The difference between good bloggers and great bloggers is the latter know how to publish their content in the right place and at the right time. The pros know which post deserves to see the light of the day and which post needs to be kept on hold until the time is right.
They also know if a particular piece of content will do better on their own blog, on Medium, or on a site like LinkedIn. They are constantly balancing, weighing different options, juggling several content pieces and making tough decisions.
If you want to be a great blogger, you also need to be a great decision maker and decide:
- If you are posting the content where it can reach your target audience
- If the time is right for the content to be published
Content Placement
If you have millions of followers and are getting thousands of views on your posts, it is natural you will direct all your efforts towards posting on your blog, right?
Wrong.
There are so many places where you can post content, from your own blog through to self-publishing sites like Medium or LinkedIn and third-party blogs. Here are some factors that can help you determine content placement.
Choose The Right Niche
As a blogger, you need to find out how well a post will perform on another blog which specializes in a particular niche compared to your own. For instance, John Hewitt, the CEO and founder of Liberty Tax, chose Inc to publish a piece on leadership. This was a good decision because Inc readers devour this type of content and their own blog contains only tax-related content.
Failing an organic editorial like John Hewitt, the next best way is to get your content sponsored on top sites. You can use native advertising platforms like Outbrain to get your content on top sites like The Telegraph, CNN, TIME, and Mashable. This article contains some amazing native advertising examples that aptly demonstrate the power of content at the right place. One of the best examples is of IKEA, which published a quiz titled ‘A to Zzzz of bedroom ideas on The Telegraph’ and found a genius way to highlight their products, albeit subtly.
Choose The Right Content Type
The second important factor to consider is the type of content. There are various forms of content – visual content, long form articles, listicles, predictions, and round-ups. While visual content is best suited for social media platforms, annual round-ups, and listicles do well as guest posts.
Sometimes you need to make spontaneous decisions. For instance, we (at E2M) recently reached out to top content marketers asking them a few questions. We got an amazing response with over 45 marketers weighing in. In due course, we ended up with an 11000-word article, which we published on our own site. Had the response been weaker, we would have written a traditional 1000-1500 word article and submitted it to a third-party blog.
Choose The Right Tone
Keep in mind, the tone of the article decides the place where it should be published. If you have a thought-provoking or a controversial piece which will get tongues wagging, publish it on Medium, LinkedIn, and on active communities and forums. This is a great way to garner more views for your post. They provide an open ground for discussion. See how Jason Fried, Founder & CEO at Basecamp, grabbed eyeballs with this piece on Medium.
Content Timing
People will look for best Christmas pie recipes every year, but that doesn’t mean you write about it in February. Common sense, right? However, many bloggers are stuck in a rut and fail to understand the dynamics of timing and content. Let’s understand what factors affect the content timing and how they must be kept in mind when planning your content calendar.
Newsjacking
A lot of times bloggers jump on a bandwagon much after the wagon has left. Some bloggers are still sharing tips for success on social media when the world is chasing monsters and Olympic medals. A blogger needs to stay updated at all times and post content about topics that are trending. Since these trends last for only a few days, or worst a few hours, it is very important you latch on to trends quickly.
1) Twitter
Twitter feed and hashtags are a great source of news. We also follow a number of popular influencers and people who don’t waste a minute in tweeting something new, unique, and quirky.
2) Reddit
Reddit is the best source to find out not only what is happening but also what everyone is saying about it. The best community and the best discussion on anything and everything!
3) Social listening tools
We use BrandWatch to ensure we are not only on top of all trends but can also reach out to maximum influencers who can publish our content. We also use analytics to determine the best time (weekday, hour) to publish content.
Once you find interesting topics, don’t waste time writing about it, lest you want to be tagged as a me-too blogger.
Evergreen content
While it is imperative to publish newsworthy content immediately, what about evergreen pieces like op-ed articles? Every blogger has at some point written a thought-provoking, opinion piece which can be considered timeless, or an e-book that lasts for years. However, the timing of publishing such content matters a great deal. For example, publishing about global warming in December, a winter month, would be unwise. However, publishing an article on the same topic on World Environment Day will work wonders for the cause of environmental protection.
In Conclusion
No matter how great your content is, or how much time you have spent writing it, the fate of your post is sealed by the time and the place you publish it. Some posts are meant to live on your own blog, while some, like opinion pieces, need to be thrown to the lions, where they can be picked apart by a discerning audience. Find out what works best for you!
In-post Image Credit: Created by Author
Featured image via DepositPhotos
