:
The definitive guide to guest blogging – Table of contents
I think you get the idea 🙂
And these regular updates have kept my rankings stable (top 5 in Google for my target keyword) for 8+ years:
Google SERP – Guest blogging
Repromote On Social Media
When you first publish a post it gets featured on the top of your blog feed:
Backlinko – Blog feed – Post
But as you publish new stuff, that post gets buried lower and lower in the feed.
(Which makes it harder for people to find.)
That’s why you want to repromote your older content on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites every few months.
And if you want to get even more eyeballs on your older content, repromote it right after an update.
For example, when I overhauled and upgraded my email marketing guide, I tweeted it out:
Email marketing guide – Update tweet
Which led to an influx of visitors that didn’t see my guide the first time around.
You can also promote your old content to email subscribers.
For example, whenever someone signs up to the Backlinko newsletter, I send them links to some of my best stuff:
New subscribers email
Relaunch as a New Post
Also known as “The Content Relaunch”.
Here’s how this works:
First, find an evergreen post from your blog. Preferably one that you haven’t updated in a while.
For example, this post from my blog was still 75% up-to-date.
Blog up to date
But there were a lot of old screenshots, outdated strategies and new stuff that I wanted to cover.
So I went back and overhauled the entire post.
I took out old images:
Remove old images
Added new strategies:
Increase website traffic – New strategies
And even threw in a few “bonus” techniques I knew people would want to learn about:
Increase website traffic – Bonus techniques
But I didn’t stop there.
Instead of quietly updating the post, I relaunched it like it was brand new.
(Because it largely was.)
I updated the post date in WordPress so it went to the top of the /blog feed.
And shared it on social media:
Increase website traffic – Relaunch tweet
Not only did the relaunch result in a massive surge in targeted traffic…
Traffic surge
…but it was 10x easier than writing a new post from scratch.
Nice.
Repurpose Into New Formats
Let’s face it:
Writing evergreen content is A LOT of work.
That’s why you’ll be happy to hear about a way to get MORE value from your evergreen piece.
Repurposing your content
Repurposing content is when you turn your blog content into a new format… like a video, report, ebook, presentation, podcast or infographic.
Repurposing content – Turn your blog content into a new format
For example, I knew that I wanted to make a YouTube video about link building.
My first instinct was to open up a blank Google doc and start from scratch.
But I decided to repurpose content that I already had on my blog.
Specifically, I decided to reuse the strategies from my link building guide:
Backlinko – Link building guide
So I took those helpful strategies that I already outlined…
Broken link building
…and shared them in my video:
Link building video
The only catch is that your repurposed content needs to match the new format.
In other words:
You can’t just read your article into a microphone and call it a podcast. Or turn your article into a PDF and say: “I just wrote an ebook”.
It doesn’t work.
For example, I didn’t repeat the written text from my link-building guide content word-for-word.
Instead, I adapted the content for the video:
Adapt for video
Even though the content itself was 80% old stuff, that video has racked up 278K views up to date:
Link building video – Views
And because I worked with an existing piece of evergreen content, my video was CINCH to make.
Blog Post Templates
This is a list of 7 proven blog post templates.
In fact, these templates have helped my blog grow to over 522,981 unique visitors every month.
Backlinko monhtly traffic – July 2021
And in this guide, I’ll give you 7 super detailed content templates that are working great right now.
- The Classic List Post
A list post (also sometimes called a “Listicle”) is a list of 10-25 bite-sized tips, strategies, techniques, tools… or anything else that makes sense for a list.
The Classic List Post
Because they distill a topic into actionable steps, list posts tend to be super search engine friendly. In fact, the post that brings us the most organic traffic every month is a list post:
List post brings more traffic
List Post Title
Your list post title needs three things:
A benefit
The number of items
A short timeframe
First, you need to state the benefit that someone will get out of reading your post. There’s no need to be overly creative here. Simply name the benefit.
Example: 17 Insanely Actionable List Building Strategies That Will Generate More Subscribers Today (The benefit is: “will generate more subscribers”).
Next, you need the number of items on your list. If possible, start your title off with that number.
Example: 22 Things You Can Do Today to Change Your Photography Forever
Finally, you want to demonstrate a specific time frame that shows how actionable your content is. People love strategies they can implement right away.
Example: 24 Quick Actions You Can Do Today That Can Change Your Financial Life Forever
List Post Introduction
Your list post introduction has two parts:
An introduction to the problem the reader has
The benefit they’ll get from reading your post
First, you quickly (and I mean quickly) introduce the problem that the items on your list will help them solve.
Example: I think you’ll agree with me when I say:
It’s REALLY hard to grow a YouTube channel.
