Content Marketing & SEO

But first, let’s briefly talk about me and tell you who I am

I’m a bit of a hippie. I firmly believe in open source & open standards.

I started developing open source on a project called WebKit, which powers Safari and Chrome

From there on I went and founded css3.info

Which was powered by WordPress

For which I’ve since developed 30+ plugins totalling more than 3 million downloads

So basically, I’m a geek.

Funnily enough though, I also studied International Business & Management

And Theology

I speak in public

I run a blog and a podcast

In other words: I’m a marketing guy.

So you combine geek

And a marketing guy, and you get:

ME! :)

an online marketeer :)

Some of my clients

Now everybody’s looking for that customer attracting magnet

Google is the biggest magnet on the planet, so, let’s talk about Google and how to get a top ranking. The way to top rankings consists of three things.

#1: technical excellence

#2: content for the right topic

#3: links.

but nobody seems to get this simple equation.

#1: technical excellence

#1: technical excellence: check

You start out with WordPress

You deck it out with my SEO plugin

#2: you start producing great content and BOOM.

Larry & Sergey will love you.

Because great content isn’t just great content for the search engines,

It also generates links.

So what is good content?

Let’s get some inspiration

And no, not in the beer! In the church!

εὐαγγέλιον

eu-angelion (good message) literally translated in Old English as “god-spell” later, “gospel”. But also the root of “evangelism” and “evangelist”

In the early days of christianity, the church didn’t rely as much on awe inspiring buildings yet.

They used stories and tablets to answer people’s questions about life and law.

<insert iPad joke />

They relied on the power of symbolism

and parables, as these are very easy to remember, a great example of a parable is, of course, “The boy who cried wolf” and other parables from Aesop (over 2,500 years old).

This is how most websites leave people. They need answers, not vague marketing bullshit.

If you sell bathroom remodeling.

You need to give people stuff they can work with. Give them a checklist of things to consider.

If you claim to be a WordPress SEO expert, like me

You write the definitive article on WordPress SEO.

Or Magento SEO, for that matter

Give, and you will receive.

Luke 6:38

As I said, learn from the bible

The linklove from that will make you the expert in your field, as I rank #1 for the term WordPress SEO now

and for Magento SEO

The next thing we can learn from the bible is the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

We think we’re hip, when we say we “pay it forward”. Whatever you call it. Do it. Link out.

It’s called linklove for a reason. Link to other people, if you work with other people, other companies, link to them, link to bloggers, be social!

You see, as they said in the best book written about the web, ever, the cluetrain manifesto: “learning to speak in a human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us they are human with lip service about "listening to customers." They will only sound human when they empower real human beings to speak on their behalf.”

So you need one-on-one conversations. In the church, they called this:

Confession.

I don’t care where you have those conversations, as long as you have them.

Don’t commit adultery. Don’t go cheat.

The “rewards” can be painful.

You’ve just burned all your cards.

So, you’ll have to be remarkable.

Why do you deserve to be number one?

These can be all sorts of things; place, price, product, promotion, hey wait, that’s just old school marketing :)

How do you get to be the best of class?

εὐαγγέλιον

That’s where evangelism comes into place.

People often need help. They’ve got questions, they’re searching for products or companies to solve these problems.

This is where your content strategy comes in. Go and talk to your call center and sales guys: what are the questions they’re getting from customers?

What are those tweeters saying about your product?

Tell people on your site what does make you unique, ask your customers what makes you unique.

What are people searching for, mine Google Suggest.

Let’s say I want to buy a new car and I’m exploring some of the options

I get a nice image or two

And a website that looks pretty good

And if you’re looking for your new car on your iPad, this isn’t quite as compelling, don’t you agree?

But what I actually wanted was a video, showing me the back trunk, I need to carry a lot of stuff around.

There are video’s in youtube for the interior of the Peugeot 5008, just none created or endorsed by Peugeot, a missed opportunity.

As you can see, Google suggest is actually telling Peugeot that more people have these questions.

This is where your blog comes in. Don’t be afraid to address issues with your product. Be frank & open.

Skip all the buzzwords. Talk in the language your users / clients / prospects use.

Use the words that people use on Twitter, in comments on your blog & in search.

Don’t build your website like it’s a brochure

If you do you’ll still leave people like this.

Build it as a book of revelation about your products and services.

And you’ll enlighten people.

And make more business.

Questions? Remarks?

Get in touch:

Twitter: @yoast

E-mail: joost@yoast.com

Site: http://yoast.com/