Developing your visibility, improving your market position, legitimizing your offer with your clients, shortening your sales cycle, building customer loyalty… whatever your objectives, you need to develop a digital content strategy. Content is now crucial: it positions you as an expert to your target audience and allows you to communicate more, directly or indirectly, about your offer. What are the latest marketing and communication trends on the web? Discover how an SEO agency can help you develop a digital strategy in 10 effective and sustainable steps.
1. Identify Your Digital Strategy Goals
No digital strategy without a clear goal! What do you want to achieve?
- Increase your company’s visibility?
- Improve your brand image?
- Legitimize your offer?
- Gaining market share?
- Attracting a new audience?
- Improving customer relations?
- Acquire website traffic?
- Opening up a new market
- Etc.
To help you develop your digital strategy, several methods exist:
The SMART method
The SMART method is a method created by Peter F. Drucker. It is simple to implement and consists of five steps.
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- S: define a specific objective
- M: ensure that this objective is measurable
- A: verify that this objective is achievable
- R: make this objective realistic
- T: set the objective within a timeframe
The advantages of the SMART method are that it is simple to implement, realistic, and pragmatic.
Here is an example of the SMART method applied to a company:
Specific objective: increase the revenues of my restaurant by 25%. Organize 2 corporate dinners per month.
The SWOT method
The SWOT method (or FFOM in French) is a tool that helps identify opportunities and the available options. This method is very useful for understanding how a company positions itself in relation to its competition.
- It clearly identifies strengths that give the company an advantage over its competition
- Weaknesses that might disadvantage the company
- Opportunities the company could exploit to its advantage
- And the Threats, or more precisely the internal or external elements likely to penalize the project.
Who invented the SWOT method?
Some authors attribute the acronym “SWOT” to Albert Humphrey, an American management consultant who led a Stanford Research Institute (now SRI) conference in the 1960s and 1970s, using data from Fortune 500 companies (the 500 most profitable companies of the year).
Which method to choose?
I have only mentioned two methods here, but many others exist. The important thing is not the method itself. Find the one that suits you best and make it your own. You can even combine them and adapt them. For example, this is what we do when we carry out our SEO competition assessments. These rely on several methods that we have associated with each other and which today allow us to achieve quick and very concrete results in acquisition and conversion. However, when choosing your method, do not overlook the following points:
- Being realistic
- Being pragmatic
- Produce concrete actions
2. Submit a blog
For a brand or a business, the blog is the central tool of their digital strategy. It offers the major advantage of optimizing the SEO of the company’s website and ensuring an online presence. Additionally, it provides undeniable commercial benefits. Indeed, leads generated through SEO have an average conversion rate of 14.6%, whereas it is only 1.7% for other channels (Markitors). First and foremost, it is important to thoroughly analyze your audience’s needs and understand how you can help solve their issues. List all the topics your audience is questioning, and provide answers that go beyond your offerings. Your approach must be sincere; this is the key to creating relevant and effective content! To carry out this research, many tools are available, such as:
- Moz: Keyword tracking, competition analysis, keyword suggestions.
- Ahrefs: Keyword research, site audit, backlink analysis.
- Google Keyword Planner: Search volumes, keyword trends.
- SEMrush: Competitive analysis, keyword research, position tracking.
- Ubersuggest: Keyword suggestions, search volume, cost per click (CPC).
However, keep in mind that your content will be more effective if you focus not on selling your services or products but rather on answering the questions, problems, and concerns of your prospects. Only then should you find the opportunity to explain how your product or services can support them in solving the issue. For example: Do you offer HR advice and training? Your targets are likely asking themselves questions about regulations, ongoing education, etc. They may also be interested in current hot topics such as workplace harassment, pay equity, burnout, etc. Below are the key points to consider in your strategy for content and blog creation.
Content Sustainability
When identifying topics to write about, prioritize evergreen content (perennial) rather than current news content. Indeed, nearly 60% of pages that rank in Google’s top 10 results for three years or more demonstrate that if the topic is foundational and the content is high quality, it will remain present in search engine result pages for a long time (Source: Backlinko).
Use keywords
When it comes to SEO, your blog posts will take up more space on the web if you choose your keywords wisely. So before jumping headlong into writing multiple pieces of content to publish on your blog, take the time to carry out the most relevant keyword research possible.
