Why Content IS Still Undeniably King (+ Who’s Queen)

Can I just tell you something? We’re friends, right?

Content is, in fact, still king. And no matter what anybody else is saying, I won’t change my mind.

You’ve likely heard the phrase “Content is king” if you’ve been in the blogging scene for a minute or if you follow any bloggers or blogging boards on Pinterest. Similarly, you’ll also find plenty of posts claiming and explaining why content is not king.

Here’s the deal…

 

Here’s what I think

Content is still king and will never be de-throned. But at the same time, marketing and promotion is Queen, and what’s a king without a queen, really?

Picture this

You see someone post on every social media ever and they’re pretty good at promoting their content and getting people to go see their site.

You decide to click on their link and visit their website.

After a quick skim of their topics and intro , you realize that it’s a really really shotty post.

What you just read left you wondering what the pho they were thinking posting that.

You get a little bit irritated and feel like you’ve been robbed of your time.

You vow to never visit that site again.

Now, was that a successful move on their part? The answer should be pretty obvious. NO.

 

Now picture this

You’ve seen this person’s name pop up a few times on your social media, perhaps you’ve seen some of their stuff being pinned on Pinterest and decide to visit their site.

Their first sentence shocks you awake.

You’re immediately intrigued and you haven’t even gotten to the meaty part, you’re not even past the intro!
Like you weren’t convinced before, the intro makes it so that you want to read more.

You feel connected with what they’re saying, their words do a little eloquent dance in your head.

With each paragraph you read, you are reminded of why you clicked – and stayed – on their site.

You think to yourself, “I’m glad I read that.” You feel like your time was spent wisely.

You read more of their content, maybe even subscribe to their newsletter.

 

Bad content doesn’t fly

You can be a writing machine and post like a maniac, but if your content is poo, you may get some traffic at first, but you won’t grow and your readers won’t come back.

Trust me, I’ve written fluff content before, but the content that makes people subscribe, comment and come back to my blog is the content that’s useful, informative, touching, helpful and entertaining.

Good content doesn’t ‘fly’ either, though

And by ‘fly’ I mean, you know, drink Red Bull. I kid, I kid. By ‘fly’ I mean get readers. That’s the thing about content creation; creating it is not enough! You can be the Oprah of bloggers but if you don’t work to put your content in front of your ideal readers, how will they see that you’re the Oprah of bloggers?

It’s hard work, in some cases even harder than the actual writing and creating part, but it’s just as important as having good content.

Good content is the ruler, it’s the thing that makes or breaks you but promoting your content is the right-hand (wo)man of the whole situation. Every King needs a Queen, and every Queen needs an amazing King. Together they’re the ultimate power couple!

Maybe there’s a rare king out there that gets some attention without having the queen tell everyone he’s the king, but that’s a rarity. There are plenty of ways the queen can shout out the king and help him out, but the important part is for them to rule the world together. Okay, one more and I’m done with the metaphor, I promise!

 

A few quick tips to make your King + Queen a power couple

• Write about things you’re passionate about.
• Create content that’s one or more of these things:
  – Useful/helpful: These include posts like how-to’s, tutorials, advice posts, etc.
  – Informative: This kind of content shares some kind of knowledge, like this post – hopefully – does.
  – Moving/touching: These are the ones that give you the feels, make you empathize.
  – Entertaining: Honestly, this is pretty subjective but humorous and fun posts come to mind.
  – Valuable: Content that isn’t only one of the above, but you could probably charge for it, it has value to it, it’s worth something, it solves a problem.
• Write longer posts. Shorter posts are okay, but if you’re aiming for great content that’s one or more of the things above, it’ll inevitably be longer. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule!
• Create content upgrades. These are things like worksheets, ebooks, guides or other free content you offer at the end of your post. Metaphor alert: If we’re talking about kings, think of content upgrades as the crown, the shiny, valuable crown. The crown is what makes your king stand out from the crowd. This post is an example of that, I made a worksheet that complements the topic and helps people take action and set + organize their goals in a specific – and unique – way.
• Solve a problem. Like I said before, valuable content solves a problem. This post is an example. Many people experience fears that stop them from doing something they really want to do – like start their own blog or business. I also included a content upgrade that’s useful for people to start demolishing those fears. The content aims to help you identify and face your fears, the worksheet helps you take action and actually solve the problem.
• Be active on social media. I’m not saying you have to spread yourself as a thin little layer of peanut butter or Nutella across every single social media outlet ever. If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use Facebook. If you don’t like Instagram, no one is forcing you to be an Instagram star (although I do suggest at least making an account with your blog name or handle just so you own it and don’t have to choose @lagoldenletter as your Twitter handle)
• Pinterest could be your new best friend. By far, Pinterest has been the biggest reason for my blog growth, it has allowed me to put my content in front of tens of thousands of people. Pinterest is queen, yo. Some Pinterest group boards are also pretty great at
• Join blogger groups and tribes. You can find many blogger groups on Facebook that help get the word out that your blog is, you know, a thing.
• Comment on other people’s blogs. It shows that you support your fellow bloggers and gets your name out there. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your blogger bestie that way! (Other than me, of course!)
• Go where you’re needed. If you’re an interior design blogger, find groups of people that have the same interests as you and offer valuable advice, share your posts with them and – again – solve their problems. You could find specific groups on Facebook, Google plus communities, subreddits, etc. that deal with your specific niche. I’m not saying bombard them with every post you’ve every written, I mean actually participate and offer advice and suggestions and throw in a post or three when the timing is right, people will start noticing you more and more!

I could go on all day but this is a good start. The important thing is to not lose hope and not be afraid of putting yourself out there. Another important thing is to never stop growing and learning, if you really want your blog to make a positive impact, you need to be learning just as much as you’re posting and promoting – at least that’s what I think.

 

Your turn: What do you think is most important about blogging – content or promotion? What do you do to help put your blog on the map? Let me know below!

If you want to grow your blog and/or business slash know how important it is to always strive to be a better you in order to be a better blogger + business owner, subscribe to my newsletter to get awesome free goodies each month and all kinds of other good stuff.

Loyally,