40 Content Marketing Tips to Double your Traffic in 2020

Are you worried about why your content is struggling to get the traffic? 

Or, why your product is failing to generate revenue?

If yes? then you are in the right place. 

You must be thinking “another blog that is going to lecture me the do’s and don’ts, without providing any solutions”

No, don’t worry, we also hate meaningless lectures”

Rather we will just tell you how to connect with your audience, through Content Marketing Tips. 

First, let’s uncover the reason behind the slow traffic on your content.

The prime reason is that your content is failing to connect with the audience. 

Aren’t you curious to know why your content is unable to bring the audience, even after being rich in quality? 

Producing only quality content is not enough. 

You also need to market your content well for making it a success.

And How am I supposed to do that?

Simple with the help of this blog. 

Through this, you will learn all the “Content Marketing Tips” that will help your content to create a mark. 

What is Content Marketing

 

“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach to build and carry a customer base through producing and dispensing relevant and valuable content.”

We all know the definition, it’s everywhere on the internet, that’s what you are thinking? right?

Yes, it is everywhere so let’s understand it in a little different way.

Nowadays every topic has at least hundreds of content on it.

So, how do you think google is going to rank it?

There are a lot of criteria on which content is being ranked.

But the most basic is ranking as per the relevance of your content.

And, how many people are connecting with it.

It is only possible if your content is going to spread amongst a larger population.

That can be achieved only by Content marketing.

A professional content marketing agency can help you get your desired result.

Now we know what content marketing is? 

So, let’s move on to the next step that is formulating an effective content marketing strategy. 

7 Best Content Marketing Strategy

What is a content marketing strategy? 

“A content marketing strategy is formulating an effective and competitive content marketing plan that your business is going to follow to achieve the desired result”

Formulating a content marketing strategy is one of the most essential steps that every marketer should take.

Here are the steps to formulate a successful content Marketing Strategy.

# Pre-Plan Your Objectives

It is always beneficial to plan before you finalize a decision. 

A plan will make your content targeted and more efficient.

Whenever you are deriving a plan always keep in mind that your plan must go with the overall company’s mission and vision. 

Decide your objectives and goals in advance for instance:

why are you doing content marketing?

Whether you want to create awareness or to generate revenue? 

Is your short time goals sinking with the long term goal? Etc. 

Your goals need to be smart. By smart we mean it must be specific, measurable, achievable realistic, and timely. 

Once you have made your plan, convey it with your team and move towards the next step

# Be Familiar With Your Audience

You will never able to drive the attention of your target audience if you are writing something in which they are not interested. 

So, first, know about your audiences by knowing the following.

1. Age
2. Gender
3. Income 
4. Location 
5. Education.

These are the essential factors which provide a lot of information when strategizing and drafting a content.

You can get the insight into these questions with the help of Google Analytics. 

If you don’t know how to use Google analytics you can learn through the guide on google analytics for beginners. 

A marketer should also be well aware of the following about their target audiences. 

1. What are their preferences
2. What are their weaknesses
3. What social media platform they use the most
4. Which platform they use to find the solutions 
5. What all they trust

When you accumulate a better understanding of your audience likes and habits then you can mold your content accordingly.

Quick Take away: Know the preferred online time of your target audience. 

For instance, If your target audience is online from 10 a.m to 12 p.m on Facebook then post your Facebook content within this time. 

# Prepare a Content Audit

Most marketers tend to skip this content marketing strategy.

Because working on new content is relatively easy as compared to auditing the older ones. 

But, this step is the most crucial in formulating an effective content marketing strategy.                     

 Irrespective of the number of content you have; always perform a content audit.     

It will not only give you an insight into your content history.

But, also through this, you will be able to make better strategies for your future content. 

Now, the question arrives, how you are supposed to execute a content audit?

 So these are four steps that you should follow:

1. Make a list of your content

Make a list of all the essential items that you want to estimate

It can be the conversion data, or you want to measure the engagement or the traffic, etc

You can pick whatever basis on which you want to conduct a content audit.

   2. Pile the Inventory of the content

Make a content Inventory by including the URL, Content-Type, Page Title, Content Heading and subheadings. 

You can prepare it with the Screaming Frog, and then export that document in Google Spreadsheet. 