GOOD TO KNOW: Build your keyword strategy in 4 steps
Use one of the tools mentioned above, such as Moz, Ahrefs, or the Google Ads “keyword suggestion” tool. They’ll show you the average monthly search volume, as well as keywords belonging to the same lexical field. This will enable you to write content pages optimized for these interesting keywords. Always ask yourself: “What is the user really looking for when he types in this keyword?An advice? A comparison between several solutions to a problem? A product or service at the best price? This will help you focus your article, and give it a purpose (to inform, to convert into a lead, to sell directly, etc.). Finally, remember to strategically place these keywords in titles, subtitles and body copy.
To find out more: 9 mistakes to avoid for better positioning
The rise of snippets
Featured snippets are elements of a site highlighted by Google in search results, often at the top of the results page (SERP) in a distinctive box. These extracts provide web users with a quick, concise answer to their query, without them having to click on the link. They can take several forms:
- Numbered or bulleted list.
- Data table.
- Integrated video.
- Short paragraph summarizing the content and providing an answer to the question posed.
The contribution of featured Snippets to SEO is significant. Among the benefits are :
- Snippets often appear in ZERO position on the results page.
- They provide eye-catching visual appeal.
- They improve click-through rates.
- They reinforce authority.
- They allow you to go back to voice searches.
For all these reasons, it is very advantageous to think and write your content to promote Rich Snippets:
- Answer questions directly and concisely.
- Use bulleted lists and tables
- Optimize Hn tags (H1, H2, H3, …)
- Make sure your content is high quality and regularly updated.
The importance of voice search
With the emergence of voice assistants like Alexa, Siri or Google, voice search is becoming more and more prevalent. So think about optimizing your blog content to help it come up in a voice search. To do this, integrate natural questions, phrases, keywords or conversational expressions into your content.
Find out more: How can you integrate voice search into your SEO strategy?
The importance of user experience (UX)
Finally, an important point for your blog-type content: design your pages with a user-friendly UX for the reader. An ergonomic design, smooth navigation, and mobile optimization are essential. Integrate interactive content to increase engagement and ensure your call-to-action buttons are clear and visible. Use analysis tools to measure and continuously improve the UX of your pages by conducting A/B testing, among other methods.
3. Setting up a newsletter
Another widely used tool in digital strategy is the newsletter. With it, you can directly engage your target audience and maintain a relationship with them. It’s a great way for your company to retain your client portfolio. Don’t forget to include links in your newsletter that lead to your blog articles (and/or your company’s website). Build your web presence! However, make sure to follow publishing and social selling rules to avoid landing directly in your audience’s spam folder!
Tools for sending newsletters
5 golden rules for an effective newsletter
Get inspired by what works. Thousands of examples can be found on https://reallygoodemails.com/ for impactful designs and words that hit the mark. Whether you choose a formal style following strict branding guidelines or a more creative approach, ensure your newsletter is not just a simple relay of maximum content. Many blogs try to include all the links to their published articles in a single newsletter, which can confuse the reader and make them quickly click away to another website. Stay focused. The header should immediately convey the brand’s visual identity and ideally evoke positive emotion in the recipient. It should almost feel like receiving a gift. Just like on your website, the fold of the page is as crucial as the header. This is where the reader expects to find useful contact information or a link. The footer of the newsletter should also include a way for readers to contact you or share the newsletter via email or social media. It must also include an unsubscribe link—that’s the law. Monitor your newsletter’s performance by measuring the open rate, click-through rate, and shares to understand what works (or doesn’t).
4. Attracting backlinks
No real digital strategy without Linkbait! This technique consists of doing everything in your power to attract quality links or “backlinks”, a sign of the popularity of your content. Your content must be interesting. It must offer value. Inform, entertain, surprise, move… in short, what you’ve posted, in both form and content, must make web users want to share it. A quality infographic, a test, a guide or White Paper, a slide share… In short, offer something and try to create a buzz every time!
CASE STUDY: multiplying visits and sales of an e-commerce site by 5 thanks to Netlinking
The more links you get to your website, the more popular or even referenced it will be, and the higher its ranking will be in natural referencing. Bear in mind that, for equivalent editorial content quality, 12% of sites with a good DR (domain ranking), i.e. quality backlinks, are on the first page of Google in less than a year, compared with 3% with a low DR.
