Content Strategy: Creating Content With a Clear Purpose

Introduction

Publishing content is relatively easy. Publishing the right content, for the right audience and for a clear business reason requires more thought.

A content strategy provides that direction. Instead of producing occasional articles, social posts, videos or emails in isolation, it establishes what your content is intended to achieve, who it is for and how the different pieces work together.

For small and medium-sized businesses, a content strategy does not need to be complicated. It simply needs to connect the content you create with the needs of your audience and the objectives of your business.

What Is a Content Strategy?

A content strategy is a plan for creating, publishing, managing and improving content to achieve defined objectives.

That content might include:

• website pages and articles
• guides and downloadable resources
• email newsletters
• social media content
• videos and podcasts
• case studies and customer stories
• product and service information

The important distinction is that content strategy is not simply about producing more content.

It determines why content should be created in the first place and what role each piece should perform.

Start With Your Audience

Effective content starts with understanding who you are trying to reach.

Potential customers may have very different information needs depending on where they are in their decision-making process.

Someone who has only just recognised a problem may be looking for introductory information. Another person may already understand the problem and be comparing possible solutions. Someone else may be ready to contact a supplier.

A useful content strategy considers these different stages and provides appropriate information for each of them.

Understanding the questions customers ask, the terminology they use and the problems they are trying to solve can therefore provide a strong foundation for deciding what content to create.

Give Every Piece of Content a Purpose

Before creating something, it is worth asking a simple question:

What do we want this content to achieve?

An article might attract visitors through search engines. A guide might demonstrate expertise. A case study could provide reassurance to someone considering your services. An email newsletter might maintain a relationship with someone who is not yet ready to buy.

Some content may perform several of these roles.

The important thing is that it exists for a reason rather than simply because the business feels it should be publishing regularly.

Content Strategy and SEO

Content and search engine optimisation are closely connected.

Search engines need useful content to understand what a website is about and when its pages may be relevant to a search.

However, creating content purely for search engines is unlikely to provide a good experience for the people who eventually find it.

A better approach is to understand what people are searching for, identify the intention behind those searches and create genuinely useful content that addresses those needs.

Individual articles can then support broader subject areas, creating a connected body of information rather than a collection of unrelated posts.

Make Your Content Work Together

A good content strategy also considers what happens after someone finds a piece of content.

An article should not necessarily be the end of the journey.

Relevant internal links can lead readers to more detailed information. Educational content can point towards related guides. A visitor researching a problem can be given a route to appropriate services when they are ready to consider practical help.

This creates useful pathways through a website while helping search engines understand relationships between different pages and subjects.

Review and Improve Existing Content

A content strategy is not only about creating something new.

Existing content should be reviewed periodically to determine whether it is still accurate, useful and relevant.

Some articles may need updating. Others can be expanded as a subject develops. Similar pieces may need consolidating, while outdated material may no longer deserve a place on the website.

Analytics and search performance can also help identify which subjects attract attention and where additional content could be valuable.

Content as Part of Your Digital Strategy

Content supports many areas of digital activity, including SEO, social media, email marketing, customer experience and lead generation.

That makes content strategy an important component of a wider digital strategy.

The objective is not simply to publish more. It is to build a useful body of content that helps your audience, demonstrates your knowledge and supports what your organisation is trying to achieve.