Creating good content that really counts by amy vernon #SMX #24A

1. Think You Know Good Content?
Fuggedaboutit. Here's What
Really Counts
#smx #24A

2. Finding Your Subjects
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3. Where Inspiration Strikes
• Mention, Talkwalker - take what Google Alerts used to
do so well and do it 100 times better.
• RSS - whether through Flipboard, Feedly, Digg Reader,
or wherever else, RSS lives on.
• Forums - people still use 'em. And love 'em.
• StumbleUpon - the easiest way to get content to come
to you.
#smx #24A

4. Content Categories
Targeted Funny
How-to Commentary
Target photo by Ville Miettinen viaFlickr Creative Commons Owl photo by Doug Wheller via Flickr Creative Commons
#smx #24A

5. Targeted
Any piece of news that relates to
your niche/genre. They can be
quickly recapped and take little
effort.
 Industry happenings
 News releases
 Personnel changes and moves
Writing/Creation Time: LOW
Social Potential: LOW
Value: Helps share important news,
caters to your core audience, boosts SEO
and helps keep the blog filled.
#smx #24A

6. Funny
A play off the news or something topical, but with an
eye toward the absurd.
 Start from the topic, but focus on the funny
Writing/Creation Time: MEDIUM to HIGH
Social Potential: HIGH
Value: Shows a light-hearted side; brings in traffic, boosts
SEO and exposes you to new audiences.
#smx #24A

7. How-to
 Teach your readers
something they don’t know.
 Better yet, teach your readers
something they didn’t know
they needed to know.
 Can take many forms
Writing/Creation Time: LOW to HIGH
Social Potential: HIGH
Value: High shareability; establishes your
thought leadership; provides value to
reader (which makes them think better of
you); boosts SEO.
#smx #24A

8. Commentary
Covering popular news stories
or timely topics, but making it
your own by expressing opinion.
 Covers the news from a
specific angle.
 On a news release – is this a
departure from the norm?
 Has this worked in the past?
Writing Time: HIGH
Social Potential: MEDIUM
Value: Establishes your thought
leadership, boosts SEO.
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9. Content Types
Infographics Timelines
Video Photos
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10. Infographics
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 DON’T: just throw up a
bunch of stylized text
 DON’T: Change color
schemes for no apparent
reason
 DON’T: Mix and match fonts
just because you feel like it.

11. Infographics
#smx #24A
 DO: Share interesting
information in an engaging,
informative way
 DO: Have some
information that people
want to know and share
 DO: Visualize data and
make numbers tangible

12. Timelines
#smx #24A
 “Evolution” (of a logo, a singer, etc.)
 Design is important
 Memes are still good
 Yes, this is a type of infographic

13. What happens if you
Google “LEGO timeline”?
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14. Video
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 YouTube is the biggest by far, but it’s not the only game in town.
 Dailymotion is 2nd-largest in the world.
 Vimeo has reputation for quality video.
 Telly, Viddler – more players every day.
 Video is getting
bigger every day
 It doesn’t have to
be expensive
 When it goes viral,
it goes HUGE

15. Photos
#smx #24A
 Use large, high-res, attractive
photos
 Slideshows need to be short, or
very fast-moving (i.e., no
reloading the page every scroll)
 Encourage users to send in pics
 Then & Now
 “Separated at birth?”
This had 102K views on StumbleUpon

16. A few words about lists
#smx #24A
This had 166K views on Stumbleupon
 People love lists.
 They really do.
 They complain about them
being linkbait, but they read
them.
 And share them.
 If you’re going to do a list,
cover the subject. BE
COMPREHENSIVE.
 Why do top 10 if you can do
top 34?
 People like learning things
they didn’t know.
 Did I mention that people love
lists?

17. #smx #24A
(Just seeing if you’re paying attention!)
A COUPLE
MORE THINGS

18. Do these things
#smx #24A
 Be useful.
 Be relevant.
 Be consumable.
 Link out. People will notice, visit
and maybe even link back to
you.
 Illustrate whenever possible.
 K.I.S.S.: Keep it simple, stupid
(no offense).
 Emulate content you like.
 Look at your piece before you
post — would you read it if
you happened up on it?
Photo by Matt Brown via Flickr Creative Commons

19. Thanks and Keep in Touch
#smx #24A
amy@amyvernon.net
www.amyvernon.net
www.Facebook.com/AmyVernon
www.Twitter.com/AmyVernon
http://j.mp/AmyVGplus