Blue Ocean SEO Strategy — Whiteboard Friday

If you happen to’re aware of the blue ocean advertising technique, you realize that search engine marketing is inherently a “purple ocean” business. With fierce competitors to achieve rankings, hyperlinks, and authority, SEOs are continuously making an attempt to one-up their rivals. On this surroundings, is there any hope for making a “blue ocean” — innovating to keep away from the uneven waters of the present market? 

In right this moment’s Whiteboard Friday, PJ Howland of Leaders.com suggests {that a} blue ocean search engine marketing technique is achievable by way of creating reasonable content material in your prospects. Watch to be taught extra! 

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Video Transcription

Hey, Moz followers. Welcome again to a different Whiteboard Friday. I’m PJ Howland. I’m the Head of search engine marketing and Evergreen Content material at leaders.com. So my background is sort of that candy spot proper in between when you’ve bought search engine marketing over right here and content material and editorial over right here, that center floor the place search engine marketing and editorial and content material collide.

If you happen to’re aware of that world, you realize that we’re coping with thinner margins, now we have fewer sources, and now we have much less clear route. So that is the world we function in. It is a spot the place we’re making an attempt to simply get slightly little bit of a bonus over our rivals, and it is sort of created this fastened mindset of simply making an attempt to scrape by to simply get slightly little bit of a bonus.

Nonetheless, I believe that there is a mindset that may actually assist break this mould to ensure that each single month is definitely your greatest month ever. So it is the blue ocean search engine marketing technique. 

What’s blue ocean technique?

So what’s blue ocean search engine marketing technique? Properly, begin with what blue ocean technique is. 

Possibly you have learn the e-book “Blue Ocean Technique.” Possibly you have heard the time period thrown round. Possibly you have not heard of it in any respect. Give me only one minute and I am going to sort of clarify this with a narrative. 

So again within the days when circuses have been touring the countryside, there have been two predominant circuses, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, and they might spend a lot of time, power, and sources making an attempt to at least one up one another.

They have been producing who can have crazier stunts, who can have weirder clowns, who can have extra eccentric animal methods or no matter. It bought to the purpose to the place they have been competing so onerous with one another that they forgot what their prospects actually cared about. The feelings of the day have been that, hey, we do not wish to see a number of rings. We do not like wanting all over the place. Put it again down to at least one ring. We do not just like the animal methods. They’re merciless. They’re outdated. However these circuses have been so fastened on competing with one another that each of them ended up shedding out. 

Then who ought to come alongside? This new participant, Cirque du Soleil. Now, when you’ve been to a Cirque du Soleil present, you most likely know the place I am going with this. It is not like a conventional circus. The truth is, it is not like anything on the market. However what they did do is that they took what labored and excluded what did not work from a conventional circus. So that they minimize out the merciless animal acts. Additionally they saved within the clowns and the acrobats, as a result of these have been working within the conventional circus, and so they introduced in this type of third warmth of this theater component, this effective theater expertise.

If you happen to’ve been to a Cirque present, you realize what I am speaking about. There’s undoubtedly a story there. So what they’ve performed is that they’ve created a blue ocean. They’ve created a world the place there actually isn’t any direct apples-to-apples rivals. 

Now, Cirque du Soleil is not the one participant on the market who’s performed this. We may discuss iTunes. What have been your choices earlier than iTunes? Netflix, identical factor. Earlier than Netflix was on the scene, the place have been you watching your stuff? Airbnb. You see the place I am going with this, that each one three of those companies or merchandise launch, there actually wasn’t something on the market. It was a real blue ocean. 

Blue ocean search engine marketing

So how will we get that from an search engine marketing perspective?

Properly, we have to begin by realizing the place search engine marketing is correct now. So search engine marketing is a set mindset recreation. Inherently it’s a purple ocean technique. If you happen to do not imagine me, let me illustrate it this manner. You’ve gotten this example the place you have bought a key phrase.

You have a look at your competitor and also you see, hey, they have 100 hyperlinks. You say, “Massive deal. I am going to get 200 hyperlinks.” Their website pace rating is 80. I’ll make it 90. We will have 90. They write 1,500 phrases. You see the place I am going with this. We write 2,500 phrases. That is not blue ocean considering. That’s fastened, purple ocean, fierce competitors mindset considering, nevertheless it’s the place a number of SEOs discover themselves. Heck, I have been there. That’s primarily skyscraper content material.

It is skyscraper article constructing. Hey, there’s been a spot for that, however at its core it truly is purple ocean, fastened mindset considering. So how will we recover from that? How will we as SEOs, digital entrepreneurs, content material entrepreneurs, how will we recover from the truth that we’re enjoying a purple ocean recreation? 

Begin with the shopper

Properly, it begins with the shopper.

So image this. Image you are sitting down with a buyer, besides you are not a marketer anymore. You possibly work on the achievement or service or product aspect. You sit down with them and also you say, “Hey, we’re enhancing our product, our service, our achievement. What will make it a greater resolution for you?” Simply image an excellent dialog the place they are going backwards and forwards with you.

You gather precious perception, and on the finish, you produce a greater product and that buyer is grateful for it. Now image that very same buyer besides swap out your self as a product marketer and now you are a marketer marketer. You are speaking about your search engine marketing technique and also you say, “Hey, so what we do is we have a look at the rivals and we add extra phrases. We see the hyperlinks that they construct and we add extra hyperlinks. What do you consider that? How does that profit you?”

