Earlier this year I met with a client to discuss expanding into new markets. The conversation started with a deep dive into where they were succeeding and what they were doing that was leading to that success in their current markets. Then we looked at the prioirty markets that they identified. 

We discussed many topics to increase traffic in those areas from both a  paid perspective as well as an organic standpoint. As a first step, we discussed creating content and reviving a once popular, recently forgotten blog. The new posts would not just be targetted to audiences in the new markets but would also include more generic content to help grow their overall organic ranking.

Any guesses to their initial response? (Hint – I’m sure we’ve all heard it.)

“We’d like to create more content, but we just don’t  have time.”

I get it. There’s only so much time in a day and if you’re like me you have a bunch of things going on at any given time. So how do we find the necessary time? How much time will be needed? 

To help get their team onboard, I suggested doing an hour-long blog training with their team. They invited the people who would be tasked with creating new content and we’d help give them a few tips on creating efficient blog posts using the Skyscraper Technique. We broke our training out into three sections:

Part 1 – Why blog

Nobody gets excited about things they don’t see value in. With this in mind, I like to start all discussions with the goal of providing value and helping people understand the value in what we’re discussing with them. Usually, this includes a lot of numbers. In this case, I used numbers like 55% of marketers say blog content is their top marketing priority or content marketing creates three times more leads than paid search advertising. I could throw out a ton of stats, but try to just use a couple as conversation starters. I’ve found that starting discussions with a couple of pointed stats that my audiences can relate to can help provide additional context and excitement. 

We expanded the discussion beyond why blog, to why people visit blogs and what successful posts should accomplish. The answer – they should have value, they should solve a problem or answer a question.

Part 2 – What to write

This is usually the topic that’s top of mind for everyone. Hell, I sometimes take extra time when thinking about what I want to write each week on this blog. It’s not due to a lack of topics, but because I want to ensure my posts tell a story and flow from one to the next.

If you keep in mind the goal we mentioned above, all posts should solve a problem or answer a question, then there’s at least a place to start. Now the question becomes,  what problem to solve or question to answer?

To answer this question, I start with the purpose of the content. Ultimately, the content is meant to generate traffic. With that in mind, there are a couple of tools that can help you figure out what to write about based on target keywords, Google Trends and Answer the Public. I also recommend setting up Google Alerts so that you’re staying up to date with what other content is being created.

This leads me to the Skyscraper Technique.  The skyscraper technique is where you pick some of the keywords you’re looking to rank for and review the top posts that rank for them. Make an outline of the top points from each and then write a unique post that flows from point to point. 

Part 3 – The review

After the first 2 parts of the training, we had everyone create a unique post using the Skyscraper Technique. After the posts were finished we reviewed them together and talked about their successes and room for improvement. This review allowed us to discuss keywords, the importance of content being unique, images, and more.

Content is key to digital success. It can be tough to get started, but understanding the “why” behind tasks like this can make the process fun and worthwhile.