   3. Examination of the data gathered

The third step involves scrutinizing the data that you have gathered in the above steps. 

With the help of this, you will be able to know which contents engaged the most audience. 

Document the evaluation and grade the contents as per your chosen metrics.

   4. The learnings

By now you know your weak areas on which you need to work on. 

You can improve your weak areas. 

Also through this, you can prepare your future content strategies

# Prepare a Content Guideline

This step requires a little more effort and patience. 

 Preparing a content guideline includes considering a lot of things, they are:

1. Content-type
2. Content-format
3. Content-images
4. Content-tone.

These guidelines are not rigid, one can modify it whenever they feel like.

# Discover Fresh Ideas

Now it’s time to brainstorm and develop a fresh idea that your audience will love to explore. 

The points mentioned above will help you to decide on a relevant topic.

You can also read and inquire your industry and competitors, regarding the trends that are prevailing currently.

 Use tools like BuzzSumo or Ahrefs to finalize the keywords.

# Decide the Type of Content          

Your content doesn’t need to be a blog, it can be anything

 The most famous types of contents are:

1. Blogs

What is a blog post? The one which you are reading currently is a blog post.

These are posted on your website and you need to post it regularly to get frequent visitors. 

Write quality blogs on your website, never compromise on the quality of your blog.

We recommend you to write blogs of the length of at least 1500 to 2000 words which provide valuable information to the audience. 

2. Videos 

Youtube is the second most used social media platform and is continuing to grow.

They are also the most engaging content that is widely shared. 

So, you can make a video and post it on different social media platforms 

You can also mix a Blog and a video. 

For instance, write a blog and also make a brief video about that blog on the same topic and attach the video in that blog. 

3. Ebooks

Electronic Books or Ebooks are the most beneficial way of lead generation. 

In this, you offer your users to provide the contact information in return for the information. 

The rising popularity of the Ebook has made it a preferred choice of marketers. 

Also, as per the famous marketer Neil Patel Ebook is the second-best way to generate leads.

4. Podcasts

Podcasts are growing at a much faster rate than we can imagine. 

As per the podcast insight, 44% of the US population has listened to the podcast.

Through the podcast, the audience can find your brand even if they have no time reading your blog. 

5. Social Media

 In the era of Millenials, social media has become the second home for marketers. 

If you are not promoting your content through social media then you are in a huge loss.

You can attract a large chunk of an audience if you will post regularly on social media sites like:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Pinterest, and
• Youtube ( Of course it is a social media site)

Remember, always go for a user-generated post.

For instance, Instagram users prefer Photos, graphics, and videos so modify your content as per that.

There are various other types of content which you can refer to from the below image.

# Production and Management of the Content

The last but certainly not least is producing and publishing quality content. 

You can consider writing on WordPress, Joomla, etc, 

Also, use the Google Sheet to manage your content.        

Give time to the analysis of the work done so that you can improve and update it from time to time. 

Generating revenue through content marketing is not a child’s play.

You need to take care of a lot of things to achieve your desired result.

But, a professional digital marketing service provider can prove to be a great help.

As we now know what content marketing strategies are? and, how do we create one?

Let’s move on to our main topic of content marketing tips. 

But, why do I need to learn content marketing tips? 

What benefit will it provide to me? 

Do you know as per research by Statista, there are now more than four billion active internet users and over three billion active social media users. 

Hence, can you imagine how abundant the opportunity is?

But the bad thing is that most of the marketers don’t know how to capture this mountain of opportunity. 

That’s the reason we have bought you content marketing tips 2020 that will help you to grab the abundant opportunity.  

So let’s begin with the “Ultimate round of Content marketing tips” that will help your business flourish. 

40 Top Content Marketing Tips 2020

# Set a Captivating Headline

“Every good title is a short story.”

The quote by Russel Banks, an American writer perfectly depicts the importance of headlines.

In marketing, it’s said that you have five seconds to convince a reader to read your blog or article or watch your video, etc.

How will you do it?

By punching an attractive headline. 

Because, no matter how informative your blog is, you will struggle to capture many audiences if you fail to build a catchy title. 

Also, the click-through rate (CTR) is the utmost important factor that Google uses to rank.

If google will sense that no one is clicking through they will simply put down your blog etc.

Therefore, draft an engaging and catchy headline that will stimulate people to click. 

