“Topics, not Keywords: How to Make Content Work for Brands with Google Hummingbird”
The presentation provides valuable insight as search engines move away from keywords and into semantics to find the best answer for a users’ inquiry.
The gist is that search evolution toward the semantic web is good news for content marketers in that the need for keyword-focused content is being replaced by thematic relevance and authority. Google is essentially catching up to what user-focused content should have always been.
The punch line is that future success in content marketing will be more dependent on system building than line-level content production and output. Create a centralized content strategy and integrated delivery systems to guide your content marketing efforts now.
Per the theme of the conference, one way content marketing creates value for customers is when its output is usable for both businesses and users. Unfortunately, what’s sometimes created is not usable content—it’s often a blog post developed to plug a missing SEO ranking for a keyword.
But what does result in something usable is when content is developed around a theme a brand is authentically authoritative on—coming from a true point of understanding user intent—and that the brand is proactively anticipating and creating content to be as useful and evergreen as possible.
All you have to do is ask yourself what kind of content would BEST fulfill users’ needs?
http://rumblelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/annas_hummingbird_norbert_sharp.jpg
Describe that the Google Hummingbird update made a ton of noise in the search world.
http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/15/1c/1331341073_TKAM.jpg?itok=tEK7xcox
So much buzz, it was pretty out of control
For those that followed the rules, it was exciting, for those that didn’t, it was scary
http://fat.gfycat.com/WaterloggedDisgustingAbalone.webm
For those that followed the rules, it was exciting, for those that didn’t, it was scary
http://fat.gfycat.com/WaterloggedDisgustingAbalone.webm
THE FOCUS MUST SHIFT BACK
our Consumer Is The Big Idea
CONSUMERISTS
We start at the consumer, & work our way up
We really strive to understand the value of the consumer, & how & where they interact with your brand.
Stop sign –let’s try to find some international stop signs and make a collage
We examine your current Google positioning for prioritized, relevant keywords to identify SEO & content opportunities.
Is it a quick fix for our search team with technical page elements, or is it a content problem where the creative team will need to address the issues.
identify one of the five labeled categories & % of total search demand