Optimizing pages for keywords and doing nothing else will not produce the long term results you are looking for. Once you are finished with your onsite optimization, it’s time to tackle your content creation strategy. Keep this in mind, sitting back and waiting for traffic to come is kinda like waiting for a pizza to arrive at your door without actually ordering it. So where do you begin? You begin by developing a strategy.

Depending on your business, your content strategy can take on many different forms. It could reflect selling seasons or holidays or evergreen content that can be used anytime of the year. The important thing to remember is to be consistent. By creating something every once in awhile, you loose momentum. Sounds good, right, but what kind of content should you create?

Creating content doesn’t always have to be the written word. Depending on your audience, they may be more likely to watch a video or skim through an infographic. Once you decide on what you want to create the next step is deciding on how to distribute it.

Just posting to your blog and doing nothing else with it will not help. Part of your strategy needs to be identifying your distribution channels. Certainly using social media is a great start. You have a built in audience which is great, however, if you want a major impact for your content, you have to actively identify influencers and engage with them.

Engaging with them requires a bit of patience. Like any relationship, you have to start by earning their trust. There has to be a courtship period. The courtship can include adding something substantial to their conversation. By recommending articles from others in the industry that are related and support their point of view, you become a source.

A few weeks back, Moz did a great Whiteboard Friday article on some tactics to get your content in the hands of influencers to help amplify it. Definitely a must read. One of the points they make is that sometimes you can use the network of your ideal influencer and still have success. They might be more willing to share your content. It is kinda the low hanging fruit method.

The idea of creating content regularly for your website accomplishes some of the standards that Google has set for getting better ranking on pages. Particularly, Google ranks quality, sharable content much higher than static content. Add this to the fact that your website is getting new content regularly and it is being shared over different networks of people, you are only increasing your opportunity to rank higher. I have also discovered that this content actually has a lower bounce rate which means that people are exploring more pages of your site. This also helps with search engine ranking.

Don’t get me wrong, a well optimized site is important, but as I have said many times to many people, SEO is not a “set it and forget it” proposition. You must continually update and create interesting content to keep the momentum moving forward. As you plan your SEO strategy, you must include a content strategy or you may find yourself in the same position as you were before you started.