Keep in mind that a preferred limit of a title tag is below 60. 

Quick take away: It will grab the audience’s attention if you will add numbers or figures or year in your title tag. 

# Prefer Quality Over Quantity

Chunking out words should not be the goal of the content, rather, content should provide some valuable information to the user.

No marketing technique will work if the basics of your content are not strong. 

Always keep in mind your audience wherever you are crafting content.

Ask these questions before publishing a material

1. Why the audience should read/watch/listen to your content
2. What difference your content will make
3. Will you use the mentioned advice for yourself. 

If the answer is NO for any of the points, then you need to reconsider, as you have not finished it yet.

# Check Grammar Before Posting

Checking grammar of the content is essential once you are done with the heading and the body of the content.

Misspellings and grammatical errors hamper the authority of your content.   

And, Google drops the ranking of less authoritative content. 

Also, a weak grammar can make your content a topic mockery, so before publishing always check on its grammar. 

You can use Grammarly or Ginger to check the grammar of your content. 

# Do Consider the length of the Content

The quantity of the content is also important with the quality of the content. 

Content having at least 2500-4000 words are ranked higher than the contents with less than 1000 words. 

But, why Google ranks them in such a way?

Simply because the longer content provides more information than their shorter counterparts.

“Longer content not only performed better but also generated more qualified leads, showed a study by Quicksprout.”

So, if you can not write 3000-4000 words at least write 2000 words.

# Use Everyday Language

Most marketers don’t consider this important.

But, this is one of the most vital content marketing tips that a marketer should not take lightly.

There is no vocabulary test going on out there, so don’t use difficult words. 

Try to prepare content in a conversing way, as you talk to a friend.

Using complicated and hard words will affect the readability of your content.

You don’t need heavy words to sound like a professional, you can do it with easy-to-understandable words. 

Try to relate and engage with your audience by giving them examples, asking questions, etc.

For example, Let’s say you are writing an article, in that article refer your audience as the second person ( refer them with you, yours) ask them questions. 

And, also encourage them to use the comment section. 

# Break up Your Content 

Use headings and subheadings to break your content into small pieces. 

Also, make the paragraph short; not more than three lines.

It will be easy for the reader to read and digest the material and will also bind them with your content. 

# Utilize your Comment Section

Respond to the queries of your readers in the comment section. 

When you reply, you don’t only add greater quality to your content but also increases the engagement of your content.

Thus, ultimately helping your content to build authority and credibility.

# Take Keyword Search Seriously 

This should not be the only parameter to consider while writing.

But, if you are targeting search engines and want to rank high.

Then you should keep this on priority. 

That’s the reason this has become one of the most important content marketing tips.

Whenever you are doing a keyword search ask yourself two questions

1. Is the keyword targeting my preferred audience?
2. Will the traffic help reach my goal of email sign-ups, monetary, etc?
3. Will it be easy for researchers to find my site using these keywords.

A keyword will bring the right audience so make a good keyword combination and then start writing. 

You can learn more about google keywords planner tool for a better understanding. 

# Understand the Buy Persona of Your Audience

Your business needs to understand the likes and preferences of your audience before making a sale.

Because understanding your audience is the key to great marketing. 

If you succeeded to do that then all your readers are your customers. 

For example, your target audience is over the age of sixty, so there is no need to waste your time posting on social media.

Instead, you should use the traditional approach to marketing. 

So, once you get familiar with your audience you can easily pitch them for sales.

You can develop a buyer’s persona through Interviews and CRM and Sales data. 

# Focus on Informing rather than “Selling”

You need to understand the difference between content marketing and advertising.

Users know the difference between an informative content and sales content.

And, they block the sales content.

So instead of focusing on selling try to teach and aware them.

But, then what is the point of marketing if we can’t sell? 

Well, you will sell but not directly.

Focus on quality content and build your brand image first, once your readers became your fan and started to trust you.

Then you can suggest your services to them. 

# Convert Your Leads into Your Customer

Converting your leads into your customer is challenging but not impossible

You can do it by making the customers aware of their problems (TOFU)

Tell us one thing, how you are going to sell if your customers don’t know what to buy? 

You first need to make the customers aware of their problems.

 And, How will you do it? 

By first converting them into regular visitors through informative and useful content.

