Steps to Building Content
I saw a question on the live chat today and thought some of the newer members might have the same questions about building out content. This is a little more fleshed-out version of the answer I gave there. Bear in mind that I'm not an "expert" and that these steps aren't meant to take the place of the WA training. The training always comes first.
I'm assuming your goal is to build a site that gives value to your readers and that your primary goal is to serve them and build trust. Then you can naturally offer products that will meet their needs or fulfill a specific desire.
Let's say your niche is baby products, a fairly popular niche. That's broad enough that you could write a lot of useful content but narrow enough that you have a specific target audience--parents of infants. If you have a different niche, like weight loss or (like mine) books and educational materials for children, you would just substitute your categories for what I have here.
1. Create your about page, privacy page, and three category pages, per the "Get Started" lessons. For the sake of this article, we'll say Baby Basics, Baby Toys, and Baby Clothes. Each of these category pages has general but engaging information about that category. Maybe your baby basics page has a list of general things you need: a layette, diapers, a carrier, nursery furniture, etc.
2. Pick one of your categories and write a post related to it. Make it very informative. If you want to make it product-related, that's fine, but it's also good to just lay the groundwork. For instance, if your first basic is going to be carriers,you might start with a list of things parents should look for in a carrier. If it's going to be diapers, you might write a post about the pros and cons of cloth and disposable diapers. Make sure to create categories and tags for the post (if you have questions about those, feel free to ask me, or type it into the search bar). I would make one of the categories my page name (e.g, baby basics) so readers can immediately make the connection between the two. Use the keyword tool to help you slant your post.
3. Pick the second category and do the same thing for it.
4. Pick the third category and do the same thing for it. Now you have a solid anchor post for each category.
5. Start building out one of your categories with additional posts. In this case, I think baby basics would be the best bet, because those are the things parents of infants need most. Add at least a post a week. More is better. The more QUALITY content you add, the more trusted your site will become, and the more traffic you'll get.
6. Link to SOME of those posts from the related page. For example, if you have a sentence on your Baby Basics page that says you need a carrier, link to your best carrier article from there. (You can always change the articles you link to as your get more content. What you want is to have some interconnection between your pages and your posts, but to avoid a page that's all links. You don't want it to look too sales-y; what you're doing is making it easier for your visitors to find the information they need,)
6. Just keep repeating the process until you've built out all your categories. You'll end up with a well-developed site that meets a real need and encourages the trust of your audience.
Recent Comments
18
Hey Beth,
Thank you for your post. I understand a little bit better, but I am still a little bit confused. All the posts end up going to the home page right? Is there a way or would it be okay to have different category of posts on different pages. For example I am doing a beginner horse backing riding site. One category is improving your riding, another is horsemanship and the third is horse ownership. Or would they would just be pages and I would refer links on these pages to blog posts? Trying to clarify what I should do. Hopefully this somewhat makes sense.
I would have your three major categories as pages, with general information about those subjects. Like this:
Riding - a page with some basic information, like your philosophy about riding, the kinds of things you'll be posting about, and the importance of learning to be a good rider and some of the qualities (like balance) you need in order to be a good rider. Let readers know they can look for the "riding" category on your blog for more in-depth information.
Do the same for Horsemanship and Horse Ownership.
Then, on the blog, do posts on specific topics related to each of these categories. Tag each one with the appropriate category or categories. Here are some examples for the Riding category:
Best Balance Exercises for Riders
Safe in the Saddle: Top Safely Tips for Riders
Horseback Games to Make You a Better Rider
Be a Better Rider in 30 Days
What Your Horse Wants You to Know About Riding
Soft Hands: Ride with a Whisper, Not a Shout
And so on. An editorial calendar can be really helpful so you know how each of your categories is being built out. To make one, brainstorm a list of article/blog topics for each of your three main categories. In your planner, write down when you'll write, edit, and post each of your articles. If you do one post a week, decide which topic you'll write about each week. If you have only a short time each day to work, you could draft a post on Monday, edit it on Tuesday, find images on Wednesday, post it with SEO optimization on Thursday, and promote it to social media on Friday.
You can have either a blog page or static page as your landing page. I prefer a static page because I can control what readers see first and can lead them through the site so they know what's there and feel comfortable finding their way around. Other people prefer it the other way around. So, that's strictly a personal preference.
Thank you for this. It's what I've been doing, but it's nice to have confirmation that I'm headed in the right direction. It's easy to get distracted and off track. Best wishes!
You're very welcome. I appreciate your taking the time to let me know your thoughts on it.
Oh, good! I never know what to blog about, but when I see a question I think other people have (that I can actually answer), that seems like it's probably a helpful topic.
See more comments
This is a great addition to the lesson in the certification training. Keep up the good work in helping others success going forward.
Thank you, Allan. I've been away for awhile, but I'll do my best to add more useful posts!