A presentation written for the franchise network at MyDestination.com focused on how to make your content work harder for your business. Includes sections on: - How to engage users - Knowing your audience - Understand influence - Implementing an Editorial Strategy - SEO & Content

1. Locally informed, globally inspired
Taking Your Content to the Next Level
My Destination
Kirsty Brown, Head of Content
Kirsty.brown@mydestination.com

2. Session Plan
• Intro - What is Content?
• Editorial: Producing Content to Engage Users:
- Knowing your Audience
- Understanding Influence
- Implementing an Editorial Strategy
- Using Narrative
• SEO & Content: Using Content to Drive Traffic
• The Future
Session Plan

3. What is Content?
• Articles
• Company Profiles
• Regional Information
• Useful Information
• Events
• Multimedia – Photos, Videos and Virtual Tours
• Social Media feeds: Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn
What is Content?

4. Main Content Areas
Regional Info: How to inspire and encourage people to
visit your destination.
Useful Info: Giving practical information that users trust.
Profiles: How to do an engaging business profile in 30
minutes!
Travel Articles: How to write attractive and compelling
articles that will get users clicking.
Main Content Areas:

5. Why Should I Write Travel Articles?
To inspire
readers to your
destination.
To entice
visitors to your
site!
To make your
destination
stand out from
the crowd!
To display your
local
knowledge.
Help build your
credibility and
authority as a
local expert in
your field.
They are
perfect for
sharing on
Social Media!
Why Should I Write Travel Articles?

6. “The Travel Articles Page
and Travel Blog are the 1st
and 3rd pages site-users visit
after the homepage”
Did You Know?

7. The Travel Decision Cycle
Inspiration
Decision
Purchase
Experience
The Travel Decision Cycle

8. Key Elements of a Company Profile
Comprehensive
written text
Practical Details Map
Social Media
Links
Cross Links
Local Tip/s &
Tagging
Images Multimedia
Key Elements of a Company Profile:

9. Company ProfilesA Good Company Profile has ALL the Elements:

10. MyD Science Centre, Amsterdam Vs *NEMO Science Centre Amsterdam

11. What would YOU want to know?

12. Profile Text: What it should include:
Location
Bit about it’s history /
owners
Overview of the exact
service it offers
Opening Times
An example of what you
can get there (e.g. a
dish if a restaurant).
Who it’s ideal for
Other insider
information: When to
go, where to sit, special
menu’s, theme nights.
Profile Text – What Should it Include?

13. Making an Engaging Company Profile
(in less than an hour…)
10 mins –
research
business
20 mins – write
150 to 250
words
5 mins –
upload photos
1 min – plot it
on a map
5 mins – add
the social
media links
5 mins – add
cross-links
5 mins – write
your local tip
and tag
3 mins – to
proofread it
TOTAL: 54 mins
Making an Engaging Company Profile
(in less than an hour…)

14. Absolute BEST way
to get a flavour for
a business
This is what will make
your profiles stand
out and help grab
peoples attention…
Multimedia: The Piece de Resistance…

15. “Engagement
is communicating
well enough that the
audience pays
attention…”

16. Absorb, understand
and possibly even
remember your
content.
Converse,
comment, share or
like what they see.
Continue their
journey with you.
Click through more
pages.
Come back!
Convert their
browsing into a
commercial action.
An Audience that pays attention is more likely to…

17. … But HOW do I get an audience’s attention?

