The benefits of a well-planned content strategy can range from an enhanced brand identity to tangible increases in leads and sales. On the other hand, up to 95% of blogs on the internet are abandoned eventually, probably because they are seen as not being effective enough.
How can businesses measure the effectiveness of their content strategies? Here are a few useful tools that will allow businesses of all sizes to gauge the effectiveness of their internet marketing efforts:

What Are You Measuring?

In order to track the effectiveness of your content strategy, you need to decide how you are going to measure it. Since most content strategies are geared towards increasing brand awareness, a good starting point is to track the number of new signups you are receiving.
Establish a baseline

In order to track the effectiveness of your content strategy, you’ll need to find out how many signups you’re currently getting and from what sources. Once you know this, you can track your future progress.

Track your early success

If you’ve recently launched your content strategy, you may not have a large audience yet. Nonetheless, you can use several proxies (indirect measurements) to track your progress. Focus on your social media presence, taking note of the following: likes on Facebook, retweets, reblogs, links back to your site, followers, @ mentions, followers, and average page views per visitor, as well as the amount of time spent on each page.  With these proxies, you’ll be able to measure your progress by understanding how effectively your content is ‘speaking’ to the audience.
Track Conversions

You’ll know your content strategy is working once you start to see conversions – the percentage of site visitors who take the desired action like clicking the ‘buy’ button. Google Analytics can measure your conversion rate easily, but you’ll need to track your progress by measuring more than the sheer number of leads. By using proxies like the quality of leads, retention period, and number of new customers referred per lead, you’ll have a clear picture of your content strategy’s Return on Investment.
Patience is Key

An online content strategy may take a while before it shows tangible results – it’s an investment in the future of your business.
Like planting a seed, you’ll have to put effort and patience into your strategy but when it starts to bear fruit you’ll have a sustainable, personal online relationship with your clients – both current and prospective – that will bring you increased leads and sales in the future. 

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Writing ‘compelling’ copy is one of the trademarks of any good copywriter. By compelling your readers, you are encouraging them to act, convincing them of the value of something (usually a product or service), and informing them in an entertaining way – without ever being pushy. If this is your goal as a writer, here is a great tip – don’t write for a demographic, write for a person.

Persuading the Individual

Every business has a target market, be they young professional men under 35, women approaching retirement age, or married couples in their 40s with one child. When you receive a brief that includes demographic information, try to look beyond the dry numbers and imagine the type of person you want to compel – it’s easier than you think!

No matter what demographic you’re dealing with, you probably know someone who fit the description in your brief to a tee. Plan your writing with that person in mind, and ask yourself the following questions:

• What does this person like to do in his or her spare time?
• Does this person have a lot of time on their hands or very little? This will influence your writing style.
• What stage in life is this person at?
• What kind of everyday language does the person use?
• What goals and dreams lie ahead for this person?
• What would make this person laugh, or make their day?

If you can answer most of these questions confidently, you’re well on your way to knowing your target market. Armed with this information, you’ll be able to write copy that is truly compelling – in other words, copy that speaks to the reader, copy your reader can relate to like a chat with an old friend.

Once you’ve established a comfortable tone with your reader, you’ll find your copy goes down extremely well with the target market. With compelling copy like this, you’ll see the results you really want!

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Using copyright material without permission is one of the mistakes copywriters try to avoid the most. While it’s understandable that copyright holders should be protected by the law, we often don’t realise that there is a wealth of material we are permitted to use – as long as we credit the copyright holder. This is known as ‘fair use’.

In the words of internet marketing guru Seth Godin, “copyright is not an absolute. Potato chips are an absolute”. In using this witty expression, Godin is explaining an important fact:  I may not be able to take a potato chip from you without your permission - it’s yours after all, not mine. However, copyright does not work like this.
The key to understanding fair use is to remember that you are allowed to quote someone else’s work as long as you give the author credit for what he or she has written. Fair use allows comparisons to be made and permits the free flow of information. Here are some useful facts about what online content you may use:

• You may provide a link to any website without asking the site owner’s permission. You may also freely use a website screenshot in a directory or piece of writing.
• When it comes to written material, you can quote many pages of a book without the publisher’s permission. However, songs and poems are not so free to use – you should obtain permission when reproducing these in full.
• Photos are a tricky subject. If you are commenting on the photo itself (for example, if you write for a photography journal) you may be free to use it. However, when selecting images for your website or blog posts you should be very careful that the image you are using is in the public domain.

Finally, always remember that once you’ve written any original document in a tangible form – be it a Word document, a printout or on a website – it is immediately copyright material. Adding a small © is a useful way of telling others that the material is copyright, but no special registration is needed. 

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There was a time when SEO strategy was clear-cut. A domain name rich in keywords, templated page designs and lots of good anchor text was the first step. The site would then be included in as many web directories as possible, and also mentioned in blogs and social media platforms to draw visitors. This formula worked quite well for a lot of SEO entrepreneurs until earlier this year when Google Panda – the updated search algorithm - came on the scene.
Life after Panda

Before the Panda era, SEO strategy focused on satisfying Google search criteria and on building a site that ‘did all the right things’ Google-wise to climb the rankings and gain authority. The biggest difference after the Panda update is this: sites can no longer rely on satisfying a list of criteria in order to succeed. They need to be good sites in themselves.
Don’t just build a site – build a brand

If your sites are going to be successful in this new era, they need to do more than contain the right SEO elements. While these are still important, the main focus today is on producing a high quality website that can stand alone as a brand. There are several ways to achieve this, listed below:

Less is more

Create a simple yet effective site that draws new visitors because it is easy to use and provides information, entertainment and a great product or service. Remember that Panda counts load speeds as part of its ranking, so a site that is too slow isn’t likely to make it.

Don’t forget the content

The old SEO adage, ‘content is king’ may be overused, but it is very relevant today. High quality content is a magnet that keeps visitors coming back to your site and draws new visitors in. If people enjoy using your site, they will return and spread the word.

Plan your Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve built your site, build a brand around it by using social media, networking sites and any other internet medium you think will promote your new brand. With hard work and creativity you will be able to rise in the rankings even in the new era of Panda.

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