Content Creation Process
Our content creation process is divided into three areas: content requests, content creation, and quality control. Each phase is essential in ensuring consistency across all of our content, so try to make sure that each stage is precise by asking any questions to the DMC requesting content:
Phase 1: Content Requests
All relevant information must be provided and understood before beginning work. This saves time when creating content and reduces the risk of sub-standard content reaching clients or publishing with errors. This is why it is vital to make sure that you are clear on all areas listed in the table below:
✓ Content type
- You must know whether you are creating content for a landing page, blog, press release, or anything else. Each form has its unique style and approach, so this is not easy to correct once a mistake has been made.
✓ Word count and target search query
- Understanding how long the content needs to be and its associated target search query will inform the overall structure of the content, so be sure to check this is clear.
✓ Compare provided word count with the top 10 performing pages
- Find out the average word count of the top ten web pages for the provided keyword by using Seo Review Tool’s Bulk Word Count Checker. Removing any unusually high or low word count pages before taking this average is essential. Multiply this average by 0.95 for a more realistic estimate of the average page content.
✓ Contact DMC if the resultant word count is significantly different from the requested amount
- If the average word count of the top ten pages is far removed from the word count requested, let the DMC that requested the content know. Aside from affecting the required word count, this may also affect the effectiveness of the target search query.
✓ Add content to Content Quota Management Document
- Add the requested content to the quota management document with the correct details and formatting.
Phase 2: Content Creation
Universal SEO Guidelines
✓ Research competitors
- Understand the style and tone of competitors about the client’s unique voice.
✓ Explain and reference facts
- Provide credibility to the copy by including researched and linked facts.
✓ Understand the audience
- Every audience has different requirements, and these should be understood. For example, a lifestyle blog will require narrative-driven content with an enthusiastic tone, whereas writing about how to use a new app should centre around being informative and concise.
✓ Do not make false promises
- Writing enthusiastically is not the same as promising that a service or product is the best or cheapest without proof.
✓ Correct Formatting
- Content must include H1, H2, H3 headings.
- Sentences and paragraphs should be broken up for ease of reading.
- Sentences should be short and easy to read.
- The tone of voice must appeal to empathy and understand the audience’s needs.
- Articles should contain bullet points and ideally include the following steps or top 10 lists.
- Finish sections with appropriate CTAs that prompt action from the reader.
✓ SEO Friendly
- Keywords must feature within meta headings, meta descriptions, headings and throughout the content.
- The page must have high readability (Flesch Kinkaid)
- Content must feature internal links throughout and should include external links where required.
Landing Pages and Blog Posts
✓ Landing Pages
✓ Blog Posts
- The tone should be conversational, informative and focus on the industry with in-depth information. Present ourselves as experts on the topic.
- See also: Guide to Writing Blogs
✓ Landing Page and Blog Post Checklist
- Use the primary keyword in the headline.
- Assign a few secondary keywords. An essential checklist for writing also includes a step to find related keywords to use in your post. Choose three or four LSI keywords related to the post’s primary target keyword. (Use a resource like https://lsigraph.com/)
- Add value. As you write your post, provide details, facts, stats, takeaways, news, and information that are valuable and helpful to the reader.
- Show, don’t tell. An essential part of this checklist for blog writing is using examples that help audiences deeply understand and absorb the message you are trying to share.
- Use the active voice. Keep the post interesting by using an active voice. Avoid passive voice, which can make the content appear drab or dull. Hemmingway App can help identify passive voice usage.
- Write for an eighth-grade reading level. While the quality of the writing should be high, please keep it simple. Don’t use overly complex sentence structure or terminology that may lose readers. Hemmingway App can help identify readability levels.
- Provide sound sources. If you use quotes or information from other sites in your blog post, provide proper citations by listing and linking to the source.
- Use subheadings. Split up your content using subheadings throughout your post to break up text sections.
- Use the primary keyword in at least one subheading. A part of your blog writing checklist should include inserting the keyword in at least one subheading.
