It has become a well-known fact that content is king in the search engine marketing game.
The more useful Google believes your blog posts and web pages to be, the higher you rank in search engine results.
Keyword frequency has taken a backseat to well-crafted, insightful and useful content that offers something of actual value to the reader.
While the level of quality may subjective, the content’s success should not have to be.
There are a number of actual benchmarks that quickly tell you if your content is being embraced or ignored.
- Reader stats. How many readers are clicking on our content link? If you have posted a link to your “100 Secrets Every Parent Must Know” post on Facebook, it is useful to know how many times someone has clicked on the link to read it. Poor numbers here do not necessarily point to poor content. It may just mean that either your headline writing needs a bit of help or you are not using social media to your fullest advantage.
- Share metrics. How often has your Facebook post – with the link – been shared? How many Twitter followers have re-tweeted your post? The more often your content has been deemed worthy of being shared, the more interesting and useful it is for your target demographic. Content that attracts a few “likes” but is not shared is missing the mark. Reconsider your strategy against the backdrop of your target demographic’s makeup.
- Website traffic. Readers are loving your content, reading it and also sharing it across social media. As a result, more folks are heading to your website. Which pages are they looking at? If the pages are directly related to the content you have recently shared, you are doing great. If consumers are instead heading to other destinations, your page dedicated to the marketed content may not be as strong as you would like it to be.
- Generated leads and sales. How many consumers have clicked on the “contact us” link in your post to request more information? How many have instead clicked on the “buy now” link with a credit card in hand? While sales are preferred, leads are nothing to sniff at. In fact, the conversation that ensues when you communicate with a lead frequently results in the opportunity for an up-sell.
Of course, the ultimate measure of your content’s success is the quality of consumer interactions that follow.
Any post that serves as a springboard for positive social media interactions between you and your target demographic is automatically good content.
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