Content should be central to your projects.
The cool thing is, that’s happening more and more.
And I have to say that I really, really like that. Thinking about marketing strategies from a content POV has always been important. It’s how I got started working with Matterhorn in the first place. I’m saying that the focus is changing.
Not just around here. Out there.
Why is that? One reason is search. Google is rolling out new SERPS that are heavily influenced by content quality. And quantity. Well, one begets the other. Creating a lot of quality content is going to help your ranking, plain and simple.
That’s not news. But the fact that that content can come from anywhere, like facebook or twitter or urbanspoon or yelp, is. Or at least, the extent to which social content matters is news. It’s becoming more important every day.
Another reason to focus on content, and we’re mainly talking written content here, is because text is messy as hell (a direct quote from Content Strategy For The Web).
Meaning, if you leave content out of your plan, or think that you’re including it by writing the word “content” somewhere on a mindmap, you’re going to wind up a week away from the day you launch your site saying something like, “Man, we need to put some content up, quick.”
If no one “owns” the content you’re creating, you’re looking at no content. Or crappy content. That’s a terrific way to fail.
And this means that your (content) briefs need to contain more than just deliverables. They need to contain plans. They have to identify why you’re writing what you’re writing. There has to be a measurable element to your work that tells the rest of the team how this piece of content fits.
There are a lot of good reasons to focus on content. What are yours?
