Last Updated on December 19, 2022 by Arif Chowdhury
Cornerstone content could be your trump card. All you need to do is read this guide till the end to find out how you can use this to drive massive targeted visitors to your site.
Occasionally, I used to hear this question, what is my content marketing advice? And I have to elaborate on it.
They’re relatively new in online marketing, either because they operate a brand-new site or company or because they haven’t attempted to develop a loyal audience using content marketing.
Their primary worry is producing and disseminating content to increase their name recognition and customer base.
In most cases, I encourage people who inquire about this subject to produce an essential piece of content.
What precisely does this mean? To what extent is it critical that your material act as a cornerstone? What are the stages in the process, by the way? Today, we will address these queries.
Definition: Cornerstone content.
As the name implies, cornerstone content demonstrates what you can provide to build quality traffic and brand name online.
This content must be highly relevant to your company’s objectives to build market authority and attract a loyal audience interested in your goods or services.
Remember that this content should always be at the very beginning of a funnel. Thus, it has to be free to use and not restricted by a registration form or a payment, and you shouldn’t have any high expectations that those who view it will purchase anything or become loyal customers.
Cornerstone content’s main aim is to give customers an excellent initial impression of your company. Then, as soon as they are likely to purchase, they will most likely look towards you for a final decision.
Why should you create cornerstone content?
For your company, there are many advantages of using cornerstone content:
- Build brand name within targeted audiences
- Easily target potential buyer
- A gold mine for link building
- Establish authority within the relevant niche
- Build email and potential leads
If you’re looking for advice on content marketing, all of these results should interest you.
Producing well-crafted, informative, and engaging cornerstone content can quickly change your content marketing strategy and bring you success.
To make it clear to you, here is a sample illustration for you.
First, create mega content with a board topic, then create a small piece on a specific matter and link back to your mega content (cornerstone content).
One of the most popular questions is: how long should cornerstone content be? Well, as long it requires. For example, if your topic needs 2,000 words, then write 2,000 words.
Let’s go through the seven actions you’ll need to do to produce cornerstone content now that you know what it is and why you need it.
Quick Note: Cornerstone articles work best with search engine marketing (SEO). Such as utilizing long tail keywords, internal linking, link building, etc. However, SEO should always focus on your target audience to get the most benefits.
Recommended Reading: How to Write an SEO-Optimized Blog Post that Rank (Practical Guide)
Step 1: Identify a broad topic to get started.
Choosing a good subject for your cornerstone content is just as critical a step as actually writing it.
Consider yourself a member of your intended audience, and everything of your content is geared at attracting you. Consider the situation from their perspective. Ask yourself the below question to find out.
- What issues are my clients facing right now?
- What their current question could be?
- Which of those issues hasn’t previously been addressed by current online content? Is there anything they need to know that they aren’t receiving answers to?
- Are you uniquely equipped to handle any of those problems? Does anybody dealing with these problems benefit from your particular content or research data?
Remember to give yourself time to consider all of your options before making any decisions. Then, make a list of all the suggestions that you’ve received from your colleagues.
Make contact with your intended audience. The information you offer in your cornerstone content must pique the attention of your intended audience.
Quick Note: You have to remember cornerstone content cannot target a specific part of a niche. Instead, you have to focus on a topic broadly; thus, later, you can expand it. For instance, “SEO Campaign 101 Beginner’s Guide”.
Step 2: Focus on keyword research before you begin.
Choosing a subject is the first step; finding the right keyword is the second. Finally, it’s critical to look at the number of keyword searches volume related to your topic since this indicates demand and interest.
Your company will perform well if you can catch traffic from search engines like Google and create a solid first impression.
Let’s say we aim to develop an excellent cornerstone for Search engine optimization techniques. It will provide detailed guidelines for both beginner and advanced users.
Now utilize a free keyword research tool to find long-tail keywords for your cornerstone content. I suggest you read my best SEO tools guide; it has an extensive collection of SEO tools to help you with keyword research.
Recommended Reading: 9 Best SEO Tools to Improve Rank for 2021 (Review)
Step 3: Plan the content outline.
To begin, determine whether you’ll do all your content creation in-house or contract it out. It is mainly influenced by the people and resources you already have.
If your company has a marketing department, you can handle this inside. However, it may be challenging for single-person businesses to invest enough time and effort while running the company smoothly.
In that case, the best practice is to employ a third-party freelancer to create content. However, it is your job to ensure the contents you buy has quality and usefulness.
Remember, you can outsource that part and do the rest inside. One example is doing your research in-house and hiring a contractor to create an infographic or video from your results.
