“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” Benjamin Franklin, p. 105. This is a very powerful statement. It comes from a mind who is very inquisitive and was involved in the written word. Ben Franklin is just like Julia McCoy – they both never give up. They are always thinking and moving their own mountains. I believe this quote sums up the whole book. Buy on Amazon.
[bctt tweet=”‘Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. Ben Franklin is just like Julia McCoy – they both never give up.’ Read a reader’s real review of @JuliaEMcCoy’s book, So You Think You Can Write” username=”ExpWriters”]
Giving Value to My Audience Through Content
In order for your website to gain more visits, you must be a hub of information. This can be achieved by what Julia mentioned on page 20 of her book, which is “publishing great content that answers questions, provides useful information and is engaging.”
Learning the Basic of Search Engine Optimization
Julia made SEO (Search Engine Optimization) learning fun and easy to comprehend.
This is the first time I read a book dealing with this subject. I was not able to put this book down. It was intriguing and interesting to me. I was deducing and injecting all the material on the pages. I became like Ben Franklin – a detective, analyst, and researcher while reading. I took copious notes and became one with the author by writing in the margins.
I knew nothing about keywords before I read the Performing Basic Keyword Research section of this book.
On page 55-56, Julia made it so simple that I followed what she wrote. I used the Wordtracker tool and it was more engaging than I expected.
Here’s Julia, holding a copy of “So You Think You Can Write?” (on the right)
Julia says, “Informational searches are a highly valuable tool for building brand loyalty and creating great online content” on page 87. I found this to be very true.
Creating Eye-Catching Social Media Posts
While reading the subsection dealing with How to Write for Social Media, Julia says “Social media content works best when it’s catchy, brief and engaging, and grabs the attention of the reader usually in tandem with the image, video or link.” Our brains can easily digest, sort, and comprehend information in blocks of time. Make the image match the writing so it’s easy to digest. When writing for print, always be straight to the point to avoid rambling.
Turning an Article to Additional Sources of Information
In the Repurpose Your Content section, I liked reading about turning my articles into infographics and presentations, as well as how evergreen content can be a timeless resource for my audience. I can use this information to make my own website engaging and informative to current and future visitors.
Continuing to Learn More About Content
I hope to read more about writing and optimizing content in the future, so I’m glad that I’m connected with Julia on LinkedIn where I can read her posts every day on this topic. I’ve always been an avid learner and the knowledge I just gained will surely make me go far in this field.
Keep up the good writing, Julia!
– Matthew J. Gaydos
Avid Reader, Writer, Researcher, Learner, and Book Reviewer
Today and in the future, our audiences are changing the way they consume information and discovering new ways of accessing answers to the questions that drive them.
(Bob Dylan was right — the times, they are a-changing!)
And their evolving questions are the ones you — or your company — want to provide an answer to.
So, how do you let people know you’ve got the answers they seek?
Through recognizing the importance of SEO in content creation and negotiating the ever-changing landscape of the content economy.
Here’s the thing…
SEO has alwaysled the way in driving traffic to websites.
Yet, like other online phenomena, SEO content creation is evolving to meet the needs of a new generation of online consumers.
[bctt tweet=”SEO content creation is evolving to meet the needs of a new generation of online consumers. Learn how to create future-proof SEO content in this guide from @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
This change is, in part, pushed by trending technology like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home and a literal explosion of tablet and mobile device usage.
So, how is the modern online user changing the landscape of SEO?
Let’s jump right in with the two most impactful trends in the industry, and then we’ll go into a super actionable, nitty-gritty guide on how to create SEO content this year in a way that boosts your traffic and end profits. Ready?
The Top 2 Trends in SEO Content Creation Today
1. Voice Search
Now that people no longer have to key in search terms at a computer, the way they are searching is changing.
For example, if I want to know what’s playing at my local movie theater and I’m on my phone, I might key in “Movies Cinemark,” because I know Google will use the closest theater to me named “Cinemark.”
However, if I’m using Alexa, Amazon’s assistant, I’d ask using more natural language, like I’m talking to a person, “Alexa, what movies are playing at the Cinemark in Austin, TX?”
This is voice search, and it’s one of the leading trends in content marketing this year.
To optimize SEO writing in the past, we used to take out all the “filler” words from a search query.
So,
“Where can I find the best coffee beans in Texas”
Became:
“best coffee beans Texas”
Targeted, yes.
Easy to fit into a smooth-flowing piece of SEO content? Definitely not.
Fortunately, the new, natural-language search terms are making SEO copywriting easier and more compelling — a winning combination.
But, it’s more than search itself that is changing.
People are also changing the way they consume content.
2. Video Content
According to Wyzowl, video marketing has surged, with 81% of companies using it to market their audience.
And there are many reasons to include video in your online content creation campaign, including:
Allowing customers to form an emotional — and trust-building — bond with you and your product through voice cues, facial expressions, and dynamic content.
Providing content versatility through a range of possible video content — quick demos, longer courses, hands-on tutorials, and more.
Encouraging engagement with touch-of-a-button sharing and embedding engagement options.
Keeping up with current technology — such as tablets and mobile devices — and the changing ways people are devouring content.
This isn’t the first time that marketers pivoted when video brought consumers a more engaging form of content.
The Buggles wrote “Video Killed the Radio Star” back in 1979 in response to MTV’s popularity with the music-consuming crowd who was turning from songs on the radio to videos of songs on television.
We all know how that turned out.
Despite all the fear, there was no apocalypse, no sudden loss of musical talent. The savvy merely repositioned themselves and moved on.
So, if you’re a creating SEO content for your website — get ready to pivot.
Video content is growing as mobile usage takes the lead over desktop for the first time in 2017.
And what better example of a website using video content to drive SEO than SEOmoz?
What started out as a simple whiteboard video became so popular that they were renamed Whiteboard Fridays and offered on a regular basis.
Here’s a great example of how they produce engaging SEO content from their list of topics of advanced SEO techniques — Using the Flowchart Method for Diagnosing Ranking Drops.
This screen capture, below, shows you just how fresh and personable this low-tech the video is while appealing to high-tech on-the-go users.
Neil Patel notes that one Whiteboard Friday video drew 402 links and more than one thousand social shares.
Of those links and shares, over 37 different domains participated in spreading love for the SEOmoz blog — proof that good video content encourages engagement.
3 Keyword Research Strategies That Deliver
Let’s be careful not to get ahead of ourselves.
Building great, truly compelling content is only possible after proper keyword research. As Backlinko so aptly puts it:
“Without keywords, there’s no SEO.”
Content is not something you should attempt willy-nilly. You need a strong plan of action in place before you spend time — and money — on SEO content creation.
