- For an organization to become known
for its expertise, creative constraints need to exist.
One helpful constraint to organize your content marketing
is limiting what topics your company is covering
to a select group of categories.
Each category represents a range of topics
that's important to your customers
and aligns with the expertise and offerings
of your organization.
A category should be specific enough
to have a clear focus but broad enough
so that there's many topics that fit within the theme
that your company can address.
For example, an art supplies company
could focus their topic categories
on scrapbooking, home decor projects,
kids crafts, and seasonal activities.
These categories should be different
from one another, but complementary at the same time,
as each might slightly overlap in focus.
The point of these categories is to ensure
you've only created content on topics
within these areas, focusing your team's efforts
and streamlining decision-making.
This way, every time you sit down to write
a new case study, craft posts for LinkedIn,
or script your next video series,
you are clear on what topics should
and shouldn't be addressed.
And most of all, consistently publishing useful content
on the same overarching themes
can help your customers remember you,
as repetition helps build a memory.
But which categories of topics should you commit to?
I recommend creating three to five categories
from the list of topics you come up with
based on your personas, customer feedback,
and your research on what's already been published.
You want to look for patterns in the topics
your customers are interested in
to see how these themes can be logically broken down
into broader categories.
A good example of this can be seen on Chase Bank's blog
that covers a range of financial topics
broken down into the following five categories:
personal finance, tips for better life experiences,
financial strategies for small businesses,
innovative business leaders, and stories about
supporting communities.
If we take a closer look at the personal finance category
called Your Money, there's articles
on a range of topics, from "How to Protect
"Your Aging Relatives' Money" to "What You Need to Know
"About Home Equity."
While each of these categories is different,
they all connect back to the financial focus
of the organization aimed to educate readers
and reflect the company's values.
You're certainly not committed
to the same categories forever,
as they can change with the direction
of your company, but it is important
to stick with them for the long term.
Lastly, organizing content on your website
in line with these topic categories
can help improve your visibility in the search engines.
By consistently publishing content
with specific categories, it'll be easier for Google
to navigate your site's architecture,
discover similar content within each category,
and most of all, understand what subject areas
your organization is a leading authority in.
These categories may feel limiting at first,
but once you've got this constraint in place,
you'll be more focused than ever.