Another day, another content marketing piece that needs to be written, edited and published.
The constant churn of creating content for your business blog can be somewhat draining. 60% of marketers are creating at least one major piece of content on a daily basis, and many would agree that it is incredibly challenging to consistently make top quality content.
Chances are, you and your marketing team may feel a little bit overwhelmed and run-down from the pressures of content creation day-in and day-out. That’s why it’s the perfect time to take a step back and re-evaluate your current content library with a little spring cleaning.
Here’s how to do a blog content audit in just four easy steps.
1. Conduct a keyword audit
Auditing isn’t just something that comes around during tax season – it’s actually an incredibly important process that you should be conducting on your website on a regular basis. It can also help you to refresh your content approach by getting a better understanding of the areas you need to focus on.
In order to ensure that your content strategy is up to par, you will want to conduct a thorough SEO audit on your website. This audit takes a look at your current keyword strategies and reports on how well they are actually performing.
For example, if specific keywords are driving in high traffic numbers, but these pages also have high bounce rates, it could be a sign that it is misleading and not attracting relevant audiences. SEO audits can also help you discover new keyword opportunities that you should be incorporating into future content.
By taking a look at your current links and keyword performance rates, you can also see the topics that you need to shift your focus to.
An SEO audit will also point out your website’s current weaknesses, such as broken links or pages that are missing focus keywords entirely. With this information, you can start to revamp your content marketing strategy for optimized blogging SEO that is more focused on incorporating trending keywords and refreshing content.
2. Out with the old, in with the recycled content
After an SEO audit, you will know the exact content pieces that draw in the highest traffic numbers – as well as the ones that have lower performance rates.
But just because the current rates are low doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to get rid of the content entirely. Instead, consider ways that you can recycle the content into something that will be more engaging with your audience.
For example, if you have an old blog post that is highly informational, it may be better to transform it into a video or infographic – as these methods tend to have higher engagement rates with most audiences.
You can also recycle and revamp some of your best content in order to make it even better. For instance, you may want to update old statistics with newer studies and more recent examples. You can also use old content to spark new ideas by combining multiple articles into an exhaustive guide or create slideshow presentations to highlight various points.
3. Ask your readers for ideas
Coming up with new topics and content pieces is a huge struggle for even the most creative writers. If your blog has been operating for a long period of time, it may seem like you’ve touched on every subject that is relevant to your audience and industry. So, don’t be afraid to ask for a little help in this regard.
Try turning to your audience for inspiration. You can gather some great ideas by simply asking what kinds of subjects they want to learn more about or the content types they want to see more of.
Reach out to your blog subscribers with an email survey or create a poll on your brand’s social media page asking customers to vote or send input about their content preferences.
Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook both offer great polling tools to gather quick feedback. You can also use these questionnaires to figure out your audience’s viewing preferences, such as the time of day that will be best to post or whether they consume your content on a laptop versus their mobile device.
In addition to conducting your own research, be sure to pay attention to overarching trends from other reports as well. Of course, your brand’s own audience is unique, but most of these studies are gathering feedback from larger consumer groups and can provide helpful insight into generalized audience preferences.
4. Partner with new and different guest bloggers
Why not give your content marketing team a little break by asking guest writers and bloggers to create content with a new perspective? Including a variety of writers can be great for your business, and it also helps other bloggers to build up their personal brand, too.
Be sure to think outside the box a little bit when it comes to finding writers to submit pieces. Getting multiple guest writers featured on your blog can bring in some variety, but if you are sticking to people that are within your niche, you may not always have the most creative content.
Why not expand your reach a little bit and reach out to bloggers with different perspectives or focuses that can offer some great advice or experiences for your audience?
Of course, be sure to set guidelines so that their subject is still relevant to your specific audience. But, also allow them a little bit of freedom to share their personal thoughts and experiences on their areas of expertise.
Wrap
Good content is such an important tool that can help any business succeed and draw in more customers.
However, the constant pressure of putting out great content on a consistent basis can lead to burnout and have a negative impact on your efforts. Rather than giving up and letting things slide, it is important for all content teams to take a step back from time to time and re-evaluate.
Ask yourself, is it time you give your brand’s blog a good spring cleaning?
Guest author: Manish Dudharejia is the President and Founder of E2M Solutions Inc, a San Diego Based Digital Agency that specializes in Website Design & Development and eCommerce SEO. With over 10 years of experience in the Technology and Digital Marketing industry, Manish is passionate about helping online businesses to take their branding to the next level.