That plan of action is keyword research.
The good news is, there are lots of brand-new strategies out there to help make your SEO content strategy even more on-target. All you have to do is engage them.
Let’s start with the basics.
1. Focus on Niche Topics
If you want to know how to write SEO content that points directly to your audience’s pain points, their natural curiosity, their need for spot-on information, you’ve got to put in the research.
Your first order of the day should be to determine your niche topic — your product or service’s unique standing in your industry and the things related to your product that your customers are interested in.
Understanding how to turn your customers’ interests into content will help you narrow keywords with laser-focused efficiency.
This, in turn, will contribute to the creation of compelling SEO content that tugs are your customers’ heartstrings — and wallets.
So, let’s say I’m running a business that sells coffee, because, you know — who doesn’t dream of an unending supply of java?
You can probably come up with some niche topics right off the bat. How about:
Coffee mugs
Coffee roasting guide
How to grind coffee at home
Best coffee beans for roasting
Espresso machine basics
There are probably over a million choices of niches, so concentrate on those that are important to your audience.
And there’s no better way to do that than to pin down exactly who your audience is, in the form of a persona.
How to Find Niche Topics
[bctt tweet=”Learn how to find hot niche topics for better results with your SEO and online content, using @BuzzSumo’s updated Content Analyzer tool (via @JuliaEMcCoy)” username=”ExpWriters”]
Susan Moeller, Business Development Manager at BuzzSumo, gave me a few inside tips on how to run a content analysis that will help you discover how much traction a topic is getting inside BuzzSumo.
When we ran a few “coffee” topic ideas into the BuzzSumo Analyzer, it was a clear choice – How To Grind Coffee is a hot topic!
Here’s how to get to this section of BuzzSumo:
After you’re logged in, click on the Content Research tab at the top, and then on top of the search bar, switch the tab from “Search” to “Analysis.”
Under Analysis, you’ll find the new content analyzer tool. When BuzzSumo added the comparison tool, they changed up the configuration a bit. (See the product announcement here.)
I love BuzzSumo and use it on a regular basis for content insights. The Analysis feature is a great way to get your hands on some trending niche topics.
2. Focus on Your Audience Persona
A persona is a representation of your target audience’s likes, dislikes, pain points, and more all rolled into one “Everyperson” whose opinions you can use to help focus your content.
Creating a persona is a necessary part of developing content for your website that really packs a punch.
Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, underscores the need for laser-focused personas in order to create actionable, effective marketing when he says:
“If your content marketing is for everybody, it’s for nobody.”
So how do you create a persona?
You go through a series of questions that delve ever deeper into your fictional Everyperson’s goals, responsibilities, lifestyle, and more to uncover what really makes them tick.
You can find online persona creators that will walk you through the basics, but don’t stop there.
You need to interview some of your prime audience members in-the-flesh and incorporate their feedback into your targeted Everyperson.
Just like Pinocchio became a real boy through Gepetto’s love and attention, your persona will become more real — and more useful — the deeper you can go with your research.
Here’s a screenshot of a persona example featured on Alexa.com.
I chose this one because coffee is the lifeblood of most successful geniuses.
If you don’t believe me, check out this article in Entrepreneur.
[bctt tweet=””Coffee is the lifeblood of most successful geniuses.” @JuliaEMcCoy via” username=”ExpWriters”]
Look at the detail in this mini-biography. You’ve got her habits, her fears, what motivates her, and what can help her achieve what she wants in life.
That’s information that gives you a perfect way to produce SEO content that’s laser-focused to suit her needs and attract her — and others like her — to your website.
3. Find Long Tail Keywords
[bctt tweet=”Creating content around long-tail keywords is the shortest way to a big payout. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
Let me explain with the following analogy:
Do you wait until there’s a huge jackpot before buying a lottery ticket?
It’s not the smartest move since with everyone opting in, there’s even less chance that you’ll be going to Disney after the winning numbers are chosen.
Yet, many marketers treat writing SEO content in much the same way. They reach for those top three search terms that bag 60% of the organic traffic.
You know – the ones everyone is targeting.
But what they’re missing is this — the remaining 40% of traffic is prime real estate for savvy content creators.
The trick is to use long-tail keywords to divert that traffic to your site.
For beginners, you can start with the Google Keyword Planner. (I don’t recommend this tool for advanced SEO content marketers because if you can afford a tool, you’ll get better results – Google can actually skew their results and hide truth about search volume on keywords, to influence you on on buying Ad spots.)
I typed in “content creation” to get this list:
I took a high-ranking term from this list (social media content creation) and re-entered it.
That gave me these:
Now, I have a more in-depth group of long tail keywords from which to choose.
And the more specific you can get with what your persona wants and needs, the more traffic you’ll drive to your site.
Look at that keyword grow — from “shoes” to “men’s shoes” to the one that holds the key to customer interaction — “red Nike mens running shoes.”
[bctt tweet=”So, don’t waste your marketing dollar on keywords that everyone is using. Expand your reach with in-depth, long-tail keywords. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
Long Tail Keywords Just Got Longer: The Debut of the Long Tail Keyword Phrase
If you’ve been creating effective SEO content, you already know about long-tail keywords.
But did you know that in 2018, just like the Grinch’s heart, these keywords grew two sizes? Enter the world of long-tail keyword phrases, brought to you by the changing face of search.
Powered by devices such as Alexa, Google Home, and smartphone assistants, voice search is becoming increasingly familiar.
In fact, ComScore indicated that voice will account for 50% of searches by the year 2020, so optimizing your keywords for this phenomenon now is critical.
So, what’s the difference between search input through a console and voice search?
Simple. Voice search adds back in what fast, to-the-point typing leaves out.
For example, if I want to learn about optimizing my content, I might type
“effective content creation”
on my keyboard if I’m at my computer.
But, if I’m talking to Siri, Alexa, or another virtual assistant, I’d speak as I would to another person, saying, perhaps,
“Alexa, how can I optimize my online content?”
or
“Alexa, what kind of content creation is effective for coffee sales?”
Cool, right? Now, how can you take advantage of this trend?
One executable tip is to meet your customers where they live — online and in person.
Simple ways to get in touch with the pulse of your customer’s queries include:
Conversations – face-to-face or through email
Forums – check out Reddit, comment threads, and other chat spaces relevant to your product or service
Social media – LinkedIn, hashtags, product pages on Facebook, your competitor’s social media
FAQs – frequently asked questions pages on competitor’s websites or sites related to your audience or industry.
For most of these, just type in the group and add your keyword. For example, forum + coffee gives me these results:
I can click on to any of those sites to find out what’s got my customers talking right now.