Second, (quickly!) introduce the benefit that your list post will help them achieve.
Good Example:
Well, while not as easy as it used to be, you can still get more views and subscribers from your channel.
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to really emphasize that your content will help solve the reader’s problem. The more clear that is, the more likely they are to read on.
List Post Subheadings
Subheadings are HUGE.
First, they break your content up into manageable chunks.
Second, when you make your subheaders benefit-rich, it boosts the perceived value of your content.
So each of your subheadings should contain two things:
An overview of what that tip is
A clear benefit
When people see items that will help them lose weight, eat better or make more money, they’re more likely to share it.
Good Example: Torch Fat With a Protein-Rich Breakfast.
Bad Example: Eat Protein at Breakfast
Good Example #2: Save $200/Month on Car Insurance With One Phone Call
Bad Example #2: Save Money on Car Insurance
See the difference?
Pro Tip: Make sure you start your ELP off with your best tip. This will hook people for the rest of the post.
List Post Action Items
Now it’s time to outline the steps someone will need to complete each item on the list.
Example:
Outlining the steps
Pro Tip: Include photos, screenshots, real-life examples or even video tutorials. The more visuals you include, the easier it will be for your reader to follow the steps.
List Post Conclusion
Now it’s time to wrap things up.
You want your list post conclusions to do one thing: Push people to take action.
When someone gets results from your content, they become a fan for life.
Good Example:
List post conclusion
Pro Tip: Ask your reader to leave a comment. Have them publicly commit to taking action. For example, “Let me know the 1 item on this list you’re going to take action on first.”
- The Detailed Case Study
A case study is like a traditional how-to post… backed up with a real example.
The Detailed Case Study
Case Study Title
To get the most clicks and attention to your case study, your headline should contain 3 elements:
Specific Benefit
First, state the benefits that the “hero” of your case study saw. The more specific, the better.
Example: “How a Busy Mom Lost 9 Pounds of Fat in 30 days”
A number
Second, you want to include at least one number. This number adds credibility to your case study by showing you have actual data behind your content.
Example: “Link Building Case Study: How I Increased My Search Traffic by 110% in 14 Days”
Timeframe
Finally, specify how long it took to see those benefits. The shorter the time frame the better.
Good Example: “From Geek to Freak: How I Gained 34 lbs. of Muscle in 4 Weeks”
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to write about modest results in your case study. In fact, modest results are usually BETTER than uber-impressive results. Why? Because they’re more relatable. In other words, a case study of someone losing 10 pounds is often more compelling than one that describes how someone lost 100 pounds.
Case Study Introduction
Here’s what you include in your case study introduction:
First, start your intro off with EXACTLY what you’re going to show them in the case study. As the old journalism saying goes: “Don’t bury the lead”. 🙂
Example: “Today I’m going to show you how a busy single mom (Jane) dropped 9 pounds of body fat in a month.”
Next, break down some of the things that make you, your client, friend, or customer relatable.
Example: “And she was able to accomplish this despite the fact that she’s a busy executive that has very little time to exercise.”
Finally, preview the solution or system that was used to get this benefit. Then mention you’ll outline how they did it in detail.
Example: “In this case study I’ll show you the entire process that Jane used… step-by-step.”
Meet The Hero Section
The “Meet The Hero” section is where you introduce the hero of your case study. This section is important because it helps your reader connect with your hero and put themselves in your hero’s shoes.
Quick Introduction of Your Hero
Example: “Jane is a 39-year old mother of two that works as a busy executive at a bank. Her days consist of shuttling kids back and forth to school and soccer practice while answering emails on her phone. She’s the consummate super-busy 21st-century mom.”
Problem Story
Example: “Like many busy moms, Jane noticed that her jeans were a little more snug than they were a few years back.
She knew she should exercise, but with her demanding work schedule and kid’s activities, she didn’t have the time or energy to get to the gym.”
“Save The Cat Moment”
The term “Save The Cat” comes from the screenwriting classic, Save The Cat. It’s a small detail that makes your hero more human and relatable.
Good Example: “One day, after barely being able to button her favorite pair of jeans, Jane realized she needed to do something. So she called her sister, who recently dropped 10 pounds, for advice.”
Transition to the Case Study
Good Example: “Her sister referred Jane to me. And now it’s time for me to show you how Jane dropped those excess pounds in record time.”
Results Section
At this point, your reader is anxious to see how they did it. But before diving into the steps, whet their appetite with a quick overview of your hero’s results.
Your Results Section subheading should reiterate your hero’s results.
Example: “How I Boosted My Conversion Rate by 73.4% (Without A/B Testing)”
Here’s what to include in this section:
First, quickly outline the results that your Hero achieved.
