#96 | My NEW content strategy

I’ve MASSIVELY changed my content strategy this month and in this email I’m going to show you exactly what I’m doing…

I’m deoptimising my blog posts.

By the way, I’ve been asked so many times if I have a course or if I’m going to make one.

The answer has always been no.

I’m SO GLAD I chose not to ever make one!

I’m abandoning ALL of my old methods, so if I had a course I would have to trash it.

Yikes!

Instead, I have only Twitter and this email newsletter,

So I can always give you the latest info about what’s working for me right now.

Let’s do this, step by step.

Note: This is just what I’m doing for my travel blog. I have no idea if it’s a good fit for your website or not, you’ll need to do your own analysis.

1. I made a spreadsheet

I pulled a report from GSC that compares 6th March (the date the latest update started rolling out) until now, versus the previous period.

I added a few columns to the sheet to show:

Clicks difference
% clicks difference
Rank difference

Then, I added conditional formatting to show drops in red and gains in green,

Because nothing gets you in the fight mode like looking at a sheet of red.

Clicks difference is the main metric I’m considering, so I sorted by that.

2. I checked the SERPs

I took the keywords one at a time and pasted them into usearchfrom.com to show US results with no search history.

From looking at the Google results, the only sites ranking in my niche now are:

Huge news sites e.g. CNBC, CNN
Big brands e.g. British Airways, Hilton Hotels
Well-established DR80+ sites e.g. The Points Guy, Forbes
Forums e.g. Reddit, Quora
Travel agents (large or small)

I get it.

These are the only types of sites that Big G trusts now.

Makes sense, right?

If you had to divide the internet into the type of websites that are:

likely to write the truth
likely to write any old shite with AI…

You’d have these sites on one side and blogs on the other.

It’s shitty, I know, but that’s how it is now.

So many people are doing a bad job and they can’t figure out who’s doing a good job, so they don’t trust any of us.

It reminds me of the time at school when someone drew a dick on the blackboard and nobody admitted to it or snitched, so the whole class got detention.

3. I thought about whether blogging was dead

And then I decided hell no, of course it isn’t! LOL.

But is writing around keywords and hoping to rank in Google?

Yeah, probs.

But that’s okay.

Because Google Organic is just one channel of MANY.

And we don’t actually need it.

4. I switched from pull marketing to push marketing

Pull marketing (also known as inbound marketing) is when you create something (like a blog post) and then wait for people to find you.

In this scenario, your reader is actively searching for something.

SEO is pull marketing.

Push marketing (also known as outbound marketing) is the opposite.

Here, you send out content that interrupts people.

They reader has no idea that they want your content, until it arrives in front of them.

Examples of push marketing are email marketing, social media and paid ads.

(Also leaflets, billboards, TV ads etc)

The two strategies require very different content. Which I’ll explain now…

5. I converted my content

Let’s say I have a Disney blog…

An example of a blog post title that works for pull marketing (SEO) is:

“Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Ride: Everything You Need To Know”

This targets people searching in Google for “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure” and similar keywords.

An example of a blog post title that works for push marketing (e.g. Facebook or email) is:

“Sneak A Peek Inside Disney’s Newest, Opinion-Dividing Ride”

This targets people who are interested in Disney rides.

What I love about this is that the pool of people who are interested in Disney rides is SO MUCH BIGGER than just the people who are searching for that ride today.

The more people who are on my email list and like my Facebook page, the more eyes I can get on my content.

Converting old blog posts to follow this new style is pretty straightforward.

It just involves changing your mindset from that of a pull marketer to that of a push marketer, then changing your titles to match.

What title would make you click if you stumbled across it.

(Without being click-baity, you actually have to deliver the goods)

6. I deoptimised my posts

Switching up the title is the first step.

I’m also adjusting the content so it works better for the new audience.

I’m mindful that this audience didn’t ask to be here, I invited them.

So it’s really important that I make them want to stick around.

As well as educating, I have to entertain.

Remember, I also have to deliver on the things I implied in my title, and fast.

People want to know

What it looks like inside
Why it’s dividing opinions
What’s my opinion

Out go boring old keyword-stuffed headings like: ‘Height Requirements’

And in come more fun headings like: “Are you tall enough?”

As well as just stating the facts, I’m adding more personal experiences and expert opinions.

I want my personality to shine through so that each article is as entertaining as it is informative.

Why this new strategy will work

This new style of content is already performing really well when I share it via email and Facebook.

The same titles will also be popular on Pinterest, YouTube and other push-marketing channels.

So for each article that I adapt or create afresh, I can share it on multiple channels.

The best bit?

The best bit of this new strategy is that it’s so much more FUN!

It allows my team and I to be creative, playful and funny.

And we’re loving it.

Also, if you’re not properly fallen out with Google yet, and you’re still interested in jumping through their hoops…

This is exactly the kind of content that they say they want you to create – for people, not search engines.

So who knows, it might actually improve SEO as well.

Time will tell.

Want to learn more?

I wish I had a useful course to point you towards that explains all the nitty gritty of this strategy, but I don’t.

And I’m not making one, LOL.

Scott DeLong had fab course about growing an email list but it’s closed to new students now.

This is the best place to learn how to grow a Facebook page, in my opinion.

If you’d prefer to talk through how you can pivot your content strategy in detail, I recommend that you book a call with Hannah. I’ve worked with her a lot over the past year and she knows a ton in this area.

Also, I believe there a still a few tickets left for this mastermind that I’m hosting. So hopefully we can chat then?