Now, if I want to delve into social media chatter, my search might look like:
#coffee
This gives me:
Not only can these results help super-focus your keywords, but they can supply ideas that may not have come up in a standard search.
For example, see that hashtag on the second result above? #ethicallysourced? Those words represent a perfect idea for a page built around the niche topic of ethically-sourced coffee.
You could also expand this into a long-tail phrase such as:
where to find ethically sourced coffees
Basically, anywhere you can get a feel for the way people are asking questions about your product or service is the golden ticket to long-tail keyword phrases that convert.
Leverage New Search Trends to Build Powerful SEO Content
Remember those natural-language search terms we talked about earlier?
Here’s your chance to incorporate them into your keyword strategy to build powerful, on-target content.
Don’t let this new way of doing things throw a wrench in your SEO strategy — have some fun with it! There are some pretty neat tools out there to help you generate ideas.
For example, click over to Answer the Public for some awesome visual (or data-oriented, if you’re so inclined) cues for long-tail keywords that will set your SEO writing on fire.
Check out this screenshot of the “answers” I got when I typed in the phrase “content creation.”
For those of you who prefer simple data, the same information is available like this:
And Answer the Public’s riffs on your content go deep.
Here’s a screenshot of yet another way they generate responses, the “Comparisons” chart.
The even give suggestions by alphabet, one list for each letter. That’s 26 lists of ideas to get your content idea mill churning!
Now, if Ask didn’t generate what you need, you can move over to Soovle, another sweet content idea generator that lists top autocomplete terms for major online platforms — Google, YouTube, Amazon, Wikipedia, and Answers.com.
Here’s Soovle’s contribution to our “content creation” idea list.
While Soovle’s lists aren’t as extensive as Ask the Public’s, they are more focused.
Because Soovle’s response pulls directly from the most-searched terms closest to your input word or phrase, it can help you narrow down the key phrases that may be most likely to draw attention.
So, now that you’ve found your niche, your persona, and done your keyword research, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start SEO copywriting your little heart out!
Creating Strong Search-Optimized Content: 3 Killer SEO Copywriting Tips
SEO content creation is not just about optimization — it’s about writing, too. So, let’s start there, with the writing.
You may have a fantastic SEO content strategy ready to roll, but you’re not quite sure how to arrange your topic so that it makes sense and is readable.
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Here’s a quick trick that I learned from nonfiction authors I know who check out bestsellers in their genre and use the table of contents to help them organize their own thoughts on a subject.
Great SEO copywriting examples are everywhere — if you know where to look. Backlinko recommends, and I concur, that you check out Udemy for inspiration.
You’d type in whatever your audience interests were, but I continued to riff on coffee for my example. When I typed “Java” into the search bar, it gave me the following results:
Look at that top class — over 50,000 people thought this was the mother lode of knowledge, and they shelled out money to prove it.
Now, click on that top course and scroll to “Curriculum.” There it is — what my author friends would call the “Table of Contents.”
Let’s look.
This snippet gives you the perfect outline for an article, blog post, or content series that you already know resonates with your audience.
Plagiarism is a no-no, as I’m sure you understand, but you can use this strategy to fire your creativity in a way you know will resonate with your persona.
1. Use Latent Semantic Indexing in Your SEO Writing
If you want to rank higher, you’ll need to give search engines a little boost. That’s where latent semantic indexing (LSI) comes into play.
Also known as semantic keywords, LSI helps Google and other search engines understand what your content is really all about. You’ll need to sprinkle these throughout your article to be effective.
But how do you find them?
There are two ways I like. One is through Google itself. Simply type in your keyword (I used “ethically sourced coffee”) and you’ll get a series of snippets for results.
Here’s mine:
Notice those bolded words in the snippet — ethical sourcing and coffee sourcing? Those are your LSI words. You can comb through all your snippets until you get a nice handful to add to your content.
The second way is to use a free online tool, like lsigraph.com. I typed in my search term, and got this:
While some of the results generated here can be off-topic, you can see there’s a rich variety of material to be used as an SEO content strategy template.
2. Get Social with It
It’s not just enough to learn how to write SEO-friendly content — you have to share it, too. Every article should have a call-to-action (CTA).
Why?
Because you’re always selling something — your website.
Each article should, at the very least, have a CTA that encourages readers to share — through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites where your target audience hangs out.
Brian Dean of Backlinko did this with one of his posts, which got 2900 tweets by adding a Click-to-Tweet button as a CTA at the end of the post.
It’s free at Click-to-Tweet.com. Just sign in with your Twitter account, post your message and generate a clickable link for the end of your content, like so:
Why? One reason is that sharing takes less time than reading and it still garners interaction from friends and the online community.
But what attracts those readers to share an article they haven’t read? The headline.
3. Create SEO Headlines that Increase Engagement
The headline is the most critical part of your SEO copywriting template. It’s the thing that draws the reader even when they don’t read the article.
As influencer Jayson DeMers says in an article for Forbes:
“The body copy of your content is still important, but these days,
headlines are the true kings of content.”
SEOMoz breaks this down nicely into five actionable steps:
Determine your audience and your goals.
Optimize your headline for the channel that’s most demanding.
Write a simple, no-frills headline.
Now write one that’s optimized for clickability.
Now combine Steps 3 and 4 and include appropriate keywords.
Now, I’m going to throw in a little extra for all of you looking for a hard-and-fast SEO copywriting template — a couple of great little headline analyzers to help you nail that shareable title.
First, the Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer. Select your category — I’m still all about the beans, so I’ll choose Food & Dining.
Now, input your proposed headline, like so:
And get your results.
The best headlines have intellectual, empathetic, and spiritual elements, but that, of course, varies according to your audience.
Looks like my headline could use a bit of work, and Coschedule’s told me exactly where I can improve. Here’s one that fared better, even without the emotional twist.
But watch what happens when we add a dollop of emotion — kablam!
Now that’s a clickable headline that can drive traffic to your site and garner shares and engagement — just what you’re looking for when creating unique SEO content.
6 Tips for Writing Down the Line: How Authentic Content Wins Readers
Finally, one of the most tried-and-true SEO content writing tips is to write with passion and with the aim to share something valuable with your reader.
Authenticity and relatability are important, and valuable content drives traffic.
Adweek notes that more than 80% of consumers research before they buy, and your site can offer the information they need.
Or, you can offer a platform for engagement, which draws social sharing readers to you.
An SEO content strategy always involves a calendar to help your team coordinate toward a singular content goal. A calendar gives guidance for deadlines and helps with advance planning of strategic releases of pivotal content.
2. Know your audience and segment them into reachable groups.
We already talked about the importance of knowing your audience. If you have more than one persona that typically buys your product or services, then you’ll need to divide your content production efforts among each persona.
