Zohra Belmahdi, France manager of Textbroker
Zohra Belmahdi is the France manager of Textbroker, a platform specializing in web writing and translation into all languages. She has been supporting her clients for ten years in the implementation of their content strategy. She was president of the SEO CAMP association and co-organizes the SEOCAMP Day Lorraine.
Why is the creation of original content essential for a brand?
Today, more than ever, content is essential. The proliferation of communication channels, the rise of social networks and influencer blogs have moved the lines. On the other hand, it becomes more and more difficult to stand out. Disseminating information with added value, capturing the attention of Internet users and meeting the requirements of search engines are crucial issues for companies.
Creating and publishing original content is a long-term job, which requires time and skills. To achieve the objectives set, it is necessary to be able to rely on multiple expertise! This investment is worth it, because content marketing can bring many benefits when used wisely.
For brands, speaking out is essential on several levels. Of course, it meets commercial objectives (attracting new prospects, boosting conversions, building customer loyalty), but not only. Content has also become a way to enhance your image and work on your uniqueness. This is a competitive advantage that cannot be overlooked!
What objective(s) should an effective content strategy meet?
It is obvious that publishing content to feed your site is not enough. To get real results, you need to have an effective content strategy in place. The first step is to clearly define your objectives. For example, if you want to support the launch of a new product, it is better to focus on the benefits that users will be able to derive. One possible approach is to rely on key selling points, which the Anglo-Saxons refer to as “Unique Selling Proposition“.
If the goal is to increase the performance of your website and increase conversions, you have to think about SEO upstream by selecting strategic and “long tail” keywords likely to generate qualified traffic. Then, the message must be adapted to the target. The use of personas makes it possible to create more calibrated content, perfectly adjusted to consumer expectations. This substantive work is essential to create impactful and effective content over the long term.
What best practices would you recommend for creating a relevant content strategy for a brand?
First of all, I think a content strategy should always be evaluated over time. Publishing an occasional post on Facebook or concentrating all your efforts on a campaign of a few weeks will not pay off. Brands have every interest in investing in a more sustainable strategy. It may be interesting to set an editorial calendar, provided that it remains realistic. Better to publish less, but more regularly.
Multiplying the types of content (blog articles, publications on social networks, testimonials, white papers, market studies, etc.) is also a good way to retain your audience. In the age of omnichannel, it’s also about staying consistent. More and more brands are using multiple channels to spread their messages. Defining an editorial line and sticking to it allows you to maintain a qualitative link with the consumer, while promoting interactions.
What are the steps not to be missed and the mistakes to avoid in your opinion?
Many start too quickly or choose the easy way, for lack of time or internal means. It is easier to duplicate the texts of a competitor, but it can be very expensive! Search engine crawlers can easily detect duplicate content and downgrade sites deemed fraudulent.
Another common mistake is putting technical or visual aspects ahead of content. You should know that the choice of a technology can heavily impact natural referencing. Text transformed into images may be more readable for visitors, but they are difficult for indexing robots to decipher! For optimal referencing, each page must contain textual parts, developed from a rich and relevant semantics.
What are the main indicators to follow to evaluate the performance of your content strategy?
It has long been believed that the performance of content is not measurable or that it only meets subjective criteria. Today, marketers have many indicators (KPIs) at their disposal, which can reliably determine the effectiveness of content. With tools like Google Analytics, it is possible to obtain information regarding the bounce rate, the reading time of a specific page, and even to retrace the entire journey of visitors.
It is also very interesting to find out which content performs best based on detailed statistics on the pages visited before a transaction or a quote request. Positioning tracking software can measure the progress of a site on strategic keywords and display the landing page from a query entered into search engines. Conversely, knowing what are the main keywords used by Internet users makes it possible to build new relevant content, which will better meet their expectations.
To learn more about web writing and content strategy, you can attend Zohra Belmahdi’s conference as part of the Search Y Paris 2022 event, which will be held on July 1 in person at the Verso Victoire center (9th) and online. Info and registration on the event website.
Facebook Comments