Then, ask for their email ids in exchange for the gated content like Ebooks, Guides, etc

1. Nurture your leads – Once your visitors become your lead then you can nurture them (MOFU) through providing webinars, white papers, case studies.
2. convert Leads into sales – Finally, you can pitch your leads to pay you for your services by providing consultation and demos. 

# Make Your Subscribers Feel Important 

Who doesn’t love special treatment?

Everyone does. 

So, tell your ‘Email Subscribers’ that they are going to get the best, and provide them your exclusive content

Because they already love your work, that’s the reason they are on your list. 

It’s a free opportunity, utilize it as much as you can. 

# Back-Up Your Content With Data 

Whatever type of content you are producing supports it with valuable data, facts, and statistics. 

It gives authenticity to your writing and helps you to conclude.

And, if you are taking sides in your content always back them up with relevant data. 

Some suggestions you can keep in mind regarding data.

1. It should be relevant
2. It should be clear,
3. It should be from an authorized source. 

For example, in our blog Facebook Ads Vs Google Ads we claimed that bing ads tend to have higher CTR than other vertical including google.

But we didn’t just claim we gave the data also. 

So, always back your sayings with data and statistics.

# Make Your Content Your Brand’s Voice 

The fourteen content marketing tip is matching your content strategy with brand strategy.

Your brand strategy and your content strategy walk hand in hand. 

A brand strategy is the foundation of your business, it tells who you are, what you do, why you exist, etc.

And, a content strategy is a tool that communicates those through content.

Whenever you are drafting content always keep in mind that it should reflect the overall image of your brand.

# Keep a Content Calendar 

A content calendar is mandatory for being consistent. 

It will help you plan out which content you will post on what social media site during what time.

You can run various content calendars for different forms of content like blogs, social media, email marketing, etc. 

You can use various editorial calendars like WordPress or  Coschedule.  

If you don’t want to spend money you can also use Excel or Spreadsheets. 

# Keep Checking Your Old Blogs 

Everything has an expiration date and so as your content. 

A content gets outdated after one to two years from publishing.

It starts to bring less traffic and also contains outdated information.

So, rather than going through the hustle of rewriting you can consider editing and updating your blog.

You can do it by:

1. Including the newly updated information
2. Adding some new links or removing the outdated ones
3. Including updated pictures, videos, etc
4. Placing new authoritative sources. 

It will be beneficial if you will perform a content audit on an annual basis. 

# Ease The Social Sharing Of Your Blog

Today Social media is the most powerful tool. There are lots of advantages to social media. 

It’s the most effortless thing you can do to promote your content.

You can do it in three ways:

1. Place a visible social sharing button

You can either place it at the end of your blog or you can use a floating button throughout your blog or website.

   2. You can also include “click to tweet” known as tweetable quotes.

It will invite more tweets, which eventually will lead to more sharing of your content.

   3. You can also create call-to-action

You can do this at the end of your blog in which you will ask the readers to share your content.

In one of our’s previous blogs, you can see we have placed both floating and click to tweet.

# Know the Genre of Different Social Platform

There are different types of content for different social media platforms.

For instance, Instagram and Pinterest are best for Visual contents like Images, Videos, Memes, Infographics, etc.

YouTube is Known for Video content.

Facebook is a little more diverse, so you can try different new content on it

Also consider the audience visiting the platform, for example, Instagram is widely used by Millennials and GenZ 

Linkedin is used by professionals, etc. 

So, post the content as per the genre and the audience of the social media platforms. 

# Engage Your Readers through Storytelling 

Storytelling is the most powerful way to bind your audience with your content.

Tell stories about your brand, your experience, your journey, the moment of failure/success, etc. 

You can add three types of stories in your blog:

1. An opening story
2. A closing story
3. An explanatory story

Plus, don’t drag your story, keep it simple and precise 150 words are enough. 

# Use Medium

Medium has over 60 Million active monthly users, and if you are not utilizing this opportunity then you are at a loss.

In this, you don’t have to do much just write a little bit about your blog topic and then paste your blog’s link.

It will transport people on your blog and you will get free traffic.

You can also use the medium to update your old blog posts. 

# Cover Trending Topics With the Evergreen One

With your usual topics don’t forget to cover the buzz of your industry.

The trending topics are indeed for a shorter period.

