You're going to want to subscribe to my RSS feed. It's the greatest thing since sliced bread - even better, in fact. You know you want to.
I’ve got some really sad news for everyone writing great content then expecting people to come and find it without marketing it - it’s not going to happen. In fact, finding a blog with amazing content is already harder than picking out a needle from a haystack (albeit less cliche). Without marketing, it’s nearly impossible.
Think about it - good content is, well, good - but how is anyone going to find it? Randomly typing in your URL? Keep dreaming. Even the best blogs require promotion through Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, and the likes. Search engine marketing is vital in this process as well - without optimizing your site and building backlinks, Google and Yahoo won’t even know your site exists.
MARKETING’S VICIOUS REIGN
It’s true that awesome content that is marketed well does better than crap content most of the time, but the key phrase here is most of the time. Through the magic of marketing, even the worst of bloggers can become popular.
Focus on writing amazing, original content but don’t hope on people finding it themselves. Guide them to it like moths to a flickering light and promote very aggressively.
Just try not to get a restraining order.
By Chauncy on Apr 6, 2008 | Reply
Digg+Reddit+Stumbleupon=One HUGE spike of visitors that never come back to your site again
Link Building+SEO+Keyword Placement=High PR, consistently high SERPS, and thousands of dollars in text ads.
So neither content nor marketing are king; appealing to arcane and complex search engine algorithms is.
By Max Miroff on Apr 6, 2008 | Reply
Well, it wouldn’t have looked as nice if I had Marketing + SEO written on the card.
It’s not that I forgot about SEO or anything, no sir…
>_>
<_<
By Joe Pulizzi on Apr 7, 2008 | Reply
Good point, but you need to have both today to be really successful, that’s why they call it “content marketing”.
By Erik on Apr 7, 2008 | Reply
I would say that you need both good content and good marketing skills.
By Zach Katkin on Apr 7, 2008 | Reply
Marketing is queen… and we all know who runs the household!
By Jason on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
This post sucks donkey balls.
Why? Because I had a similar idea for one (about how marketing kicked content’s ass off the curb). Can’t do that anytime soon now, can I?
By Max Miroff on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
@Jason: Who got served? YOU GOT SERVED.
Uh… I mean… SUBSCRIBE!
By The Baldchemist on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
The point about content being king still holds true. Of course it is vital that punters can find your site;
I have seen so much crap on sites that are LOADED with SEO key words.
One mentioned “luxury beach front villas on samui” 23 times on the first page! Now do you seriously believe that when a punter gets to that page that they have any confidence in proceeding?
Punters seek information that recognises their needs and wants. Of course one must market but most market along with millions of others doing the same. The only business attained is then grossley discounted.
Put value (not financial but service) benefits and information that captures the imagination long enough to act positively to your objectives.
Most writing about marketing, branding and brand placement haven’t the faintest idea of what they are talking about and just plageiorise others work. Believe me content is king. The Baldchemist