Blogging is an effective way to build an online business, even today. It’s no wonder that, according to OptinMonster, over 50% of marketers state that it has brought in new customers.
Also, did you know that blogging regularly can increase your return on investment (ROI) by 13 times?
So, if you still don’t have a website, you should check out our certified community members. They’ll be able to help you create killer content that will look great on all types of devices, while the best local SEO agencies will make sure your blogs reach their target audience.
As blogging allows you to inform your potential and existing customers about your business and products, it’s a great way to influence people.
As many as 71% of B2B industry professionals state that their purchasing decisions were influenced by reading a corporate blog.
For that reason, adopting content management trends can optimize in-house processes, drive more leads, and create more quality content.
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What is content management?
Content management refers to collecting, delivering, retrieving, and general managing information in different formats. There are different types of content management, but we’ll focus on web content management in this article.
If you want to create, edit, and publish digital content effortlessly, you’ll want to use content management programs and platforms. These programs allow you to post text, images, videos, and other digital content without learning how to code.
Content management allows companies to gain complete control over the information they want to publish. They control who can see and modify it. They can also see how many times the content has changed and, what it looked like five months ago, the difference between multiple versions.
Content management software enables companies to have several content managers for a site, easily maintain it and have complete control over their content.
What are the stages of content management?
Content management, like everything else in life, has a lifecycle. This cycle consists of six stages:
- Plan. Before you start publishing content, you need to come up with a plan. What kind of content can help you achieve your purpose? When are you going to publish it? Does it align with your business goals? These and many other questions should be answered in your content management strategy.
- Develop. Once you’ve come up with a plan, it’s time to execute it. Depending on your content management strategy, you’ll create content in different forms: blogs, images, videos, and more.
- Manage. Randomly publishing new content without organizing it will make it difficult for people to find it. For that reason, it’s important to upload and group similar content, as well as keep it up-to-date for future use.
- Distribute. You want to make sure your content reaches the right audience. This means you need to send content to affiliates or publish it on social media or on your blog. Regardless of the marketing channel, it’s essential to distribute your content in a trackable manner so that people can easily find you.
- Optimize. Once you’ve distributed your content, you’ll have to ensure it performs well. It’s crucial that you use the right keywords, add meta and title tags, and relevant links.
- Archive. Preserving content is an essential step in the content lifecycle. This is important because it helps you keep the content repository clutter-free and inactive content safe - you may need it at some point, right?
Though content management can never go out of style, trends do change. So, let’s explore the new ones.
Content Management trends for 2022
Optimizing content for voice search
Back in 2012, Google came out with the voice search feature. Ten years later, not only does the research say that 52% of users use voice search several times a day, but users also seem to use it for shopping. According to Statista, voice-based shopping will be on the rise in 2022.
Optimizing content for voice search is different because of the way this feature is used. When a user wants to know what the weather is like in New York, they’ll most likely type “weather New York” into the search bar. However, if they’re using voice search, they’ll say something like “What’s the weather like in New York.”
Developers of Google Voice Search, Siri, and other similar programs are constantly working on improving their ability to interpret questions like these, so optimizing content can be of great help. There are a couple of ways you can do that:
- Optimize website speed. Aside from the fact that page speed is a ranking factor, it also plays a role in voice search results. Voice assistant typically answers a user’s question in a second, while the average page loads in about 2 seconds. The quicker your page loads, the more you’re likely to claim a voice search result. During the website creation process, you should spend a lot of time focusing on your website speed.
- Use conversational language. Users tend to use conversational language when they Google something using a voice assistant. They want a quick answer given in a similar manner.
- Create a good heading structure. Since Google uses headings to better understand the content, it’s important that structure headings the right way - H1 is the most important one, while H2, H3, H4, and others are used to explain the importance of each piece of content in order. We also advise you to use a headline that asks a common question.
- Target long-tail keywords. Long-tail words are specific groups of keywords that tend to be easier to rank for because of their lower search volume. They are typically structured as a question or a phrase. Since voice assistants search for phrases and questions rather than a single word, using long-tail words will help them interpret your content better and provide accurate results.
- Optimize for rich answers. Users that use voice assistants expect a quick answer. We advise you to put a common question in the headline and follow with a concise answer to the question immediately after the headline. Use the rest of the page to provide more detail.
- Update pillar and best-performing content. Google uses bots that crawl, index, and rank websites in search results. By updating your content, you’ll increase your crawl rate, and the more frequently your content is crawled, the more visible it is. If your best-performing content isn’t optimized for voice search, make sure to do that as well.
Content recycling
Despite the fact that 4.4 million new blog posts are published every day, there is no reason for you to forget about your older content, especially if there are pieces with good rankings and backlinks. You can leverage these blog posts and revive their former glory by using different content recycling techniques:
- Audit content to identify best-performing pieces. The first step you need to take is to perform a systematical analysis to find out which pieces are the best-performing. You want to take advantage of the right pieces, not the ones that aren’t that good.
- Update content with new information. Google loves new content, which is why your older pieces are left behind. You can help them get back on track by inserting new information and updating the date of publication.
- Reinvent good content for new mediums. Blog posts are just one form of digital content. You can reinvent this content in other formats such as infographics, videos, podcasts, etc.
Automation
Were you aware that nearly 70% of marketers use content automation tools? These tools help content managers delegate tasks such as posting on social media, launching webinars, and personalization to the bots. This allows them to focus on creating and delivering quality content, instead of constantly managing basic tasks that can be automated.
Software intended for content management automation can automatically post, personalize, and monitor content.
For instance, tools like Sprout Social and Hootsuite can automate social media posting, which can save you a lot of time. Most of them allow you to integrate relevant tools for content ideation, creation, and tracking.
It’s easier to manage the site’s content and focus on publishing regularly rather than bothering with tech.
SEO & Digital Marketing
The importance of SEO and digital marketing in content management is undeniable. According to a survey conducted by Semrush, as many as 75% of marketers reported SEO was the most effective content marketing tactic they implemented.
SEO and digital marketing techniques will help you increase your search engine visibility, lead to higher audience engagement, and boost brand awareness. You can achieve that by optimizing your content through keyword research, metadata, and linking.
Another great idea is to repurpose existing content for different digital channels. You could, for instance, break down a long-form blog post into snippets for different social media channels such as Instagram or TikTok. You can also turn a part of it into an infographic.
Conclusion
Content management has changed in the past couple of years, especially as AI tools continue to develop. We are yet to see what content management systems will look like by the end of the year, but these trends won’t lead you astray.
Making the most out of content management benefits your business across the board, and it’s imperative to yield the best possible results.
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