3. Make sure your content is evergreen — meaning always useful.
Once you’ve got solid cornerstone content going on, break it up into different pages for each segment of your audience. This can be separate landing pages or by categories in your header or blog.
4. Spread your content around by diversifying.
Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and other platforms to share with your audience. The more diverse your content, the more likely it will be seen — and shared.
5. Consistency is key.
Make a style guide and ensure that your team sticks with it. Have one “voice” across all content — whether that’s witty, fun, professional, serious, intellectual, or whatever resonates with your audience.
6. Check and analyze your data.
This will allow you to see what content is working — and what’s not. If something’s not engaging your audience, pivot and try something else.
And finally, because it bears repeating — be authentic with your audience. Give them value and transparency in your content and you’ll win not just readers — but fans.
The SEO Content Creation Roundup
You can’t live in Austin, Texas without throwing the word “roundup” in an article every now and then. It’s authentic — and it just fits.
If you’re looking for a quick recap of all the bright, actionable ideas inside this article, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve explored the basics of SEO copywriting and content creation:
Developing a niche target
Creating a persona
Getting a keyword strategy that performs
Building on that, we looked at great new ways of creating SEO keywords that can grab some of that organic traffic for your website:
Long-tail keywords
Keyword Phrases
Semantic (LSI) keywords
Getting keywords from online forums where your audience chats
We’ve looked at new trends in search that are driving changes in SEO content:
Voice search
Semantic keywords
There’s no denying the importance of content in SEO. We’ve discovered new ways of producing content that wins audiences and encourages sharing:
Video content
Click-to-Tweet and social media sharing links
And we’ve outlined a few of the most important — and critical — elements of an SEO content creation strategy that should help you drive traffic more effectively once you implement them.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the down-low on this year’s most interesting changes in the SEO content creation environment — I know I’ve enjoyed pulling them all together for you.
More importantly, I want you to take what you’ve learned and use it.
SEO copywriting tips aren’t meant to just be shared and forgotten.
They’re meant to take your website — and your SEO content — to a whole, new shareable level.
Need great content? Our team can help. Over 16,500 content projects completed to date, with a 99% client happiness rate. View our pricing here.
When you’re lining up what you need to know to serve your clients best in content marketing skillsets, think content strategy.
What base knowledge should you have a grasp on, and which topics do you need to dive deeply inside of to get ahead in the industry?
If you don’t know what kind of content strategy training you need to succeed, you’re in the right place.
You can teach yourself everything you need to know to implement successful content marketing – or have your staff members take this course, and with this knowledge empower them to better serve your client base. How much is that worth? Possibly thousands of dollars.
But first things first. Let’s find out what today’s necessary content strategy training topics are. Ready?
13 Content Strategy Training Topics You Need to Succeed
According to the Content Marketing Institute (one of the major industry leaders in our beautiful industry), you need a documented strategy for your content and marketing.
You’ll be more effective, feel more confident in your efforts, and will have zero problems justifying why a specific chunk of your marketing budget (or your company/client’s marketing budget) should go to content marketing.
Why is a strategy so vital to the process?
Why does strategy = success?
It provides a framework to follow – a roadmap to ROI.
It leaves out any guesswork.
Instead of guessing, it tells you exactly what you need to do to power your content marketing.
CMI defines the underlying framework for successful content marketing as 5 principles that are essential for this sturdy foundation:
Creating and Preparing an Editorial Calendar (process)
Maintaining Your Content Strategy (process, measurement)
Naturally, each and every one of these topics is covered in the Content Strategy & Marketing Course, over 6 modules (check out the course syllabus to see how this shakes out).
To give you a general overview of what each module entails, we’ve outlined them below.
This book is a useful resource both on its own and as a reference while you’re moving through the course modules.
Next, you’ll learn key steps to content creation you can use every time, for every piece you sit down to create. These steps comprise a workflow you will follow that makes creation easier – and results in better content.
You’ll discover:
The three stages of the content process: ideation, creation, and preparation
How to map topic ideation to your content goals
Tips to make each step of the workflow go more smoothly
How to find trending topics, buyer-focused topics, and sales awareness topics for your content with industry tools
Choose the Right Content Strategy Training for Concrete, Real Results
The right content strategy training should teach you everything you need to know about the topic, front to back.
I call this “full-circle knowledge” – you’ll have everything you need to implement successful content marketing, and even build your own successful content marketing agency team.
That way, you can confidently go forward and create/implement your own strategy – not to mention, see the best results from this full-circle, complete knowledge.
So, what does the right content strategy and marketing training look like?
It is:
Comprehensive – It covers everything you need to successfully create and execute your own content strategy.
Practical – It offers education and advice for the real world.
Actionable – You can take what you learn and apply it immediately.
Easy to follow – It isn’t full of jargon or industry-speak that goes over your head.
Useful – There is no fluff or filler; every lesson is worth your time and effort.
While lots of other types of content eventually turn brown, lose their readers, and die off, evergreen content remains fresh, interesting, and relevant.
It’s always green, and it keeps bringing in the green – whether that means traffic, engagement, conversions, or even sales.
So, the question at hand is not whether you need it.
Let’s face it: you do.
If you haven’t yet…
The question now is how to build evergreen content that is actually forever green.
Today on the blog, I’m answering that question. Let’s dive in.
First: What’s the Opposite of Evergreen Content?
Evergreen content has a polar opposite, and it’s important to define that as we get started.
Content that is fleeting or quickly dated because it’s based on current stats, trends, news, or data is not evergreen.
Some examples:
Announcements and event summaries
Blogs discussing trends in your industry
News stories
Holiday or season-centered posts (with exceptions)
The information in these types of content has an expiration date. They will cease being useful after a certain point in time.
Meanwhile, evergreen content is always useful, relevant, and valuable, even if a reader stumbles on your content months, or even years, after you publish it.
A good mix of both is a healthy way to publish content on your website.
5 Evergreen Content Examples and Topics with Everlasting Life
Before we get into how to build evergreen content, let’s look at some examples in action.
These evergreen content topics are tried-and-true, as you’ll see from the blogs below.
1. How-To Blogs and Articles
A good, evergreen how-to post teaches your readers a concept, idea, or skill that has lasting value. It’s something they can refer to over and over, now and in the future.
Copyblogger has lots of examples of great how-to posts. One that has lasting value is their blog on how to judiciously consume content.
2. Curated Content Lists
Curated content lists have a lasting value up to a point – they may include tools or tips that can lose relevancy. But, as long as you update them to reflect changing technology, you’ll have a solid evergreen post that will last and last with little effort.
This post from Social Media Examiner is a perfect example of a curated list. If any of the tools become obsolete or outdated, they can update the post on an as-needed basis.