The shopper goes to take a look at you and say, “That does not assist me in any respect. That is not what I requested for. That is not what I would like. That is not the deal of how companies work. You are right here to make my world simpler.” Fact be informed, after we add extra phrases to a web page, typically we’re simply making extra phrases on the market. Are you aware what I imply? It is one thing that the purchasers do not wish to cope with.

Set your writers up for achievement

So we stay on this actuality although, the place as SEOs, as editorial professionals, as content material entrepreneurs, we’re on this place the place we’re tasked with nearly an not possible process. How will we ship distinctive content material when the folks producing that, possibly it is an search engine marketing, possibly it is a author, aren’t essentially the subject material consultants?

So it begins with what you give the author or the search engine marketing to really start this mission. So I’ve discovered so many individuals begin with they only say, “Hey, this is the key phrase. Go for it. We’re making an attempt to rank for this. Simply get that piece of content material out.” Inevitably, you’ll produce a skyscraper piece of content material with that. That units everybody up for failure.

No person wins when all you do is begin off with a key phrase. As an alternative what I’ve discovered is it actually takes detailed write-ups that start with interviews with subject material consultants. My outlines that I produce with my crew, I’ve by no means seen one below two pages. Most of them are between three to 5 pages that we produce for these particular person subjects. That each one has to come back from your individual perception with like your crew. I am unable to actually produce what your buyer desires. That is one thing I invite you to determine by yourself. Nonetheless, I’ve discovered that prospects, it doesn’t matter what business you are in, I do not care if it is B2B, B2C, I do not care when you’re promoting SaaS, or when you’ve bought an e-commerce platform, no matter, the individual that says, “Sure, I wish to purchase that,” is at all times an individual.

Individuals need actuality

Ten instances out of ten you are coping with folks. So what do folks need? Individuals need actuality. They need authenticity. So there are three issues that I believe will help anybody, whatever the business that you simply’re in, enhance up your content material. Once I’m speaking about content material, that might be articles. It may weblog posts. It might be touchdown pages. It might be white papers, no matter. The purpose is that folks need actuality. 

1. Tales

So this is how I have been capable of finding actually good supply strategies for this. Tales. My world is much more article targeted, however we attempt to begin each article with a narrative. Individuals love that.

I discover a a lot increased time on web page after we lead out with tales. I do know what you are considering. It is like, “Properly, Wikipedia is somebody we’re competing in opposition to, and so they do not begin with a narrative. No person begins with a narrative.” Okay, resolve if you wish to be a purple ocean participant or a blue ocean participant. 

2. Recommendation

The following factor is recommendation. Now, once more, going again to the truth of it’s that we’re coping with conditions the place we have got writers who aren’t subject material consultants.

That is okay. No person is in hassle for that actuality of the scenario. But it surely does matter that you simply search that recommendation out. So schedule interviews with subject material consultants. Purchase your crew a e-book. Have a e-book membership inside your group. Just remember to’re constructing experience inside your group.

3. Examples

Lastly, examples. Individuals need actuality. They need authenticity. When you have buyer knowledge, if in case you have case research, I do not suppose you ought to be gating all of that essentially. There’s an excellent use case to be made for simply letting that stuff on the market. Individuals wish to see actual examples occurring within the wild. 

Learn how to measure success

So that you provide you with this blue ocean technique that solely you may produce, since you ought to know your buyer higher than me, and also you wish to determine the right way to measure it.

Properly, when you’ve been doing content material advertising for greater than, I do not know, the final half-hour, you realize that there is a massive hole between the primary piece of content material produced and the {dollars} within the pocket of the group. There’s lots that occurs in between there. So how do you really just be sure you can come by way of on this with correct measurement? I’ve discovered that point on web page is the very first thing that goes up.

So earlier than we sort of rolled out this with leaders.com, we have been seeing common time on web page between 3.5 to 4 minutes. Not good, not dangerous. High quality, no matter. However after rolling this out, we’re seeing common time on web page of between 5.5 to six.5 minutes. I’ve pages which are nearly 3,000 phrases in size that really get learn.

We now have articles which have common time on web page of eight minutes or increased, and that is a very validating factor. I imagine that after time on web page goes up, then you can begin seeing in case your rankings and site visitors go up. Now you may see proper right here there isn’t any tinfoil hat. I am not making a direct insinuation that there’s a correlation between time on web page and the rankings that Google goes at hand out to you.

What I’m saying is that good content material will get seen, and when it will get seen, you are going to see these hyperlinks are available. You see how this works. We’re beginning backwards. Like a number of the instances we lead off with saying, “I would like extra hyperlinks.” However in actuality, is that actually going to serve us? I might somewhat play a recreation the place hyperlinks come as a byproduct of fine content material. So what’s actually the takeaway right here?

I believe it is a mindset takeaway. In my group, we have buried skyscraper content material. It is lifeless. It is within the floor. Now it does not imply we do not have a look at rivals. Clearly, that will be foolish to not do. We’re in search engine marketing.

Nonetheless, I believe that if you wish to actually transition to a blue ocean, limitless mindset, there needs to be some sort of actuality verify the place you say, “Hey, sooner or later I am not going to be listening to the rivals for each little phrase that I write on my internet web page.” Thanks for watching the video right this moment. I sit up for listening to your feedback. For anybody that is performed such a shift within the group, sit up for partaking with you in a great dialogue within the feedback under.

Thanks for stopping by right this moment. See you on the following Whiteboard Friday.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com