Step 4: Craft the cornerstone content.
It is time for you to get started to create cornerstone content.
Depending on your subject and presentation, this approach will seem different, but keep in mind the following points:
Create unique and rare content: Focusing on this significant content creation, you’re putting your company’s reputation on the line. It must be precise, very beneficial, and provide users with a great experience.
Invest as much as possible in quality: Hire the finest specialists you can afford and allow yourself plenty of time to review their work before accepting it. It’s a good idea to check every piece of content by yourself. Suppose you want to be successful. If required, get expert guidance before you start the project.
Ease of use: The term “quality” encompasses various concepts. Your site must be aesthetically attractive and simple in terms of use and navigation, regardless of the device your visitors use to access it.
Keyword optimization: Focus on the essential phrases you’re looking for. Your article’s content should organically include the keywords you selected earlier.
Answer their question: Take their advice and apply it to your project’s advancement. In your SEO guide, you may want to add a section called “Knowledgebase,” where you will provide the most frequent answers your client may be asking regarding SEO.
Acknowledge audience issues: It’s critical to ensure your words and actions are congruent. Your content should address the issue at hand while pointing your visitor in the direction they wish to go.
Step 5: Optimization is the key.
The main aim of Cornerstone content is to present your business in front of new consumers and provide them with a positive first impression of your company.
Your material should encourage visitors to return and give their valuable time for it as a resource worth bookmarking. In this case, SEO (search engine optimization) is necessary since you aim to expand rather than maintain it.
If you want your audience to share your content on Twitter or Facebook, you need to make it simple for them to do so.
Make it easy for your audience to share.
What will your audience achieve by reading your content? It is one of the things that makes a piece of content viral. Is it affecting how people feel about themselves?
By mastering that, you’ll want to make it simple for others to share your work. These pointers can help you get more people to share your most important social media content with their friends and followers.
- Make it simpler for individuals to spread the news by including a few social network sharing buttons within your content. Many plugins are available if you need more time or resources to create or modify your own. Make sure the share button is easy to find.
- While writing, keep in mind who will read it and who will spread the word. Get the help of industry experts willing to impart their wisdom to your audience.
- Create photos or videos that present your topic well and may be shared on various social networking platforms. Think about coming up with something new. For example, use a happy individual to make your video’s thumbnail attractive; joyful people are more energetic. Use vibrant colors and stay true to your brand while creating images for social media.
Recommended Reading: How Can Social Media Help a Business Grow? (Practical Guide)
Step 6: Promote your content as much as possible.
Making valuable content and doing nothing promotion would completely waste time and resources. You’d want other people to be aware of it.
While you wait for your content to gain authority and a high amount of targeted visitors, you’ll need to discover ways to get it in front of consumers. But, again, it is essential if your company is new.
Utilize email marketing.
Take advantage of your email list if you have one. It will promote your great new content if you send a customized email to your list. These emails are typically great because of the high opening rate at the beginning of the funnel.
Social media marketing.
Self-promotion on social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram is a no-brainer. Posting your fresh material to your social media sites will take some additional effort, but it is what you need to do.
Quick Note: Always try to use various types of titles and descriptions for your ad when promoting your content on social media or other sources. A/B testing will help you to find out which one is working best and which one does not.
Step 7: Keep up to date with your cornerstone content.
A few months is all it takes for others to notice you, spread your work, and connect back to you.
Most of your first-time visitors will generate from social media promotion and email marketing, but organic search traffic will start to trickle in after a few weeks or months.
However, don’t just sit back and relax because you just finished producing your great cornerstone content. To make it practical in the long run, you must go through the cornerstone content to upgrade it with more up-to-date content, which will help your cornerstone content perform best.
Here is a list of things you should do:
- Keep it up to date at all times. Keeping up with the latest SEO-related news, tips, and tricks is essential, so be sure your content has these. Also, ensure that the product you suggest is still available and that all other information, such as the pricing, is correct before making your recommendation.
- Can you add an app or other helpful function to your foundational content? Is there a way to make it better or faster?
- Attempt to squeeze out a bit extra profit by experimenting with offers. Experiment with various opt-out requests and welcome emails for new members to discover what works best.
- After several years have passed, if you’re still getting value from your content, you should explore updating the style. It doesn’t matter how current the content is; it should still seem fresh. However, the content’s typefaces, pictures, and structure may need to be updated to keep up with industry changes.
Conclusion.
Cornerstone content is not pillar content, though both have some similarities. However, cornerstone content is like a welcoming door to your business. It will represent your entire business and build authority within your niche. So create, maintain, and upgrade it to get the most out of it.