Example: “Courtney made an appointment with me on January 3rd. On January 24th, here are her results:
8 pounds of weight loss (120 lbs to 112 lbs)
Body fat percentage decrease of 2.1% (down from 30%)
Lost 2 dress sizes
And her jeans fit better than they have in years :-)”
Next, include a quick transition to the meat of your case study. This helps the reader understand the story is over and that it’s time to get into the meat of the content.
Example: “That afternoon, Jane gave me a call. Here’s the exact 3-step process she used to lose all that weight.”
Steps Section
Now it’s time to get into the meaty details of your case study. Many case studies are big on hype and short on details.
That’s why this section is so important. The detailed steps will make your case study stand out.
And here’s where you list the steps your hero used to make progress on Step #1. No detail is too small. Don’t be afraid to tell them EXACTLY what to do.
Example: “First, Jane took note of where she stood with her weight and health.
She hopped on the scale to assess her current body weight. Using the fitbit app, she recorded her weight. She weighed 149 pounds…
Next, Jane got her body fat measured in my office (using bioelectrical impedance). We found her body fat percentage to be 30%, which is considered high for a woman of Jane’s age…”
(Note: This is a shortened example. Your final draft should add more details and images like screenshots, diagrams, and pictures)
Case Study Conclusion
Quick Summary
Example: “That’s all there is to it. That’s how Courtney lost 9 pounds of fat in just 4 weeks.
Motivational Line
Here’s where you remind the reader that they can achieve the same result.
Example: “The best part is that you can get the same results Courtney did by following this step-by-step process.”
Call-To-Action
Example: “If you found this case study inspiring, I’d really appreciate if you would share her story on Facebook.
I’d also like to hear from you: have you used any of these strategies to lose weight? Leave a comment and let me know.”
And when you finish writing your conclusion, you’re done with your case study. Great work!
- The Product Showdown
This post is a side-by-side comparison of two competing products. Your Product Showdown provides a ton of value. That’s because you save your reader countless hours (and dollars) on a product that may not work for them.
The Product Showdown
Product Showdown Title
Here are the two things to include in your Product Showdown title:
First, the two (or three) products you’re comparing
Example: “Aweber vs. Mailchimp” or “Wix vs. Squarespace”
Second, note what these products do.
In other words, their category.
Example: “Aweber vs. Mailchimp: Two Email Marketing Platforms Compared” or “GNC Fish Oil vs. Optimum Nutrition: We Tested Both Supplements”
Pro Tip: Include the name of both products in your title (for example, “Aweber vs. Mailchimp”). These “product vs. product” keywords tend to get a ton of searches in Google.
Product Showdown Intro
(Quick) overview of what your post is all about
This is straightforward: let people know which products you’re reviewing. This lets your readers know they’re in the right place.
Example: “In this post, I’m going to personally review two popular email marketing software products: Mailchimp and Aweber.”
Mention which product features you’re going to evaluate
This shows that you’re going to review the products in-depth. This is important because it demonstrates to the reader that you already did the hard work for them.
Example: “I dove deep into each platform to uncover the good, the bad (and the ugly).
Within each platform I evaluated:
Cost/value
Email deliverability
Templates
Ease of use
Advanced features
Autoresponders
Customer support
and more”
Encourage people to read the entire review
Here’s where you let your readers know that they need to read your entire review to get the whole scoop.
Example: “So make sure to read this review until the end. That way you can make the best decision for you.”
Product Overview Section
Overview of each product
Example: “Before I get into the review itself, I want to quickly let you know some important info on each platform…”
Who you are
This is important. Here’s your opportunity to show people that you have some expertise in this area. Even if you’re not an expert, you can at least tell your story of: “here’s why I tried both products”.
Example: “Because I started my WordPress blog on a shoestring budget, I went with MailChimp’s free plan. Overall, I was pretty happy with it. But I quickly realized that I’d the more advanced features only came with a paid MailChimp account…”
Feature-By-Feature Comparison
Here’s where you begin to break down each feature, one by one (and outline how the two products compare).
Example: “Who has the better email templates?” or “Which supplement has the most omega 3s?”
Pro Tip: Kick things off with the feature that your readers are most interested in. For example, if you find that your readers want to know which fish oil has the most omega 3 fats, start off with that feature.
Product Showdown Conclusion
Now it’s time to wrap things up. In many ways, this is the moment your reader has been waiting for. They’ve read the feature comparison. Now they want to know which product you recommend.
Example: “Because it has a much more robust feature set, better deliverability, and support, I have to go with Aweber. If you’re on an absolute “zero budget” budget, then you might want to start with Mailchimp.
