Each piece of content you write needs to have a goal or a purpose if you prefer to call it a purpose. They are basically the same thing when it comes to content.
Many of the guru’s tell you to fill your site or blog with content, and you should, but everything you write and post should have an end goal in mind. Even the content you write to distribute at article directories or as guest blog posts needs to have a goal.
The goal of writing content for article directories or guest blogging is generally done to get more traffic to your site. That’s pretty much a given or you wouldn’t do it. Once the visitor gets to your site the content there should have a goal too.
The goal could be to keep the reader there longer, or to sign up for your mailing list, or to give value to the reader. It could also be to introduce yourself as an expert to new readers. There are many purposes your content can have, but we’re going to cover the main three.
SEO
Feeding the search engines is a good goal for some of your content because it helps ensure that your site is found when people are looking for something specific. Some of your content needs the purpose of just driving search traffic to your site.
Take the time to plan some monthly content that uses your keywords. At least one piece of content each week should be search engine food, but also make sure it’s relevant and valuable.
Establish Authority
Several pieces of your weekly content should establish you as an authority in your niche. You want this content to be as informative as possible so when the reader does leave your site, they leave knowing more than when they arrived. Even if it’s something they already knew, you want them to see you as an expert so they’ll come back to learn other stuff from you.
Build Relationships
SEO and showing yourself as an expert is really important. However, if you don’t spend a good deal of your time building relationships with your readers, the other two won’t matter. Many readers are starting to get turned off by impersonal experiences. They want to see the person behind the website, they want to interact with that person and have their questions answered.
Spend some time writing content that will help build relationships with your readers and subscribers. Encourage them to leave comments or ask questions, and then follow through with replying to as many as you can. You can’t reply to every single comment, but do comment back on the important ones.
When you give each piece of content a goal it actually works harder for you. And the main goal of content is to have it work for you. And don’t forget that your content can have more than one goal.
What are some ways that you get your content to work for you? Do you give each piece a purpose? Do you plan out your content goals each month?