- Break up big paragraphs. Digital content should be skimmable, so break up big blocks of text and paragraphs by adding paragraphs and white space.
- Highlight important information. One of the essential content writing tips is using formatting features that make posts easier to skim. Bold, italicize, or otherwise highlight important information.
- Use the primary keyword in the meta title and meta description.
- Use the primary keyword in the first paragraph.
- Use the primary keyword near the end of the copy.
- Use the primary keyword naturally in the copy. Don’t engage in keyword stuffing; use the term enough to create a 2% keyword density within your copy.
- Use each secondary keyword at least once in the copy. Support the primary keyword by adding each related keyword at least once in the post.
- Add links to relevant internal pages. At this point in the checklist for writing, add links to other published posts and pages on your site by adding relevant hyperlinks to other internal pages.
- Add links to other high-quality web pages. Add relevant outbound, SEO-friendly links to other high-quality websites to give credit and links to sources.
- End with a call to action. Because all good blog posts are written with a goal and end with a call to action that tells the reader what you want them to do next.
- Optimize for social sharing. Encourage readers to spread your posts by creating shareable content that includes ClickToTweet links, callouts, and social sharing icons.
Press Releases
✓ Press Release Checklist
- Include a targeted and relevant keyword in the press release headline.
- Limit the headline length to 60 characters since the search engines display up to 60-65 characters in search results. If the headline length is not limited to the specified characters, ensure that the newsworthy part appears in the first 60 characters.
- Ensure that the headline is concise and relevant to the news being shared.
- Try to include a sub-headline. Incorporate additional keywords/phrases not included in headline one as above.
- Create specific content relevant to the press release headline.
- Focus on the most important message at the top.
- Maintain a word count between 500-800 words for the press release.
- Maintain a structured flow and use additional sub-headings in the content, if required.
- The content of every press release should be unique to avoid penalties from search engines and press release directories for duplicate content issues.
- Include photos, videos, and an embedded link to the client’s google maps location where appropriate.
- Make the plain text stand out with formatting (bold, italic, underlined, or bulleted.
- Only those keywords that are relevant to the press release should be included. The usage of targeted keywords rather than generic terms is recommended.
- Include important keywords in the introduction, sub-headings, and first body paragraph.
- Try including 1-2 relevant keywords as early as possible because when crawling pages, the essential keywords placed higher in the press release body can easily be crawled by the search engines.
- The allocation of the keywords in the press release body should look natural. Include broad match keywords if exact match keywords cannot be included.
- Anchor text in the press release body should refer to links relevant to the content and topic of the press release.
- Avoid giving open-ended anchor text, like “Click here” or “Do more.” Instead, be specific: “Watch the idea of management discussions on Q1 results.” Having similar text links will make the process look natural.
- In addition to linking to the home page, links to the website’s internal pages that are relevant to the topic.
- Only include unique links (avoid using the exact Anchor text & avoid targeting the same URL more than once in the article).
Phase 3: Quality Control
✓ Editing
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- Log into novi. D digital’s content WordPress account and run the ext through Yoast. It must score green on both readability and SEO.
- Content can be revised for readability using
- Content can be revised for SEO value in Yoast
- Once the quality of the copy is ensured with Yoast, read through again to ensure there are no factual, spelling, or grammar errors. This is particularly important with synonymized content, where simple errors can significantly affect trading the finished content.
✓ Send to DMC
- Content must be sent in a branded Word document titled with correct formatting. Example: ‘202001 – How to create content – novi.d digital’. This means that content was created in January 2020, titled ‘How to create content’, and the client is novi.d digital.
- This should then either be sent in reply to the existing content request email from the DMC or, if this might become confused with other content, with a new email where the suemail’s subject makes it clear what the content is.
✓ Amend
- You may need to make amendments to the original version of the copy. When doing this, it is essential to keep on top of your email inbox and make notes in your work schedule to avoid missing anything.
✓ Tick off
- If you have not heard back about further amendments, tick off the content from the quota management document.