But if you have two pennies to rub together, I recommend going with Aweber. As you saw in this review, Aweber’s robust features are worth the slightly higher investment.”
- Things To Do After “X”
A Things To Do After “X” post gives your readers a step-by-step game plan during a critical time. For example, your reader may know how to do kettlebell swings. But what should they do after their workout? Rest? Eat? Stretch?
Your Things To Do After “X” post answers this question in detail.
Things To Do After "X"
Things To Do After “X” Title
The headline for this blog post template should contain two elements:
The thing they just did
Example: “Publishing a blog post” or “Finished a power yoga class”.
The number of tasks they “need to do” when they’re done
Example: “12 Things You Need to Do After You Publish a Blog Post” or “13 Important Steps After You’ve Finished Your Power Yoga Workout”
Things To Do After “X” Introduction
Your Things To Do After “X” intro contains four elements:
A visualization of the thing they just did
Example: “So you just finished your power yoga workout. You’re tired. You’re sweaty. And you feel energized and focused.”
Raise the question: “Now what?”
Example: “But the question is: What should you do next?”
Mention possibilities of what they could do
Example: “Should you eat a ‘recovery meal’? Should you stretch? Or is it better to spend some time on the couch?”
Promise you’ll show them how it’s done
Example: “And in today’s post, I’m going to show you the 13 most important steps to take after you finish with your power yoga class (step-by-step).
Steps Section
Now it’s time to dive right into the items on your list.
And your subheader should clearly state what your reader needs to do.
Each step in your Things To Do After “X” list contains 3 elements.
Brief overview
Before you dive into the step-by-step detail, it’s time to write a quick (50-90 word) overview of each step.
This overview gives context to the item and shows people exactly why it’s important.
Example: “Many rookie bloggers think that sharing their blog post on Twitter and Facebook is enough.
But you know that content today requires much more promotion. Specifically, you need to promote your post with email outreach.”
Pro Tip: Try to write this overview in their own words. You can look at forums, Reddit and old emails to see how your readers and customers describe their problems.
Specific steps
Here’s where you list the steps your reader will need to take to complete the task.
Example:
“Step #1: Identify 5 people that would enjoy reading your post. Ideally these are people that you know in real life (or even just online). If no one comes to mind, Google your keyword and see what blogs come up. These bloggers make ideal targets for your outreach.
Step #2: If you don’t know their email addresses, use a tool like Rapportive to find them.
Step #3: Send each of these peeps this exact script:”
Things To Do After “X” Conclusion
Reminder that what you do “after” is really important
Example: “We all know that publishing great content is your blog’s foundation. However, your great content is likely to be invisible unless you take the time to promote it after you hit the ‘publish’ button.”
Highlight a few of the best tips from your post
Example: “That’s why the tips from this post — like creating a custom image for social media and replying to every comment — are so powerful.
CTA
Example: “Now I want to hear from you:
How are you going to change what you do after you hit ‘publish’? Are you going to create custom images or email 5 people?”
- The Beginner’s Guide
The Beginner’s guide is one of my favorite blog post templates. This template helps eliminate overwhelm by showing your readers the exact first steps to get started.
In fact, because they’re so valuable, Beginner’s Guides tend to attract a ton of backlinks and social media shares.
The Beginner's Guide
The Beginner’s Guide Title
Your Beginner’s guide title should contain the topic you’re covering and the words “Beginner’s Guide”.
Example: “The Beginner’s Guide to Interval Training” or “Link Building: The Beginner’s Guide”.
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to pick a super-specific topic for your guide. People love to read guides that are “an inch wide and a mile deep”. For example, instead of “The Beginner’s Guide to Gardening” go with “The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Tomatoes”.
The Beginner’s Guide Introduction
A “promise statement”
First, hit your reader off with a “promise statement” of the benefit they’ll get from reading your guide.
Example: Today I’m going to show you how to grow a brand new blog from scratch.”
Outline how complex the topic can be
Next, show your reader that you understand how hard this topic is to learn. This will show you understand where they’re coming from.
Example: “I remember when I first started to learn about SEO. I’d go from blog post to forum thread trying to understand how SEO actually worked. It was super confusing and frustrating”
A preview of what’s to come
Finally, preview the awesomeness that’s coming up.
Example: “And in this no-nonsense guide I’ll cut out all the noise and BS and show you exactly how to start building links to your website.”
The Topic Overview
Now it’s time to explain exactly what the topic you’re covering is all about. Don’t be afraid to really dumb things down here (this is a beginner’s guide after all).
A simple definition
Example: “What is link building, exactly?”
Link building is the process of creating links from other sites to your site. It’s important because links are the #1 ranking factor that Google uses to rank websites.”