18. 1. Know your Audience

19. 2. Know Yourself

20. • Inspirational
• Collaborative
• Progressive
• Keep it Simple
• Go the extra mile
My Destination Brand Values:

21. • Passionate
• Globally Aware
• Supportive
• Agile
• Creative
• Fun
“Locally
informed, globally
inspired”
My Destination Brand Personality:

22. 3. Be Original

23. 1. Curiosity
2. Highlight the Benefit
3. Elicit Excitement / Emotion
4. Make it Tangible
5. Appearance and Length
6. Sound
7. Expectations
7 Step Recipe to Seductively Clickable Titles

24. 4. Be An Authority

25. LOYALTY
… then you will build:

26. Your content needs to
resonate with your
audience and you need to
become an authority
Understanding Influence

27. Authority gives you the power of INFLUENCE

29. 5. Create an Editorial Strategy

30. Content is King
“If people are to put up with
turning on a computer to read a
screen they must be rewarded
with deep and extremely up-to-
date information”
Bill Gates, Content is King, 1996
Content Is King

31. Headline Story
Additional Stories and Features
Imagery
Expert Tips and Local Knowledge
Nod to economic climate
Inspirational
Variety and depth

32. What You Can DoWhat You Can Do

33. “Good content takes time
and effort to create and
maintain. So content on high
quality pages should be
edited, reviewed, and
updated.”
(Search Engine Watch)
Producing the Best Content

34. Taking Your Travel Articles to the Next Level…

35. Easy Travel Articles to Write
1. Top 10’s / Top 5’s / Top 50’s.
2. 24 Hours in XXX / 48 Hours in XXX.
3. A review of an attraction or event that you have just been to.
4. Seasonal Events.
5. Luxury / Budget travel in XXX.
6. Be traveller specific.
E.g. what to do with the family in XXX, Romantic weekend away in XXX.
EASY TRAVEL ARTICLES TO WRITE

36. • Be Original
• Use catchy titles & taglines
• Use your local knowledge
• Check spellings and grammar
• Use keywords and cross-links sensibly
• Include QUALITY images
• Be Engaging!
Tips For Article Writing

37. 1. More in-depth topics. E.g. local history.
2. Tackle controversial topics in your local area.
3. Develop your storytelling abilities. Entertain
your readers.
4. Start article ‘Series’
5. Interview local characters.
6. Increase your multimedia and / or make the
photos a talking point.
More Adventurous Article Ideas

38. GOOD CONTENT isn’t cheap

39. Tell Stories: Use Narrative
“People respond
to stories”
“Make the
story relevant
to your
business”
“We are hard-wired to respond to
the ‘beginning, middle,
end’ structure because it’s how we
understand the world around us”

40. Narrative in Advertising
“Appeal to their
emotions not their
rationality”

41. The Perfect Formula for Content:
Surprise
Emotional
response
A little bit of
happiness
The Perfect Formula For Content:

42. Brand
Story
Customer
Story
Using Narrative

43. Pick your online medium
- TEXT, PHOTOS, VIDEO:
Understand them all but
pick your favourite and
go ahead and excel…
Pick your topic - YOUR
DESTINATION!
Share your stories –
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE!
Speak to What’s Broken
– FILLING IN THE GAPS!
WHAT’S MISSING IN
YOUR DESTINATION?
Finally…
Dig Inside and
BRING SOME
PASSION!
You have the
ingredients for highly
sharable online content
– the rest is up to you…
How to Create Engaging Online Content:

44. • Does your content cover what YOU would want
to know?
• Ensure ‘Evergreen’ content is updated.
• To engage your audience you need to understand
them.
• You need to be original, build authority and have
a strategy.
• Use narrative & draw on emotion to sell your
content.
PART 1 - In Summary

45. PART 2: Using Content to
Drive Traffic
(…with a little help from SEO)

46. How to Drive Traffic:
• Commercially: Special offers, great
value deals.
• PR / Marketing: Raising awareness
(incl. social media)
• SEO: Getting pages appearing on
SERPs
• Content: Inspiring and engaging
content - articles
How to Drive Traffic

47. Your Content Should Be…
UNIQUE
ENGAGING
HIGH
QUALITY
Your Content Should Be…

48. “High quality, original,
engaging content is the
key to any web-based
business”.
(Bill Gates)

49. How Does Google Define Quality
Content?

50. “High-quality content is
anything that is very
satisfying, useful, or helpful
for its purpose.”

