The sheer volume of content being uploaded 24/7 means marketers are under constant and unrelenting pressure to publish articles, blogs, whitepapers and how-tos that deliver each and every time. So, acknowledging how tricky a process this can be, we’ve spoken to a number of expert marketers about what you should always check before clicking ‘publish’.
1. What’s the purpose and who’s your audience?
It sounds kind of obvious, but making sure your content has a clear purpose and destination is crucial. “With all the analysis and tracking tools available today, sending copy out shouldn’t be like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it’ll stick,” says Leah Jones, account executive at CommsCo. “It should be tailored, targeted and considered. It’s much better to send something to 100 engaged and targeted individuals, rather than a list of 10,000 randomly compiled names.”
2. Have you got the right metrics in place to measure its success?
So you know why you’re publishing this piece of content, but how will you determine how well it’s doing? “It’s important to link your content back to the original objectives and set your metrics accordingly,” says Rob Hunter, MD, Hunterlodge Advertising. “Are these consumption or sales-based or more about lead generation or sharing metrics? Don’t just focus on the easy wins (how many people downloaded or viewed this content) but push your metrics further; look at the conversion rate between content consumption and lead.”
"With all the analysis and tracking tools available today, sending copy out shouldn’t be like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it'll stick"
3. Are you prioritising SEO?
Without header tags, search engines are going to struggle to work out what your content’s about. “Search engine bots like Google need header tags to understand what pages are about, with H1 tags considered to be the main indicator of the content of the page,” explains Sam Williamson of SEO Fife. “Every time you publish a new piece of content, you need to be sure that the header tags have been chosen carefully so they accurately represent the content you’ve produced. Otherwise, your page won’t be displayed for relevant results on Google.”
4. Are images optimised for online?
Google ranks content according to page loading times, so run all images through sites like TingPNG to reduce image size. And avoid, like the plague, unoriginal, stock imagery that switches readers off before they’ve even scanned the standfirst.
5. Are you including the right links?
Don’t underestimate the importance of interlinking: if you want better visibility on search engines like Google, this is a no brainer. “Essentially, Google’s algorithm is based on links,” explains Sam Williamson of SEO Fife, “so websites that are linked to from other quality websites are considered to be worthy of higher positions within the search engine. This ‘link power’ can be passed through pages on websites via more links.”
“If there’s a page on your website that has earned a lot of links from other quality websites, adding a link on that page to your new post could be beneficial. However, there are some points you need to consider before inserting the link. Firstly, does it make sense to link to your new post from this page, or would it look out of place? Secondly, are the links pointing to that page actually high quality (ie have they come from reputable sources like newspaper outlets, bloggers or other company websites)?”
6. Is the layout optimised for online?
“Breaking up a blog with informative subheads can help the reader to find, at a glance, specific information that interests them,” explains Lorraine Emmett, MD, Emmett & Churchman. “Subheads should be used to create spikes of interest, challenge or surprise; they shouldn’t give the game away but should provoke a desire to find out more.”
7. Have you checked once, twice and thrice for errors?
We’ve all been there and it’s not much fun – don’t let a clumsy typo or grammatical fudge-up undermine the quality of your content. “Put the document away, spend some time doing something else, and then proofread again,” says Leah. “If in doubt, get somebody with fresh eyes to check it one last time. Our brains easily jump over mistakes if we’re used to reading the text, and most of the time, the smallest mistake will be picked up by a fresh set of eyes.”
8. Have you made sure it’s not too long?
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that people are pretty lazy when it comes to reading content online, so make it as easy for them as possible. “If your content’s going to contain a lot of words, signpost sections to the reader so that, at a glance, the piece looks more digestible,” says Leah. “Having shorter copy also means your messages are more likely to be read and understood.”
9. Are you backing up all bold claims?
If you’re including stats (and marketers certainly love a good stat) make sure you’ve referenced the source and publish date. By failing to do so, you risk undermining your own authority. As Lynn Morrison, head of marketing and engagement at Opus, puts it: “Back up your points with real data. Doing a bit of desk research and citing external sources can turn a salesy post into an informative article your readers will love.”
10. What’s the call to action?
“Whether you want readers to purchase, follow, subscribe, attend or like, every piece of content will be looking to incite some form of action,” notes Leah. “Make sure it’s clear what that action is, and how the reader can go about doing it.”