An example (or two)
Example: “For example, let’s say you have a page on your site about baking low-carb cookies. How does Google know that your page deserves to rank above the thousands of other pages on that same topic?
Backlinks. And when you build links from other related sites to your low-carb cookie page, Google will rank it higher in their search results.”
Transition to the next section
Example: “Now that you understand what link building is, it’s time for me to explain more about how to get started with it.”
Steps Section
Here’s where you walk your readers through the first few critical steps to get them on their way. These steps may not get them all the way to their goal, but they’ll point them in the right direction.
Brief overview of the step
Good Example: “Your first step with link building is actually to create something worth linking to on your own site.
Because the fact is, unless you have a piece of awesome content on your site, it’s going to be impossible to build the type of high-quality links that you need to rank in Google.”
Good Example: “Here’s exactly how to do it:
First, do a Google search for your target keyword. Keep an eye out for pieces of content that impress you. If you don’t see any great pieces of content, try a few different keywords that are similar to the one you just searched for.
Next, take a look at all of the top 10 results. Note what makes them great and worthy of a first-page ranking. Is it the fact that they use a lot of examples? Is the page well-written? Are there step-by-step processes in the content?
Also, see what types of content tend to rank for your keyword.
Are they:
List posts
Ultimate guides
Case studies
“Best of” lists
Finally, plan your piece of content based on what you found. Make sure to improve on the content that’s already ranking above you –that way your content deserves to be #1.
For example, if most of the content on Google’s first page are lists posts with 10-15 items, do 25 (or even 50). Or do 15 but add more detailed info for each item.
This takes some work, but it’s the only way to build quality backlinks today.”
Transition to next step
Good Example: “At this point you have an awesome piece of content on your site. Next, we’ll start our hunt for places that you can get links from.”
Rinse and repeat this formula for as many steps as you need for your beginner’s guide.
Beginner’s Guide Conclusion
Reminder of how helpful your guide is
Example: “Thanks to ‘Link Building: The Beginner’s Guide’, you don’t need to spend hours searching for link building information anymore. You have everything you need to get started all in one place.”
Reiterate how important your topic is
Example: “As you saw in the guide, link building can make or break your SEO efforts. Without link building, your chances of ranking in Google is almost zero. But when you build links the right way you can quickly leapfrog your competition on Google’s first page.”
CTA
Example: “Now you have everything you need to get started with link building.
Before you start on your first link, make sure to leave a quick comment to let me know what you think of ‘Link Building: The Beginner’s Guide’.
- How They Did It Post
A “How They Did It” Post shines light on how successful people or groups achieved amazing results.
These posts are great because you reveal “the secret” behind their success –and show your reader how they can achieve similar results.
The How They Did It Post
How They Did It Post Headline
Here are the three elements to include in your “How They Did It” Post headline:
The successful people or organization you’re going to focus on.
Good Example: “Fast-Growing Startups” or “World’s Most Successful Bodybuilders”
The number of people or organizations you’ll cover.
Good Example: “12 Fast-Growing Startups” or “15 of the World’s Most Successful Bodybuilders”
What the reader will learn from your post.
Good Example: “What These 12 Fast-Growing Startups Can Teach You About Email Marketing” or “15 of the World’s Most Successful Bodybuilders Reveal Their Post-Workout Regimen”.
How They Did It Post Intro
Overview of the opportunity
Here’s where you emphasize that there’s lots of opportunity for success in this area –assuming you know how to do it.
Example: “We’ve all heard stories about “Unicorn” startups that explode onto the scene with millions of users. But what you may not know is that every startup has the potential for this type of growth. That is if they leverage email marketing the right way.”
Emphasize that certain people and groups excel where others fail
This paints a clear picture that there’s a right way (and a wrong way) to approach things.
Example: “Unfortunately, not all startups go from “3 guys in a garage” to “250 people in a San Francisco loft office” overnight. In fact, according to Bloomberg, 80% of startups fail within the first 18 months.
But not everyone struggles. Startups like Uber have defied the odds and exceeded all expectations of reasonable growth.
The question is: how can you avoid failing and emulate the growth of Silicon Valley’s hottest startups?”
Show your reader that you’ll reveal the secret to their success
Finally, promise them that you’ll show them the path to success based on real-world examples.
Example: In this post I’m going to show you how the most successful startups in the world — like Slack, Spotify and Uber — leverage email marketing to grow their companies in record time.
Strategies Section
Now it’s time to outline the strategies they used to achieve their impressive results.
Brief overview of the person or group’s success
Outline a few statistics to prove this person or group is a super-successful outlier. This will motivate your reader to learn how they achieved these impressive results.