Whereas evergreen topics can be used again after updating and editing.

Still, you should consider both, you can write in a ratio.

Where 70% of the effort you can give to your evergreen topics and 30% to your trendy ones. 

Making a solid balance between the trendy topic and the evergreen one is considered as one of the most crucial content marketing tips.

# Provide Answers to Your Audience 

This is one of the most essential content marketing tips.

Your readers are reading your blog because they believe they will get answers to their questions.

It is important for your blog because if users will not get what they are looking for they will leave your page.

And it will increase the bounce rate of your blog, thus affecting the rating adversely.

So make quality content by solving the complex problems of your audience.

# Use Videos 

Neil Patel describes how important  Videos have become in Content Marketing.

People are connecting more with videos than any textual content.

Youtube has become the second most searched platform after Google.

This means after google people go on Youtube for their answers.

So make quality videos and engage your customers.

You can also tell stories in your videos.

Things to check in your video Content:

1. Quality of the video
2. Value it is deriving
3. Quality of the content
4. Consistency your videos. 

You can add Call-To-Action in either the middle or at the end of the video.

Where you can ask your viewers to visit your website or subscribe to the newsletter etc. 

# Use Guest Posting

Guest posting is the BEST way to generate brand awareness.

Guest bloggers help you to reach the audience which you might find difficult to reach.

As they promote their content which will bring more traffic to your website.

They also minimize your load of writing and promoting.

They also bring fresh topics with them which you might not be aware of.

But, keep a few essentials in mind while inviting a guest post

1. The Topic should be related to your industry
2.  Your post should have at least 1000 words
3. The post should be fresh, not published anywhere else
4. Only the Author’s bio should be added, not their company’s. 

# Prioritize The Traffic Channel

Posting everything on every channel will not give you all the traffic.

But, understanding the channel which will be suited for your company is what is important.

So test and research the channels which will derive most traffic for your website and then post on it.

Another way of doing this is by keeping an eye on your competitors.

See what all channels they are investing it and check it will be beneficial for you or not.

# Always Be Updated

Being updated about their industry is the most essential requirement of a content marketer.

So, you should be updated regarding the trends, topics, technologies, disasters of your industry. 

And always be one step ahead of your audience and your competitors so that you can make them aware from time to time. 

# Make Use of Influencer Marketing

Influencers have a huge fan following, And, are loved and respected by their audiences.

So if your content is shared by influencers you can imagine the level of reach you will get. 

Find an influencer and pitch your idea to them and if they find it informative they will share it with their network.

Consider these guidelines before finalizing an influencer:

1. Don’t run behind the numbers only, check whether that influencer has a passionate audience base or not 
2. They know your niche and industry
3. The know about your content. 

# Utilize Analytics and Metrics Data

Analytics is the tool that every content marketer should use. 

It gives you insight into your content and target audience so that you can strategize further for a better result.

For instance, as per one of our client’s data, it can be seen clearly that the bounce rate is high which can affect the ranking of the content.

So, now the marketer can focus on improving the bounce rate of the content through working on the quality of the content. 

Same as you can find the Analytics of your content and work towards the improvement.

# Use Data to Hit the Right Audience

Utilize the data which you have collected from your audience (email, phone number, gender, etc) to know their preferences.

And then ping them with the right pitch.

This way you will not be beating around the bush, you will be able to target your audience efficiently.

And it will improve the chances to establish a better revenue base.

# Use A/B Test 

Whenever you are struggling to finalize a part, go for A/B testing.

You can do A/B testing of

1. Headlines and Copywriting
2. Images
3. Videos and Audios
4. Subject line
5. Content depth
6. Product description 
7. Landing pages
8. Email marketing, etc. 

You can either use free Google optimize for doing the test or you can use a paid service like Crazy Egg.

# Call-To-Action 

All your efforts will go in vain if you haven’t used this part well.

The first step in this is telling your audience what they need to do.

So, if you want subscribers or you want your content to get shared you need to ask for it. 

How you are going to do it? 

By making a strong Call To Action. 

And how will you do that? 

Simple by telling your users what perks they will get from that. 

 You can use powerful command words in your CTA to influence users. 

# Take Care of Formatting

Most of the writers and marketers tend to oversee this step.

But in reality, this one of those content marketing tips which have the power to make or break the game.

