Steps to Reeling in a Content Marketing Plan

One of the companies I am consulting has at least six web sites - some e-commerce driven, some blog-inspired and several without a category at all. This morning, I met with one of the marketers for this company during which I did not say a word, but rather listened to a stream of theories about how to refresh and distribute old content across these (at least) six sites. At the end of the meeting, I had a stack of hand-written content to sift through, complete with notes in red ink, and an overwhelming sense of shock about what I'd just gotten myself into.

What just happened here?

If you're like this multi-site company and have more than one web site for your business, you need a content marketing plan. Without subjecting you to what I just experience in this meeting, let me just suggest the following steps for quickly sorting through this process.

1. Make a ranked list of all your web sites. | The list should take into consideration how each web site ranks in search engines, how much traffic there is to the site (and probably where it comes from), how each site collects and converts leads, what kind of content exists on each site already and what holes you can fill with new content.
2. Write down your goals. | If one web site is a top performer and ranks higher, converts better and has great content already, do not reinvent the wheel. If you must run (at least) six web sites, focus instead on using the new content and sub-par web sites to drive traffic to the best one or two web sites. Write down this goal!
3. Briefly analyze each site. | Take a deeper look at each web site - not your top performers but the ones you are going to use as tools to drive traffic to the top performers - and ask questions like these: Where does this traffic come from? What kind of person "lands" on this site? What are they looking for? And what do I want them to look for on my top performing site? What kind of content can I use get them where I want them to go on my top performing site?
4. Lay out the breadcrumb trail. | Evaluate the content you have and are ready to post. Answer these questions: How can you build a trail from one of your sub-par web sites to one of your top performers? What kind of holes might you need to fill to complete the trail? At what points in the content might you allow certain types of visitors to deviate from the trail - if at all? Lay out the content and consider making a plan for filling the holes.
5. Implement. | One of the things I struggle with most with my clients is that they "fall off the grid." They lose commitment to the plan, forget about it all together or blow it out of the water completely by not implementing then reinforcing our content marketing plans aka "trail plans." Do the work. You've made the plan. Now, do the work.
6. Analyze and adjust. | If it's broken, fix it. If it works, fill in the holes, but otherwise LEAVE IT ALONE until it breaks. Just keep an eye on it. It doesn't have to be hard.

Having multiple web sites is not a bad thing. It can do wonders for inbound links on one of your partner sites, it can help direct the flow of traffic - it can even be powerful in lead nurturing and generation if you can get into that deeply. But you must have a content marketing plan.

Wish me luck with this stack of papers - and with staying on the grid.