3. Stories/Interviews
Stories and interviews have lasting value as content because they tap into the wisdom of thought leaders, innovators, or pioneers in the industry.
Or, think of it this way: Storytelling never goes out of style. People love hearing about people, so including real human stories in your content has evergreen value.
Pixar is a successful animation studio known for its innovation, creativity, and storytelling chops. This interview with a Pixar animator by Marcia Riefer Johnson for CMI showcases how you can successfully glean inspiration and wisdom from creators across industries. This information will stay relevant for a long time.
4. Original Research/Case Studies
Despite the fact that the data they present will eventually become dated, case studies and original research are definitely evergreen content for two reasons:
1. You can pull universal truths from them – strategies, techniques, or steps that others can learn from.
2. They tell a story.
These two factors are universally valuable, no matter the date of the study/research.
SEOers get regular questions about the mysteries of Google search regularly. This post smartly addresses a general topic area (duplicate content and the effect it has on SEO) and answers FAQs that many confused marketers ask over and over.
How to Build Evergreen Content
It’s time to get down to creating evergreen content. Our best tips to get started are right here:
1. Write for Beginners When Building Your Topic
For any type of content creation, you need to have an audience firmly in mind before you begin.
However, when building evergreen content, you should hone in on beginners to your topic vs. any other group.
Why?
Because these are the people most likely to be searching for help. And, above all, evergreen content is helpful and useful for the long-term.
2. Narrow Your Focus
If you attempt to explain a topic that’s too broad in your evergreen content… Well, you could be writing for weeks.
Take, for example, a topic like World War II.
This is a huge, sprawling topic that has innumerable sub-topics. For example, which year or span of years during WWII are getting your attention? Will you approach the topic from the viewpoint of the Nazis, the Allies, the Axis, or the Americans? What countries will you cover? Which battles/attacks? Which leaders?
Behemoth topics like this one are also harder for readers to immediately latch onto. There are too many rabbit holes, wormholes, and tangents you can fall down, here.
Instead, dive deep and create content around a narrower facet of a topic.
For instance, instead of attempting to write a start-to-finish guide to content marketing (this requires a book-length amount of work – I should know), choose a sub-topic to explore thoroughly, like finding your audience or blog post promotion.
3. Ask Yourself: “Will This Be Useful in a Year? 2 Years? 5?”
This one is simple. If your evergreen content idea won’t be useful or valuable at least a year from now, it’s not actually evergreen.
Think long and hard about the utility of the information you want to offer. Will it expire before the year is up? Or will it carry on proudly into 2 years… or even 5 years??
If you can justify it staying valuable and relevant that long, you have a golden evergreen opportunity.
4. Air It Out: Share (and Re-Share) Evergreen Content on Social Media
Good news: Social media is the perfect place to give your evergreen content a good airing.
Since this content is consistently relevant and valuable, you can share and re-share on your social networks and let it reach new audiences. It will help boost your brand authority, too, since these are big kahuna posts you spent lots of time perfecting.
So, go ahead: Create evergreen content, then, as time goes by, dig back into your archives and share them with your followers again…
And again.
Sharing evergreen content on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networks is ALWAYS a good idea. We regularly do so on @ExpWriters Twitter account:
There’s no denying that awesome #copywriting ? skills can help you earn more sales!
But in order to see results, there are a few secrets you need to know! And we’re spilling 10 of them over on the blog. ??
In today’s report, we want to give you a list of outstanding content marketers, doing real and wonderful things in our industry.
And to start, perhaps we should define what an “influencer” really means.
These days, people aren’t putting their trust in one-off endorsements from celebrities or TV personalities. Instead, they’re choosing to trust people they can actually interact with, learn from, and admire: up close, and personal. And social media has made this all possible. Our favorite people are right there, within reach.
Those people you follow, look up to, and know from your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram feeds have major clout. Their sheer gravitas is enough to move people to act. That’s huge, and that’s the basis of influencer marketing. It’s more relevant than ever in 2018, as consumer preferences move farther and farther away from traditional ads (particularly Generation Z). Today’s influencer types include social media experts, popular YouTube users, bloggers, and celebrities (Sprout Social).
Before we get into our official Top 100 Content Marketer influencer list, let’s discuss the concepts on which we actually built the list.
(Want to save a copy of the infographic to read later? Download here.)
How Did We Build the List of Top 100 Content Marketers?
Our gross data points for this list were gathered on BuzzSumo, one of my favorite content intelligence tools.
We combined both the Top Authors and Top Influencers for “content marketing,” cross-examined the results on both lists, and merged them into one, final list.
We cleaned it up by removing accounts that had been suspended, had absolutely nothing to do with content marketing, or hadn’t tweeted about it in 5+ months.
The top 100 accounts in both Authors and Influencers for “content marketing,” with a clear direct focus on content marketing and digital/inbound marketing, and an active role in the content marketing field (CEO, VP, Director, Marketer) were included.
Fairness was important to us. We includedteams and single marketers (a good balance of both women and men). Both teams and their team members had the opportunity to make the list. So, that’s why you’ll see both @Hubspot and a couple Hubspot writers/marketers on the list. We think that industry teams that work hard as a whole, as well as the individual people that really get behind moving content marketing inside the team, both deserve recognition.
Our key goal with this year’s “The Top 100 Content Marketers” was to create a current, accurate, and real content marketing influencer list.
Since the Twitter purge the week of July 9, which caused millions and millions of accounts on Twitter to be deleted and removed from the platform, it’s becoming more relevant and necessary than ever to maintain a real presence on social media. Not a presence built by bots, fake followers, and an overnight rush of success. But a real, humanly-built, humanly-connected presence.
Over 2.5 months of work and 50-70 hours of team work has gone into the research and final list of 100. I worked on the final report-gathering research and work, the team at BuzzSumo helped me along the way (thanks, Susan Moeller!), and our team copywriters and editors helped me proof the list for any spam, as well as put all the bios together. Then, our editors proofread the copy while our designer put together a beautiful infographic and PDF. This was quite the project!
[bctt tweet=”Fairness to both teams and individual marketers, as well as looking for leaders that have been recently active in content marketing, was important in building our #Top100ContentMarketers report. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”]
How Does BuzzSumo Populate Their “Search Influencers” Feature?
BuzzSumo combines and measures a lot of different data points to help you find influencers in an industry based on their Twitter profiles.
Metrics that weigh into top-ranked include page authority, domain authority, total # of followers, real engagement: their retweet ratio, and more.
The most important data point, however, is one BuzzSumo keeps under wraps: Relevancy.