Example: “Airbnb started in 2008 as three guys that wanted to rent out their living room to travelers. Today Airbnb hosts one million guests per night. Not to mention a valuation of 20 billion dollars.”
Their unique approach
Outline what they do that’s unique or different.
Example: “Like any massive success story, there are hundreds of factors that led to Airbnb’s success. But one of the most important is Airbnb’s approach to email marketing.
Instead of boring newsletters or “one-size-fits-all” email blasts, Airbnb tailors their emails to what you’re interested in.”
Why it works
Example: “Here’s why this approach works so well:
In sharp contrast to sending a 10% off coupon to people that abandon shopping carts, Airbnb is sending you more information on that city. That way you can make a decision that’s right for you. In Airbnb parlance, this soft sell is known as “inspiration”.
How to apply it
Example: “Here’s how you can apply this approach to your email marketing.
First, laser target your emails. Most email service providers (like Aweber and InfusionSoft) allow you to send emails based on behavior. For example, if someone clicks on a link in an email about low carb desserts, make sure that the next email they get is about low-carb recipes or meal plans…”
How They Did It Post Conclusion
You’ve given your audience a ton of actionable tips based on real-world examples. Now it’s time to encourage them to take action.
Re-iterate that these tips are backed by actual experience
Remind your readers one last time that your advice is unique and battle-tested in the real world.
Example: “That’s how 21 insanely-successful startups use email marketing to get more users and customers. The best part about using their approach is that it’s not based on theory –it’s proven to work in the real world.
Encourage your reader to take action
Push the reader to use your advice and make a public commitment by leaving a comment.
Example: “Now that you’ve seen how well these email marketing tips work, it’s time to carve out some time to put at least one of these tips into practice soon.
Also, which of the approaches are you most excited to try first? Let me know by leaving a quick comment below.”
- The Myth Debunker
Our last blog template is “The Myth Debunker”. Why does this template work so well? Two reasons: First, when you dispel common myths, you drum up controversy. Controversy pushes people that agree (and disagree) with you to share your content.
The Myth Debunker
Also, when you round up a bunch of “best practices”, and prove that they’re myths, you show off your knowledge and expertise.
The Myth Debunker Title
You have two options with your Myth Debunker title:
Highlight a single myth: “The ____ Myth Debunked (Plus 5 More ____ Myths That Drive Me Nuts)”
Or
Outline the number (and type) of myths you’re going to cover: 13 ____ Myths That Every ____ Should Know
Example: “13 SEO Myths That Every Online Business Owner Needs to Know”
The Myth Debunker Intro
Like the other blog post templates we covered in this guide, the #1 goal of your Myth Debunker intro is to grab your reader’s attention. Specifically, you want to let them know they’re about to learn the truth about your topic.
Attention grabber
Your first few lines should grab your reader’s attention. Specifically, highlight one common myth in your industry.
Example: “If you think that SEO is as simple as ‘publishing great content on a regular basis, then I’ve got news for you: that advice is completely wrong.”
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to show some emotion here. Let your reader know that these myths really get under your skin. This will help you form an emotional bond that turns your “reader” into a “follower”.
Promise to show your reader the real deal
Preview what’s coming next. Also, highlight the fact that your post will be based on data… not hunches or opinions.
Good Example: “In today’s post, I’m going to show you the TRUTH about SEO. Not only will I reveal the 11 most common SEO myths on the planet, but I’ll show you new data from industry studies that can help you get on the right track.”
Myths Section
Here’s where you highlight (and break down) common myths in your space.
- Background on the myth
Give your reader context on how this myth came to be.
Example: “Back in the early days of blogging and SEO, publishing content on a regular basis did work. Which is why this approach to content creation got so popular”.
- Data or case study
Now it’s time to show your reader why this concept is a myth… and prove it with data.
Example: “However, fresh content isn’t as effective as it used to be. The main reason? There’s more content out there than ever before. So to grow your blog today, you can’t just publish a bunch of content. You need to publish epic stuff (like in-depth case studies and infographics). In fact, I grew my blog to over 5,000 visitors per month with only 11 total pieces of blog content.”
- Why the myth is a myth
You’ve shown them the evidence. Now it’s time to explain why the myth is a myth.
Example: “How did I grow my blog with 11 posts while other blogs struggled to take off. Here’s the explanation…”
- What to do instead
Example: “So if you’re looking for an alternative to publishing a new post every week, here’s the approach that I recommend trying out…”
The Myth Buster Conclusion
Recap of the most surprising myths
Example: “There you have it: 11 SEO and blogging myths. You may not have realized that publishing content on a regular basis doesn’t work like it used to.”
Reiterate that you showed them the truth (with data)
Example: “But as you saw, content marketing is now more about quality. Not quantity.”
