5 Steps to Create a Marketing Machine for Your Website

What if…

Content marketing wasn’t a hassle. It was seamless. It was efficient. It was set up optimally and well-structured. And all you had to do was follow a few simple steps. And everything would run like a well-oiled machine.

How much more productive would that make you?

Better yet…

How much more impact would that have on your business?

You’d be able to grow by leaps and bounds – wouldn’t you?

Agreed.

So let’s make it happen!

In this post, you’ll learn my 5-step process for creating a remarkable marketing machine for your website.

Step 1: Generate Content Ideas

It all starts with coming up with awesome content ideas.

Unfortunately…

This is a step A LOT of people get wrong. You see, instead of taking the time to generate content ideas, most newbies jump right in. And then they wonder why they run out of steam just a few days later.

If you’re going to win, you have to buckle down and get serious.

Fortunately…

It’s actually not that difficult.

You want to brainstorm at least 20-30 blog post ideas before you proceed to the next step.

I know coming up with good content ideas can be difficult. But it doesn’t have to be.

Here are some tips to make things easier:

• Use James Altucher’s “10 ideas a day” strategy – James is well-known for his writings on the idea muscle. According to James (and from personal experience), the more ideas you write down, the stronger your idea muscle grows. Do this religiously for about six months and you’ll be able to generate all types of ideas during the moments you need them the most. It works like a charm. Each day, set aside 15 minutes and brainstorm 10 new blog post ideas. They don’t have to be good. Just ideas. Don’t judge. Before you know it, you’ll start coming up with really good ideas… without trying.
• Google is your friend – During your idea generation phase, you’re going to be relying a lot on Google. From checking out lists of blog post ideas to seeing what others are writing about in your niche, make sure to do your research.
• Analyze your competitors – Figure out what types of content generate the greatest number of shares and comments. Each industry is different. Depending on your niche, you’ll soon come to recognize that certain types of posts generate far more buzz than others. Find these types of posts. And make note of them. You’re going to want to create something similar.

Step 2 – Decide on Your Publishing Schedule

Once you have a healthy list of 20-30 blog post ideas, you need to keep the momentum going. And establish an easy-to-follow publishing schedule.

There are a couple of questions you should ask yourself during this step:

• How frequently can you publish content on your blog?
• How much effort do you plan on exerting for each piece of content?

Once you’ve got clear-cut answers for the above, you should be able to create a pretty straightforward and easy-to-follow publishing schedule.

While doing so, it’s important to note that you shouldn’t stretch yourself too thin… especially not right off the bat.

A lot of people try to take on too much.

Don’t become the person who sets out to write every single day… but fails miserably.

It’s better to post once a week than post zero times a week.

Pick a schedule. We all have to start somewhere.

A good reference point is that you should be publishing fresh, original content to your blog at least once a week. If you’re unsure about your publishing schedule, start with once a week. Then you can adapt and make changes as you progress.

Step 3 – Slot Ideas Into Your Content Calendar

Here comes the fun part.

So you’ve got your content ideas and your publishing schedule down on paper – now it’s time to draw up your content calendar.

Why take the time to create a content calendar?

Here’s why:

• Having a content calendar makes things a lot easier – Creating fresh content for our blogs is a must-do. But it’s always a challenge. The reason is that most of us never take the time to plan things out. If you have a content calendar, you can know beforehand what the month entails. Having a plan makes things a lot easier. And you actually get things done.

• It’s a good tracking system – At the end of each month, you can compare actual results with what you intended to accomplish on your content calendar. This is a great way to ensure you’re staying on task and focusing on the things that matter.

• It inspires strategic thinking – There’s something about sitting down and creating a content calendar. It inspires strategic thinking. You’ll begin to develop a sixth sense for when you should publish what. And that’ll allow you to take your business to new levels.

Now that you know the importance of creating a content calendar – here are some tips to make sure the process is as seamless and efficient as possible:

• Organize and slot your posts into your calendar effectively – You don’t want a bunch of list posts grouped together or a bunch of how-to guides grouped together. You want variety. Ensure that there’s a good mix between all the different types of posts on your site.

• Play around with the size of the posts – Every post doesn’t have to be a monster 6,000-word article. Sometimes it’s okay to write just a 1,000-word post. Or a 500-word post. Play around with the length of your post. Mix things up.

• Use common sense – Some posts we create are better than others. Be wise and choose the places you insert these with great care.