According to Susan, the relevancy factor measures how accurately a Twitter influencer matches the user search. For example, if I search for influencers using the keyword “content marketing,” BuzzSumo returns a list based on their own relevancy score for those results.
We can surmise that this score depends on weighing all the factors together (total followers, domain authority, etc.) and ranking the results accordingly.
However, there are other, proprietary factors involved that BuzzSumo won’t disclose. In other words, they use a “secret sauce” to return relevant influencers during a search. And, this proprietary factor is what makes their tool so special. Personally, in the last seven years of doing content marketing full time I’ve tried dozens of other content analysis-based tools, and I consistently find BuzzSumo the most accurate (accurate on share counts, followers, and minimal spam).
Without further ado, we present The Top 100 Content Marketers for 2018. You can expand and scroll through the SlideShare embedded below, or download as a PDF and save for later.
The Top 100 Content Marketers (Real Industry Influencers)
CMI is one of the top authorities in the industry. Their conferences, events, courses, and blog all highlight advice from experts, down-to-earth teaching, and a focus on advancing content marketing.
Not only is Ann Handley the brains behind Marketing Profs – she’s also a pioneer of digital marketing, an inspiring speaker, and a best-selling author (Everybody Writes and Content Rules).
Another major name in the industry, Joe Pulizzi is the founder of CMI and a content marketing movement leader. He’s a speaker, an entrepreneur, and has authored go-to books like Epic Content Marketing, Content Inc., and Killing Marketing.
Lilach Bullock is a social media and lead generation machine. She shares her knowledge through speaking engagements, coaching, and consulting. Forbes named her one of the Top 20 Women Social Influencers in 2013.
Jay Baer is the founder of Convince & Convert, a digital marketing consulting agency. He’s a renowned marketing expert, speaker, author, and industry leader.
HubSpot offers a suite of tools to manage sales, marketing, and CRM, but they also publish content, hold conferences, and foster community around content marketing.
Mike Allton is a social media consultant and blogger, not to mention the brain behind The Social Media Hat, a resource for small businesses to stay up-to-date on social media marketing, SEO, and related topics.
Look no further than Mark Schaefer for expert advice on building your own brand identity. He’s a noted marketer, educator, speaker, and author (see: Known and The Content Code) who knows social media marketing inside-out.
Want to learn about blogging profitably? Darren Rowse, the founder of ProBlogger, is your guy. He built his career around blogging and is an expert speaker, author, and podcaster on the topic.
Copyblogger’s co-founder, Brian Clark, is your authority source on online content. He’s also an entrepreneur and author who has been in the trenches of content marketing, growing his ventures without advertising.
Moz’s former CEO, Rand Fishkin, is now half of the brains behind SparkToro, a software company for discovering where your audience lives online. He’s also an author (Lost and Founder), a speaker, and a champion of better marketing.
Glen Gilmore travels the world and helps Fortune 500 companies hone their digital marketing strategies. He’s also one of Forbes’ Top 20 Social Media Influencers.
CoSchedule is a software company that helps you streamline your marketing management, planning, and workflows with a drag-and-drop calendar. Their blog has over 225,000 subscribers, probably because they provide practical advice and information to make your marketing better.
Crowdfire is a social media management app that helps you schedule posts, optimize your accounts, and more. Their blog and Twitter feed are full of tidbits to improve your social media marketing.
Along with his role as the CEO of Marketing Insider Group, Michael Brenner is also a keynote speaker, author, and customer-centric marketing proponent. His work has been featured in The Guardian, Entrepreneur Magazine, and The Economist.
Contently is a content marketing management platform, a hub for hiring content creators, and an all-in-one service that takes you from strategy to published content. Their award-winning blog focuses on storytelling, strategy, trends, and more.
Tamara McCleary is the CEO and founder of Thulium, a company focused on social amplification for B2Bs and B2Cs. She’s a social influencer, a branding expert, and an IBM Futurist.
TopRank Marketing’s CEO is Lee Odden. He’s also an author (Optimize), a top digital marketer, and an in-demand speaker and presenter on marketing topics.
Buffer is all about social media management. It’s software that helps you with scheduling posts, tracking analytics, and juggling your accounts. The company also publishes a steady stream of quality content about the ins and outs of social media marketing.
Christoph Trappe is a marketing expert who focuses on the power of storytelling, even calling himself “The Authentic Storyteller.” He’s one of Marketing Insider’s Top 25 Content Marketers, and is a globally recognized speaker.
Sonia Simone heads up Rainmaker Digital as its Chief Content Officer and co-founder. She hosts the “Confessions of a Pink-Haired Marketer” podcast and offers advice, rants, and interviews from the marketing world.
Jay Acunzo is a former digital media strategist for Google. His company, Unthinkable Media, helps B2Bs produce better podcasts. He also runs his own award-winning podcast, “Unthinkable,” which showcases people who have defied conventional thinking.
Aaron Orendorff has been published on virtually every major industry blog possible, including Fast Company, Inc., Content Marketing Institute, The Huffington Post, SalesForce, and Entrepreneur. He’s the Editor in Chief at Shopify Plus, and Forbes named him a Top 10 B2B Content Marketer.
Heidi authors The Actionable Marketing Guide blog, using her expertise from marketing gigs at Citibank, The Economist, and Bertelsmann as a base. She also taught graduate-level marketing at institutions like Rutgers and New York University.
After beginning his career at the prestigious Ogilvy & Mather, Doug Kesslereventually co-founded Velocity, a content marketing agency where he serves as Creative Director.
Kristina Halvorson is the founder and CEO of Brain Traffic, a content strategy company. She’s also the founder of Confab Events, wrote Content Strategy for the Web, and hosts The Content Strategy Podcast.
Copyblogger uses their platform to teach content marketing skills, especially content writing and copywriting, to the marketing masses. Their community is over 330,000 subscribers strong.
NewsCred offers solutions for enterprise content marketing, including a content marketing platform, content creation, and consulting. They also serve up a wide range of content and expertise on marketing topics.
Robert Rose is a big-leagues content marketer plus the founder and Chief Strategy Officer for The Content Advisory, which is an offshoot of The Content Marketing Institute. He has written three books, the most recent being Killing Marketing, which he co-authored with Joe Pulizzi.
A marketing executive with over 20 years of experience, Gerry Moran has worked with brands like IKEA, HBO, and Purina. He’s also the Global Head of Social Media at Cognizant, which provides digital services to increase efficiency and innovation for businesses.
Henneke Duistermaat is the pen behind Enchanting Marketing (and her cartoon alter-ego, Henrietta). She is a writer who has been featured on Copyblogger and Kissmetrics, and an educator who has created multiple courses on business writing to improve your marketing results.