51. 1. Would You Trust The Information
Provided in This Article?
2. Is this article written by an expert or
enthusiast who knows the topic
well, or is it more shallow in nature?
Ask yourself:

52. 3. Does the site have
duplicate, overlapping, or redundant
articles on the same or similar topics with
slightly different keyword variations?
4. Does this article have spelling, stylistic or
factual errors?
Ask Yourself:

53. 5. Are the topics driven by genuine
interests of readers of the site, or
does the site generate content by
attempting to guess what might
rank well in the search engines?
Ask Yourself:

54. 6. Does the article provide original
content or information, original
reporting, original research, or original
analysis?
7. Does the page provide substantial
value when compared to other pages
in search results?
Ask Yourself:

55. 8. How much quality control is done on
content?
9. Does the article describe both sides of
the story?
10. Is the site a recognised authority on its
topic?
Ask Yourself:

56. 11. Is the content mass-produced
by or outsourced to a large number
of creators, or spread across a
large network of sites, so that
individual pages or sites don’t get
much attention or care?
Ask Yourself:

57. 12. Was the article edited properly or
does it seem sloppy or hastily
produced?
13. Would you recognise this site as an
authoritative source when mentioned
by name?
Ask Yourself:

58. 14. Does this article give a complete or
comprehensive description of the
topic?
15. Does this article contain insightful
analysis or interesting information that
is beyond obvious?
Ask Yourself:

59. 16. Is this the sort of page you’d want
to bookmark, share with a friend, or
recommend?
17. Does this article have an excessive
amount of ads that distract from or
interfere with the main content?
Ask Yourself:

60. 18. Would you expect to see this
article in a printed
magazine, encyclopaedia or book?
19. Are the articles
short, unsubstantial, or otherwise
lacking in helpful specifics?
Ask Yourself:

61. 20. Are the pages produced with great
care and attention to detail vs. less
attention to detail?
21. Would users complain when they
see pages from this site?
Ask Yourself:

62. • So Remember…

63. Building High-Quality Sites
According to GOOGLE…

64. “Our advice for publishers continues to
be to focus on delivering the best
possible user experience on your
websites and not to focus too much on
what they think are Google’s current
ranking algorithms or signals. ”

65. Still unsure?Still Unsure?

66. “Search is a complicated and
evolving art and science, so rather
than focusing on specific
algorithmic tweaks, we encourage
you to focus on delivering the best
possible experience for users”.

67. SEO Vs. CONTENT

68. The SEO Camp:
Remember:
• Over optimising destroys quality content.
• Fixation on keywords and links destroys
quality content.
• Being motivated by one link to write 500
words is never going to be a good recipe for
engaging content.
• Google penalises those playing the system…
The Die-Hard SEO Camp

69. The SEO CAMP…The SEO Camp

70. The Content Camp:
Remember:
• Ignoring keywords and links reduces the
chance of content appearing on SERPs.
• Failing to include any links reduces the
usability of your content.
• Ignoring popular topics that people are
clicking on makes you less relevant.
• Failing to use Social Media to promote content
reduces it’s chance of success.
The Die-Hard Content Camp

71. The Content CampThe Content Camp

72. …Working TogetherWorking Together

73. The Solution: Working together
Good Content
• Includes relevant keywords &
links.
• Is engaging and relevant to
your audience.
• Is well-written, original and of
a high quality.
• Informs or entertains.
• Contains excellent spelling and
grammar.
• Is creditable.
• Is promoted and shared!!!!
Good SEO
• Optimises content to get it
seen on the SERPs but not
at the detriment of
usability.
• Includes a sensible number
of keywords and links.
• Doesn’t try to outplay the
system, i.e. GOOGLE.
• Enhances your content
(instead of destroying it!!!)
Working Together, The Result:

74. What You Can Do…
• Go back over LOW QUALITY CONTENT.
• Analyse previous pieces of content.
• Update old content.
• Invest in a good writer.
• Build credibility and authority.
• Provide opinion.
• Keep up to date and topical.
What You Can Do

75. The Future…

76. The Future…

77. Remember…Remember…