How to Optimize High-Performing Content to Do Even More

If your company is like most larger corporations, you probably have a vast repository of old content that is still performing well. Did you know that you can get even more mileage out of these perennial favorites when you optimize your high-performing content for today’s audience?

What Makes a Piece of Content a Top Performer?

Content Marketing Institute’s Julia McCoy put it best. Great content should be “addictively readable.” I love that description.

But it also needs to be relevant to your target audience and “convert like crazy,” she adds.

I couldn’t have said it better. So, to optimize these top performers, you need to boost their addictive factor, drive more conversions, and make them more relevant, especially to today’s audiences.

Update Your Keywords for Today’s Searches

Five years ago, voice searches comprised only 20% of all online searches. Now, 71% of all consumers prefer voice search as opposed to typing search terms manually.

If your best content still contains keywords that you’ve optimized for manual search, you’re probably missing a large chunk of your target audience. Using natural language keywords, such as “Here’s where you can find the best pizza in Charleston” as opposed to just “best pizza Charleston,” can help you reach that 70% of the population that prefers voice search.

Secondly, word usage changes over time. Terms like “BIPOC,” “coworking,” and “pod” all took on new meanings over the last few years – or just arrived on the scene.

Do a search for some of the new words and phrases in the major dictionaries to see if some of them align with your industry. When you revamp your high-performance content, be sure to include some of them in your blog posts, video descriptions, titles, subheadings, and meta descriptions.

Optimize High-Performing Content for Search Intent

Search engines are getting smarter about people’s intent during searches. Years ago, a search for “how to fix leaky faucet” might yield both plumbers’ websites and DIY blog posts.

Today, AI-driven search engines are more discerning when showing results, using past behavior and other data to deliver more relevant results. But they’re not infallible.

Give them a nudge by including copy that targets the right audience for your best content. For example, if you’re a plumber that wants to educate your top-of-the-funnel audience with some DIY videos or blog posts, use wording like “Here’s how you can fix a leaky faucet all by yourself” so that can guide search engines to put your post at the top of DIYers’ searches.

Repurpose Your Best Content as Videos and Podcasts

Videos and podcasts have skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years. Take advantage of this popularity by turning some of your most popular blog posts, ebooks, and white papers into videos and podcast topics.

Videos

A recent Wyzowl study revealed that video content boosts everything from web traffic to ROI and everything in between.

  • Videos increased 86% of the companies’ web traffic.
  • Video content boosted 83% of the companies’ average visitor on-page time.
  • 94% of the marketers revealed that video content increased their audience’s understanding of their company’s products and services.
  • 84% of the companies surveyed said that video content boosted their leads, while 78% reported higher sales.
  • 87% of them say that video gives them a good ROI.

In addition, videos are a better fit with the 65% of the population that prefers visual content. If your company has spent the lion’s share of its content marketing budget on blog posts, it might be time to add videos to the mix. That’s especially true with your best-performing content.

Podcasts

2021 has seen an explosion of podcast use, particularly among one of the most desirable demographics – American adults aged 18 to 34. More than 60% of that cohort listen to podcasts every month, according to an Insider Intelligence study.

If the trend continues, the total number of Americans that listen to podcasts every month will increase to 117.8 million by the end of 2021, the study shows. That’s a lot of potential customers to leave on the table.

Enrich Your Content for a Deeper Dive

As Jonathan Hill points out, taking a deeper dive can drive engagement beyond your wildest dreams. It’s not the word count, however, but rather transforming your content into a valuable resource that makes long-form content so shareable.

A content management protocol that prioritizes that kind of quality will soon see your company’s content rise to the level of thought leadership. To earn more backlinks, aim for more than 3,000 words – with no fluff to be found.

According to a Backlinko study, content that goes over the 3,000-word mark earns about 77.2% more backlinks than short-form content (under 1,000 words).

Image via Backlinko

However, if it’s social media shares you’re after, aim for a length of about 1,000-2,000 words. You’ll likely earn 56.1% more shares than short-form content, the study shows.

Image via Backlinko

Allow plenty of time for your teams to dig into research when you’re creating long-form content. Make sure that your additions add valuable information and insights rather than filler.

Instead, pepper your written content with visuals, be they images, videos, or infographics. They break up the monotony of long swaths of text. However, make sure that they add value to your storyline.

Also, use bulleted lists and plenty of subheadings to guide your readers through your article. Make these visual guideposts informative enough that someone could skim through your post and still get the main points.

Infuse Your Content with a Healthy Dose of Empathy

From your opening paragraph to the call to action at the end, your brand needs to differentiate itself from its competition. Specifically, it needs to show that even though you might be a global corporation, you can relate to your target customers and their challenges.

Empathy does just that. Researching your target customers – who they are, what they like, their hopes, their dreams, and their deepest fears – can put your creative teams in the position of almost knowing them personally. Use buyer personas to put a human face on your target market.

Before You Hit “Publish,” Give It a Thorough Edit

Thought leadership-quality content demands excellence in writing or videography. Good communications should be clear, move toward the ending in a hero’s journey format, and hang together in a logical, coherent presentation.

Make sure that your content avoids jargon or overly technical wording. Strive for simplicity and clarity. Cut out anything that distracts from the main points you want to make.

Organize Your Content in a Single Repository

Finding your top-performing content through a robust content analytics program, revising them, scheduling them for publication, and then re-analyzing how much your optimization efforts paid off can be a daunting task. Instead, simplify your task with a single digital location where you can ideate, collaborate, publish, store, and analyze all the content you create.

With the DivvyHQ content marketing platform, you have all that and more. And here’s even better news.

You can try it free for 14 days with absolutely no obligation. Take your free test drive today.