As a  reader will not even bother to read the text if the formatting is unclear or difficult to read.

It’s the first thing that a reader notices after clicking on your blog.

So, do the formatting part carefully. 

While formating takes care of the following:

1. Suitable font and font size 
2. Good quality picture
3. Table of content
4. Avoid sidebars
5. Use lists
6. Emphasize important terms by bolding the text etc.

# Go for Series Blogging

Did you crave for the next Harry Potter series after finishing one? 

That’s the power of series blogging it not only binds the audience but also keeps them on your site.

It saves your time of coming up with new topics and also helps you to build a strong following. 

You can also go for series blogging for some of your blogs.  

# Make Your Content Mobile Friendly 

Aren’t we always glued to our smartphones?

Yes, we are.

People depend on their phones for all basics, whether it be checking their emails, reading newsletters, streaming videos, surfing social media sites, etc. 

They use the phone everywhere.

So shouldn’t your content be mobile friendly?

And, Google also prioritizes mobile-friendly content over others.

So a mobile-friendly content will not only help you to maximize your reach but will also help your content in getting a high rank.

# Apply Pareto’s Principle

Pareto’s principle says that 80% of results come from 20% of the causes

So, you also need to identify that 20% of the content that is generating 80% of the result

You can do it by testing various sources 

Once you know which all content is giving you the most you can focus on them. 

# Repeat Your Finest Headline in PPC ad

PPC is an extremely beneficial way to earn visitors and ultimately convert them into customers.

But, what will be the benefit of that PPC ad if no-one will click it?

Then, how can you make a visitor visit your site?

Content marketing can help you with this.

You can reuse a headline that created the most buzz.

Think about a content’s headline which attracted the most readable.

And, make it your PPC tagline.

# Use Omni Channel 

Reach out to your customers, no matter which channel they are using.

Only posting a link to your content on various social media sites will not help you much.

You need optimization of your content.

How will you do it? Right? 

Through Omni channels.

Still wondering, how?

Here a basic guideline

1. Find a content that has generated the best result, let’s say it’s your blog post
2. In the next step, you can modify that content.

• A catchy caption with an image for Instagram
• By creating a short video and uploading it on YouTube 
• Transform that content into a podcast etc.

So now no matter which channel your customer is streaming, your content will always be there. 

# Hire an Influencer to Reach the Target Audience 

There is one more way to perform this task.

In this, you will pay an influencer to promote your content.

Here you need to carefully analyze the three above mentioned points (a,b,c) before finalizing an influencer.

Youtube influencer are the most famous ones, but you can consider other influencers as well, they are:

1. Bloggers
2. Social Media Stars
3. Micro-Influencers etc. 

# Conduct Workshops and Webinars

Workshops and webinars are a great way to expand the audience base.

And that’s why this is one of the most essential content marketing tips.

Don’t make your webinar a sales pitch rather provide valuable information, make it instructional.

Once you have set a strong and engaging audience that trusts your brand.

Then you can move forward with pitching them your services.

# Go for launching Podcast 

A podcast is becoming a new trend.

It goes directly into the years of the customers.

They can listen to it while doing exercise, driving, cooking, etc.

And, it’s an opportunity that marketers should not miss.

So you can choose an engaging topic and can launch a podcast.

Content Marketing for Small Business 

Now as we are done with content marketing tips. Let us answer the most frequently asked question. 

Is content marketing suitable for small business? 

The answer is YES, an small business can avail the maximum benefit from content marketing.

Content marketing can fuel their growth. 

All the content marketing tips mentioned above will help your business to scale.

But there are also some points that we would love to emphasize on

1. Don’t fade the freshness of your content
2. Don’t Compromise with the quality of the content 
3. Don’t run after sales instead build a positive relationship with your audience
4. Prioritize educating the audience overselling 
5. Use FAQs frequently

These are the things you should give more importance rest all the 40 points will help you to accelerate.  

Conclusion 

Content marketing is the future of Marketing.

It has the caliber to make or break a business.

Every business either big or small must invest its resources in content marketing.

 Small business entrepreneurs are required to give special attention to content marketing.

The blog suggested the 40 content marketing tips and tricks which a marketer should use to flourish its business.  

To get the most from these content marketing tips a marketer or entrepreneur requires time and patience.