Along with her role as the founder and CEO at Express Writers, Julia is also a podcast host (“The Write Podcast”), an author (So You Think You Can Write? and Practical Content Strategy & Marketing), and an educator who teaches content strategy to burgeoning marketers.
Kissmetrics is an customer analytics and engagement automation software company. They share tips, hacks, and tricks to help you understand your base better.
Jeff Bullas has been named a Top 20 CMO Influencer by Forbes, the #1 Global Content Marketing Influencer by Marketing Insider, and other accolades from Entrepreneur, Apollo Research, and Onalytica. He’s a speaker, a strategist, and runs JeffBullas.com, an internationally recognized business blog.
Erika Heald has over 20 years in the industry under her belt, and has worked for brands like Charles Schwab, Slack, and UnitedHealth. She’s currently a content marketing and social media consultant for specialty food and technology start-ups.
The CEO of Vertical Measures, Arnie Kuenn, is also an internationally-recognized content marketing speaker and educator. He has been in the industry for over 25 years and has written two books, Accelerate! and Content Marketing Works.
Ann Handley is the CEO of MarketingProfs and appears twice on this list (see @marketingprofs). She wrote one of the essential handbooks on content writing, Everybody Writes, which is a Wall Street Journal bestseller.
Berrak Sarikaya is a content marketer and strategist whose M.O. is to help businesses amplify their unique message. She is also a speaker who has presented at CMWorld.
Search Engine Watch has been providing tips, advice, analysis, and information to marketers about improving their site’s online visibility in search engines since 1997.
A content agency committed to great online content, Express Writers focuses on quality, writing for the reader, and SEO best-practices to launch clients’ content to the top of Google. EW is also the brand behind #ContentWritingChat and The Write Blog.
Convince & Convert is a digital marketing consulting company that puts strategy first. Its CEO is Jay Baer, an internationally-recognized marketer and influencer who has worked with major global brands.
Ross Hudgens is the CEO and founder of Siege Media, a South Dakota-based content marketing agency with an SEO bent. The company was named one of the Fasted Growing Companies in SD by Inc.
A digital marketer, influencer, and entrepreneur, Neil Patel made his name through ventures like CrazyEgg and Kissmetrics. He blogs at NeilPatel.com and co-hosts a podcast, “Marketing School” with Eric Su.
A companion to Garrett Moon of CoSchedule’s book, The 10x Marketing Formula, this Twitter feed offers tips to “start thinking like a scrappy start-up.”
Sujan Patel is a content marketer who focuses on growth marketing with his company, Web Profits. He has worked with clients like Expedia, Zillow, LinkedIn, and SalesForce, and blogs for the likes of Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and Inc.
A content marketing company that has a start-to-finish approach, Influence & Co. also has a blog (The Knowledge Bank) and dishes out information and advice for marketers.
Marcus Sheridan is an internationally-recognized keynote speaker who educates marketers about how to connect and communicate with their audiences in the digital world.
PathFactory is a software platform that helps you track analytics and manage content delivery so it’s totally optimized. On their blog and Twitter, they share insights about how the buyer’s journey and content should merge.
As the Consulting Director of Editorial Content and Curation at Content Marketing Institute, Jodi Harris wears many hats: content strategist, writer, curator, and more. She also is an independent content marketing consultant and advises businesses about brand storytelling.
Tim Soulo is Ahrefs’ Head of Marketing and Product Strategy and has 7 years of experience in the industry. He also runs the Ahrefs YouTube channel and posts SEO guides and research studies on their blog.
An award-winning marketing company, Zen Media handles strategy, content development and production, digital storytelling, social amplification, and more for their clients. These have included Chase for Business, Dippin’ Dots, and Cox Communications.
Benji Hyam is a growth marketing expert and the co-founder of Grow and Convert, a whole-package content marketing agency. They focus on creating content as well as measuring and delivering content marketing results.
Carla Johnson champions storytelling in marketing and works with Fortune 500 brands so they can make it happen. She’s a frequent keynote speaker, an author (her most recent is Experiences: The 7th Era of Marketing), and is regularly touted as one of the top B2B influencers in the world.
Aaron Agius is the co-founder of Louder Online, a multi-dimensional digital marketing agency that has worked with enterprise-level brands like Coca-Cola, Target, LG, IBM, and Salesforce. He’s also a speaker, and Forbes called him “one of the world’s best marketers.”
Marketing consultant Jen Dewar is all about lead generation for B2Bs, but she also shares her knowledge on social media marketing, content marketing, search engine optimization, and more at seminars, trade shows, conferences, and webinars.
Brooke Sellas is the CEO of B Squared Media, a social media management company that focuses on conversations over campaigns. Mark Schaefer named her a rising social media star, and Post Planner named her one of the 125 best people to follow for social media geeks.
Michele Linn is the former head of editorial for Content Marketing Institute – in fact, she was the first person Joe Pulizzi hired. She recently co-founded Mantis Research, a consultancy focused on educating and helping marketers publish and amplify credible original research.
Louis Grenier is the host of the “Everybody Hates Marketers” podcast, where he dishes out advice for a better, more authentic way of getting your brand out there. He often sits down with big industry leaders like Seth Godin, Rand Fishkin, and Joanna Wiebe.
This social media management company has a philosophy that’s simple but impactful: “A simple hello can lead to a million things.” Their award-winning approach emphasizes conversations in marketing, and they have served clients like IBM, Inc., Yahoo!, and Spin Sucks.
A successful digital marketing consultant, Shane Barker has worked with everyone from start-ups to celebrities and helped them hone their brand image and achieve their goals. He’s also a UCLA instructor and an influencer marketing proponent.
Joanna Wiebe is the original “conversion copywriter.” She started writing at businesses and agencies, then started Copy Hackers, where she teaches marketers and businesses how to write amazing copy. She’s the co-founder of Airstory, a writing collaboration tool.
Ahava Leibtag is the founder and president of Aha Media, a content strategy and marketing consultancy that specializes in content for complex industries like finance and healthcare. She’s a speaker, an author (The Digital Crown: Winning at Marketing on the Web), and has over 20 years of writing and marketing experience.
Marsha Wright is an entrepreneur, influencer, business expert, and media personality. She founded multiple ventures, including Global Travel Clothing Company, and hosts the mega-popular #ThingBIGSundaywithMarsha.
John Hall is the co-founder of Influence & Co., one of the top content providers in the industry. He’s the best-selling author of Top of Mind, and has been the recipient of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award.
A marketer wearing many hats is nothing new, but Jo Gifford seemingly wears them all. She’s a blogger, copywriter, graphic designer, podcaster, and small business marketer who helps brands unearth their uniqueness.
