As a content marketer by day, I’m always interested in finding new resources to help grow my business and provide better results for my clients. But there’s so much information out there. If you’re brand new to the field—either because you’ve made a midcareer pivot or because you’ve been asked to develop your company’s strategy—you might feel a little lost.
When looking for advice, how do you know what’s best practices and what’s just wishful thinking? Who do you look for when it comes to thought leadership? Let’s check out four great resources I read every single day to help influence my content strategy work, and talk about why new content marketers should bookmark them immediately.
My Daily Content Marketing Reads
Search Engine Land
The first thing you need to learn about content marketing is that SEO is a huge component, and one of the best places to glean insights is Search Engine Land. An absolutely vast depot of information, Search Engine Land provides daily updates on industry trends, Google algorithm updates, expert advice, and—if you can afford it—regular conferences where you can connect with leaders and experts across the whole digital marketing spectrum. It’s not just useful for content marketers, either. PPC managers, social media, and other digital marketing pros (and aspirants alike) can learn a lot from them.
If you’re looking for a place to start, I recommend checking out the Periodic Table of SEO Factors. It’s a good overview of all the elements that can influence a site’s position on the search engine results page, and you’d be surprised (or not, if you know the score) how many of these items are explicitly related to content.
HubSpot
HubSpot’s primarily known as an inbound sales and marketing SaaS, but there’s no shortage of valuable resources to borrow from on their site. From a blog ideas generator to templates for resources such as blog posts, infographics, marketing plans and invoicing (great for freelancers), HubSpot provides plenty of tools to help content marketers develop a strategy.
While their marketing blog is absolutely rich in scope, one of the best values they offer is a full selection of eBooks on topics as varied as brand stories, buyer personas, or—perhaps most importantly—this full content marketing strategy guide.
If there’s a downside to HubSpot, it’s that their marketing and sales strategy involves sharing these resources in exchange for your email address and other contact information. But if you can get past that, you’ll find plenty of things to like.
Semrush Blog
Semrush’s full suite of tools is powerful for SEO professionals, content writers, and anyone else interested in digital marketing. I use them for keyword research and planning on a daily basis! But even if you’re not subscribed to them (they’re pretty pricey, especially for freelancers getting started), you can still get some big value out of it. I just pulled up their blog this morning and four of the six items on the first page are all related to content marketing. Much like the other resources on this list, Semrush can give you a huge boost in knowing what, how, and why to approach your content strategy in a specific way.
Moz
Moz, in addition to a powerful set of tools for SEO pros, offers an astoundingly useful beginner’s guide to SEO and a blog that features regular insights from industry leaders. Their Whiteboard Friday installments are rarely boring and prove the adage that presenting information in different ways can help others learn more effectively.
Honorable Mentions for Content Marketer Resources
My wife introduced me to Flipboard years ago as a way to cultivate a sort of magazine to read for your tablet, but its real value these days is as an aggregator for content ideas. Follow various industries related to your clients (or the topic of content marketing as a whole) and make it part of your regular reading.
Google Alerts
I have Google Alerts set up for each of my company’s major verticals as well as topics I’m interested in related to content development. As it turns out, however, this tends to both clutter up my inbox and provide less useful ideas than going directly to the above resource. Still, it might be useful if you want news and updates delivered straight to your inbox.
Honey Copy
Cole Schafer is the guy who has inspired me to start freelancing again, and while he’s not exclusively a content marketer, he offers a lot of great insights. Cole, like me, is from southern Indiana. He’s got this whole outlaw vibe going on, so if you’re skittish on someone who cusses a lot you might not find him that useful. Sign up for his newsletters and—if you hate your job—check out his curated job postings. The dude lives for and loves advertising, and he makes a killing doing it.
Have more content marketing questions? Let’s talk.
Are you new to content marketing? Are you looking for someone to help develop your strategy? I’ve been working in this field for the past six years, and I’ve learned a lot along the way, both from mistakes and big wins. If you need advice from someone who’s actively working in the field or you’re in the market for someone to help with your project, I want to talk to you. Reach out today.