The 10 Commandments of Content Marketing

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Jun 12, 2020 / by
The 10 Commandments of Content Marketing

There is no replacement for good content. Ultimately, it’s the strength of your content that will determine its value, this much is undeniable. However, if content marketing was really that simple then we’d all be experts by now, wouldn’t we?

To help those amongst us who might be new to the SEO game (a career that many might have been drawn to during the coronavirus lockdown), we’ve put together a list of 10 commandments that will apply to all content marketers, whether they are wet behind the ears or seasoned pros.

1. Understand different content types – By mastering different types of content you’ll be able to use the same basic ideas to create lots of different pieces of content, each of which can be used to attract a different audience.

Because, generally speaking, different types of audiences respond more positively or negatively to different types of content.

2. Lists are almost always a winner – There is a good reason why so much SEO content is created as ‘top 5’ or top 10’ lists – they just work. Lists are easy to scan and the structure makes them quickly and comfortably digestible.

List content can also quite easily be re-used as part of an infographic or a video, playing quite neatly into commandment one.

3. Check your word count – Getting the word count right is one of the most difficult things to master in content marketing. Too many words and consumers lose interest and too few and the content doesn’t seem valuable enough to them.

Finding that perfect balance will take time and of course, it will vary from post to post but once you’ve settled into that groove you’ll start noticing some pretty major results.

4. Internal links are never a bad idea – If your piece of content has no internal links, then you need to rectify that pronto. Always make sure, however, that the anchors sit naturally within the text.

5. Master the tone – Every website or brand will have its own tone of voice (TOV) that writers need to stick to for the sake of consistency.

Being able to switch lanes and go from serious to casual and from technical to basic in the blink of an eye is a tool that will serve you incredibly well as a content creator.

6. Personalise where appropriate – Whilst TOV is indeed important, it’s also important to get across some of your own personality in the writing.

What is it that sets you apart from other writers and what have you personally experienced that can make the content feel more organic and ‘lived in’?

7. Put your best foot forward – The first sentence is comfortably the most important part of any piece of written content.

Use this sentence to draw the reader in with a snappy and enticing line and a line that highlights the topic and draws the reader in.

8. Ask questions and offer answers – The opening paragraph of your written content should always ask the reader a question that the piece itself seeks to answer.

If possible, use data to back up your solution and tell a parabolic story if you’re struggling with inspiration.

9. Be subtle with your intent – Nobody likes to know they are being sold to. The aim of content marketing is to subtly suggest an end goal for your reader rather than spelling it out for them in big bold capital letters. That’s why it’s such an effective marketing technique – it’s stealthy and doesn’t feel forceful.

10. Always check your sources – Finally, perhaps the single most important thing to take away from this is to always take note of your sources to back up your content.

This is particularly important when using quotes or data and can be used later in promoting the site and arranging backlinks.