5. Encourage external distribution
On your website or blog posts, consider making certain content available for use by others or for RSS feed readers. This is what’s called “content syndication.” Highlight your articles through partners who will republish your content (always citing the source). The communication strategy around such external sharing is crucial and determines its effectiveness. If your content is genuinely worthy, it deserves to be seen. Clients interested in your company or potential future readers of your blog are probably on social networks. Define objectives and a plan for your social media marketing strategy. If you want to maintain the coherence of an article based on the targeted keyword for natural referencing, try Google Ads while your article is still “young” to rank. Since Google needs time to consider whether new content is good or not, it might be wise to include a small dose of paid referencing in your plan. Spend a few euros to win bids on the main keyword targeted for the article, monitor results in terms of conversions and traffic via Google Analytics, and adjust if necessary. However, you should primarily focus on the article’s content. Moreover, this is a positive signal for Google. Indeed, as long as enough internet users arrive on your site and take action (clicking, filling out a contact form, etc.), the search engine will consider your page as an answer to the query. As a result, it will be judged as more important by users.
6. Guest blogging (or guest posting)
A particularly successful digital strategy is guest blogging. Guest blogging is the practice of inviting “experts” in a given field to contribute to your blog. Before doing so, select blogs that are of interest to your company and referents in your sector. Monitor the topics covered on social media and, in turn, interact with these blogs. You’re indirectly demonstrating your expertise on the subject. And ideally, you’ll include a link to one of your own pieces of content (if it’s of high quality and really complements the subject).
Direct benefits of guest blogging as part of a digital strategy
- acquisition of quality backlinks
- increase traffic to your site
- attract a new type of audience
- build relationships with bloggers
- improve and develop your personal branding
- promote your brand as an expert in your field
How can you stand out from the crowd so that an author agrees to publish one of your articles on their blog?
Solution 1: You pay. Yes, some bloggers will accept for a fee, without being very particular about the quality of your articles.
Solution 2: Build relationships! Publishers get a lot of requests when their blog is popular enough. As a result, they have to sort them out. If you start building a relationship with a blogger by sharing their content, tagging them in some of your articles or posts, commenting on what they publish, you’re ahead of the game. Your pitch may be the best in the world, but if it’s lost in the shuffle because your contact has never heard of you, your e-mail may not even be opened.
To find out more, read our article on how to use influencer marketing.
7. Launch your YouTube channel!
With video content, you can explain your expertise, decode complex elements and present your solutions to a series of problems. When it’s relevant, well disseminated and promoted on the right media (your blog, your Facebook page…), video creation is extremely powerful.
A good way to boost your company’s popularity.
8. Offer podcasts
Develop brand awareness and grow your audience with podcasts. Podcasts are an excellent way to broadcast audio content and offer Internet users another form of content.
9. Follow up effectively… and use it!
Follow your competitors, observe their evolutions, compare their positioning with yours, get inspired by their good ideas. Track the indexing of your pages in Google, and spot SEO opportunities for your company. Measure, measure, measure. Curate your content, i.e. publish a content link to another site or on your social network, ideally adding your own point of view. You can also automatically collect and share what you find based on keywords, using tools such as Netvibes, Google Reader… This is called aggregation.
Bonus: Efficient tracking tool
- SEM Rush – Keywords, competition
- SE Ranking – Keywords, competition, site audit
10. Optimize your content with on-page SEO
All your content must be designed primarily for the web user, for your target audience. Hence the importance of knowing their search intentions. Once this is done, it’s time to think about SEO. Are your texts “Google friendly”? Is their structure well adapted to the reader and to natural referencing? Can’t you (subtly) integrate more keywords and key phrases for search engines? Have internal links (meshing) and external links (netlinking) been integrated? The SEO audit will provide objective answers to all these questions, and give you the steps you need to take to establish your SEO actions. On-page SEO consists of optimizing the content of your pages to position them favorably in search engines. Find out more: 7 SEO optimizations to improve your ranking
Conclusions
Of course, to be effective, a digital strategy must be a long-term one. Don’t expect immediate results – you’ll be disappointed. And it’s only logical: trust is built over time! You’re probably thinking that all this requires a great deal of dedication and technical expertise (web knowledge, Internet writing skills, marketing expertise…). And you’re right! To define an effective content strategy, capable of serving your brand image and achieving your objectives, experts in SEO and digital marketing work alongside companies. Then, to develop and implement the digital strategy and evaluate its performance, these agencies call on profiles with complementary expertise: SEO expert, web designer-writer, community manager, developer, illustrator, artificial intelligence and influencer marketing expert…
Brands have understood this and surround themselves with these external skills, specialists in digital strategy and maximize their return on investment: exponential growth in requests for quotes, increased spontaneous awareness, increased visibility, improved customer experience…