Most people tend to wonder just how best to step into the eyes of the local community. And with the dominance of digital marketing, it all comes down to offering others the chance to find you online. Search Engine Optimization teaches us that the best way to accomplish this is through the practice of SEO. By investing in search engine optimization and the creation of top-quality content, you can position your business at the top of search results. And that particular piece of writing is also known as good cornerstone content. Those are the pages that will help your target audience find you more easily. However, you first need to learn how to create such content. And that is what we are here to find out today.
What are the benefits of creating cornerstone content?
Similar to quality landing pages to present your services, good cornerstone content can be very beneficial for any growing business. Among the many marketing advantages that it brings, these would be some of the crucial ones:
- It helps build and strengthen your brand
- Increases the total number of website visitors
- Contributes to the natural link structure of your website
- Establishes authority, trust, and positive brand sentiment
- Feeds your marketing funnel (for email marketing campaigns, social media activity, etc.)
To sum it all up, cornerstone writing can focus all your content marketing efforts and resources into a high-functioning drive. And the value you end up getting from it functions like a highly powered battery that can maintain value for your business in the months (and even years to come).
3 critical tips for creating good cornerstone content
Sure enough, you can probably find countless advice from marketers on this topic. But when it comes down to it, you really need to go through three primary steps:
- Write
- Link
- Promote
These are three simple steps that can transfer any regular content into cornerstone content. And all it takes is a little focus and additional effort. But, not to leave you guessing as to how exactly to achieve this, I will offer some further details for each of these fine steps.
Tips for creating exceptional content
Time and time again, we use our free website marketing analysis to try and explain to company owners the importance of having rich and optimized content on their website. From having 1000-word pages and articles that contain headlines, bullets, bold and italic text, to having quality images with captions and ‘alt’ text, proper use of keywords, and internal/external linking. And these are just the SEO criteria that you need to follow.
You still need to make sure to satisfy the most basic need of your site visitors – to find answers to their questions and/or needs. The content you provide has to match what people are looking for and expecting to find when they visit your website. And to do this, you have to research and get to know your target audience. Learn what they want and use that to create good cornerstone content that will position you in their eyes. Content that will be rated as valuable in the eyes of both search engines and readers.
Which keywords to target with cornerstone articles?
As a moving company or any company that focuses on promoting and selling services rather than products, you need to choose your keywords accordingly. That means that you need to create a content strategy that will explore all the services you offer and compete for in your local market. The keywords that you fail to include in your inner pages, you should promote through the use of cornerstone articles.
Remember that once you use a certain keyword to create a piece of cornerstone content, you shouldn’t create new content with the same keywords.
Positioning that new cornerstone content on your site
Since you have a menu for the most essential pages that promote your services, you need to create a clear path towards the cornerstone content that you decide to create as well. You can achieve this in various ways, be it through a sub-menu, “Recommended” section, the use of categories and tags, etc. The conclusion – people should be able to find it easily – with the use of several clicks.
The importance of a proper linking structure
Once you create strong cornerstone content, you need to incorporate it in your website properly. It’s not enough to simply have it on your website. If you want that content to rank well and provide you with value, you have to ensure that it links to the rest of your site structure. After all, internal links play a vital role in any SEO strategy, especially ones that link strong keywords that you aim to position for. That is why the anchor text that you use when linking needs to be impeccable and note the exact keywords you are targeting.
However, this doesn’t mean that you should spam your entire article or page with as many internal links as possible. Instead, make sure to link to cornerstone content pieces that can actually relate to the piece that you are writing.
Promote your cornerstone content
Well-written and linked content deserves to be promoted and shared with the world. That is why you need to take the time to promote it across the web. Start from social media platforms, and continue expanding your range from there. Focus your next email marketing campaign on the content you created and forward it to subscribers and target audience. Consider other industry-relevant websites and platforms where you might come across people that will find your content useful and insightful.
Another step you might want to consider is to guest blog for others, in exchange for promoting your cornerstone content – quid pro quo. You provide them with your professional insight in the form of an optimized article, in exchange for a link back to your content.
