creating good content that really counts by amy vernon
DESCRIPTION
Creating good content that really counts by amy vernon #SMX #24ATRANSCRIPT
Think You Know Good Content?
Fuggedaboutit. Here's What
Really Counts
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Finding Your Subjects
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Where Inspiration Strikes
• Mention, Talkwalker - take what Google Alerts used to
do so well and do it 100 times better.
• RSS - whether through Flipboard, Feedly, Digg Reader,
or wherever else, RSS lives on.
• Forums - people still use 'em. And love 'em.
• StumbleUpon - the easiest way to get content to come
to you.
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Content Categories
Targeted Funny
How-to Commentary
Target photo by Ville Miettinen viaFlickr Creative Commons Owl photo by Doug Wheller via Flickr Creative Commons#smx #24A
Targeted
Any piece of news that relates to your niche/genre. They can be quickly recapped and take little effort. Industry happenings News releases Personnel changes and moves
Writing/Creation Time: LOWSocial Potential: LOWValue: Helps share important news, caters to your core audience, boosts SEO and helps keep the blog filled.
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Funny
A play off the news or something topical, but with an
eye toward the absurd.
Start from the topic, but focus on the funny
Writing/Creation Time: MEDIUM to HIGH
Social Potential: HIGH
Value: Shows a light-hearted side; brings in traffic, boosts
SEO and exposes you to new audiences.
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How-to
Teach your readers
something they don’t know.
Better yet, teach your readers
something they didn’t know
they needed to know.
Can take many forms
Writing/Creation Time: LOW to HIGH
Social Potential: HIGH
Value: High shareability; establishes your
thought leadership; provides value to
reader (which makes them think better of
you); boosts SEO.
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Commentary
Covering popular news stories
or timely topics, but making it
your own by expressing opinion.
Covers the news from a
specific angle.
On a news release – is this a
departure from the norm?
Has this worked in the past?
Writing Time: HIGH
Social Potential: MEDIUM
Value: Establishes your thought
leadership, boosts SEO.
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Content Types
Infographics Timelines
Video Photos
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Infographics
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DON’T: just throw up a
bunch of stylized text
DON’T: Change color
schemes for no apparent
reason
DON’T: Mix and match fonts
just because you feel like it.
Infographics
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DO: Share interesting
information in an engaging,
informative way
DO: Have some
information that people
want to know and share
DO: Visualize data and
make numbers tangible
Timelines
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“Evolution” (of a logo, a singer, etc.)
Design is important
Memes are still good
Yes, this is a type of infographic
What happens if you
Google “LEGO timeline”?
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Video
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YouTube is the biggest by far, but it’s not the only game in town.
Dailymotion is 2nd-largest in the world.
Vimeo has reputation for quality video.
Telly, Viddler – more players every day.
Video is getting
bigger every day
It doesn’t have to
be expensive
When it goes viral,
it goes HUGE
Photos
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Use large, high-res, attractive
photos
Slideshows need to be short, or
very fast-moving (i.e., no
reloading the page every scroll)
Encourage users to send in pics
Then & Now
“Separated at birth?”
This had 102K views on StumbleUpon
A few words about lists
#smx #24AThis had 166K views on Stumbleupon
People love lists.
They really do.
They complain about them
being linkbait, but they read
them.
And share them.
If you’re going to do a list,
cover the subject. BE
COMPREHENSIVE.
Why do top 10 if you can do
top 34?
People like learning things
they didn’t know.
Did I mention that people love
lists?
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(Just seeing if you’re paying attention!)
A COUPLE
MORE THINGS
Do these things
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Be useful.
Be relevant.
Be consumable.
Link out. People will notice, visit
and maybe even link back to
you.
Illustrate whenever possible.
K.I.S.S.: Keep it simple, stupid
(no offense).
Emulate content you like.
Look at your piece before you
post — would you read it if
you happened up on it?
Photo by Matt Brown via Flickr Creative Commons
Thanks and Keep in Touch
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www.amyvernon.net
www.Facebook.com/AmyVernon
www.Twitter.com/AmyVernon
http://j.mp/AmyVGplus