Call to action
Example: “Now I want to turn it over to you:
Which of these myths did you find most surprising?”
Repurposing Content
What Is Repurposing Content?
Repurposing content (also known as “content recycling”) is the practice of reusing all or elements of existing content in order to expand that content’s reach. Repurposed content is typically transformed into a new format (for example, turning a blog post into an infographic).
Why Is Content Repurposing Important?
The #1 benefit of repurposing content is that it makes content MUCH easier to scale.
In other words: you don’t need to write every post, shoot every video and design every infographic from scratch.
Instead, you can use a piece of new content as the basis for posts, videos, social media posts, webinars and more.
Repurpose content into several types of content
Another cool thing about content repurposing is that it allows your content to get in front of a completely new audience.
For example, originally I published this on-page SEO guide in 2013.
Backlinko – On-page SEO Guide
And about two years ago I realized that this content would be PERFECT as the basis for a YouTube video.
So I created this video based on the material that I covered in my guide.
I made a few tweaks here and there. But for the most part, this video was a video version of my guide.
Despite being 75%+ recycled content, that video has done really well. In fact, it has over 240k views to date.
On page SEO – Video views
Question is:
How do you actually repurpose your content? Well, that’s what we’re going to cover next.
Best Practices
Find Evergreen Content Pieces
Your first step is to find content on your site that’s ripe for repurposing.
In general, I recommend that content marketers focus almost 100% of their efforts on Evergreen Content.
And one of the reasons for that is that evergreen content is PERFECT for repurposing.
I’ll explain…
Let’s say that you publish a new post about an announcement that Apple just made.
Well, by the time you turn that post into another format, that announcement is yesterday’s news.
On the other hand, if you published an evergreen post (like the best ways to clean an iPhone), you have plenty of time to repurpose that post multiple times.
If you don’t publish 100% evergreen content on your site, no worries. All you need to do is find the posts from your site that ARE evergreen.
Then, use repurpose those old blog posts into new formats.
Here are a few ways to find content that’s ripe for repurposing.
Google Analytics: Look at your “landing pages” report in Google Analytics.Google Analytics – Landing pages report
This report shows you pages that bring in the most traffic. Which means people are LOVING your content. And there are probably other people on other platforms that would be interested in checking it out.
YouTube Analytics: This is the same approach but with the YouTube Studio. Find videos that have done well… and turn them into podcast episodes or blog posts.YouTube Analytics – Top videos
Post-By-Post: Go through your blog feed one-by-one and jot down any that are still relevant today. In some cases, you might have to update the content before you repurpose it, which is perfectly OK.
For example, in our guide to the Google Search Console, we had a few screenshots and tips that needed updating.
Tip that needs updating
So if I wanted to do a podcast episode based on this guide, I’d make sure to update the post first.
Adapt the Content To Each Format
Your repurposed content needs to be 1:1 match for the format you’re using.
Which takes work.
Reciting a blog post in front of a camera will technically result in a video. But it’s going to be super boring.
On the other hand, using an article as the basis of a video could totally work. Especially if you added sound effects, transitions and other features to make the episode work well for video.
And it’s the same for audio, slide decks, infographics, white papers, case studies …or any other format that you’re working with:
If you want the repurposed content to work, it needs to be adapted to each format.
Let’s see how this works with an example.
In 2016. we published a very popular search engine ranking factors industry study.
Backlinko – Search engine ranking
Around the same time, I started doing more and more speaking engagements. So instead of creating a presentation from scratch, I used the results of our study as the basis for a keynote.
Search Engine Ranking study as a keynote
Obviously, walking an audience through a bunch of results would put people to sleep. So I made sure to tweak the content so that it would work as a presentation.
Specifically, I told a few personal stories.
Personal story in a keynote
And added a few jokes to lighten things up.
Joke in a keynote
(Jokes that would have been totally out of place in the original report.)
And because I adapted the content to the live presentation format, people really enjoyed my talks.
Let’s take a look at one more example…
One of our most popular posts over the last year or so has been this SEO checklist.
Backlinko – SEO Checklist
And I knew that it would also work really well as a YouTube video.
But I also knew that this content would need A LOT of adapting to this new format.
Why?
Well, the original post had around 40 total steps.
SEO Checklist – Content
That’s way too much to cover in a single video. Plus, a lot of the steps (like setting up the Google Search Console) would be super boring to watch on video.
So instead of just reading the post as-is, I used bits and pieces from the checklist for the video.
For example, I covered some of the technical stuff from the beginning of the post as quickly as I could.
That way, I could quickly jump into more interesting material (like keyword research).