With that said, go ahead and fill up your content calendar with your post ideas. You can either do this the old-fashioned way – using a simple calendar – or you can use various tools such as Edit Flow, CoSchedule, or a plain spreadsheet.

Every option is fine.

Just pick the one that works best for you.

Step 4: Get High-Quality Content Created

Creating content can be a hassle.

Creating HIGH-quality content can cause massive headaches.

But things don’t have to be as difficult as they initially appear.

In fact, if you do it right, you can create a pretty well-oiled machine that spits out high-quality content whenever you need it.

Here are some tips to scale your content production using these types of resources:

i) Create a new project for each website

If you want to be efficient, you have to set things up.

It starts with creating a new project for each website.

Having multiple websites grouped together is only begging for trouble and unnecessary stress – plus, it’ll waste a bunch of your time. So make sure you set things up correctly from the jump.

ii) Grow your team of good writers

The quality of your content ultimately depends on the skill level of your writers.

Obvious – right?

As obvious as it may be, you need to make growing your team of good writers a very strong priority. The failure to do so will only generate sub-par returns. You don’t want that – do you?

Thought so.

Here’s the process I follow:

I begin by creating 5 to 10 article orders at any given time.

Why so many?

Well, I do so for a few reasons. But the main reason is that I’m looking to see which writers have experience and can follow my instructions.

Once I’ve found writers meeting my requirements, I’ll invite them to write more.

Then whenever I require content, I’ll simply reach out to my vetted team of top-notch writers and I know they’ll deliver a great job.

iii) Be specific and detailed with your content briefs

Getting good content depends just as much on you as it does on the writer. And so, if you fail to create a detailed and comprehensive content brief, you’ll only receive sub-par content back.

This is one step where you absolutely do not want to give in to laziness.

What you’ll include in your content brief will vary and depend on your unique needs and viewpoints. But here are some general items to include:

• Type of Content – will you be needing blog posts, reviews, how-to’s, etc…?
• Purpose of Content – defining the purpose of the content will give your writers a greater degree of knowledge they can employ while writing your article. An article with the purpose of providing information compared to an article with the purpose to sell is entirely different. Set a clear purpose.
• Target Audience – who is your target audience? What are they like? Provide basic and even in-depth information about your target audience. Ideally, you want to have some type of customer avatar.
• Voice – do you want the writer to use 1st person or 3rd person? Set clear expectations up front to avoid frustrations down the line.
• Style/Tone – positive, neutral, enthusiastic. There are numerous tones and styles to choose from.
• List Your Formatting Requirements
• Include Resources the Writer May Find Helpful
• Provide Any Additional Guidelines You Deem Worthy to Include

iv) Ask for revisions until you’re happy

Rarely do you ask a writer to create a piece of content and it comes out looking perfect on the first attempt.

If that happens, that’s great!

Consider yourself one of the lucky ones. And hold onto your writer.

But if that doesn’t happen for you, don’t worry.

That’s what revisions are for – don’t hesitate to reach out and ask the writer to revise the content. Here are some things you can ask them to revise:

1. Add or remove points – great pieces of content are hard-hitting and connect with the reader on a deep level. With that said, make sure to add any points that will strengthen your post. On the other hand, make sure to remove any points that lessen the “blow” of your article.
2. Use facts – nothing validates your arguments and stance on any given topic more than facts. Google around and you’ll surely find facts that back up your statements. Use them. It’ll make your content a hundred times better.
3. Improve the flow – flow is one of the most important things to get right. You could write the most helpful article on the planet, but if you don’t make it easy to read, people won’t read it. Make sure your flow is easy on the eyes.
4. Correct grammar and spelling errors – this sounds useless, but it’s very important you get it right. The reason? Well, nothing destroys credibility more than errors. If you’re not good at spotting errors, get someone to review your content. A second opinion will surely help you out a ton.

Step 5 – Publish and Promote

The hard work is done.

Your content has gone from being just an idea to a high-quality article.

Now it’s time to publish the article to your website. Make sure to include proper formatting and insert images to spice things up.

Once done, make sure to share your post on your social media channels.

If you have an email list, let your subscribers know as well.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it!

Investing in good-quality content is becoming more and more important these days, and it’s proven to be worthwhile. Discover how it can boost your marketing efforts.

What’s your favorite way to outsource content creation? I’d love to know your thoughts in the comment section.

Author Bio

Tung Tran has over 6 years of experience building and growing high-traffic websites through SEO and content marketing. He’s currently blogging at CloudLiving.com to share the lessons he learned along the way and help other people to achieve the same success.

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