Death, taxes, and the quality vs. quantity debate with content. 

I can’t escape the debate. Every time that I think the dust has settled and the conversation has been put to bed it suddenly pops back up in my hemisphere. I was having a conversation with an old colleague this week. He was running a research project on a new content product and asked, “Is the quality of content vs. the quantity of content still an issue in marketing? If so, what’s your position on it?”. Before I could even respond I made a note to myself because I knew it would make for a good topic to tackle for the newsletter this week. 

Simply put, my response is that the debate is still ongoing and likely will never end. Also, if I was being pressed to ask my position I would take the easy way out and just say both. Content is the fuel to get seen by your next customer in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲. The more that you’re putting out content on the topic that you’re addressing the more likely Google will start to pick it up and you’ll get seen by your next customer. The issue is that it’s way more complex than when I first started my career in content marketing. I’ll try not to date myself too much here, but back when I started you could run really freaking hard on the content hamster wheel and it worked. You could jam a bunch of keywords into a blog post and publish daily to rank. We could afford to lean towards quantity over quality because there wasn’t as much competition and Google loved consistency. The more crowded the space got, the harder it became to successfully execute a production line approach to your content. 

My current philosophy on how to get seen by your next customer in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 is creating consistently with quality top of mind. This week on the podcast David mentioned the importance of topical authority. Google rewards expertise, credibility, and trustworthiness when it comes to creating in a specific domain. Topical authority is particularly important in SEO when we’re trying to get seen by our next customer. We not only need Google to understand we’re credible, but also have to establish audience trust.  It’s critical to be consistent. Furthermore, it’s essential to produce high-quality, informative content that showcases your expertise. 

Here’s an example of what we’re doing to fuse consistency with quality in our content at Pneuma: 

Keyword: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲

Publishing cadence: 

• 1 blog article per week 

• 1 podcast episode per week 

• 1 YouTube video per week 

• 1 newsletter (👋🏻you’re here) 

• Consistent social posts mentioning our keyword 

We want to be known for 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 at Pneuma. We don’t expect our next customer to be searching for our keyword now, however, as we continue to build our brand we believe it’s critical to have the right search infrastructure in place for the future. Also, collaborating with our internal team on SEO is a big part of what I’m working on this quarter. 

The podcast and videos on YouTube are already taking the top spot on Google. Also, we’ve earned placement in the see results about section. 

Once you scroll past the top you can see 2 of our blogs in the top 4 spots. 

Consistently creating high quality content is how we’ve started taking over a strategic keyword that will positively impact the brand that we’re building. 

It can’t just be quantity. It can’t just be quality. 

In order to win in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 it needs to be both. 

The Content We Dropped This Week

In the ninth episode of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 podcast we discuss the role of great content.

I’m joined by David to discuss great content from average content. David shares how he thinks about the role of content in his role as CEO and opportunities ahead. 

Please follow and subscribe to 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 wherever you consume fine audio and video content.

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• YouTube

Quick Tip for The Search Economy

Your greatest opportunity to differentiate yourself in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 is to inject your authentic point of view in the topic that you’re covering with your content. You can run laps around your competition by making yourself vulnerable and sharing your beliefs in your content. It’s important to take the time to establish your brand voice. You can think about it as building the steps and front porch for people to come visit you. Once you’ve established your brand voice through your content your next move should be creating a kick ass SEO strategy. This is how you pour fuel on the fire. 

If you’re looking for a team that will help give you a jump start into 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 give Pneuma a shout for a free traffic audit!

What They’re Saying About Search

I fall victim to making marketing things too complicated sometimes. I love the sentiment of John’s post. His suggestion encourages quality and enforces the power of distribution. 

This is a potent combination for getting found by your next customer in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲

If you’re looking for a team that will help give you a jump start into 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 give Pneuma a shout for a free traffic audit!

Content That Supports The Search Economy

I was researching topical authority and came across this conversation from Candour Agency. If you’re looking for a deep dive on how to prove yourself to Google and other gem sources of authority look no further. I learned a ton from this conversation. 

You can listen to the conversation here. 

I appreciate you being here for 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 newsletter. If you’re looking to learn more about how your company can get found by your next customer then give the Pneuma team a shout.