John Jantsch is a marketing consultant for small businesses and the founder of Duct Tape Marketing. He also hosts the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, and has written a number of books, including The Referral Engine and Duct Tape Selling.
Speaker, author, and digital marketer Mark Traphagen was named a Top 25 Content Marketing & Social Media Influencer by Onalytica. He’s the Senior Director of Brand Evangelism at Perficient Digital (formerly Stone Temple Consulting).
Named a Top 25 Digital Marketing Influencer by Marketing Insider Group, Marcus Miller is also a columnist for Search Engine Land and the founder of Bowler Hat.
Justin Champion is a HubSpot Academy Content Professor, a self-described “digital nomad,” and a speaker who focuses on teaching small and medium-sized businesses how to make marketing easier.
John White is an Inc. magazine columnist, where he has interviewed business biggies like Mark Cuban and Gatorade. He heads up Social Marketing Solutions, a lead generation company, and is a branding and influencer marketing expert.
Pam Moore is the CEO of Marketing Nutz, a marketing and branding agency, and Social Profit Factor, a social media marketing training academy. She’s also an in-demand speaker and has presented at HubSpot Inbound, Social Media Marketing World, the Social Media Strategies Summit, and more.
Ryan Thompson is a social media marketer who regularly works with Fortune 500s. He focuses on driving growth and building partnerships in business, especially industries like tourism and talent.
Terry Green handles social media and marketing for speakers and coaches looking to turn their brand identity up more than a few notches. She runs BizEase Support Solutions to help eliminate marketing overwhelm.
The founder of Learn SEO Fast, a suite of courses for learning how to gain visibility in search, is Joe Williams. He has trained thousands of marketers and has been featured in publications like The Huffington Post and The Guardian.
AE Marketing Group is all about elevating brands to new heights with marketing, digital storytelling, strategy, and brand building. They have won multiple prestigious marketing awards, including ranking in the Inc. 5000.
Jason Quey calls himself “the Storyteller Marketer” for good reason. His company of the same name helps clients figure out their overarching strategy, then uses that blueprint to spread their individual brand story. He’s been featured in Forbes, SalesForce, Copyblogger, and Entrepreneur, to name a few.
Rajasekar was named one of the Top 100 Content Leaders by World Marketing Congress in 2017. He’s a content and social media strategist interested in audience engagement and helping people realize their full potential.
This self-described “crack team” of marketers, creatives, and SEO geeks is an award-winning agency that creates a wide range of content for brands of all types and styles.
Joel Klettke is a SaaS and B2B copywriter who heads Business Casual Copywriting and Case Study Buddy. He’s also a digital marketer who has contributed to brands like HubSpot, Safelite, and WP Engine.
Ardath Albee is a content marketing strategist with over 30 years of experience in business management and marketing. She’s the author of Digital Relevance and eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale, as well as the CEO of Marketing Interactions.
A digital marketing consultant, educator, and trainer, Ian Cleary founded Razor Social as well as OutreachPlus, an email marketing tool. He’s a respected speaker and has been featured in Fox Business, Content Marketing Institute, Yahoo! Small Business, VentureBeat, and more.
Tania Varga is the CCO at Axonn Media, a top U.K. content marketing agency that takes care of strategy, content creation, amplification, and analysis for its clients.
As a video marketing strategist, Brandon Windsor helps businesses harness the potential and power of video marketing. He’s also a content creator through his production company, ARO Content, a speaker, and a digital marketing consultant.
Powers Digital Marketing was founded by its President, Amber Powers. She has 5 years under her belt in digital marketing, and her company loves helping businesses in the travel/hospitality industry harness their reach and online visibility.
Rohan Davidson is the founder of Content Consultant, a content marketing company based in Brisbane. He helps small and medium-sized businesses tailor their content for better results.
Alli Berry is a content marketing and SEO expert who has been featured as a top contributor for Moz. She’s also the Senior Manager and Content Lead for Two Octobers, a Denver-based digital marketing agency.
Lindsay Thibeault is the Content Manager for HubSpot Academy as well as one of its Inbound Professors. She contributes to the HubSpot Academy Blog and focuses on customer education.
Martin Jones is the Senior Social Media and Content Marketing Manager for Cox Communications and Cox Business. He’s a nationally-recognized speaker who has presented at conferences like SXSW, Digital Marketing World Forum, and Social Media Marketing World.
Carli Evilsizer is the Director of Brand Marketing at Roomi, an NYC-based peer-to-peer housing marketplace. She’s also a consultant who is known for working with startups of all types to help them build their identities. She has contributed to Elite Daily, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and more.
Brittany Berger, “the content unicorn,” has been crafting winning content marketing for 7 years. She has been featured by Inc., HubSpot, and The Huffington Post and runs a freelance business, BrittanyBerger.com.
B2B Marketing Exchange is a top industry conference where marketers can come together, network, learn, and grow their businesses. It has grown to include over 70 sessions and 100 expert speakers over 3 days.
Melissa Harrison is the founder and CEO of Allee Creative. She has 16 years of experience in the industry, and was named a Top Content Marketer by Content Marketing Institute as well as a Top Young Entrepreneur by Minnesota Business Magazine.
A 20-year vet of content marketing, Deana Goldasich is the former Director of Content and Production for HSN.com, where she helped build up brand names like Sephora and Wolfgang Puck. Today, she’s the founder of Well Planned Web and regularly lends her expertise as a speaker to conferences like Content Marketing World and Digital Summit.
Ryan Robinson is a content marketing consultant (with clients like Adobe and Zendesk) who has been featured on publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, and Business Insider. He also hosts a podcast, “The Side Hustle Project.”
Caroline Forsey is a staff writer for the HubSpot Marketing Blog. She is also a freelance content writer with a roster of clients in industries like business, education, tech, and data intelligence.
As a Senior SEO Scientist at Moz, Britney Muller works to increase lead generation using technical SEO, studies how to meet user intent, improves internal linking, and more. She’s also a speaker who has presented at industry events like Experience Inbound, ACTEM, and MozCon.
Gaining Top Content Marketing Props Takes Work, Not Luck
Here’s the main takeaway we can glean from this list:
Becoming top in our beautiful industry of content takes work.
You have to put out a lot to get anything back. You need to truly, authentically engage with your community and be active in the space.
Overnight success in the form of bought or fake followers are vanity metrics for a reason – they truly don’t mean anything. What does translate to build a real influencer-level presence comes down to two things: hard work building a reason to be known (a company, success in a role, consistent content year after year, an epic piece of content that everyone remembers), and real, human connections and conversations with their followers.
Instead, follow the lead of this mega list of incredible marketers.
It takes dedicated, passionate work to climb the mountain – but it’s worth every step.
