The vast changes Google has been making to SEO are well documented and discussed, as they have rendered all of the old ways of ruling searches with manipulative techniques obsolete. Instead, the optimization industry is being dominated by content investment. That, of course, means you’ll need to know how to make the best content possible.

We have some quick tips for helping with the shift to content creation. For a longer list, check out Simon Penson’s list at Search Engine Watch.

Idea creation

• Come up with a list of ideas you can serialize. Regularly appearing content like “Quick Tips”, Top 10’s, and Q&A’s are a good place to start.
• Identify types of content that would work well for you online.
• Use Highcharts.com to see a visualization of every part of your content strategy to make sure everything is consistent.
• There are lots of different and innovative types of content to create now, but the blog post is still the old standard for a reason.
• Competitions are a great way to grow audiences via social media that you can later engage.
• Change up your locations for brainstorming. Different environments stimulate creativity.

Creating Structure

• While serialized content is good, don’t just repeat the same type of content over and over. Try to come up with a pattern of types of different content you can create and publish.
• Make a 6-month content plan in the form of an editorial calender, keeping in mind industry events and trends.
• Include your site pages in your initial structural plan. It is essential to include every part of your site in your plan so that every word matches your brand persona and message.

Content Strategy

• Think about your timing. Time of day has a large effect on online activities and you should try to maximize your potential reach by considering when you publish content.
• Learn your audience. Use survey for quantitative data and customer meets for qualitative information. This will tell you more about how to approach creating content for your market.
• Separate your brand into different personas to match three or four demographics with different needs, then create content for these different personas.
• Create a content flow as part of your strategy creation process.

Content Execution

• When creating copy keep the details in mind. Font style and size, kerning, and leading all matter. Your presentation is as important as your content.
• Take time to make a solid headline.
• When creating a post, plan the structure beforehand.
• Create persona writers for your brand and build authority over time to grow AuthorRank.

Measure Effectiveness

• Don’t measure outreach by just the links earned. Take into consideration factors like referral traffic and brand visibility.
• Keep social metrics in mind during content marketing measurement campaigns.
• Set up Google Alerts with a snippet from any major piece of content you make so that you will be alerted when someone copies it.
• Think of content performance like baseball averages. One hit for every three pieces of content is solid performance.

Hopefully these short tips will help you make the transition from the old SEO practices to content creation. The more you invest in content, the more reward you will see later.