SEO checklist video – Keyword research
I also added some exclusive content to the video. For example, I included a handful of funny moments that tend to work well on YouTube.
SEO checklist video – Funny moments
All of these tweaks took about 3 hours. Much longer than just reading my post in front of a camera. But a whole lot less time than creating a video script from scratch.
Looking back on it, I’m really glad that I put in the extra time because the video has gathered over 500K views up to date.
SEO checklist video – Views
Split Up Content Into Pieces
You can also repurpose content by breaking it up into smaller pieces. Then, share those smaller bits of content on social media.
For example, I published this in-depth video on YouTube that showed people how to get more views on YouTube.
Long videos can work well on YouTube. But on most other social media platforms (like Twitter and Facebook), people want short posts, videos and tweets.
So I made a short clip that featured the best tip from that video. And shared that clip as a LinkedIn video post.
LinkedIn video – Post share
You can do the same thing with keynote presentations, long-form blog posts, podcast interviews and more.
The big idea here is that you probably have LOTS of bite-sized pieces of content inside of your long-form stuff.
All you need to do is feature the best bits and pieces on social media.
Go Visual
In my experience, the easiest way to repurpose your content is to make your existing content visual.
Unless you’re a YouTuber or professional graphic designer, most of your old content is probably text-based blog content.
If so, you’re sitting on an untapped goldmine of visual content.
For example, my friend Larry Kim and I teamed up to create this infographic.
Boost organic CTR infographic
Fortunately, we didn’t need to create the content for this infographic from scratch.
Both of us had published a ton of high-quality content about click-through rate before.
Brian and Larry – CTR content
So it was just a matter of adapting our most actionable tips into this new format.
Reuse Bits and Pieces Across Content
A lot of people make the mistake of thinking: “Once I talk about something once I can never talk about it again”.
Fortunately, that’s not true.
You can absolutely cover the same tip, technique, strategy or approach multiple times across different pieces of content. Even if that content uses the same format.
For example, in this list post I mention that you can use visual content to build backlinks to your site.
Actionable SEO tips – Evergreen content
And when I was working on another list post about SEO a few years later, I knew that this strategy still worked.
So I covered that strategy in that post too.
Visual content mention in another Backlinko post
Note that I didn’t just say the same exact thing again. I added a new spin on the technique with a different example.
Obviously, you don’t want to use this strategy for every post. Otherwise, your audience is going to get sick of hearing the same tips over and over again.
But there’s nothing wrong with using the same techniques in multiple posts… especially if you change things up with some added commentary or a new example.
Repurpose Content For Guest Posts
Content repurposing is an awesome way to scale up guest posting.
To be clear:
I’m not saying that you should rehash the same exact content as a guest post. That’s only going to burn bridges with other blogs in your niche.
Instead, you want to take an existing strategy that you’ve talked about and use that as the foundation for your guest post.
As long as your content is unique and includes new examples and perspectives, most bloggers will be HAPPY to publish your guest post on their site.
For example, I first talked about The Skyscraper Technique on my blog 5+ years ago.
Backlinko – Skyscraper Technique post from 2013
So when Pat Flynn invited me to write a guest post about link building, I knew that I HAD to feature The Skyscraper Technique.
Now:
If I just rewrote my original post, Pat would have thrown my guest post back in my face.
(And for good reason.)
Instead, I covered The Skyscraper Technique in a completely new way.
First off, I wrote about 1,000 words that covered what type of link building is effective.
SPI Backlinko guest post focus on authority link building
I also added a bunch of extra examples and case studies that didn’t make their way into my original article.
SPI Backlinko guest post extra examples
I even outlined a few bonus tips and strategies that I’ve never written about before.
SPI Backlinko guest post bonus tips
Even though both posts were about The Skyscraper Technique, they turned out to be completely different pieces of content.
Skyscraper Technique and SPI guest post side by side
Which is one of the main reasons that my guest post was so well received.
Republish Your Existing Content
The easiest way to repurpose your content is to straight-up republish it on blogging platforms like LinkedIn Articles and Medium.com.
In my experience, this doesn’t work as well as writing something new (or tweaking your existing content). After all, it’s duplicate content.
But republishing (also known as “content syndication”) is an easy way to get some extra eyeballs on your content.
To give you a real-life example, I re-published one of our posts as a LinkedIn article.
Content republished as LinkedIn article
And it generated a fair amount of comments and views.
LinkedIn article – Views and comments
The entire process took about 90 seconds. So considering the time and effort it took, I’ll consider that a win.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by DEV Community
DEV Community | Sciencx (2022-03-15T07:43:02+00:00) How Do I Write Better Content For My Website. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2022/03/15/how-do-i-write-better-content-for-my-website/
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